Question : Intermittent network disconnect problem

We have a 17PC peer to peer network connected to a NT server box, linked with coax cable, protocol TCP/IP.
Everything working fine until Friday afternoon when connection to the server was lost by all clients. Server was rebooted, clients still unable to log on. Having checked that the server NIC was ok I systematically reconnected the cables, the network started working again. Since then though, the network intermittently disconnects and only reconnects when I unplug & plug some of the cables. Is this a cable problem or something else?

Answer : Intermittent network disconnect problem

An easy way to test to see if the cable is a problem - go to a dos command window on a computer on one end- type

ping -t xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is the ip number of the computer on the other end. This will continue the ping cycle forever. As you watch the screen, shake the cable around, if it goes in and out depending on how you are holding the cable, you most surely have a cable problem. Replaces cable accordingly, or better yet - get your boss to pay for CAT5.