Dual Network Controllers

A thought occurred to me, my motherboard has dual controllers (Nvidia nForce & Marvel Yukon) the one used depends on which ethernet slot is used. What would happen if I ran a cable to both at the same time...better, worse or no effect? Part of the reason for my question is that on random occassions, the LAN connection to this computer is lost momentarily and can be annoying, depending on when that occurs. I was thinking that a dual connection might provide a failsafe, but then it might also create other problems. I prefer to ask a question now, than to experiment on my own.

I googled "dual network controllers" which led me to "network adapter teaming". Apparently it is possible to team two NICs together, but it appears like it's a server deal. You would do it as a failsafe measure, with twin adapters (if there is software available for them.)

Hmm, I know that it is possible to pair two independent connections via two separate modems for higher bandwidth...at least with old dialup connections. Of course, that entails a higher ISP fee also. That does require a sort of software bridge to accomplish, but since these controllers already have their own drivers, and could be fed the same signal, I'm hoping that they would simply back each other up. If this is not possible, I don't understand why the motherboard manufacturer went to the expensive of having two controllers on their product? I guess it is just something that I'll have to play with.

The bigger problem is that your Nvidia chipset drivers are causing your network to cut out which is a common problem on certain machines with Nvidia chipsets.

To fix the cutting out network use a different chipset driver, sometimes the old Vista drivers work better, other times the newer 15.00 series for Win 7 works better. You can also disable the "recieve side scaling" feature in Device Manager network properties, under the advanced tab, which fixes the network cutting out problem on certain machines. Not all drivers have that feature but the new ones do apparently because it shows up on my network properties. I have no such problems with the internet cutting out though.

Also, the Nvidia teaming feature is not supported in Windows 7 which is what the dual network adaptors are for.

chev65 said:

To fix the cutting out network use a different chipset driver, sometimes the old Vista drivers work better, other times the newer 15.00 series for Win 7 works better.

If I recall, it is the 15.00 series that I have installed. I remember trying to use a 6.xx driver that came with the MB's CD, but I couldn't get it to work.

You can also disable the "recieve side scaling" feature in Device Manager network properties, under the advanced tab, which fixes the network cutting out problem on certain machines. Not all drivers have that feature but the new ones do apparently because it shows up on my network properties. I have no such problems with the internet cutting out though.

After checking in the DM on both controllers, I don't see anything that appears to be receive side scaling listed. Maybe they use a different term.

Also, the Nvidia teaming feature is not supported in Windows 7 which is what the dual network adaptors are for.

Currently, I'm using the Marvel Yukon controller...no particular reason, I just plugged the cable into a slot and took what I got. Is there a reason to prefer one over the other?

I'm getting about as good of a connection as I pay for (3.3Mbps), so I'm not expecting to improve that, only the intermittency and possibly greater performance intra-Lan, since my router is supposed to be capable of up to 300Mbps on the WiFi.

I would use which ever one doesn't cut out obviously enough, either one will work but the teaming part of it no longer functions with Windows 7, you could use both at once for teaming with Vista but hardly anyone used it.

But if the problem persists there are 3-4 different Nvidia drivers in the 15.00 series, you should try them all until you get one that works right. The 15.53's work good for me and have the recieve side scaling feature which you can disable if needed.

EVGA | Support | Download Drivers

seekermeister said:

A thought occurred to me, my motherboard has dual controllers (Nvidia nForce & Marvel Yukon) the one used depends on which ethernet slot is used. What would happen if I ran a cable to both at the same time...better, worse or no effect? Part of the reason for my question is that on random occassions, the LAN connection to this computer is lost momentarily and can be annoying, depending on when that occurs. I was thinking that a dual connection might provide a failsafe, but then it might also create other problems. I prefer to ask a question now, than to experiment on my own.

IF your router will support it you can run two cables from the PC to the router then "bridge" the connections... But with 10/100 nics and a 10/100 router I seriously doubt you'd see much improvement in speed.

In electronics there is a simple rule... Never hook two outputs together... which is what you would be doing if you made a Y connector for those two connections. You just might find your self with neither of them working.

chev65,

I'm not sure how compatible that EVGA versions of nForce drivers are with my Asus. As far as I could tell, the versions that they have aren't for nForce4 anyway, but I can do some Googling around. As for teaming, I not sure how much I might use something like that, because while most of the time I shall be running W7 on both rigs, occassionally I will be using other OSs. Since my W7 drive died yesterday, I will only be running XP on the secondary rig, until my RMA arrives.

CommonTater said:

seekermeister said:

A thought occurred to me, my motherboard has dual controllers (Nvidia nForce & Marvel Yukon) the one used depends on which ethernet slot is used. What would happen if I ran a cable to both at the same time...better, worse or no effect? Part of the reason for my question is that on random occassions, the LAN connection to this computer is lost momentarily and can be annoying, depending on when that occurs. I was thinking that a dual connection might provide a failsafe, but then it might also create other problems. I prefer to ask a question now, than to experiment on my own.

IF your router will support it you can run two cables from the PC to the router then "bridge" the connections... But with 10/100 nics and a 10/100 router I seriously doubt you'd see much improvement in speed.

I know that the nForce controller is 10/100/1000, and I think the same is true for the router, but I will need to check.

In electronics there is a simple rule... Never hook two outputs together... which is what you would be doing if you made a Y connector for those two connections. You just might find your self with neither of them working.

There would be no Y connector involved, at least not in the fashion described. My router has multiple LAN ports and the computer has two. I was thinking of connecting with separate cable to separate slots on both the router and PC. From what I have read elsewhere, I get the impression that only one of the circuits would actually work at one time, while the other remained at idle. I don't know if it would react quickly enough to make a difference, but I was thinking that it would automatically switch to the inactive circuit, when the other stuttered.

i think the problem is routing and gateway conflicts for the active internet connection.