"Ethernet" Connection Drop

[Gene]

Mine has now been up for five days. Something good seems to be going on.

 

[tongteh]

(h5)

 

[sexytool]

How many of you have applied network tweaks?
I'm getting the network dropout issue as well, with a Realteck 8168 Ethernet wired onboard LAN.

Here's where i think the problem lies, can you check your application logs and check for similar entries?

Windows detected your registry file is still in use by other applications or services. The file will be unloaded now. The applications or services that hold your registry file may not function properly afterwards.  

 DETAIL - 
 1 user registry handles leaked from \Registry\User\S-1-5-21-4221687174-3778838241-806362753-1001:
Process 2156 (\Device\HarddiskVolume3\Windows\System32\svchost.exe) has opened key \REGISTRY\USER\S-1-5-21-4221687174-3778838241-806362753-1001

That seems rather fishy IMO. SVCHost.exe is our network controller. For that to be bugging out and misreading the registry just logically leads to an error in configuration.

With the problematic App being SVCHOST and me just having recently garnered a double repeat of network dropouts, i'm betting the cause was my Tweak7 network optimisation.

I've launched Tweak7 and reset network settings back to default;; I'll keep you updated and let you know if i get anymore dropouts.

For those curious; yes it seems to once agian be caused by uploading.
More specifically; the global max simultaneous connections.
Backing up with software like Backblack probably only goes through a few dozen connections a minute at max.
I've been running azureus with DHT enabled and no max connections limitations - i also saw the two network dropouts within 5 minutes of each other.

Leads strongly to the conclusion that it's the amount of simultaneous connections open, after implementing a certain network tweak, which causes the dropouts.

 

[Digger]

How many of you have applied network tweaks?
I'm getting the network dropout issue as well, with a Realteck 8168 Ethernet wired onboard LAN.

Here's where i think the problem lies, can you check your application logs and check for similar entries?

Windows detected your registry file is still in use by other applications or services. The file will be unloaded now. The applications or services that hold your registry file may not function properly afterwards.  

 DETAIL - 
 1 user registry handles leaked from \Registry\User\S-1-5-21-4221687174-3778838241-806362753-1001:
Process 2156 (\Device\HarddiskVolume3\Windows\System32\svchost.exe) has opened key \REGISTRY\USER\S-1-5-21-4221687174-3778838241-806362753-1001

That seems rather fishy IMO. SVCHost.exe is our network controller. For that to be bugging out and misreading the registry just logically leads to an error in configuration.

With the problematic App being SVCHOST and me just having recently garnered a double repeat of network dropouts, i'm betting the cause was my Tweak7 network optimisation.

I've launched Tweak7 and reset network settings back to default;; I'll keep you updated and let you know if i get anymore dropouts.

For those curious; yes it seems to once agian be caused by uploading.
More specifically; the global max simultaneous connections.
Backing up with software like Backblack probably only goes through a few dozen connections a minute at max.
I've been running azureus with DHT enabled and no max connections limitations - i also saw the two network dropouts within 5 minutes of each other.

Leads strongly to the conclusion that it's the amount of simultaneous connections open, after implementing a certain network tweak, which causes the dropouts.

the wrench i can throw into this is that in my case, wireless, it knocks out the whole wlan, lan still connected, and wan working fine when problem happens. Dont know of that tweak7 you speak of, but that may be a problematic issue as well as the underlying cause of this all. I did a test yesterday and have graphs thta illustrate when the drops or almost drops occur. I will soon post a thread with this info as drive-by gallery of graph pics. This shows how sporadic, and how 7 seems to almost drop connection, right before it picked it back up, and so on, more detail about that when i post that thread, still a work in progress.

 

[URTHJ]

I agree with Digger's earlier comment that, whatever the problem, it is (or should be) MSs, not ours. There is no way we should need to be figuring this out or "patching" or whatever to get it to stop. (To be sure, I'd be delighted with hearing of a fix that actually "works," but that is only for the interim.)

Does anyone have any experience with build 7127 and whether it addresses this, rather serious, problem?

 

[sexytool]

Well i actually have updated drivers for my Realteck RTL 8168 on the W7 segment of windows update.
It's not a vista driver, yet for some reason it still failed to install.
I'm going to try re-installing it if i get another dropout.

So far so good however, i forgot to upload last night.
As i write this i've been uploading for 5 mins odd.
Ill see how i go in the next couple of days and keep you posted.

Either way; If you are getting dropouts, please download Tweak7, go to the segment "Internet Tweaks" and "Internet Connection optimisation and speed up"

About half way down, click on "Reset to System Defaults"

Totalidea Software :: Product List :: Tweak Windows Vista - Vista Tweaks - TweakVI - Tweak-VI - Tweak-Vista - TweakVista - TweakXP - Tweak-XP - Tweak XP - TweakUI - Outlook Backup - Outlook Notes - FireTune

 

[tongteh]

i am back.. it's dropping frequently again..

 

[sexytool]

So far so good. I have been seeding at 40kb/sec for the last 12-16 hours.
No dropout.

 

[Digger]

So far so good. I have been seeding at 40kb/sec for the last 12-16 hours.
No dropout.

try and download the x64 RC from MS while seeding and while not seeding. I've seen it d/c both ways, so its not due to just the upload drowning-out/crashing the network by itself.

 

[sexytool]

I've actually noticed far better connectivity since doing the Tweak7 reset to default settings.

I'm not getting pages in my browser having their connections reset anymore and i'm not getting any lag in my browser between a click + a load its going at the proper speed.

Seriously, give resetting to default values a shot with Tweak7 if you're getting connection dropouts.

I've noticed nothing but improvements since doing it myself.

Chances are that certain software versions and driver installs are setting non-default settings and that's where the issue is cropping up from.

 

[Digger]

I've actually noticed far better connectivity since doing the Tweak7 reset to default settings.

I'm not getting pages in my browser having their connections reset anymore and i'm not getting any lag in my browser between a click + a load its going at the proper speed.

Seriously, give resetting to default values a shot with Tweak7 if you're getting connection dropouts.

I've noticed nothing but improvements since doing it myself.

Chances are that certain software versions and driver installs are setting non-default settings and that's where the issue is cropping up from.

well like i said, i havent heard of or used this program. Would have to look it up myself. What "defaults" does it set it back to? I havent played with any settings on the RC, yet, such as TCP. So..... like anything like this, registry cleaners etc... i am very noid when it comes using these on a system, especially on a beta

 

[Digger]

ohhhhh... i see.... Tweak 7 is ye ole TweakXP

hmm... well even tho i liked this program and used up until version 4... one would still have to be weary of what its doing still. Also some things in the past did much of no use to the changes it claimed to make to improve whatever it changed. Like the ole "speed up my network" checkbox.... that thing did nothing, lol.... never understood how they were going to make my 10/100 go any faster on my current HW, wiring, adapter setup. Which i came to the conclusion that there wasnt much if any difference with that tweak. Honestly the only thing i used it typically for was the mem optomizer/defragger/cache clearer, that was/is fairly reliable.

I may give it a shot, only on the ole basis that when i first tested XP i found this tool when it was in development. Will be interesting to see "how far they have come" since then.


Edit: I now remember why i dropped TweakXP and all Totalidea software i came across. Their tech support and just overall support is is null:dev (there is none).

 

[sexytool]

Aye captain. Full Speed Ahead!
For xp my tweaking set was usually Poledit, TweakUI, Pagile > RAM manual registry tweak, pagefile on a different HDD to windows, TCP Optimiser from SpeedGuide.net, Litestep, StyleXP, sometimes Y'z toolbar, Sidebar if i wasn't running Litestep, A-patch, messenger+, XP Tools, using ProcessExplorer as a taskmanager replacement, a tweak to force the use of the classic style control pannel... that categorised version gives me the ****s, a TCP max gloal connections changing utillity.. errrr... a registry hack to completely disable mouse accell.... XD

That's just counting what i've stored on hard drive.
My manual registry changes + tweaks go forgotten and number in the hundreds on my year old XP install by now.

Now do you understand why i used to kill every XP install i used until M$ re-wrote list of windows updates to install without the windows installer and be corruption free?
Eventually one of those tweaks killed XP within a month generally, until they re-wrote them.

I haven't gotten around to testing any of these tweaks in W7 yet... not sure if i will to be honest as it's really not needed.

 

[Digger]

Aye captain. Full Speed Ahead!
For xp my tweaking set was usually Poledit, TweakUI, Pagile > RAM manual registry tweak, pagefile on a different HDD to windows, TCP Optimiser from SpeedGuide.net, Litestep, StyleXP, sometimes Y'z toolbar, Sidebar if i wasn't running Litestep, A-patch, messenger+, XP Tools, using ProcessExplorer as a taskmanager replacement, a tweak to force the use of the classic style control pannel... that categorised version gives me the ****s, a TCP max gloal connections changing utillity.. errrr... a registry hack to completely disable mouse accell.... XD

That's just counting what i've stored on hard drive.
My manual registry changes + tweaks go forgotten and number in the hundreds on my year old XP install by now.

Now do you understand why i used to kill every XP install i used until M$ re-wrote list of windows updates to install without the windows installer and be corruption free?
Eventually one of those tweaks killed XP within a month generally, until they re-wrote them.

I haven't gotten around to testing any of these tweaks in W7 yet... not sure if i will to be honest as it's really not needed.

As a great chicago cubs broadcaster would say "Holy Cow!". That is alot of junk in the trunk there. No need for any of that nowadays since the SP2. Like yourself, i was a tweak freak early in XP days, but alot of that has been ironed out over the years. Another reason why i practically dumped tweakXP. The TCP limit is actually a joke, or a myth, in alot of ways. I dont care what you set the limit to on your pc, if you are on a router, that router will only hold so many open IP sessions. Which also include the timeout non established connections and TIME WAIT for that matter. So the router's tcp/udp connecton timeout limit is more in play here than the actual "limit" on the pc locally. Like i stated about the "speed up my network" myth for tweakXP, i have yet to in all my days, see a difference when "patching" or editing the reg. The only time i seen any affect, and by that i mean dramatic, was back in the win98 and early XP days (pre SP1). That had to deal with the RcvWin. The reason for that was simple, back then not many ppl were on broadband, just dialup, therefore the system was not optomized to handle the difference without the RcvWin reg edit.

 

[sexytool]

hmmm. The stock TCP limit is 100, average router these days supports 10,000+ connections. a 1.5mbit connection averages 1,000 an ADSL2 connection 2,000 and i have no idea for an ADSL2+ connection, i haven't hit it yet.

For "Speeding up my network" which for me translates as "Faster File Copying" i use Totalcopy Nethorror edition or vanilla.

I'll miss that in W7 :<

The TCP optimiser will tweak;
Max theoretical connection speed
LAN MTU
Black Hole Detection
Selective ACKs
Max Duplicative ACKs
Window scaling and timestamping for TCP 1323
IE Max connections per server and subserver
Host Resolution priority
QoS
DNS erorr caching
LAN Request buffer size

Probably missing a few.
They made a tremendous difference on XP SP2, W7 natively is equally as fast.

EDIT: Now also running the latest version of ProcessExplorer, Litestep 0.4.5 LOSI installation.

 

[Digger]

hmmm. The stock TCP limit is 100, average router these days supports 10,000+ connections. a 1.5mbit connection averages 1,000 an ADSL2 connection 2,000 and i have no idea for an ADSL2+ connection, i haven't hit it yet.

Not sure about your stats about routers supporting 10,000+ connections. Not your everyday home/residential router atleast. Even if, can you imagine how many fans would have to be on that chip as it would be on fire. For instance, even my given firmware, the limit set for open ip sessions is set at 2048, at full steam ahead, i'm lucky to reach 55% of that (10mbit connection). Has no matter of what type of connection you are on, reguardless, even if fibre. Has to do with how many sessions you are opening up for the use of or traffic in and out. You could just have a handful open while downloading the RC from MS while on fibre, that doesnt mean that there will be more sessions opened up or trying to establish, just on that alone while maxxing out your broadband throughput.

Personally there wont be a need for residential routers to support 10,000+ until cloud computing would become more mainstream, along with something to the effect of the "bit", which really is the culprit for high # of sessions, and IP sessions not timing out and clearing like it should, or atleast fast enough for one's liking. If timeout set too low, then you have the other side of things... its a fine line, tightwire balancing act. I have not however crashed this router due to an open IP session overload. Tho i havent aimed to do so either.

 

[sexytool]

Highest max global simultaneous connections was 12k odd with a Seimens 6450 on ADSL1 @ 8mbit.

 

[Digger]

Highest max global simultaneous connections was 12k odd with a Seimens 6450 on ADSL1 @ 8mbit.

I dont doubt that there are routers out there that do support alot of open sessions, just not many of your everyday residential routers, like netgear, linksys, belkin, Dlink, etc. Some of those do support alot, but are more geared and thought of for a heavy Lan usuage overall, and it being the "Headend" router of the office or gamer/enthusiatic residential home customer. This will be more mainstream as we go in the future for sure, but the router and chipset will have to be able to handle such a load on the router. Alot of these routers keep open sessions for up to 5 days in cache as well with the stock firmware. This also could be the issue of ethernet drops, hard wired. The adapter shouldnt crash if you have a good driver, it could be the router crashing instead. This i have investigated in my case, even tho its a wireless issue, but only this specific adapter is problem prone and what seems to be doing is "crasheing only the wlan side of the router", not the entire router itself. It also doesnt depend on open session limit or whether its download or upload or both. Also doesnt matter where the download/upload is using for transport, or the software, or to/from a specific location or time of day, etc etc.

Tho i still have alot more tests that i want to run on this router and overall network before i place final blame. One convincing factor is the intel wireless chip has had no issues at all, only that it loses connection when the desktop wirless loses it during any "heavy load" (up or down or both with no set pattern). Even if i was losing connection by being in a bad wifi area, the laptop which is usually in the same room as router also crashes, which doesnt make alot sense. This has happened with two routers, 2 different models, using stock and 3rd party firmware of different versions. All while using the same adapters to connect

 

[sexytool]

Yes that's definately a tricky one. Perhaps try putting the router on a UPS to see if it's a problem with power fluctuations?

What brand are you using? I know d-link and netgear have issues with their hardware routers, they crash wireless-only and need a restart to fix it.

 

[Digger]

Yes that's definately a tricky one. Perhaps try putting the router on a UPS to see if it's a problem with power fluctuations?

What brand are you using? I know d-link and netgear have issues with their hardware routers, they crash wireless-only and need a restart to fix it.

currently am using the wrt54gs v8, the other being just a wrt54g v7.2 i think( ....

currently on the gs, am running dd-wrt v24 RC-7 which was/has been the best version for this model/version router, tis why i havent upgraded. Same goes for the wrt54g as its running an older version 23 (dont have up to give you exact version of 23). Both routers previously were rock solid with the given dd-wrt. One of the tests i've yet to try, in my case, is to have the 2nd router in client mode, and use the physical ethernet from the 2nd router to connect via ethernet on desktop. That would atleast test the wlan side of things.