Windows XP bridge network connections.
I have two identical 100 mbps nic's bridged on my Windows XP home edition, but link speed is only 10 mbps. is there a tweak to make the bridge run at 100 mbps?
First thing I'd check is what they are plugged into. Are you using an old hub?
ASKER
no, i have the nic's plugged into my Dlink router. I just bought it because my old router died. the new dlink, i'm fairly certain in 10/100 mbps.
What are you communicating with?
Are you actually getting only 10 Mbps through-put, or does the connection just show that it is 10 Mbps?
Why would you have both NIC's connected to the same switch and have the NIC's in bridge mode? That what a switch really is, a multi-port bridge.
Are you actually getting only 10 Mbps through-put, or does the connection just show that it is 10 Mbps?
Why would you have both NIC's connected to the same switch and have the NIC's in bridge mode? That what a switch really is, a multi-port bridge.
ASKER
"What are you communicating with?"
not sure what you mean, I have the route connected to my cable modem. is that what you mean?
"Are you actually getting only 10 Mbps through-put, or does the connection just show that it is 10 Mbps?"
i don't know if i'm actually getting 10 mbps, it does show the connection is 10mbps when i bring up the task manager.
i bridged the two nics because my theory was if i bridge two nics i would have a bigger "pipe" to the internet. or more throughput? i was guessing it would be better, i don't have a clear understanding of what it would actually do. obviously i could use more "schooling" in networking, but like they always say, that's why you ask questions. maybe it would help to define the goal, which was to get more speed out of my internet connection. i have a cable modem, so i theorized there might be untapped potential.
not sure what you mean, I have the route connected to my cable modem. is that what you mean?
"Are you actually getting only 10 Mbps through-put, or does the connection just show that it is 10 Mbps?"
i don't know if i'm actually getting 10 mbps, it does show the connection is 10mbps when i bring up the task manager.
i bridged the two nics because my theory was if i bridge two nics i would have a bigger "pipe" to the internet. or more throughput? i was guessing it would be better, i don't have a clear understanding of what it would actually do. obviously i could use more "schooling" in networking, but like they always say, that's why you ask questions. maybe it would help to define the goal, which was to get more speed out of my internet connection. i have a cable modem, so i theorized there might be untapped potential.
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OMG! I get it, I don't know what I was thinking!! I think I know about bridging. So you could bridge network A to network B. So if network A is 192.168.1.X and network B is 192.168.0.X then the bridge would allow communication between the two networks?
So is there any way to use both connections similar to my little theory? I thought it would make sense to combine two connections to double your throughput, I mean aside from teaming like you were saying, since I don't have a DSL and Cable modem.
So is there any way to use both connections similar to my little theory? I thought it would make sense to combine two connections to double your throughput, I mean aside from teaming like you were saying, since I don't have a DSL and Cable modem.
The birdge interface may just show that it is 10 Mbps. Until you have a way to test it you have no clue what throughput you are getting.
I can see you are attempting to learn about network and the terms we use are VERY confusing.
If you have network A 192.168.1.x and B with 192.168.2.x you have two IP networks. In order to get traffic between those you need to do routing.
Bridging connection two LAN networks (not just IP but other layer 3 protocols).
Routing is done at layer 3 (IP), bridging is done at layer 2. Layer 2 is the actual LAN protocol: Ethernet and Token Ring for example.
If you want to combine the NICs so that they look like one, that is called NIC teaming. Which depending on other factors is generally used to provide increased availability With two NIC, each one connected to seperate switches you have two paths to the server. If one NIC, cable, or switch fails, you still have network connectivity. In some NIC teaming modes, you can send traffic outbound on both NIC's at the same time, to increase outbound network bandwidth. However, to increase inbound bandwidth, you have to connect both NIC's to the same switch and have that switch support "NIC aggeration", which is the ablity for the switch to know that both NIC's are connected to the same box. Your average home switch is not going to do this. Typically you need a switch in the $2K range to do that.
Even in you did NIC team, the only place you would get increased network bandwidth would be on your home network. If your ISP connection is 1.5 Mbps then you can't go any faster than than. If you wanted to increase your speed on the Internet, you would need to get a faster Internet connection, or get more than one Internet connection and get special hardware and/or software that could take advantage of two independent Internet connections.
I can see you are attempting to learn about network and the terms we use are VERY confusing.
If you have network A 192.168.1.x and B with 192.168.2.x you have two IP networks. In order to get traffic between those you need to do routing.
Bridging connection two LAN networks (not just IP but other layer 3 protocols).
Routing is done at layer 3 (IP), bridging is done at layer 2. Layer 2 is the actual LAN protocol: Ethernet and Token Ring for example.
If you want to combine the NICs so that they look like one, that is called NIC teaming. Which depending on other factors is generally used to provide increased availability With two NIC, each one connected to seperate switches you have two paths to the server. If one NIC, cable, or switch fails, you still have network connectivity. In some NIC teaming modes, you can send traffic outbound on both NIC's at the same time, to increase outbound network bandwidth. However, to increase inbound bandwidth, you have to connect both NIC's to the same switch and have that switch support "NIC aggeration", which is the ablity for the switch to know that both NIC's are connected to the same box. Your average home switch is not going to do this. Typically you need a switch in the $2K range to do that.
Even in you did NIC team, the only place you would get increased network bandwidth would be on your home network. If your ISP connection is 1.5 Mbps then you can't go any faster than than. If you wanted to increase your speed on the Internet, you would need to get a faster Internet connection, or get more than one Internet connection and get special hardware and/or software that could take advantage of two independent Internet connections.
ASKER
Wow, thanks for the info. That was very informative, and sadly, disappointing. Because I gather from what you are saying, that I'm not going to get more throughput. I might as well break the bridge and use one nic. To take it a step further, I suppose that this means one 10/100 nic is already faster than the fastest speed i could get from my cable modem. Even a 10 mbps nic would be faster? because i think comcast advertises download speeds of up to 6 mbps, and I'm sure that is the fastest speed possible, probably not a speed i would ever actually see.
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thank you so much for the explanations.