Which NIC

Sturtz · Post by **Sturtz** » Wed Jan 08, 2003 2:04 pm

I got a good tip on NIC cards from here last Oct when I hosted a LAN party with 16 flight sim buddies.
I ordered a 3Com "3CR990 TX 97 w/Processor" and it held up very well under the load.

My question to you gurus is: Now that I'm back to hosting online only again (IP address), my new NIC doesn't seem any better than my old D-Link 10/100. In fact I often report higher pings from those who join.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.....

mnosteele52 · Post by **mnosteele52** » Wed Jan 08, 2003 2:12 pm

There are a few things to try.

1. Make sure you have the latest drivers for it from 3Com.

2. Set your NIC duplex mode properly.

3. If you have allot of options under you advanced tab under properties check out Optimizing.net (select the "ethernet" link) and it has some good information on what to set things to.

Sturtz · Post by **Sturtz** » Wed Jan 08, 2003 2:55 pm

My driver is dated= 8/23/99
But I can't seem to find a newer one. I tried the update file and it came up with the same driver.

In the Device Manager, the 3Com has no more adjustments than any other network adapter card I've ever installed.
For the price I payed for this thing I thought I'd get alot more out of it. But I'm sure as a Pure-server system it would have more stability like everyone said . Was just thinking it would surely out perform a common 10/100.

Bet there's more I could adjust or do with this card to improve my broadband . Am I correct ?

On Cox Cable.

mnosteele52 · Post by **mnosteele52** » Wed Jan 08, 2003 3:01 pm

Try here for updated drivers. You have tweaked your connection right? If not or if you would like help doing so please let me know your OS and post a TCP/IP Analyzer test result.

mnosteele52 · Post by **mnosteele52** » Wed Jan 08, 2003 3:04 pm

I looked at your profile and it said you are using Windows 98SE, so download CableNut and use the following settings:

BcastNameQueryCount - 1
BcastQueryTimeout - 100
BSDUrgent - 1
CacheTimeout - 600000
DefaultRecvWindow - 64240
DefaultTTL - 64
EnableDNS - 0
GlobalMaxTcpWindoSize - 64240
KeepAliveInterval - 500
KeepAliveTime - 14400000
Lanabase - 0
LocalCopyMade - 1
MaxConnections - 64
MaxConnectRetries - 5
MaxDataRetries - 64
NameTableSize - 255
NameSrvQueryTimeout - 100
PMTUBlackHoleDetect - 0
PMTUDiscovery - 1
RoutingBufSize - 146432
RoutingPackets - 100
SackOpts - 1
SessionKeepAlive - 7200
SessionTableSize - 255
Size/Small/Medium/Large - 3
Tcp1323Opts - 0
TcpTimedWaitDelay - 30
MaxDupAcks - 2
DefaultTOS - 92
IGMPLevel - 2
MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server - 20
MaxConnectionsPerServer - 10

VERY IMPORTANT TO DO THE FOLLOWING

1. Under your Configuration tab for your Network settings make sure you have only the needed protocols.

2. Install the vtcp 386 patch and the NDIS Update.

3. Open IE and select tools - internet options - connections - LAN settings, make sure NOTHING there is checked.

4. Make sure you have the latest drivers for your NIC from the manufacturer. Set your NIC duplex mode to 10mb half duplex for Cable, for DSL it is ISP dependent unless you are using a router, if so then set it to 100mb full duplex for both Cable & DSL (the instructions are in my Help & Tips link). If you are using a router make sure you have the latest firmware.

5. Clear your temporary internet files.

6. Power cycle your modem, unplug it for atleast 15 seconds.

7. Download and update then do a scan with SpyBot, anything checked in red is spyware and safe to remove.

8. Make sure you do the faster web page tweak in my Help & Tips link.

Try ALL of the above and see how things work then and please post back.

Sturtz · Post by **Sturtz** » Wed Jan 08, 2003 8:03 pm

I have done all the above down to the letter.

Seems faster all ready. I had done the speedGuide tweaks and the Optimizer. But not many of the above.

I only have one question here. On your first adjustment line:::
1. "Under your Configuration tab for your Network settings make sure you have only the needed protocols. "

Not sure exactly what to look for.

I will test this out tonight. I'll have around 8 or 9 guys join on my ip for some IL-2 Sturmovik missions and check ping times and player responce.

I know it all has alot to do with how much bandwidth Cox is letting me have , etc. And those of you that host games know what it's like to have several dialup users from overseas join on your server. But these settings and utillities you've helped me with sound like I'll be handling the load better than before.

Thank you so much !!!!!
And I'll post my findings ASAP.

mnosteele52 · Post by **mnosteele52** » Wed Jan 08, 2003 8:10 pm

Great I hope it makes your gaming more enjoyable

. The protocols suggestion... in your control panel under your network icon you have all the protocols your ISP uses, I don't know what kind of setup you ahve so I'm not sure what protocols you need and do not need but the more you have it can slow you down. So reference Cox's site and see what they say you need for your setup and remove the rest.

Sturtz · Post by **Sturtz** » Wed Jan 08, 2003 8:19 pm

Mind if I take a snapshot of the protocols and send it to you via email in .jpeg format ?

mnosteele52 · Post by **mnosteele52** » Wed Jan 08, 2003 8:21 pm

Sure my email is under my profile.

Sturtz · Post by **Sturtz** » Wed Jan 08, 2003 8:38 pm

Guess what I found ?
The protocols are fine. I checked on the Cox link as well.
But..........there was the old D-Link cards properties, etc in the list.
I almost gagged. Removed them and rebooted.
Surely I'll get better results now. What do you think ?

mnosteele52 · Post by **mnosteele52** » Wed Jan 08, 2003 9:17 pm

You might, you must have removed the card without uninstalling it first, in the future always remember to uninstall hardware then shut down and remove it so you won't have any conflicts.

Sturtz · Post by **Sturtz** » Thu Jan 09, 2003 1:54 pm

TCP properties for IP = xx.xx.xx.x(ipxx-xx-xx-x.ok.ok.cox.net)
Browser/OS = Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows 98; Hotbar 4.1.7.0)
Note: Read the FAQ if the above is not your IP address.

TCP options string = 020405b401010402

MTU = 1500
MTU is fully optimized for broadband.

MSS = 1460
Maximum useful data in each packet = 1460, which equals MSS.

Default Receive Window (RWIN) = 64240
RWIN Scaling (RFC1323) = 0 bits
Unscaled Receive Window = 64240
RWIN is a multiple of MSS
Other values for RWIN that might work well with your current MTU/MSS:
513920 (MSS x 44 * scale factor of 8)
256960 (MSS x 44 * scale factor of 4)
128480 (MSS x 44 * scale factor of 2)

bandwidth * delay product:
Your RcvWindow limits you to: 2569.6 kbps (321.2 KBytes/s) @ 200ms
Your RcvWindow limits you to: 1027.84 kbps (128.48 KBytes/s) @ 500ms

MTU Discovery (RFC1191) = ON

Time to live left = 50 hops
TTL value is ok.

Timestamps (RFC1323) = OFF

Selective Acknowledgements (RFC2018) = ON

IP type of service field (RFC1349)= 00000000

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"I noticed HotBar is in there. I deleted that long ago."

After testing last night I came up with this.
My ping averaged around 135 when I was joined on anothers IP.
About the same for others (6 players) .

But when I hosted , their pings dropped to 60 and below.
Mine came down a bit , but was still in the 100's.

It seems that when I host a session everyone gets a great ping and game play. But when I log on to another session I get higher pings than I use too.