problems with outside connections

[Turin]

Hello,
I'm using RH 5.2 for a box acting as a server(using IP-MASQ) for my home network. Mostly it works fine, but sometimes seems to get stuck when accepting a connection. It doesn't matter whether it is POP, Telnet, FTP, or HTTP. Whe trying to connect, the box is found easily enough, but it can take minutes to get to a login prompt, or if HTTP, is just times out.

It happens both from the LAN side and the outer world. Outgoing traffic is not affected. No log messages show up concerning this.

Any help is appreciated

[PaleoKing]

Ok, this sounds really obvious, and you've probably already checked, but since no other suggestions have popped up, I'll chime in...

Have you tested the NICs? I'm just guessing that since you're not getting any log messages, there's nothing wrong with your configuration. Also, the fact that the problem is intermittant suggests the possibility of hardware. I'm not sure how to test them, since they seem to work fine sometimes, but if you have access to other NICs that have been trouble free, you might try substituting them. Also I have heard of problems when running two NICs of the same make and model in the same box. Specifically, this related to 3Com, but I'm not sure what model(s). It sounded like they were cancelling each other out or something. I know that sounds weird, but it's just what I read somewhere. Anyway, hope this helps...