On Tue, 12 Dec 2017 16:34:43 -0400, pjp
wrote:



Ok, I have a home network consisting of in total 9 pcs and a few xboxs
and playstation plus an ip camera of which only some of them are always
turned on ... All connected via a router and switches.

I'm guessing you meant to say all connected via switches. If the only
router in the mix is a gateway, (aka NAT), router, then it's not
relevant to the discussion, but if you actually have a router segmenting
your LAN, that leads to a whole new set of questions and considerations.

The problem is that one of the Win7 pcs seems to always have some
problem with the network. Speficially it stops allowing the XP pc to
connect to it.

During these periods, do you still have basic connectivity, for example
via ICMP ping? Are all devices on the LAN configured to use DHCP, or are
you configuring static networking info?

It does not seem to matter what pc is the master browser
although if it is the XP pc the stoppage seems to take longer to
develope. The XP pc can always see the "good" Win7 pc and for that
matter any and all other devices if they're turned on also. Incidently
the IP camera is on the same switch and is always visible to all the
pcs. AND from the problem Win7 pc there never apopears to be a problem
and all devices are seen properly.

So far, it sounds like the firewall on the problematic PC, but wild
guesses can be a time suck. Still, you might temporarily disable it. Do
you have any other anti-malware programs installed? Some of them are
known to see a set of circumstances and react by shutting down network
access.

I'm thinking of killing the onboard network card and installing a stand
alone card to see if that fixes the issue but other ideas more than
welcome at this point.

Run a continuous ping (ping -t 1.2.3.4) where 1.2.3.4 means the address
of a remote host. Ping in both directions, both to and from the
problematic PC.

Try to determine if this is a network connectivity issue, a network
discovery issue, or a firewall issue. Regarding the NIC, if it works for
your continuous ping in both directions, then it's probably fine.

--

Char Jackson