Okay, I'm not sure if it is the connection I'm losing or something else is happening and I just can't fathom it out.

I have set up Debian from netinstall. I installed openssh server and Apache. The server is connected to our local network with the IP address 192.168.0.51 and shares a physical port on a simple ethernet switch.

I can SSH into the server from Ubuntu but it takes around one minute to ask for a password and another 20 seconds or so to bring up the prompt. I have checked twice to make sure their are no conflicting IP addresses on the network (all static). The connection seems fine but if I am away from the secure shell for more than a couple of minutes or I minimize the terminal window I can no longer type anything at the remote machines prompt. Reconnection without restarting the server is impossible on most attempts and the terminal just hangs before the password prompt appears.

I have the same kind of issue with Apache. I can view Apaches test index.html using just the IP address from my browser but after a few minutes I get the 'connecting to 192.168.0.52' in the status bar and it never reconnects.

Anybody any ideas on how to put this right? Thank you in advance.

I am not sure whether you have 1, 2, or 3 distinct problems. (Your explanation is clear, I just don't know whether they are, at their root, the same problem or not.) I suggest you use a packet sniffer like tcpdump or wireshark to see what is going with the long delays. If using it at one end doesn't provide sufficient information, try it at the other end as well.

You might also get useful information using the -v option with ssh. Use it up to three times for increasing verbosity.