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narcisis

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Keep losing connection in Office

Ok here's the setup, in our office there's a cable modem hooked to a router, then the router hooked to a switch, then that feeds the computers in the office. The router itself has a switch built in but it doesn't have enough ports so the extra switch was purchased and we call feed from that.

However now all the connections in the office will drop for a few seconds and we'll all wait until it reconnects itself. Any idea what's going on here? Should I do a hard reset on the router? Or.. replace the cable modem? I have another cable modem sitting around still in the box, I could just hook that up and replace the other one if needed.

Any ideas?
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Smoken2337
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When everything is dropped is it just the internet or does everyone get cable disconnected.

If you are getting Cable disconnected it is your switch.

If you are losing your internet it is either your router that needs to be replace or the modem.

I would call your ISP and see if they are seeing your modem losing connection at any point if they are not seeing that I would replace the router.
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DenverRick

Based on the information I will assume the Switch is un-managed.  Since the problem is likely in the Router, plug some of your Stations directly into that.  If those Stations do not lose their connection - replace the Switch.  If those Stations do lose their connection, then consider replacing the Router.

Additionally do you really need the Router?
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It was losing connection like that before the switch was put in (less than a week ago), the switch was only put in so we'd have more ports as we were removing one connection to allow another. Now we all plug into the switch with one cord running to the router and one connection from the router to the cable modem as the uplink.

So.. what should I do? Just not use the router at all? Would it still work? If I did that would I simply remove the connection I have running from the router and make that run to the cable modem?
I'm not sure the kind of router you are using but it sounds like you are using it for DHCP so I would just go and get another router.
It's a LinkSys wired router. I have no idea what you mean by "using it for DHCP".

Isn't there a way I could trouble shoot the devices to rule out what is causing what? Or.. say reset the router? I read that a few people having drop issues like this just reset the router. Then again I don't know, I'm looking for the easiest solution here as networking devices aren't my field at all.
I'm thinking could I not use the router at all and just use the switch/cable modem setup and see if the disconnects keep happening to actually see if it's the router causing the issues?
You could, provided you don't need any of the functions the Router might be providing, such as DHCP, which is a little services that answers requests for an IP address from machines and assigns one to them along with other info such as the Gateway, DNS Servers, and such.  If you network is providing that service through other means, then you probably can remove the router.  Simple is always better.
I use the same ISP at home as the office does and I use a modem / switch setup fine for all three of my computers.. hm.. I'll try that and see what happens.
You can check pretty easily.  Remove the Router from the system.  On a workstation open a cmd prompt, and enter "ipconfig/release", when the prompt returns enter "ipconfig/renew".  If you get an IP address then the Router was probably not doing anything important, if you don't it was your DHCP server, which you need.
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Smoken2337
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Hey if I replace the dsl modem we're using with a new one out of the box when I have to configure it in anyway? Or.. is it more or less "plug and play?"
A DSL Modem will have to be programmed with your user information because it logs on to your providers system.  You will also have to configure your network on it as well.  Most are pretty easy.  Go to your providers web site to get any instructions they have downloaded before you pull the plug.  Also make sure you know the current settings of the existing DSL if they are available.

DR
Okay sounds good, because the modem to switch to computers setup didn't work and the router isn't needed at all as it was simply acting as a switch to start with. So either the provider is screwing up or the modem.
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Apparently the entire area was having problems due to line issues, which is what Verizon said, so it wasn't anything local anyway.

I just think it's a ploy to push FiOS honestly..

Thanks though