Intermittent Disconnection From The Network

There could be various factors which could disconnect the network intermittently and cause disruption. Here's an insight into the various factors that could disrupt your network.

FAULTY HARDWARE:

A faulty switch / hub / cable could be the reason for disruption of your network.

HOW WOULD I KNOW?

It's pretty simple, the network connection will be disrupted and will not resume. A faulty switch / hub may have LEDs blinking vigourously or just at the ON state. Switching the switch on and off may get the network back to normal;however, it will last for a couple of minutes only to go down again.

IP CONFLICT ON THE MANAGEMENT DEVICES:

A conflict in any management device may also result in your network being disrupted.

HOW WOULD I KNOW?

The network will go down for a brief period and then come back again. This indicates that the packets are sent to the correct device and then some packets are routed to the other device with the same IP address. since the other device has no way to route the packet back, the packets are dropped, resulting in intermittent disconnection.

VIRUS / TROJANS:

An infected PC will start sending large amount of data on the network and cripple the entire network.

HOW WOULD I KNOW?

A firewall log would come in handy to check for which PC is utlising the network bandwidth. Disconnecting the network from that PC stablizes the network and when reconnected the network performance is deteriorated. Remove the PC from the network and perform a virus scan.

INCORRECT ROUTING:

An incorrect routing or firewall policy can also result in poor network performance and disruption. This is usually not the case but at times you never know, even the best of minds can commit an err.

HOW WOULD I KNOW?

Do a PATHPING / TRACERT to find out the route a packet takes to reach it destination. Recheck your routing policies and ensure that they are well defined.

I hope this gives a brief insight on various reasons that could bring down your network.