The only solution thus far is to remove the NIC from the Device Manager, reboot the PC, and let Windows XP Pro find the network card and reinstall it.

I replaced the network switch with a 10/100 Linksys 48 port switch – SRW248G4. It didn’t help with the problem, but the pc’s are faster to download from the web.

I have a Novell NetWare 4.11 Server, an Avaya Phone tracking Server, Covad Connectivity 1010 and Covad Netopia 4622-XL-T T1 Router, and the company run’s a security software called St. Bernard.

When I replaced the switch I had to reboot the Netopia and Covad devices in order for the pc’s to be able to connect to the network and internet, but this action did not resolve the Network Connection freezes…

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers!

Lets me rephrase the entire problem again.

Company expand so fast that the IT infrastructure is not fast enough to cater high volume of traffic; the initial design is not scalable. The number of new branch offices setup caused the company pay a high price in the leased line communication.
Salesman and management staffs dial into company networks via 56K modem to access the database server and update the sale order. All the branch offices access the internet via HQ and download email via the external POP3 email server.
Plan to revamp their IT infrastructure and reduce the leased line access cost. Here are some of the feedbacks consolidated from the various country managers and local salesman.
1) The email downloading and sending is very slow. They receive a lot of spam email this caused their individual mailbox quota use up very fast.
2) The sales and marketing departments need to access the internet to search for latest news and market trends. But the internet speed is very slow. These people are irritated by spywares and popup often.
3) The File transfer and Database access is very slow even in the local area networks.

I decided to put the real network cum equipment diagram of my current company as I believe this will at least give INSIGHT in solving the problem.

Please visit the website http://www.hgym.photosite.com
for the diagrams which are network diagram and equipment diagram.

Now I plan to improve the IT infrastructure to cater for future expansion up to 10 countries. SAP will be implement to automate the overall company operation. Also expect 3rd party to access their server to submit and view sale order.

I also plan to redesign the network so that it is high available, scalable and secure.

Any suggestion and opinion? What is your comment after looking at my network and its insfrastructure (from the diagrams on http://www.hgym.photosite.com )
Any improving needed?

My email is hunkgym@yahoo.com Of course you can reply here, preferable :>

Thanks again for your opinion!! Thank You!!

If I borrow a PC with a fixed serial port and change the comm setup to use 1 stop bit, I can then connect using my USB converters.

What is there about the 2 stop bit setup that prevents my USB converters from working?
I acknowledge 2 stop bits is rare, but TRIO Motion Technology uses it as their standard default (don’t know why). This has meant that every time I’ve been called to work on one of them, I’ve had to borrow a laptop with a fixed port.

I’ve never attempted configuring my PC for E-7-1 while leaving the motion controller at E-7-2. I’ll try that the next time.

I’m curious as to why PC’s with fixed serial ports handle the 2 stop bits OK, but the USB ports don’t. Any idea?