Netowrk GURU'S: XP-Vista home netork SLOW!

Off topic, but don't go too far overboard - after all, we are watching...heh.
RTCW Admin
User avatar
Posts: 612
Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2004 1:19 pm
Location: Michigan

Netowrk GURU'S: XP-Vista home netork SLOW!

Postby YOOPER » Sat Sep 12, 2009 9:04 pm

I need some help from my ECGN network gurus...

I have a new Vista 64bit box. I added it to my home network (WRT54GL router), with the intention of sharing files with my XP boxes.

Moving files across the network, though, is SLOOOW... 1MB/sec would be average. I don't have this problem XP->XP...only Vista.

This seems to be a common problem, as I find all kinds of similar complaints all over the internet. There does not, however, seem to be a simple solution.

It's not a firewall issue, like some have found out (Windows firewall off, Zone Alarm properly configured). I've tried disabling network auto-tuning in Vista. I've tried different NIC settings (half, full, auto duplex). Flow control on and off. I've turned off Remote Differential Compression in Vista.

Nothing has seemed to help.

Has anyone else run into this issue? Copying a 6 gig movie file, for example, would take a couple hours.

Any hints, tips, ideas....?

Thanks.

User avatar
Posts: 6303
Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 5:43 am
Location: Quebec, Canada

Re: Netowrk GURU'S: XP-Vista home netork SLOW!

Postby Chacal » Sun Sep 13, 2009 4:37 pm

Try Teracopy, a free utility.
http://blogs.howtogeek.com/mysticgeek/2008/09/18/geek-reviews-use-teracopy-to-speed-up-file-copying/

Compare transfer speeds before and after.
Chacal


[SIZE="1"][color="LightBlue"]Reporter: "Mr Gandhi, what do you think of western civilization?"
Gandhi: "I think it would be a great idea."[/color][/SIZE]

RTCW Admin
User avatar
Posts: 612
Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2004 1:19 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Netowrk GURU'S: XP-Vista home netork SLOW!

Postby YOOPER » Mon Sep 14, 2009 12:38 pm

Funny you mention that - I had already tried it before you posted that. Same speed.

I'm beginning to wonder if it's a NIC and router thing. After playing with the settings, I've seen as high as 10MB/sec. Better, but I still think it should do better.

Funny thing is, though, is that I can do a big file at 10megs, then come back later that day (with NOTHING changed settings wise) and transfer another file and it'll be down to ~2MB/sec. If I disconnent the computer from the network (basically disconnect the NIC from the network via software, then reconnect), sometimes it'll be back up to 10MB/sec, sometimes down to 500k per second.... Weird. Oh, and pulls the same private IP address from the router (so it's not an IP thing).

My router is probably 5 years old, and I have the latest Linksys firmware. The Vista 64bit box is brand new, and has the latest NIC drivers. The XP box is years old, but I have the latest drivers for it, too.

I've read reports on the net where people have seemed to randomly play with the settings and are getting 50-70MB/sec across their network. I don't understand why I can't, either. I'm certainly not an IT expert, but I'm not completely retarded either. <shrug>

Same thing with wireless, by the way....the Vista box has both a wireless card and a traditional NIC. The wireless is even slower... (despite having maximum signal and connecting at 54 megs...) No, I'm not connecting both at the same time (even though I tried it just for shits and giggles...both will connect - pulls two different private IP's from the router).

Internet speed seems fine, by the way (except my ISP doesn't seem to provide the best connection in the world). Speedtest.net (usually) reports speeds consistent with what my ISP advertises. Sometimes way slower, but usually it's alright.

And thanks for chiming in Chacal...

Any other ideas, guys?

--Yoop

RTCW Admin
Posts: 1234
Joined: Mon Feb 17, 2003 8:21 am
Location: State College, PA

Re: Netowrk GURU'S: XP-Vista home netork SLOW!

Postby MAN-AT-ARMS » Mon Sep 14, 2009 3:04 pm

WRT54GL only has 100Mbps LAN ports.

10MB/s = 80Mbps = normal.

RTCW Admin
User avatar
Posts: 612
Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2004 1:19 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Netowrk GURU'S: XP-Vista home netork SLOW!

Postby YOOPER » Mon Sep 14, 2009 4:53 pm

ARRRRGH! You mean to tell me I went and made the noobie mistake of confusing (b)its and (B)ytes? Arrrrrrrgh!

MAA, you're absolutely right. The ethernet connection is 100Mbps...bits, Yooper, bits!!!

The Vista 64 box's NIC can do 1Gbps, and yes - I do realize the router would have to support that, too. But, that's pretty much a moot point becuase I know the XP box can't do 1Gbps.

Sigh. Oh well. I'll just have to put up with my slow-ass router for now.

Thanks.

RTCW Admin
Posts: 1234
Joined: Mon Feb 17, 2003 8:21 am
Location: State College, PA

Re: Netowrk GURU'S: XP-Vista home netork SLOW!

Postby MAN-AT-ARMS » Mon Sep 14, 2009 7:35 pm

The router is good to route your internet connection...I have one myself. Just get yourself a gigabit switch and connect your wired connections to that. (Feed the switch off of your WRT54GL.)

Vista can be pretty slow at copying files as well if you don't turn off the auto-tuning.

User avatar
Posts: 180
Joined: Sat May 27, 2006 7:18 am
Location: Rhode Island

Re: Netowrk GURU'S: XP-Vista home netork SLOW!

Postby Major Hazard » Tue Sep 15, 2009 4:58 am

When I have problems like this in XP at home or in production,. I uninstall the NIC in device manager, reboot and let Windows reinstall. Sometimes the whole TCP stack is screwed up and needs this whole rebuild. This works most of the time. It would not hurt things. You may have to get an updated NIC driver if all else fails. There have been a few instances where the onboard NIC drivers totally sucked ass and I went to the chip manufacturer and got a great driver. I think that in the last instance, it was marvell and their driver worked great.

RTCW Admin
User avatar
Posts: 612
Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2004 1:19 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Netowrk GURU'S: XP-Vista home netork SLOW!

Postby YOOPER » Tue Sep 15, 2009 10:31 am

A gigabit switch sounds pretty cool, but right now the only system I have with a gigabit NIC is the Vista machine; the rest of my desktops are all XP with 10/100 NICs (and my XP laptop is 802.11a/b/g). Maybe once I eventually upgrade everything and have a few with gigabit NICs....

Major Hazard...yeah, I made sure I had the most recent NIC drivers for both. I didn't go so far as uninstalling in the device manager, but it DOES seem to help to click 'disconnect' from the router, then click 'connect' again... Transfer speeds come back up to normal (at least for a little while).

<rant>
On an unrelated note...why the heck is my ISP assigning me an IP address that's in a different range than what I used to have? I mean, it's a whole new IP range it seems. Ever since then, my connection has been sketchy...sometimes up to speed, other times way slow. Completely random - can do speedtest.net and repeat it 1 minute later and have vastly different results. Calling them is no good - they have no idea what I'm talking about! Trying to renew my IP doesn't help either...still get the same IP range. Oh well...out of my control I guess. I just wanted to bitch a little bit.</rant>

RTCW Admin
User avatar
Posts: 612
Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2004 1:19 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Netowrk GURU'S: XP-Vista home netork SLOW!

Postby YOOPER » Thu Sep 17, 2009 2:22 pm

YOOPER wrote:<rant>
On an unrelated note...why the heck is my ISP assigning me an IP address that's in a different range than what I used to have? I mean, it's a whole new IP range it seems. Ever since then, my connection has been sketchy...sometimes up to speed, other times way slow. Completely random - can do speedtest.net and repeat it 1 minute later and have vastly different results. Calling them is no good - they have no idea what I'm talking about! Trying to renew my IP doesn't help either...still get the same IP range. Oh well...out of my control I guess. I just wanted to bitch a little bit.</rant>


FINALLY got a hold of someone with my ISP who understood what I meant by getting a IP address that's way different than what I'm accustomed to. They reset things on their end, and now I have an IP in the range that I used to get, and my internet speeds have doubled. Surprise, surprise.

Vista transfers remain labile...sometime 10megs, some times 2 megs...it's hit and miss.

I wonder if Win7 is gonna fix any of this stuff? :confused:

Return to The Smokin' Room

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 15 guests