Re: RDP Connections - Freeze or Reconnect

Hi Sarah,

Responses inline...

Sarah Kingswell wrote:
Thanks TP for your advice, much appreciated.

I agree with you, I think this is network related. Just running
another ping test as I forgot to set the -t parameter and walked away
from the screen! It's been a long hot day!

Yes the Red X was against the 1GB LAN connection icon. The cable
comes from the switch and then connects into what I can only describe
as an extension cable with a female/female connector. I immediately
swapped the connector and cable out and plugged the cable coming out
of the switch into the spare 100mb NIC adapter but still using the
connector and extra cable. The old extension cable is still
connected. Everything else has been replaced with equipment which
was not in use.

The server is one of the most critical parts of the network and as such it should have a professional high-quality cable connection to the switch. A female/female connector with an extension does not meet this requirement. In a very *rare* pinch I have used female/female connectors with success before, however, this is not professional quality and I would *not* use it to connect a server. It adds more potential failure points and more chance of loose wires and/or reduced signal quality.

I'm not saying that the cable is *definately* the cause of the problem, but there is no reason for it so swap it out and do it the correct way. This and the lack of proper labeling is an indication of low-quality work.
I wonder if the cabling was certified for Gigabit or even 100Mbps using a proper test tool (something like Fluke CableIQ, NetTool II, EtherScope).


The connection of the 100mb LAN from then on appeared much more
stable. I didn't see any red x's appearing at any time. I also
adjusted the autodetect setting from auto to 100mb Full Duplex on the
spare 100mb adapter and disabled the 1GB adapter. I cannot figure
out which switch port the cable is using because nothing is labeled! It is now however plugged into a different port but not sure where in
relation to the 1GB switch port. I could have got them to check the
port lights when I turned the server off. I might do that tomorrow. I don't know if I can manage the switch in anyway. Not sure if it is
managed or what model/make it is or what the IP Address is. Another
company provided the switch and cabling. This is the partner coming
in tomorrow.

Unfortunately nothing is logged in the event viewer. I was hoping to
find something about the adapter.

Still running ping test...

You can also use netmon (or similar software) to look at the traffic. The built-in netmon is okay, but the latest version is more feature-rich and easier to use. You can download it for free from microsoft.


If I logon and test the RDP connection with a dialup modem through
RRAS (Terminal server is also a RAS Server), would you expect it to
misbehave if it was I switch problem? I am guessing my dial up
connection doesn't go through the switch in anyway?

If RRAS is configured properly there is no reason for the dialup traffic to go through the switch.

You should consider bringing in your own switch as well as a few long network cables for testing. I have switches and older hubs as well as 50 and 100 foot cables just for this purpose.

With a spare switch you could connect a few of the workstations as well as one of the two server NICs. This would allow you to test while allowing most of the network to stay as-is.

-TP
.

Relevant Pages

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