Question for the experts

[iBringPain]

I found this over at ntfaq.com, so being the interested type I tried this recommendation. I do notice that web pages load a little faster but maybe its the time of day. I would like to know the experts thoughts. Thanks




John Savill / August 4, 2000
Q. How can I disable Gratuitous ARP?

A. When a Windows NT/2000 computer starts, a packet is broadcast on the network containing the computer's TCP/IP address to prevent the use of duplicate addresses on the same network. This is called a gratuitous Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) packet.

For both performance and maintenance reasons, it is possible to disable this feature in Windows NT if you have Service Pack 5 installed or any version of Windows 2000.

Start the registry editor (regedit.exe)
Move to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters
Double-click the ArpRetryCount value, type 0, and then click OK. If it does not exist create of type REG_DWORD
Close the registry editor
Reboot the machine

[iBringPain]

anyone have any suggestions or thoughts....

[cablenut]

"A. When a Windows NT/2000 computer starts, a packet is broadcast on the network containing the computer's TCP/IP address to prevent the use of duplicate addresses on the same network. This is called a gratuitous Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) packet. "

I don't see how you could get better performance out of this. It is only broadcasting across the lan and only one time each bootup..

[Bouncer]

The only time this might be useful is if at 9:00am you and 500 other people in your office building all turn on your systems at once and someone has the exact same MAC address as you. (If that happens you have a much more serious issue, roughly like two people with the same social security number).

Other than that, it has no positive or negative effect on your performance. It may speed bootup time though, as you don't waste time listening for a response.

Short version: Won't hurt if your on a small LAN, may decrease loadtime, especially for NT users.

Regards,
-Bouncer-

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"Yeah Baby, YEAH!!!"

[iBringPain]

Thank you