MN-100 LAN traffic killing Internet

Here's my setup:

1: P4 w/WinXP Pro
2: P2 w/Win98
3: P4 w/WinXP Home (not always on the LAN or Internet)
4: Netgear 10/100 hub connecting 1 and 2
5: MN-100 router connecting 3, 4, and a Motorola Surfboard
cable modem (RoadRunner)

Protocols: TCP/IP for Internet only (no bindings).
IPX/SPX for LAN connectivity (bound to file and printer
sharing, client for MS networks, and NETBIOS support) for
LAN sharing.

Software: The router is running the latest firmware
revision. All PC's have been fully Windows Updated.

Problem: Since I bought the router almost a year ago, I
periodically lose my Internet connection completely. In
the past it's happened maybe once every few days, but
lately it's been happening three or more times a day.
When it happens, the modem looks fine; connectivity is
always restored by unplugging the router. (Using the
router's reset button works sometimes, but not always).

I can usually stimulate this behavior by doing a LAN file
transfer, which itself is not interrupted. When I did
this earlier, I was unable to even ping the router, though
I could still ping the other computers on the LAN.

I took the hub off the network earlier as a test and
connected 1 and 2 directly to the router. Upon initiating
a file transfer, I lost both my LAN and Internet
connections simultaneously and received a "network cable
unplugged" message on my XP machine. Apparently, I
managed to crash it completely.

Does the router just plain hate IPX? Should I put my
entire LAN on a dedicated switch instead of a hub so the
MN-100 doesn't see LAN traffic? Or could it be something
else?

Looking at my router's log, I see a lot of spamming by my
RoadRunner WAN host, tons of "Connection attempt to base
station from WAN blocked -- src:<24.174.#.#:#>
dst:<24.174.215.123:#>." The "dst" is the IP address
shown as my WAN IP on the base station home page...no idea
what the various "src" IP's are. I suppose it's possible
these are port scanners behind the RR network, but I doubt
it because I usually see a flurry of them right after I
send an e-mail or request a web page. ZoneAlarm used to
catch these back in my ICS days.

Intermixed with all that spamming are
multiple "192.168.2.# login failed," "192.168.2.# login
successful," and "Address 192.168.2.# was assigned to
client #: (MAC address)." Nothing is being turned off or
reset, though, so I'm a bit puzzled by these messages.

Because LAN traffic seems to completely lock up the router
and resetting it clears the log, I can't see what kind of
log messages doing a file transfer generates.

Thanks for any help, insight, or suggestions you can
provide.

Jim

After a little thinking last night I realized that most of
that log info is irrelevant. I was misreading the "spam"
and the repeated internal IP assignment messages are due
to IP lease timeouts. The failed login messages are still
curious, though.

And, of course, none of those realizations help with the
main problem, that of LAN traffic crashing the router.

Jim


>-----Original Message-----
>Here's my setup:
>
>1: P4 w/WinXP Pro
>2: P2 w/Win98
>3: P4 w/WinXP Home (not always on the LAN or Internet)
>4: Netgear 10/100 hub connecting 1 and 2
>5: MN-100 router connecting 3, 4, and a Motorola
Surfboard
>cable modem (RoadRunner)
>
>Protocols: TCP/IP for Internet only (no bindings).
>IPX/SPX for LAN connectivity (bound to file and printer
>sharing, client for MS networks, and NETBIOS support) for
>LAN sharing.
>
>Software: The router is running the latest firmware
>revision. All PC's have been fully Windows Updated.
>
>Problem: Since I bought the router almost a year ago, I
>periodically lose my Internet connection completely. In
>the past it's happened maybe once every few days, but
>lately it's been happening three or more times a day.
>When it happens, the modem looks fine; connectivity is
>always restored by unplugging the router. (Using the
>router's reset button works sometimes, but not always).
>
>I can usually stimulate this behavior by doing a LAN file
>transfer, which itself is not interrupted. When I did
>this earlier, I was unable to even ping the router,
though
>I could still ping the other computers on the LAN.
>
>I took the hub off the network earlier as a test and
>connected 1 and 2 directly to the router. Upon
initiating
>a file transfer, I lost both my LAN and Internet
>connections simultaneously and received a "network cable
>unplugged" message on my XP machine. Apparently, I
>managed to crash it completely.
>
>Does the router just plain hate IPX? Should I put my
>entire LAN on a dedicated switch instead of a hub so the
>MN-100 doesn't see LAN traffic? Or could it be something
>else?
>
>Looking at my router's log, I see a lot of spamming by my
>RoadRunner WAN host, tons of "Connection attempt to base
>station from WAN blocked -- src:<24.174.#.#:#>
>dst:<24.174.215.123:#>." The "dst" is the IP address
>shown as my WAN IP on the base station home page...no
idea
>what the various "src" IP's are. I suppose it's possible
>these are port scanners behind the RR network, but I
doubt
>it because I usually see a flurry of them right after I
>send an e-mail or request a web page. ZoneAlarm used to
>catch these back in my ICS days.
>
>Intermixed with all that spamming are
>multiple "192.168.2.# login failed," "192.168.2.# login
>successful," and "Address 192.168.2.# was assigned to
>client #: (MAC address)." Nothing is being turned off or
>reset, though, so I'm a bit puzzled by these messages.
>
>Because LAN traffic seems to completely lock up the
router
>and resetting it clears the log, I can't see what kind of
>log messages doing a file transfer generates.
>
>Thanks for any help, insight, or suggestions you can
>provide.
>
>Jim