Ahhh. I should have mentioned that I DO have Hijack installed. after some fiddleing around with one I think I have the problem with one of them figured out. The female-female 'block' (the one that has the small ethernet cable going to it) appears to be 'bad' as it will not lock the connecter on the end of the small cable to it. after some testing, that seems to be the problem...I haven't started trying the other one yet.
Thanks!