Hello:

My network layout is as follows:

Two connections from my ISP
ISP Switch A1: to Switch 1
ISP Switch A1: to Gateway 1

Switch 1 Side network Description (this is what I call my SERVERS network side)
Switch1: to PC Server 1 (gets external IP from ISP)
Switch1: to PC Server 2 (gets external IP from ISP)
Switch1: to PC Server 3 (gets external IP from ISP)
Switch1: to PC Server 4 (gets external IP from ISP)
Switch1: to PC Server 5 (gets external IP from ISP)

Gateway 1 Side Network Description (this is what I call my CLIENTS network side)
GW1 ---> to switch A (gets external IP from ISP) ----> switch B ---> switch C ----> Office's inside network

There is two connections that run from
PC server 1 ---> switch A
PC server 3 ---> switch A

This is so that the Office's network has an internal connection to PC servers 1 & 3

Just a couple of days ago My ISP told me that they have been noticing some collisions coming from out network. Also over the last month or so, our internet connection has been going on and off at least twice a week. NOTHING has changed on the main layout architecture, however, something MAY have changed on the "Office's network" side. My questions are:

If there are collisions on one of the two sides of my network then wouldnt my switches have caught that way before it hits the ISP switch? None of my switches are managed, they are cheap linksys & belkin switches (dam budgets!), so there is not much analysis that I can get out of them. Is there anyway that I can find out from what side of my network the problems are coming from? how would I do that? is there a software suite that I could use to help me? perhaps something like etherpeek?

Please tell me if there is an easier or more effective way of doing things but so far this is what I am wanting to do:
Use a hub first between the connections that go from Switch 1 and Gateway 1 to the ISP's Switch A1, this way I can connect another PC into this hub with some sort of network analysis software suite installed to monitor the traffic in the hub. Is this a good idea or would it create more unecessary traffic? I was planning on doing that to find out which side of the network the problem was coming from (either Severs or client side) then do the same thing in that side using the hub until I can find the segment that is causing the problem. Does this seem doable? is there a better easier way to do this?

Also I realize that the topology I am using is probably NOT the best, and I would welcome better recommendations, however, right now my main priority is find out what is causing these collisions. Please keep in mind that this has only been a problem over the last month, although nothing has changed as far as I know, before that everything ran smoothly.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanx!

~pman

I suggest that you use the Performance and Event Viewer applets under Administrative Tools in your Control Panel, assuming that you’re using a Win2K version, to check for any bottlenecks in your network.
Also here is a list of some free tools that you can use to monitor your network:
http://www.snapfiles.com/freeware/network/.../fwnetmoni.html

As for a recommended topology, you may want to look at this page, which gives you a brief comparison between the three most popular topologies (star, bus, and ring):
http://www.cyber.ust.hk/handbook3/0A_hb3.html
There is also the mesh topology, but this one is very expensive as it provides redundant connections. But you really don’t need it, unless it’s a mission-critical server that you’re dealing with.