3com OfficeConnect 8 port hub - port failure problem

[Buggeroo]

I have a bunch of 3com OfficeConnect 8 port hubs stacked together, does anybody know why some of the ports occasionally stop working? They seem to do this without any reason and the immediate solution is to disconnect the power-supply and then reconnect it. This gets them working again for a while, until the next time the problem arises. I would very much like to know if anybody has encountered a similar problem and possibly a solution.
Please help!

 

[conceptumator]

Couple of ideas for you:
1. How do you have the units stacked? Are you using a normal patch cable between hubs and using an internal switch to stack them? If so, make sure the switched are all set right. Also, depending on how they are installed, make sure they aren't getting warm and causing a switch to fail.

2. To eliminate the chance of a switch failure, you might try leaving all of the switches set to normal position and using a cross-over cable between hubs.

3. Another idea would be to try using one of the hubs as a sort of "master switch". Connect only the one hub to the server, then connect all of the secondary hubs to it directly via cross-over cables. Then when one hub goes down, the others should stay up (instead of taking down all of the hubs downstream of the bad one).

Hope this helps -- good luck!

 

[Buggeroo]

conceptumator
Thank you for your reply.

The hubs are all individually connected to a switch, so they are not "stacked" as such. They are only stacked physically on top of one another, i mentioned it because i thought that there was a possibilty that they could overheat or something like that. It is not necessarily an entire hub that goes down, but rather just one or two of its ports that stops working, and this has happened with most of them, so i cannot believe that there is something physically wrong with all of them. Do you think that overheating could cause this? It is my only suggestion, but anything is appreciated.

 

[AidanEnos]

As pessamistic as it may sound, there's a reason 3com doesn't make networking gear anymore (

Try a Baystack 450T from Nortel Networks, they have MUCH more functionality and are supported by Nortel! If you need someone to talk to email me and I'll set you up.

 

[conceptumator]

As they are individually connected to the switch, I doubt the overheating I mentioned is an issue. This is a confusing one for my limited knowledge, but I would tend to guess that something is happening due to the fact that you basically have 8 users on each node of the switch. I have tried this arrangement for temporary measures, but never with more than one 4-port hub being tied into one node on the switch. I will ask my son-in-law what he thinks (he's a lot more up on networks that I'll ever be) and get back to you.

Also, in response to the other email, so far as I know 3Com is still very much in the business of making switches and hubs. They are considered the top-line manufacturer from everything I hear (I could be wrong, but that's been my experience, too). I have two 3Com 10/100 auto-switching 24 port hubs and a 24 port 3Com switch stacked in our network here and have never had a problem with any of it. I would have 3 of the hubs, but the switch was actually on sale for less than a hub when I expanded the systems. I put the really heavy duty users in the office on the switch and left the others on the hub with no complaints. The only slowdown we see in our intranet is when our Nortel Networks/MCI/UUNet sort-of-maybe-a-T1 line acts up.

I will be back to you when I get more input.

 

[rtshort]

I have had hubs do the same thing, different brands, and have not a clue as to why. The only thing I can think of is 2 people tried at the same time to access the same file or part of a file and collided. I know it sounds strange but stranger things have happened. 3-Com also has a very good website for trouble shooting their products.

http://www.3com.com

of course. Every day above ground is a GOOD DAY!!!