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[burakkucat]

My comment --

One who considers a Broadband service's throughput speed without analysing the corresponding line statistics is essentially "working with one eye shut". 

[Black Sheep]

My comment --

One who considers a Broadband service's throughput speed without analysing the corresponding line statistics is essentially "working with one eye shut". 

Absolutely true BK.

[happy37]

My comment --

One who considers a Broadband service's throughput speed without analysing the corresponding line statistics is essentially "working with one eye shut". 

Thanks Mr B Cat and BS,

will get round to sorting out and flashing the spare Ebay HG612 modem at one point next week.............agree with your point though.

Can anyone also please advise as to my last posts where I've asked about my network card issue?

Thanks again.

Regards

happy37

[asbokid]

The DLink dge-530t has a Marvell Yukon 80xx GbE controller
The DLink dge-528t has a Realtek RTL8169S GbE controller.

Maybe you could performance test both cards, in identical conditions?

Install each NIC independently in the same PC
Ensure no other devices are using the ethernet.
Set up a precision timer on the PC(s).
Create a file of arbitrarily large size (10GByte, perhaps).
Set up basic network client and server architecture (e.g. use netcat)
Start timer
Transfer large file from PC#1 to PC#2 (and perhaps in reverse)
Stop timer when done
Repeat for second NIC.
Compare the performance of both.


cheers, a

[happy37]

Thanks asbokid.

I might try as you've suggested, but what I'm asking is whether the DGE-530T network cards might be too old now to be used with FTTC (these were manufactured in 2005, I think) and is there any benefit of getting the newer DGE-528T cards instead to replace them?

One of my PCs is running Windows XP Pro with Service Pack 3 and the other is running Windows 7 Professional with Service Pack 1.

I'm guessing that it might be because of these 2 older network cards that my download speeds are being limited down to 20-25Mbps on both of my PCs?

That's why I am asking if there's any merit in swapping the 2 older NICs for some brand new ones to see if that bottleneck could/might be fixed?

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

happy37

[Black Sheep]

I'm no expert in this field whatsoever, so my thoughts are just that ......... but, I too would agree that NIC's from 2005 will be throttling your throughput. Wireless capabilities in the Hubs/Routers have advanced over the years, with 'N' format being the latest capability.

I know from personal experience that on 'Test and Demonstrating' with an EU after a FTTC install, dependant on the age EU's wireless equipment, depends on the T/Put they receive. I've had numerous occasions where they have the full 79.999Meg DS synch speed, but only 20Meg T/Put when performing a speedtest. This rises dramatically with the ethernet connection utilised.

Like I say, I'm an amateur observer in this, Asbo et al are the wizards in this department, but for my money I think a new NIC is required.

[burakkucat]

I'm not going to make any hard and fast recommendations with regards to specific NIC hardware (and the testing, thereof) . . . I think Asbokid is better positioned for that.

I will add the comment that if I were in your situation, Happy37, I would give serious consideration to replacement NICs of an Intel design / chipset.

[kitz]

...  and to add into the mix...  are you using a network switch?

[happy37]

I will add the comment that if I were in your situation, Happy37, I would give serious consideration to replacement NICs of an Intel design / chipset.

Mr B Cat, Asbokid, kitz et al,

Thanks for the comments.

How about 2 of these? (Why Intel ones?)

http://tinyurl.com/8ar9xz9

And @kitz:-

...  and to add into the mix...  are you using a network switch?

No, I am not. IIRC, the Thomson router/BT Openreach modem that I'm using only support 100Mbps speeds, hence that's why I haven't integrated a gigabit switch in/onto the network yet.

I'm looking to sort out the lower speeds issue on my 2 PCs first before doing anything else. Let's hope the new NICs that I purchase do sort out these problems.

Your thoughts will be most welcome.

Thanks again.

Regards

happy37

[burakkucat]

Mr B Cat, Asbokid, kitz et al,

Thanks for the comments.

How about 2 of these? (Why Intel ones?)

http://tinyurl.com/8ar9xz9

Yes, that the type I would seriously consider. Why Intel? As far as I am concerned (note this is just my opinion) Intel chipsets are very well designed and once they have been available for a while, any hardware so designed to use such a chipset will JustWork, assuming sensible software is used to drive it. With an OS using the Linux kernel, I know that card will require the e1000 driver . . . which, in turn, is reliable and actively supported.

[happy37]

I know that card will require the e1000 driver . . . which, in turn, is reliable and actively supported.

Thanks again Mr B Cat.

Is this driver available on the Internet?

Or is on an CD that comes with this card?

I take it that you recommend 2 of these then? 

Thanks

happy37

[burakkucat]

   Hmm . . . I have no idea what comes with the hardware. At a guess, you might receive a CD-ROM. 

I would suggest that you remove the old card, boot up the computer, allow BillyGatesWare to notice a change in the hardware configuration, say yes to remove the old driver and shut the system down. Then install the new card, boot up the computer, allow BGW to detect the new hardware and see if it has a driver available. If yes, let it be installed and configured. Note the installed driver version. Perform some throughput tests.

You can then go to the Intel Download Center (sic) by talking this link to the drivers for that particular card. Look though the list and see if there is a newer version of the driver available for the version of BGW that you are using on the computer. If yes, download the driver and follow the Intel instructions to install it.

[asbokid]

I am asking if there's any merit in swapping the 2 older NICs for some brand new ones to see if that bottleneck could/might be fixed?

Nope - no merit whatsoever.  If the NICs perform okay on the LAN (i.e. test them) - and gigabit cards should certainly exceed 25Mbps throughput - then they are not a bottleneck to your FTTC broadband service.

Do you have a mobile PC fault sharp-shooter in your neighbourhood?  There are usually people who will visit homes and sort out these sorts of connection problems.

cheers, a

[happy37]

Asbokid

Good morning.

Thanks for your reply.

I have noted this, but please bear in mind that I have already tried to do the same speedtests on both of my PCs with the same results.

The upload is consistent (upto 20mb), but it's the download speeds that don't reach their full potential.

As I'm on the up to 80mb PlusNet trial, I've been told that my line is capable of circa ~60mb down and ~20mb up?

I am going to try a new set of NICs to see if they do make any difference.

Gretaful for any more thoughts to see if I can get this resolved.

Regards

happy37

[kitz]

Im still not too sure whats going on here.
Summary

~ Basically we have a network where 2 PCs with the same NIC cant attain much more than 30GB on the network using speedtesters.
~ We dont have any line stats because of the type of modem.  - But it can be seen from the BTw performance test that the ~ IP profile is circa 69Mbps so we must assume that all is fine with the line.
~ Performance tests at Visualware shows that speeds are peaking at times up to around 60Mbps.
~ Using Netmeter we see that data throughput is very spikey with peaks of (iirc) > 40Mbps.
~ Such spikiness as can on the Netmeter graph normally indicates some sort of network congestion (either local or far-end).
~ Using a laptop directly connected to the modem LAN interface can gain full speeds.

Obviously all of the above would indicate some sort of local network congestion via the 2 PC LAN cards. 

Happy what happens if you plug just ONE PC directly into the gbE port on the modem? ie Making sure that no other traffic can occur on your LAN aside from the one PC you are testing from.