View Full Version : NIC settings changed to allow connection
After using the same PC hardware combo for the last couple of years, my ntl
BB decided that it was going to stop working today. A quick call to the
helpline had me going through all the usual IP release/refresh stuff but to
no avail. I even swapped (new) NIC's and PCI slots and a different PC to connect via the STB (Samsung) with no luck. I called again and (to cut a long story short) it connected again after changing the settings in the 'network connections' --> 'Configue' --> 'Advanced' tabs from auto setting (working for years with no problems) to '10BaseT Half Duplex' from the list of options. They couldn't or wouldn't explain why this was and seemed quite evasive when I pressed the point that things were OK one day, then not the next when there was no change my end. Does anyone know why if ntl are changing the techie goal posts and should I be concerned, or is this a MS/XP thing?
Cheers.
:welcome: to Cableforum!
It could be an MS/XP thing (XP does occasionally have trouble with autonegotiation, particularly if the card is based on an Intel chip), but it could also be a faulty ethernet cable.
it connected again after changing the settings in the 'network connections' --> 'Configue' --> 'Advanced' tabs from auto setting (working for years with no problems) to '10BaseT Half Duplex'This is a standard fix for ethernet auto-negotiation problems. "10Base T Half Duplex" is the safest option, that should work in most circumstances when auto-negotiation fails. When an ethernet link starts to go dodgy, it is usually auto-negotiation that fails first. Long ethernet cables are tricky for auto-negotiation: try a shorter one and see if that works. If a shorter cable solves the issue, look at the original long cable for any signs of damage.
"!0Base T Half Duplex" still provides more than enough throughput for your cable connection.
"!0Base T Half Duplex" still provides more than enough throughput for your cable connection.
Quick question if you dont mind following on from that...?!?
will this cause any problems with the eventual switch to 10meg connections, & if its set at half duplex will this interfere with things such as p2p running at top end speed, as from my understanding of duplex settings, its in realation to being able to send / rec packets either together or only one at a time....
TIA
Barfly
Ignition
09-09-2005, 16:40
Quick question if you dont mind following on from that...?!?
will this cause any problems with the eventual switch to 10meg connections
Yes need 100Mbit full or half duplex.
, & if its set at half duplex will this interfere with things such as p2p running at top end speed, as from my understanding of duplex settings, its in realation to being able to send / rec packets either together or only one at a time....
Not an issue the extra latency introduced from half duplex operations is in the microseconds :)
TIA
Barfly
You're welcome.
Try running it on 100base full duplex, if it can't do this points to a potential issue with the kit. Try it on 10base full duplex see if that works too. 100 base uses more pins on the cable than 10 so may want to see how it goes changing the cable if that doesn't work.
Otherwise an auto-negotiation issue, nothing too major just set 100base full on the card and enjoy :)
This seems to be an issue with Samsung STB's. I have a friend who was swapped from Pace to Samsung recently, and he could not get his Samsung to link with his 3COM 3C905 (ie a good quality) network card unless he forced it to use 10mbit half duplex. This is odd, as the Sammy has an Intel NIC in it, and the old Pace had a very naff Crystal one :)
garyparson
11-09-2005, 18:51
I had this problem with the said cure and use p2p. The highest download i get now is about 30k. Considering i'm on a 2mb connection i'd expect it to be more like 200k or thereabouts. Doesn't matter how many seeds either. very annoying.
That is not a side effect of the 10mbps half duplex fix. There is still more than sufficient bandwidth in 10mbps half duplex to run a 2mbit connection.
Chrysalis
12-09-2005, 05:24
if you have one end of a connection set to 10fd and connect at 10hd you will get collisions and it even affects a 2mbit connection.
Collisions would not slow the speed to sub 2mbit.
You may want to try forcing 100mbit mode, according to a freind who knows quite alot about network gear, sometimes it is just autonegotiation that goes wrong and if you force both to 100mbit, it works great. Try it, it can only not work :)
Chrysalis
12-09-2005, 23:30
Collisions would not slow the speed to sub 2mbit.
You may want to try forcing 100mbit mode, according to a freind who knows quite alot about network gear, sometimes it is just autonegotiation that goes wrong and if you force both to 100mbit, it works great. Try it, it can only not work :)
I have had a incorrectly negotiated ethernet - modem connection reduce upload to under 50% speed and down made erratic between 40% and 100% speed, this is on 2mbit with a ambit120 modem. It can be repeated time and time again if I deliberatly use bad negotiation.
Likewise on a basic lan setup if you use poor negotiation, collisions arent a thing that only affect it on high utilisation it will just run poor full stop, latency jumps every few seconds and poor upload speeds.
Your advice is right to force both to the same setting, that I agree with.
garyparson
13-09-2005, 03:56
I'm away at my girlfriends til Thursday so I'll give it a go then. What i don't get is that it ran fine for a few months after the Samsung stb was put in, then it went funny on me. That half duplex fix works but doesn't seem to do well with the p2p stuff. I'll let you know what happens.
garyparson
18-09-2005, 16:57
changed it to 100 meg on full and half, no joy. did the 10 meg on full and am trying that but the p2p is still rubbish.
garyparson
21-09-2005, 16:03
the 10 meg on full and half work fine but the 100 meg on full and half seem to have issues. does this actually mean anything?
Chrysalis
21-09-2005, 18:30
well when you changing nic remember the modem has a setting for the modem side of it as well, so if your modem is set to 10mbit then setting your nic to 100mbit is bad. It is best to leave your nic on auto whilst setting the modem so you can connect again right away then after set the nic to what the modem is set to.
garyparson
21-09-2005, 18:40
I have a samsung stb
I am wondering if a recent software upgrade has knackered this. 10mbit full duplex should not be giving you crap though, its more than enough bandwidth and people with the older modems (3com, terayon, SB3100) only get 10mbit full duplex links and they never have problems.
I would try replacing the cable. If that affects nothing it may be worth swapping out your NIC as they are only cheap. If it's onboard LAN try updating your drivers. If all else fails you could consider asking NTL to fit a SACM for you.
Chrysalis
22-09-2005, 13:02
I am unsure on this, my modem I had noticed I had to keep rebooting it twice a week or more to fix speeds plummeting, I put it down to the auto negotiation crapping out but one thing I know is these problems started after I flashed it to the new bios. Since I manually specified the negotiation things so far seem better but speed fluctuations are still there but I dont know if this is NTL themselves or the same problem. What I am usually seeing is if I say download 3 gig of data the modem will be sustaining max thorughput for around an hour and then start fluctuating widly and if I reboot it then it is suddenly sustaining the speed again.
garyparson
22-09-2005, 14:50
Mine fluctuates every 40 seconds or so. I have the latest drivers for my onboard lan. I bought a new nic the other week and tried that. It was the same (red cross when on auto) When you say replace the cable, do you mean from the stb to the connection in the bedroom, or the little one between the connection in the bedroom and the computer?
What i don't get is that it seems to work fine with the rest of the internet but not p2p. I've tried every setting but can't get above 70, no matter what.
I meant the ethernet cable from the STB to the PC.
P2P opens a lot more connections than anything else does, and a lot more rapidly. This creates a higher resource overhead that the STB has to deal with. To be honest, the SACM's are better at dealing with it, as that's all they have to do, whereas the STB has to deal with running the digital TV stuff also.
garyparson
23-09-2005, 04:14
There are two cables between the stb and the pc. The main one goes from the stb, outside and up the wall, into the bedroom. The second one goes from that to the pc. I've already had an engineer come round, connect his laptop to both ends and proclaim that it was ok. Obviously he wasn't running a p2p app and as i've said, apart from that, it seems to run fine. p2p is the only heavy usage i give it really. Any speed tests always show it to be running at 2 meg.
anyway. do you think that changing the cable from the pc to the wall socket would work or would that be a waste of time/money? I could always ask for a cable modem but on what grounds? and can these handle the coming soon(yeah, haha, i know) 10 meg setup?
Oh! This sounds like you've had a pair of CAT5 sockets installed (similar to phone sockets). I didn't know NTL did this...
I would ask for a cablemodem. If they can run a CAT5 cable up your wall, they could run a coax cable up to supply a SACM. Yes, the SACM's will handle the 10mbit service (probably better than the STB's will)
garyparson
23-09-2005, 17:24
On what premise do i ask for a cablemodem?
I meant the ethernet cable from the STB to the PC.
P2P opens a lot more connections than anything else does, and a lot more rapidly. This creates a higher resource overhead that the STB has to deal with. To be honest, the SACM's are better at dealing with it, as that's all they have to do, whereas the STB has to deal with running the digital TV stuff also.
IIRC, in the Samsung, the Modem is seperate from the DTV stuff.
__________________
On what premise do i ask for a cablemodem?
AFAIK, you just phone up and ask to switch. You don't have to give a reason.
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