Your LS-CH is at -least- 8 years old, and probably older - and shipped with a one year warranty. The fact that it's still drawing breath is a tribute to the ingenuity of hard drive manufacturers.
Also, I'm not sure what level of support you feel is reasonable 8+years after you buy a unit that offered 90 days of setup support. The forum is a community-driven environment. Texturtle and I reply when we have spare cycles. Him more than me.
I actually never supported these because they were EOL before I started here.
Anyway, I would guess that you have
1. a marginal ethernet cable,
2. a 10/100 switch, router, or hub. This seems a bit more likely considering your penchant for vintage computer hardware,
3. a problem with the unit (unlikely if it works at all)