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How does Win9x handle Broadband?


galahs

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I was just looking around http://www.speedguide.net at their freeware TCP Optimizer

They talk about modifying MTU and RWIN values in Windows based on what type of internet connection you have.

So I ask... how well does Windows 95/98/98SE/Me support broadband (ADSL, Cable, ISDN etc) internet connections?

Are their any useful updates and tweaks that are worth carrying out?

Edit: Can we port the Windows Me Network Stack (which actually comes from Windows 2000) back to other Win9x OS's?

Edited by galahs
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When I was on 98 (First Edition), I used TCP Optimizer to take full advantage of my bandwidth. I worked very well. No complaints. :)

As far as handling the speed, I was exceeding my 10 Mbps bandwidth (12Mbps) almost all the time on downloads and, Windows 98 had no issues whatsoever. :thumbup

I'm not an uploader so, I can't tell you how stable Windows 98 is on upload speeds. I would imagine it wouldn't be a problem.

The only thing I updated was my Network Card (10 Mbps to 100 Mbps) and that's it.

Edited by Atmosphere XG
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I'm on the cable connection: I have 10 Mbit download between 2 am and 10 am and for the rest of the day 6 Mbit and it works very good.

Upload is much smaller (only 512 kbit) but very stable (at least in my case).

Btw, TCP Optimizer is a great tool IMO. :)

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I was just looking around http://www.speedguide.net at their freeware TCP Optimizer

They talk about modifying MTU and RWIN values in Windows based on what type of internet connection you have.

So I ask... how well does Windows 95/98/98SE/Me support broadband (ADSL, Cable, ISDN etc) internet connections?

Are their any useful updates and tweaks that are worth carrying out?

ONLY value to modify for broadband connections under Win9xME is RWIN or DefaultRcvWindow. changing MTU does NOTHING to improve speed on broadband connections. REMOVE any MTU and TTL registry tweaks if you use cable or DSL.

See the Navas Cable Modem/DSL Tuning Guide:

http://cable-dsl.home.att.net/

Edited by erpdude8
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I'm using TCP Optimiser with Orange broadband on Win98SE. The rated speed is 8MB but all I'm getting is 5MB. I've noticed that if the TTL value is knocked out completely, as it sometimes is, I can't connect to anything even though the connections icon is showing in the systray. If I manualy insert a TTL value, usually 128, or after a reboot or two, the system comes to its senses! Insights, anyone?

Edited by celtish
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I'm using TCP Optimiser with Orange broadband on Win98SE. The rated speed is 8MB but all I'm getting is 5MB. I've noticed that if the TTL value is knocked out completely, as it sometimes is, I can't connect to anything even though the connections icon is showing in the systray. If I manualy insert a TTL value, usually 128, or after a reboot or two, the system comes to its senses! Insights, anyone?

I have my TTL setting at 255. :sneaky:

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I'm using TCP Optimiser with Orange broadband on Win98SE. The rated speed is 8MB but all I'm getting is 5MB. I've noticed that if the TTL value is knocked out completely, as it sometimes is, I can't connect to anything even though the connections icon is showing in the systray. If I manualy insert a TTL value, usually 128, or after a reboot or two, the system comes to its senses! Insights, anyone?

What do you mean with 'the TTL value is knocked out completely'? If you mean that it's 0 or a very low value, than it's normal that you can't connect to anything. In each router the packet passes TTL is decremented, and when it reaches 0, the packet is dropped. This mechanism must prevent packages from travelling forever when the destination is unreachable. So with a value of 1 or lower, it cannot even pass your own router.

Edited by Mijzelf
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I used to use default settings with Win98SE. Worked fine. Way more consistent than that "Trumpet Winsock" for Win 3.1 in my college dialup days.

I put in the ADSL disc and several reboots were needed. Inconvenient, but that's how many things were back then. And nobody told me how to set up the connection (Start --> Control Panel --> Whatever). But a self-install saved money, so....

AFAIK, broadband speeds were equal to what I got under Linux (around 2000-2001). At the time, (Norton Antivirus had a "fat pipe") I could grab big files from the fastest servers at about 360K per second (PCI ethernet card, phone company ADSL). My ISP has since raised its speed (no extra cost).

One problem was that the installation disc from the ISP (phone company) did not choose "enable WINS resolution" or "disable WINS resolution" in Win 98. So you had to choose one, and play with it for several reboots. If it didn't work, choose the other (and play with it for several more reboots).

Check the ethernet card maker's website before buying (wired or wireless). Sometimes drivers for Win98 don't come in the box, and sometimes they are not available at all. Win98 can use older hardware and still be very capable, broadband internet INCLUDED.

Edited by saturndude
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On mine, USB hasn't worked well with DSL modems, even with a new USB card and drivers. I couldn't get drivers for the Westell Modem, an ISP provided unit. The previous one, a Netopia worked erratically, and at less than half the speed it when compared to ethernet. Performance got worse yet if I tried to access my external hard drive at the same time. It wasn't worth trying to make it work with USB when ethernet works as good as it does.

Rick

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With Windows 98s limited resources, would there be a noticable difference between using an ethernet connected modem and a USB modem?

From my experience.........

The problem with USB -Vs- Ethernet is the lack of speed from the USB standpoint. I lost ruffly

2 Mbps using USB over Ethernet. I also had Windows 98 crash instantly, if I pulled the USB cord from the socket.

You may want to check your Internet Provider to find out if there are any cons when comparing the two.

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