Jump to content

Slow Ethernet


Slyke
 Share

Recommended Posts

I have 2 computers connected up to a 1GB switch.

My Vista computer has a 1GB Ethernet NIC.

My XP Computer has a 100MB/s Ethernet NIC.

Since most of my movies and stuff are stored on the old XP computer I tend to stream them over the ethernet connection.

This has been fine for the last year or so... Until a few days ago.

Now when I try to stream a movie, it stops & starts & freezes.

Also trading files has gone from about 10MB/s to about 5KB/s.

Pinging works fine.

I did however discover that:

ping 192.168.1.20 -l 1472

Reply from 192.168.1.20: bytes=1472 time=1ms TTL=128

Reply from 192.168.1.20: bytes=1472 time<1ms TTL=128

Reply from 192.168.1.20: bytes=1472 time<1ms TTL=128

Reply from 192.168.1.20: bytes=1472 time<1ms TTL=128

ping 192.168.1.20 -l 1473

Request timed out.

Request timed out.

Request timed out.

Request timed out.

This is true for numbers larger then 1473 as well.

I haven't changed any settings, haven't messed with any wires, or done anything.

I installed VNC server, but it was working fine for a while (This all started about a week and a half after I installed it).

I also tried changing it from auto to full 100 duplex - no effect.

This is quite a mystery for me. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Check the speed and duplex settings on both computers and set them manually. Set the Vista machine to Gigabit, and the XP machine to 100 mbps/Full Duplex. See if that helps. A speed or duplex mismatch could cause the symptoms, but I'm unsure why it would have such a definite size boundary.

Another possible cause is that the mtu (maximum transmission unit) size has changed for some reason. Pretty strange. Any chance there's a virus or malware on one of the computers?

http://www.speedguide.net/read_articles.php?id=157

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/826159

Microsoft Windows XP use a fixed MTU size of 1500 bytes for all PPP connections and use a fixed MTU size of 1400 bytes for all VPN connections.

Of course, make sure both computers have all Windows Updates, and up to date antivirus and antimalware installed.

You can try running netstat at the command line, or download tcpview to try to watch network activity:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinte...92acd2c271.aspx

If you want to sniff actual network traffic, you can try WireShark:

http://www.wireshark.org/download.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yep, everything's up to date. Changing the MTU didn't fix anything. Didn't even change the weird ping problem.

They both have Firewalls installed, but I've even disabled them and it still does this.

I'm about to check out the packet sniffer.

I'm totally lost as to why this is happening.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Checked it out.

Wireshark receives the echo request when sending 1473 bytes, but my computer doesn't reply? It replies when 1472 bytes are sent however.

I tried this offline too (IE, net is disconnected). What should I set the MTU to?

Don't know how this happened, or why, or how to fix! :(.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What should I set the MTU to?

What is it presently set at? If it's already bigger than 1473 bytes, it cannot be the problem. If it's lower than that, set it to 1500 and re-try the pings with the larger packet sizes.

You could also try manually setting Vista to 100 mb full duplex and see if that helps anything.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It didn't have a default MTU in there.

No Vik, it can't be my provider because it's all internal.

You maybe right catgate, however it does it all the time, even after a cold reboot (It's had a cool down time of about 40 minutes, unplugged).

The RPCSS service takes a while to startup I've noticed on reboots.

I created a DWORD value at HKLM/SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters and set it to 5DCh, didn't fix the ping problem. I also tried a few of the tutorials above (Pretty much creating registry values in different places, mainly near HKLM/SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services).

I think a backup and format is in order personally.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. Privacy Policy