can't browse network ... but can access the Internet??

Hi Guys, I have an intermitant problem.
We have 6 machines at work running win98SE connected to an Netgear ISDN router & 10/100 switch. The only protocol installed fully is the TCP/IP.
The router use DHCP to assign the addresses automatically. (it set up to use the 10.0.0 etc as it's ip.)
Uptill recently, everything worked fine, now we get the occasional 'can't browse network', but we can still access the internet on all machines. I checked the network protocols & settings etc, & on one machine it rebuilt the database as though its installing a new device.
After that everything worked fine.
A couple of questions, would I be better installing NETBEUI for the netwok as well as TCP to add stability?
Do I need to set one of the systems as a 'master browser' & if so how?
Would I be better setting up static IP address?
Is it usual to put the ip address (of the router) in the 'gateway' section. Would this 'force' the other machine to look there first?
Sorry if this is all a bit long winded, but I got lumbered with the job because 'I know all about computers! - I wish !!
Glenn

1. RE: can't browse network ... but can access the Internet??
lbyard Jun-19-02 04:01 PM
In response to message 0

>Would I be better installing NETBEUI for the netwok as well as TCP to add stability?
It might if you do not have XP installed. But that would only mask the real problem. Start by checking cables and watching adapter and switch LEDs. An intermittent problem usually means intermittent hardware. Scan for viruses. Something may be hogging the network.
>Do I need to set one of the systems as a 'master browser' & if so how?
Usually no. Probably not the problem.
>Would I be better setting up static IP address?
Not in my opinion.
>Is it usual to put the ip address (of the router) in the 'gateway' section. Would this 'force' the other machine to look there first?
Not required. It know where it is because it has the DHCP server. Larry

2. RE: can't browse network ... but can access the Internet??
shortstuff Jun-20-02 07:16 AM
In response to message 1

many thanks larry, one query though. If it's a cable/card problem how come we can access the internet all the time, even when we can't browse the network?
Also if there's one cable/port problem, would that stop the whole network from being accessed?
What sort of hardware fault cause problems across the network?
btw we have Win98SE on all the systems, so Netbeui would be no problem to install.
Glenn

3. RE: can't browse network ... but can access the Internet??
lbyard Jun-20-02 02:51 PM
In response to message 2

It's not likely, but keep in mind that the Internet connection is a lot slower than a LAN connection. A marginal cable may work OK at slow speeds and not at higher speeds. I'd try NetBEUI. It appears to solve some of these problems. I've also noticed that when XP is present XP won't network with 9x computers, and for some reason TCP/IP works better when XP is present than in a 9x-only network. But, I have not connected enough XP computers yet to say that that is always the case. Larry