NIC on HP Mediasmart server only 10/100 ?

[rfunnell]

I have developed this problem recently with the NIC on my MEDIASMART server only capable of maximum 100.
I have restore from original server installation disk but still have the same problem .
Can anyone help - does it need to be sent in for service ?

[usacomp2k3]

What hardware are you using on the network side?

[dvn]

Beyond hardware/network settings, can a bad/failing cable do this also?

[diehard]

Yes, a bad cable will give you a lower bandwidth. The 1st thing to remember is that if you want 1 gigabit speed, your PC, router and server must be 1GB. then it's the cabling. From what I know, 100bit uses 2 pairs of the posible 4 pairs of twisted wires in the cable, while 1Gbit uses all 4 pairs. Your cable quality has to be up to par. 1 thing is that the pairs are twisted because this allows the signal being transmitted along that pair to be held together. It's like 2 people walking down the road together and talking, if they are standing next to each other, there is a chance the might get separated as they pass another person or object and their communication would be impaired, one might miss what the other is saying or doing, however if they are holding hands or tied together like a twisted pair, they are more likely to both go around the same side of the obstical and their communication is not interupted, therefore no repeating or error .

With the twisted pair it's the same. You may also have a longer length to travel and because you require 4 twisted pairs, if there is a kink in the cable, then that exponentionaly could interupt the communication. The cable might work fine for 100 but fail for 1GB.

This is where you see better cable such as cat 5 and cat 5e

[fieldhouse]

To add to what diehard says, cat5 is only rated for 100mb. You're "supposed" to use cat5e or cat6 for gigabit but several of the runs in my house are cat5 and work fine as gigabit - it depends on the quality of the wire, the length of the cable, and the proximity to interference. With any of the cabling the wire twists are very important - that's what negates most of the interference since there isn't any other shielding in the cables (that's why it's called UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair)). Cat5e and cat 6 have an increased number of twists per inch/cm/cubit which allows operation at higher speeds.

Also, besides having a gigabit network adapter in each machine, you also need a system bus that can handle the data throughput. Several of the cheaper motherboards will advertise a gigabit lom but have it connected to the PCI bus so it's limited to ~330 mbits or around 1/3 true gigabit speed. You'll see similar speed throttling if you're using lower spec cabling over longer runs - just like poor wireless signals over a longer distance.

But if you bring up task manager and it shows the link speed is 10mbit then that's what tne adapter is set to or auto-negotiating to. Double-check the network adapter properties on each of your systems and make sure they're set to auto.

The other thing I've seen is that some cheapo switches will drag everything down to 100mbit even if they're gbit if just one 100mbit device is plugged in.

[rfunnell]

Thanks for the replies guys. I have tried different cables that all run at Gigabit on my other machines with the same results. Have tested the machine at work both home and work have Gigabit Netgear switches DGFV338 and same results.
The weird thing about this is it used to work at 1 Gigabit when I initially purchased the machine.
The only possibility is a storm that happened at about the same time this occured. But usually you would expect this to destroy rather than produce this result ?

[cskenney]

If the storm only affected the twisted pair that provide the extra bandwidth for Gigabit then the connection would fall back to whatever still works. It sounds like it is damaged. I am curious if HP would be able to repair it short of placing the motherboard.

As a comparison, I had a lightning strike that damaged a router. I replaced it and everything seemed fine. However, about 6 months later I tried replacing my Linksys router with a D-Link and it would not work. The problem was the lightning arrestor / grounding block on the incoming ethernet cable coming from my broadband radio had been damaged. The technician said that was a first for him. Usually they either work or don't work.

[dvn]

@rfunnell - It is possible that a lightning storm will only slightly damage electronic components. I'd look into a UPS if you don't already have one, something that'd shield you from another strike, and something that your incoming Internet connection from your ISP can run through.

Are you sure that the DGFV338 has a gigabit switch? According to the specs, it is 10/100 only.

Also, have you tried moving the cable coming from your MSS to different ports on the back of your router at home? Try disconnecting everything from the router except the MSS and give that a try.

[usacomp2k3]

@fieldhouse, I think PCI buss is 133MB/sec which technically is capable of sustaining the 125MB/sec of gigabit. The problem is that it is a shared bus, so if you have things like sound cards or USB on the same bus, you overall performance is going to be lessened. That's why the move to PCI-E was a good thing, because even a 1x slot is 250MB/sec each direction, which is more than enough for 1-2 SATA hard drives and is enough for a couple of gigabit network cards.

[cskenney]

I was looking back and came across this topic and wondered if the problem was ever resolved?