Realtek NIC Configuration and edge technologies

[HWoodard]

I have a Sony Vaio PVC-RX891 running Windows XP Pro and using a Realtek RTL 8139 Fast Ethernet NIC. I have a problem that I need help with.

I have Qwest's DSL service which uses a Cisco 678 router/modem. I am unable to access certain sites -- sites like

http://www.jcpenney.com,

http://www.shopping.hp.com

for example.

The only thing that I have been able to figure out [I think] so far is that the sites I am having trouble with seem to be being re-directed. In the case of

http://www.jcpenney.com,

when I enter

http://www.jcpenney.com

the machines that are working properly actually end up on ww1.jcpenney.com. On the machine I'm having trouble with I can access

http://www1.jcpenney.com

ok but when I type in

http://www.jcpenney.com

I get a "We can't find

http://www.jcpenney.com/"

error. In the case of of

http://www.hpshopping.com,

the machines that are working properly end up on

http://www.shopping.hp.com.

However, when I type the latter URL into this machine I get an error "Unable to find

http://www.shopping.hp.com/cgi-bin/...w.jsp?product_code=Q2114A#ABA&AOID=85&c"

so the problem is related to something more than just being re-directed or the latter URL is also being redirected.

I have other machines that I can connect to the Cisco router and they all work perfectly. Also, if I dial directly into the internet, using the internal modem, then everything works perfectly. That implies to me that the problem has something to do with the ethernet-to-ethernet connection between the NIC and the Cisco device.

I have tried resetting all of my network adapter's settings to factory defaults. I have run the XP network setup wizard and let it re-configure everything. So far, nothing has had any effect whatsoever.

Can anyone help me figure this out?

Thanks in advance,

Howard Woodard
Bellevue, WA 98004

 

[franklin97355]

sounds like a browser problem.

 

[HWoodard]

Thanks for the response. I've pretty well scrubbed all of the browser settings. Essentially, for troubleshooting purposes, making everything look like a trusted site.

Why do you think its a browser problem? Wouldn't the fact that I can access these sites just fine with this machine and browser when I use a dial-up connection seem to imply that the browser is not the problem?

 

[bcastner]

Go do a Tweak Test at BroadbandReports. Download their freeware DrTCP utility and adjust the MTU value of your adapter. It is likely 1500 now, and needs to be set to 1492; but the tweak test will recommend an appropriate value.

http://www.dslreports.com/tweaks

 

[HWoodard]

Thanks. I looked at it and almost changed the RWIN and MTU settings except:

http://monitor.dslreports.com/tweak/block:1d52c00?service=dsl&speed=768&os=winXP&via=normal

(1) The recommended settings for RWIN were 8K-10K less than what I calculated and what the RWIN calculator came up with.

(2) The faq says that XP handles these sizes dynamically.

Would you still suggest changing them?

Regards,

Howard

 

[bcastner]

The RWIN values are given as a range in the Tweak Test. The calculators use multiples of the MSS value. I would set a value nothing less than what Tweak showed as a minimum, and likely the value showed as Maximum.

What I was more concerned about was the MTU value. Did you manually adjust the MTU to 1492 or whatever the Tweak test revealed?

In your case this is likely the most important value to change.

 

[HWoodard]

I did set RWIN to the max value it suggested. It increased my network efficiency from 90% to 98%.

As for MTU, I changed it to 1492 and Tweak complained about it -- the efficiency dropped and Tweak said it was a problem. I just cleared the field and let XP figure it out and the efficiency went back to 98% and Tweak "liked" everything it saw.

 

[bcastner]

That is the whole point of the test.
"Normally" for DSL the MTU is 1492. But AOL DSL wants low 1400 settings, and other ISPs work best otherwise.

So, you test.

I hope in a month or so you test again. I usually wait until I get 3 or more consistent results before changing anything.

Note too on the site is a link to other Testing/Tweak sites. I usually use a couple scattered geographicly distant to get a second opinion.

Best,
Bill Castner