Windows XP LAN problems 1

[eddx]

I have two computers, both running windows xp on my network connected by a Belkin Router / ADSL modem. My main system (this one) is being very slow when surfing the internet, the status is connected but the network activity is worryingly little. My backup system works really well and connects fast to the ADSL connection.

My girlfriend said the slow speed of the network and more importantly connection to the internet is due to my sent packets being more than my received packets. For example...

Current Activity -

SENT Packets = 3,123

RECEIVED Packets = 3,079

I have restarted my computer about 8 times already today, and the sent packets have been upto 4 times as many as the received packets.

This cant be right can it??? I think windows XP is causing this problem. Any ideas?!?

 

[bcastner]

My girlfriend said the slow speed of the network and more importantly connection to the internet is due to my sent packets being more than my received packets.

Usually the ratio is the other way around. What matters is how many were retries.

The first thing I would do is to adjust your MTU value. By default XP will assign 1500 to a broadband connection. This is not correct for ADSL.

. test your actual MTU value. In most cases it should be 1492, but can be substantially lower for some providers such as AOL:

http://www.dslreports.com/tweaks

. Then set the workstation MTU value using DrTCP:

http://www.dslreports.com/drtcp

. Then set a manual MTU value on the router itself to the discovered MTU.

Shutdown your computer and the router. Wait thirty seconds. Repower the router and let it stabilize. Repower your computer, let it connect and retest using the first site linked above.

 

[eddx]

Thanks for the advice bcastner. I did what you said. I tested my actual MTU values on dslreports.com and go the following results:

Actual data bytes sent: 146000
Actual data packets: 104
Max packet sent (MTU): 1454
Max packet recd (MTU): 1454
Retransmitted data packets: 0
sacks you sent: 14
pushed data pkts: 5
data transmit time: 1.966 secs
our max idletime: 144.2 ms
transfer rate: 45137 bytes/sec
transfer rate: 361 kbits/sec
This is not a speed test!
transfer efficiency: 100%

So then I downloaded the DrTCP program and set my MTU max value at 1492. Then I powered down my PC and router for a minute or two, powered up and things seemed to be fine. The internet seems a little more stable and on generally surfing of the web in explorer seems to load a little quicker. But the packets are still the wrong way around.

Current Activity -

SENT Packets = 891

RECEIVED Packets = 712

Why is my system turning the packets the wrong way around, is it Windows? Is it my firewall? Should I be worried?!?

Ideas welcomed

 

[bcastner]

I would not necessarily worry about it.
But I would use 1454 as your MTU as your test results show.