Network Cabling Question (Retro Stuff)

It's easy to sympathize witht he good Dr. where he doesn't want to dump anything but minimal to get going. Assuming that the system basically works okay, but bombs out at times: you may be on target. What I would not do is to get into modifying the system with different connections. That could be a disaster and a pandora's box.

At a minimal cost, just replace the existing coaxial cabling using good quality mfr (like Belden or Alpha) RG-58 and connectors (center conductor soldered, not crimp). Chances are, the existing is the original and has corrosion of the shielding for one.

Any bend radius should be fine for the application if over 3 inches.

I was going to suggest what I was using double-shielded RG-223, be now see that the cost is through the roof! Even for 100 FT.

While at it, I'd reseat all of those related (and other) networking cards, just for the halibut. Not to suggest that you go fishing just yet . Hopefully, this will do it!

Good Luck!

More than likely the cable has just been flexed too much through the years. Just replace the bad segment. You can not use the center computer as a hub. On a NIC you could use the RJ45 OR the BNC connector. Not both.

I have worked as system/network tech for the past 12+ years (including supporting DOS, Novell, Banyan for DOS, Win31, WinNT, etc.) Follow mjb1962853's advice and replace the network. Yes, it can/will work. NE2000 cards should be just right. Funny, I remember the NE2000 cards well. That was back when we had to mess with IRQs. You shouldn't even need to change any drivers. Should be peaches.

Those coax connections on the back of the cards require T connectors with terminators on the ends that don't have a cable in them. The terminator on only one end needs to have a ground wire attached. Anything else with these cables will not be reliable. The cards typically cannot connect both ports ( the coax and the RJ45 ) at the same time, so don't mix the topologies. Cat 5 with a switch would be the best choice as mentioned above. That way if you have an intermittent card you can troubleshoot by connecting any 2 computers and check for reliability, then add the third and replace the card of the offending computer if the network suddenly becomes unreliable when it gets added. If you want to keep using the coax, look up Thinnet for examples of terminating correctly.

Okay, first let me thank you all for your suggestions, we really appreciate all the help.

It looks like the consensus is towards the switch so that is the way we're going to go. But we will keep Bill's caution about changing things in mind, our fallback position (if switch turns into a 'project') will be to firm up the original setup based on your suggested fixes.

I'll post again after the changeover and let you know how it turns out.

OK. Finally got around to installing the network switch. We decided upon the NETGEAR FS105. Cost $19.99 (Amazon) and a $10 mfg rebate! The only time-consuming part was running the cables nice and out of sight as possible.

Then it was a simple matter of plugging in to the RJ-45 connectors into the switch and voila! the network is up and running nice and stable. It was easy as Peaches indeed.

Thanks again to all.