Networking: A Beginner’s Guide Fifth Edition- P16:I have run into many people over the years who have gained good even impressive working knowledge of PCs, operating systems, applications, and common problems and solutions. Many of these people are wizards with desktop computers. | Chapter 4 Understanding Network Cabling 57 protocol on your computers and try to ping another workstation in the complete segment. If they can log in then you know the problem is further on along the cable. Move to a new location attach the extra terminator and try again. Eventually you will find two nearby locations where the terminator will allow the network to work in one spot but not in the next spot. You should find the cable problem somewhere between those two node locations. This approach requires patience but it works fine in a pinch. More troublesome still on coaxial networks is a problem that is causing poor network performance but not causing any nodes to actually disconnect from the network. Such problems are often intermittent and not easy to find with a cable scanner. When you have this type of problem your best approach is to come up with a test that can quickly tell you how fast the nodes are communicating with the network. For example you can time how long it takes to copy a particular file from the server. Next use a terminator to close off a large part of the segment and perform the test again. Keep moving the terminator and retrying the test until you discover which part of the cable slows down network performance on the segment. Then either replace all those portions or narrow your search further. This type of problem is usually caused by a poor connection in one of the male cable-end BNC connectors although a flaky T-connector or barrel connector can also be the culprit. It s usually fastest providing you narrow the problem to a small enough area to simply replace all the cable and connectors in that location. Having a second person help you troubleshoot coaxial cable problems makes the job much easier. One person remains in a fixed location at one end of the segment with a test computer and the other person moves from location to location with a terminator. While the mobile troubleshooter maps out parts of the segment with the terminator the
