Connections between communication nodes are established along a ring, with nodes at successive positions along the ring and two-way point to point communication connections between pairs of the nodes at successive positions along the ring. Data addressed to a node is split into parts that are transmitted to the node along opposite directions along the ring. Intermediate nodes forward the data. The nodes monitor the connections and other nodes to detect whether there is a failure of transmission along any direction and, if there is a failure along one of the directions, suppressing transmitting all of the data in a failing one of the directions.