WinME PC slows down ADSLMax speed

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Terry_P - 21 Jun 2006 13:41 GMT

I've recently had my broadband connection upgraded to ADSLMax ( up to
8mbps). I run 3 PCs off a Netgear DG834G wireless router/modem. Two are
running on Windows XP and 1 runs on WinME. If I run one or both XP machines
there is no problem getting a synch speed of over 3.5 mbps but if I boot up
the WinME machine it immediately forces a disconnection of the router which
then always resynchs at a speed just below 1 mbps. It seems like the WinME
PC is throttling the speed of the connection. I've tried various RWIN MTU
tweaks to no avail.
Does WinME have a 1mbps speed limit? Has anyone achieved higher speeds on
WinME? Is there a setting in WinME which I have overlooked which could
cause this?

Terry_P

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Mike M - 21 Jun 2006 14:16 GMT

Terry,

What you have connected to your router should have no effect on the
connection your router has with your ISP and the internet. I am using the
same router (DG834G) and have machines running Win 98SE, Win Me, XP, Vista
and variations of Linux connected to the router both wired and using
wireless.

The synch speed with the exchange is controlled by the wiring between your
router and the exchange, not what is connected to the router, with
distance to the exchange and quality of the wiring being factors. Simply
turning on a PC should not cause the problems you are reporting but check
that the problem isn't a faulty power circuit with perhaps the Win Me box
causing a power spike that causes the router to reboot. Remember that the
DSLAM in your local exchange has no idea as to what you have connected to
your LAN, all it can "see" is your router.

Win Me will not limit your connection speed. MTU has nothing to do with
disconnection. There are no settings in Win Me that have any effect on
the state of the connection between your router and the exchange, Win Me
and higher speeds, my router is permanently synched at 7.5Mbps or better
regardless of what I have connected to my LAN. And yes, I am in the UK
and have been on an 8Mbps service for more than a year although not using
a service provided by BT Openwoe.

Signature

Mike Maltby
MS-MVP Windows
mike.maltby@gmail.com

> I've recently had my broadband connection upgraded to ADSLMax ( up to
> 8mbps). I run 3 PCs off a Netgear DG834G wireless router/modem. Two
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> speeds on WinME? Is there a setting in WinME which I have overlooked
> which could cause this?

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Mike M - 21 Jun 2006 17:08 GMT

PS You may have already read these articles but if not the following may
be of interest about BT ADSLMax product which is the name of the BT retail
product running on BT Wholesale Max.
"BT Wholesale Max service round-up"
(http://www.adslguide.org.uk/newsarchive.asp?item=2699) and
"BT Wholesale Max product glossary"
(http://www.adslguide.org.uk/newsarchive.asp?item=2693).

Signature

Mike Maltby
MS-MVP Windows
mike.maltby@gmail.com

> Terry,
>
[quoted text clipped - 32 lines]
>> speeds on WinME? Is there a setting in WinME which I have overlooked
>> which could cause this?

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Terry_P - 21 Jun 2006 20:03 GMT

> Terry,
>
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
> and have been on an 8Mbps service for more than a year although not using
> a service provided by BT Openwoe.

Mike,
Thanks for teaching me how to suck eggs!
I know and agree basically with what you say but you are not
differentiating between router synch speed and *actual* download speed
achieved on different PCs connected to the same router. Through extensive
testing I have now proved to my own satisfaction that a PC running WinME
will provide an actual download speed much less (perhaps only 55% or 60%)
of that on a PC running Windows XP or Linux for the same router synch
speed. I have tested on 2 similar PCs running WinME but with different
network cards. One of the PCs also double boots to Linux and the
comparative results prove to me that my results are independent of hardware
differences.

I invite anyone who is sceptical to carry out their own tests.

Terry_P

Terry_P

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Mike M - 21 Jun 2006 22:07 GMT

Terry,

> I know and agree basically with what you say but you are not
> differentiating between router synch speed and *actual* download speed
> achieved on different PCs connected to the same router.

Why should since I observe none? Further you have now changed the problem
so which exactly is it? What I did was address the problem as originally
stated, that Win Me was forcing your router to disconnect and then
re-connect with a lower synch rate. Something that a PC on your LAN is
most unlikely to do unless you choose to do this by either logging on to
the router using its web interface or using telnet to access the router's
command line interface.

> Through
> extensive testing I have now proved to my own satisfaction that a PC
> running WinME will provide an actual download speed much less
> (perhaps only 55% or 60%) of that on a PC running Windows XP or Linux
> for the same router synch speed.

No not "a" PC running Win Me but rather YOUR PC when running Win Me. As I
stated in my previous message I have never observed slower downloads to a
PC running Win Me from any other. If your Win Me PC downloads from the
net slower than your other PCs look to your network card and its drivers.
How is your Win Me PC connecting to the router, wired or wireless? What
make and model network card or wireless card does the PC have? What
speeds do you see when transferring files to and from the Win Me PC to
other machines on your LAN?

> I invite anyone who is sceptical to carry out their own tests.

It appears you had difficulties when reading and taking in my initial
post. I have just checked my Win Me PC and downloaded the SP2 service
pack for XP (226MB) at 570KBps. It would probably have been a fair bit
faster as I am currently synched at 7488 kbps if I had chosen to stop all
activity on my LAN which I did not and thus not all my external bandwidth
was available.

In conclusion, the problem is not with the operating system so look to
your hardware and drivers.

Signature

Mike Maltby
MS-MVP Windows
mike.maltby@gmail.com

> Thanks for teaching me how to suck eggs!
> I know and agree basically with what you say but you are not
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>
> I invite anyone who is sceptical to carry out their own tests.

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N. Miller - 22 Jun 2006 07:25 GMT

> Through extensive testing I have now proved to my own satisfaction that a
> PC running WinME will provide an actual download speed much less (perhaps
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
> I invite anyone who is sceptical to carry out their own tests.

I synch at 1536kbits/sec:

| Modem Information
| Modem Name SpeedStream
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
| Loss of Frame 0 0
| CRC Errors 1179 5

I routinely see 139kBytes/sec on BT downloads. This SS4100 does not have
a normal router function, so I run a Netgear FR114P between modem and
router.

Computer is an HP Pavilion 6745C with Windows ME running. Last week I
connected it to a relative's LAN on Comcast cable. HP Pavilion 6745C <>
SMC Barricade 7004BR <> RCA cable modem. BT downloaded a Linux Live-CD
ISO image at 445kBytes/sec. It is unlikely that Windows ME was limiting
the download there.

Signature

Norman
~Oh Lord, why have you come
~To Konnyu, with the Lion and the Drum

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N. Miller - 22 Jun 2006 07:16 GMT

> I've recently had my broadband connection upgraded to ADSLMax ( up to
> 8mbps). I run 3 PCs off a Netgear DG834G wireless router/modem. Two are
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> WinME? Is there a setting in WinME which I have overlooked which could
> cause this?

No, Windows ME has no speed limit. I ran my HP Pavilion 6745C on a
Comcast connection last week, and saw the full 4Mbits/sec down that the
connection was established for.

Your modem shouldn't be losing synch over a computer connection. I've
never worked with a combo unit, though, so I don't know what to look
for.

Signature

Norman
~Oh Lord, why have you come
~To Konnyu, with the Lion and the Drum

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