TCP/IP Not Pinging Network PC

Hi all,
First of all: 10 PC's in Network, 10/100 network, all running WinXP SP1a, fixed IP's(range 192.168.1.1 onwards)

When playing games over our network 1 PC occasionally falls of the network and we can't see it anymore in the games(not always the same PC). If I Ping it from another PC using IP address the packets return OK but if I Ping the PC's name (e.g. PING DUKE) it fails. Also if I ping from the Faulty PC to a good one the packets fail. We've tried everything reinstalling TCP/IP, turning off the onboard network port and adding a network card, WinsockXPfix program, rebooting the Network Switch, changed cables/Switch, changing IP address etc etc.
Anybody got any ideas ?
KDC

 

10 PCs with static IP addresses

- first thing I'd do is put a hosts file in each with all the IPs and PC names matched.

- if you haven't already done so, change the NIC properties for speed and duplexing to the fastest the PC and network device will support. Should be 100Mbps Full-duplex for the NICs and if you connect with a switch, that will be fine. If a hub, back off to 10Mbps half duplex.

After the above if you still have issues, post back. There are more tweaks you can make but no need if there is no longer a problem.

 

Host file

Hi Newt when you say a Host file surely this will block IP's and Names. If it doesn't then how do I add a PC.
At the moment the entries look like this:

127.0.0.1 123banners.com
127.0.0.1 ad.adsmart.net

and so on.
Cheers
KDC

 

You can add real stuff to your hosts file. It can contain several thousand entries with no performance issues.

Assuming you have your PCs in the 192.168.x.x range and named them ComputerA through ComputerJ. You would add to the hosts file (and easiest to make a master copy then place one on each PC)

127.0.0.1 123banners.com
127.0.0.1 ad.adsmart.net
192.168.0.2 ComputerA
192.168.0.3 ComputerB
and so on.

The 127.0.0.x address is the loopback address of the network card so any site matched with that address will be blocked since the card will just connect to is's own backside.

Good addresses will be used. It's a quick way to help the whole connection process.

 

Hi Newt,
Cheers for that i'll try and see if that solves our problems.
KDC