Which Computer on Your Network is Using the Most Bandwidth

Which computer on your network is using the most bandwidth?  ZNetWatch is an excellent program (You have to have WinPCap installed) to check the ARP cache, ICMP  echos and other information about your network.

Microsoft Research TCP Analyzer – Check Out Your Network

Microsoft Research TCP Analyzer (Link) is a network analyzer that allows you to analyze network traces of Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connections. Given a Microsoft Network Monitor trace, the analyzer provides various performance statistics and visualizations for the captured TCP connection. This app also gives a time plot and an explanation of the individual plots.

You must have Microsoft Network Monitor installed before installing TCP Analyzer and you must download the SDK for Experts.   You should also install Charting.   Download

Below is an Example of Microsoft Network Monitor capturing packets on a wireless network.  Notice the information about the wireless (-60 dBm) in the first picture.   In the second picture you can see information on a captured packet (firefox.exe and the destination IP address).

TCP Analyzer which as stated requires Microsoft’s Network Monitor to installed first.

To USE TCP Analyzer

• Start Microsoft’s Network Monitor
• Capture packets for ? (general over a period of time you decide at peak usage of your network or when transferring and using data across your network.
• Stop the Capture
• Open the Captured File
• Go to Experts Menu (this appears after you stop, save and reopen a capture file
• Open the TCP Analyzer

Want to see the TOP Users of your Network?

You can also find your Top Users (top 10) by using this expert (download)-

Charting Download (must have .NET 3.5)

*this software was tested on Windows 7 Professional but will work with Windows Vista or Windows XP.

What’s On My PC – Blogs We Like – Computer Shopper

We try to train young IT professionals to be as resourceful as possible.   Because the internet is so vast and there is so much information available, we have found ‘key’ resources to use during an hour each week out of the 30 training hours.  Reliable and detailed resources are used to ‘open’ the minds of these young professionals.

One of the reliable resources we use is whatsonmypc.wordpress.com. Over the Christmas break it was a pleasure to see a fellow blogger named to Computer Shopper’s Blogs We Like.   A retiree, Rick gives details on programs, security, networking and a collaboration of blogs with his Launchpad (a resource center of fellow bloggers and websites).

If you are breaking into information technology or are a computer hobbyist, go over and pay him a visit.

Adjusting Network Card Properties for Slow Network Response Problems

If you have slow or non responsive program properties; such as a database or other network program…Right Click on My Computer, go to Properties, select Hardware, Device Manager, click the + sign on Network, Right Click on your network card, select properties, select the Advanced Tab, Look for Speed   – adjust the value to 100 Full Duplex, 100 Half or even select the 10 settings.  Try it on each of the settings to see which one is optimal for your network.

When computers handshake (exchange data) autosense does not always work.

I’ve had replaced network cards, ran winsock fix and tried everything when the solution was right in front of me.  Don’t let vendors tell you that you need a new computer.

Wireless Randomly Disconnects

Have Windows Vista or Windows 7?  Are you disconnected from the internet randomly?  Here’s what it could be-

• Turn off the Adapter’s Power Management feature in the device manager
• Turn off the USB hub Power Management in the device manager
• Look at your power plan and click on the advanced options.  Scroll down to the wireless adapter.  Change it to Low.

• Make sure you don’t have a virus or any malware
• The latest wireless drivers should be loaded
• Use TCPOptimizer to make sure your MTU settings are the same in your router and on your wireless card.
• Also In adhoc mode, both computers should be the same (MTU Settings).
• TCPOptimizer is found here.

What is MTU?  – Link

Network Activity Lights in Windows 7

Network Activity Lights in Windows 7 can be activated with a little add-on program called Network Activity Indicator.  Found at ITSamples,  the tiny little program can add lights to your network.  The negative side is you need to schedule these to operate when your computer logs in through the task scheduler or keep the file in a folder and (right click) and set the settings to start with Windows.

You Need to Fill a Network Administrator’s Position

So you need to fill a Network Administrator’s position.   You’re looking for someone with advanced skills and dedication that works through the holidays, after hours and has the drive to make you company competitive.   Don’t risk hiring your friend’s cousin Eddie who setup a network at his grandma’s house.  Look for the following qualities and skills:

• On call 24/7
• Skills that include-
  • Active Directory
  • Network Security
  • Microsoft Exchange
  • Expert Level Networking
  • SQL
  • E-Commerce
  • Expert Level Wireless Networking
  • Disaster Recovery and Planning
  • A million other skills….

With over 1400 positions available nationwide, it is estimated that over 4000 jobs are available as network administrator’s alone.  Link Here’s a list of questions that could be asked – Questions

Optimize Your Network Settings

Want to further optimize your network settings?   Use this little known settings in Windows. (Directions are for Windows Vista and Windows 7 – settings apply to Windows XP also).

• Open the Network and Sharing Center
• Click on Change Adapter Settings
• Hit the Alt Key
• Click Advanced
• Advanced Settings
• Under Adapters and Bindings, Move the Network you use to the top
• Under the Provider Order, Move Microsoft Windows Network to the Top

[Scheduled Post]

NTLM Settings in Windows Vista or 7

You may have devices on your network that you can no longer connect (Vista/Windows 7) to or you may not be able to network to Windows XP (for whatever reason, this works).  Actually this changes settings to accept NTLMv1 and NTLMv2 so that you can connect to Samba Servers, Snap Servers, Older Windows Computers or whatever….

1. Go to Run, Type Regedit and open this key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa

2. If it doesn’t exist, create a DWORD value named
LmCompatibilityLevel

3. Set the value to 1

4. Reboot

Slow Network – Windows Vista or Windows 7

Estimated time to transfer files 6hrs …. yep 6hrs and I think it might just take that long…

OK, this can’t be right.  I installed Vista at home on a 2GHZ 768mb RAM computer and it is great!  Now at work, I have a dual core 4GHZ 2Gb RAM PC and copying files and networking is horribly slow.

Here’s a couple of solutions…to help you.  Try one thing at a time and reboot after netsh

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Vista’s and 7’s  issues with slow browsing and network operations can be the new TCP Receive Window Auto-Tuning Level – You must run the cmd command as the administrator.

To turn off AutoTuning -  Go to a command prompt (run cmd)
netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=off or use
netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled

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Remote Differential Compression (RDC) allows applications to synchronize data between two computers.   Turn it off….Start >> Control Panel >> Programs and Features
Click on ” Turn windows features on or off” on the left side of the panel
Takes a sec to load all the features
Uncheck “Remote Differential Compression”

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Make sure you’ve got the latest drivers for ALL your hardware components.

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http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929868

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Adjust your network card under the Device Manager-

Right click on your network card and go to properties
Select the Advanced tab
Select the Link Speed/Duplex Mode property.
Try Auto Negotiation.
Try 100Mbps/Full Duplex or 100Mbps/Half duplex
It is safe to try these alternative settings to see which setting works best for your PC’s Network card.

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On last thing for performance
Go into Device Manager, open the properties windows for your HDD, select policies, check the box that says “enable advanced performance”.

Cross your fingers…

Network Scanner

Need to scan your network and scan the ports on your network to check your LANS security? Loaded with the Features below, LanSpy 2.0 helps you to audit your network.  (See my test network below)

• Ping
• Domain name
• NetBios names
• MAC address
• Server information
• Domain (workgroup) information
• Domain controllers
• Remote control
• Time
• Disks
• Transports
• Users
• Logged users
• Global groups
• Local groups
• Security options
• Shared resources
• Sessions
• Open files
• Services
• Processes
• Registry
• Event log
• TCP port scanner
• UDP port scanner

Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP

If you have several computers on your network and would like to see the computers on your network, Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP to speed this process up.

To enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP on Windows 7:

1. Click Start, and then click Network. (click Start, type ncpa.cpl into the search box for Windows 7 or Vista, hit ENTER).
2. Click on the Network and Sharing Center
3. Click Manage Network Connections.
4. Right click on the Local Area Connection select Properties.
5. Select Internet Protocol version 4 (TCP/IPv4)
6. Click the Advanced button under the General tab.
7. Click the WINS tab.
8. Click Enable NetBIOS Over TCP/IP.
9. Click OK and Exit the settings.

Setting up WINS