Len, There are cable testers, but since your problem is intermittent, they may not catch it. Swapping cables is the better choice. An issue with the network cards in either machine could cause problems,. I don't know of any good diagnostics for those other than repeated ping test. As I said before, access to the packet log in the router is your best troubleshooting tool, but it can be difficult to decode and you may have to sort through a lot of entries to find the meaningful information. You say that the router reserves ip for each computer. Are you using static ip addressing, or reserved ip within DHCP? Actually, not sure that really matters, but if static addressing, it would tend to rule out the router. There may still be problems there, but I would consider them less likely. I do not know a good program for windows, but I think what you need is a program like those used to test and verify a web server is up and running ok. A program that will run constanty on the client machine, and check whether the host machine is reachable. It should report if/whenever the host is unreachable. That may help you get closer to the problem, but the real cause of the failure to communicate will only be in the packet logs in the router. On Aug 19, 2011, at 9:46 AM, Leonard Siskin wrote: > Since the network is simple ( and has been the same configuration for years) the router reserves ip addresses within the office for each computer and printer on the network, it is wired. The computers all are on the same workgroup using the same username and password to make security issues fewer. Our office is long so I have a back desk computer where the router is moving through actually one switch, through a second switch to the front desk computer about 80 feet away. It has been like this for a decade and worked well the entire time. The third switch is local to the back desk computer and is used for peripherals such as printers and laptops which are not always on the network and generally do not open the database. > > If the Ethernet cables were going bad, rather than running new wire, is there a way to test each individual cable??? > > Could the network card in one of the machines be going bad? Is there a way to test this as well??? > > This was very helpful to the thought process. I am leaning on FM server just based on comments by Steve & Steve. I truly appreciate all the time you spent on this email and the information. > > If you could let me know about the above 2 items it might help smooth things out even further. > > Thanks again and have a great weekend. > > Len > > > > > From: FileMaker Pro Discussions [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Stephen Toth > Sent: Friday, August 19, 2011 8:47 AM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: Communication with Host Lost... > > Len, > The suggestions regarding FileMaker Server are valuable in the long run, but do not solve your immediate problem. > And the ping typically runs only for a short time, so it is unlikely to find intermittent problems. > > You do not give a full layout of your network, and that may help to isolate your problem. > Are the 2 machines both local? On the same network node and workgroup? > Is the connection hardwired all the way or wireless for part of the network? > You state that you have replaced the router, and 3 switches, so the connection between the machines is obviously not simple. > > Routers and switches can provide packet logs if you can access them, which may help to isolate where the problem is occurring. > Any resends of packets would indicate a problem. > Although it does not happen often, Ethernet cables do go bad. Not really the cable, but the connectors on the end, and the sockets are potential trouble spots. You may want to purchase some new cables, and swap those out. > > If you are using WiFi through any portion of the network, try to establish hardwired connection instead to see if the problem still persists. > > I have had WiFi routers that would randomly just drop the connection. The biggest culprit was a Netgear router, but it can occur with others. The situation with drivers in the routers, and drivers in the WiFi chips or dongles on the machines can be maddening, but as the standards have changed and evolved, it is possible to have minor incompatibilities that can cause what you are seeing. You may never see it with normal Internet surfing or simple file sharing, but packet drops with peer to peer sharing are much more critical. > > The failure modes you are seeing indicate that one of the two machines is loosing communication with the other. Hard to tell which end first sees the problem, but in essence what happens is that one side drops communication, or the communication times out. The connection process is still alive on the other machine, and will stay that way until FileMaker is restarted. Reestablishing the connection without a restart means the host is now serving 2 machines and on and on, until you exceed the maximum license for sharing, or until the processes that keep restarting take up too much of the working memory. > > When using local hosting, in the event of a communication failure, I strongly recommend restarting FileMaker on any and all clients that are using the solution from the hosting machine. That may get you out of the problem without having to force restart/quit on the host and possible file corruption. In any case always try to quit on all client machines first. Then if they cannot reconnect, quit on the clients again, then quit/restart the host. > > Hope that helps some, and if you can provide more information regarding the network, maybe someone can help further. > > > On Aug 19, 2011, at 5:58 AM, Leonard Siskin, DC wrote: > > > I have been an amateur Filemaker user for years and run my chiropractic office on a database I built starting in FM5. > > I am using 2 computers, one opens the file using FM11 and one opens it remotely FM 10. > > The system always worked flawlessly but recently the network loses communication with the host spontaneously and I have to re-open the database from the remote location. > > I’ve checked my security software and replaced my router and all three switches the office uses but the problem still exists. > > Sometimes connectivity is lost every few minutes and after several times re-opening the database from the remote computer it will say not enough memory to open the database (I am using a core i7 processor, windows 7 professional and one of the two has 12GB ram and the other, 18GB). Sometimes I receive an error message stating the maximum number of licensed users are already using the software and it shuts filemaker down on the remote computer. (Both computers have licensed software) The only way to re-open the database on the remote computer is to shut down filemaker on both computers and reopen the database then re-open from the remote location. > > Does anyone have any idea why this is happening or how to fix it???? > > > I really appreciate the input from the group as many of the conversations here have shed light on using the system better. > > I’d appreciate any feedback anyone has. > > Thanks. > > Len > > > Leonard Siskin, DC > Siskin Family Chiropractic > 326 US Highway 22 > Suite 6B > Green Brook, NJ 08812 > www.SiskinChiropractic.com > [log in to unmask] > Phone: 732-752-6606 > Fax: 732-752-6643 > > > > ----------------------------- > Stephen Toth > Database Design & Solutions > [log in to unmask] > ----------------------------- Stephen Toth Database Design & Solutions [log in to unmask]