Internet or network application slow? You may need to temporarily disable Nagle’s Algorithm

With the Nagle-Algorithm, Windows takes small packets and packages them in to more manageable and efficient sizes.   If you have poor latency, you might try to disable the Nagle-Algorithm.  Nagle’s algorithm helps to control congestion when small packets are sent continuously by TCP.   When enabled, this helps to prevent a flood of these packets.

More information – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagle’s_algorithm

How to disable Nagle’s algorithm-

Open regedit.exe.  Navigate to HKey_Local_Machine\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\

Find the interface that has your current IP address (see example below)

Add the following values and make sure they are set to 1.

TcpAckFrequency and TCPNoDelay

This is only a temporary fix for the reduction of some applications on the internet.  Once your project or need is fulfilled, you should re-enable the algorithm by deleting the keys and rebooting or changing the values.

CLI vs GUI – Basic CLI commands

The CLI or Command Line Interface, is a text-based interface used to program devices such as switches and other network equipment.  So it’s 2019.  Why are we still using a CLI?

The reason? It allows a granular ability to program devices for hundreds of configurations.   You see, a GUI is going to be limited (even though some have hundreds of options) and CLI uses less resources and truly can give you more control of the configuration.

Thus you can generally program a CLI faster than a GUI interface once you become skilled using the CLI.   With a CLI, you aren’t waiting between commands and with a GUI interface, you are.

Below is a series of screenshots and several commands on the Dell N1548 switch (For more information on how technical it can be, see the 2410 page Dell PDF) .   In this tutorial, we’ll show a novice how they can take a switch with no IP address and program the switch so that it can be accessed by a GUI interface with a static IP address.

While there are a million more options using a CLI, this is only an introduction to the CLI and does not imply this is the only way to program switches by any means.  CLI commands can vary on manufacturers.

In order to use the CLI, you can use Putty or other software on your computer.  You’ll also need the console cable that came with the device or a standard console cable.

With the switch off, connect the console cable to your computer and plug the opposite end into the console port of the switch.

Open Putty and select the serial connection or SSH (this will depend on your device).  Generally a speed of 9600 will be ok if connecting via a serial cable.

Power the switch on and click Open on Putty.  You should see the boot sequence for the device.   If your screen is garbled, trying increasing the baud rate.

As the device loads, you will see information about the device scroll by on your console screen.

Once the device boots, you will (in this case) see console>

Next, type enable. This enables commands and the programming of the switch.

Once you hit enter, you will see console#

Next type configure in order to begin the configuration of the switch and hit Enter.  You can normally type help or ? in order to get the command syntax as you enter different areas of the CLI.

Next type username {username you want} password {The password you want} and privilege 15

Note: The password and username used in this example are just that – examples.  Privilege  levels are determined by the switch or device manufacturer.

Next type ip default-gateway {Enter your gateway address}

Next type interface vlan 1

You will now see console {config-if-vlan1} – you can now type the IP address and subnet that you want by entering ip address {your ip address} {your subnet}

Next, type exit

To check your configuration, type show ip interface vlan 1

You should now be able to login to your switch using a browser by typing in the IP address in the address bar – This of course is after setting a static number on your NIC if your computer is not on your lan and has not  received a DHCP number.

Log into the switch and you can hit the save button to make sure your configuration is saved.

Again, this is a tutorial for beginners.  While you should disable protocols such as http, telnet and limit users on the switch, you have to remember there are hundreds of CLI commands and GUI configurations.

Always update your firmware and disable protocols that are not secure.

 

Change network adapter priorities in Windows 10 – PowerShell

irst thing –

• disable network adapters you don’t use
• If you use Ethernet, disable everything but flow control and RSS
• Disable LLMNR
• Adjust NTLM
• Perform test with Totusoft’s network speed test

Next, avoid latency of your network card by adjusting the network adapter priorities.

Open PowerShell as an Administrator – Type Get-NetIPInterface

You will see the Interfacemetric numbers that vary from 11 to 90.

If you want a higher priority, set the interface to a lower number – I use wi-fi – therefore I can type the command –

Set-NetIPInterface -InterfaceIndex “11” -InterfaceMetric “11”

Our old article on using the GUI 

If you use more than one network card for mutliple LANS or connections, you can set the metric of each card to send IP packets through the fastest card first or the desired card.

For instance if you have a network card that connects to other servers and computers on one LAN and a network card that connects to a separate LAN that has security cameras; metrics can be used to compute the routing algorithm.

The one card would be set to a lower metric in order to go to the web and the security camera system would be set to a higher metric thus giving priority to the lower number.

Here’s an example of my home LAN which uses a printer and cameras on a separate network and my wireless which connects to the Internet.

So how do you change it?  Open the Network and Sharing Center – Click on Adapters – Right click the desired adapter – Select Properties – Double click TCP/IP – Click Advanced – Uncheck the Automatic Metric – Change to the desired number

Wireless

Above the wireless is set to 1.  Below the LAN which has a static IP address and no Gateway is configured with a 20.

Valid values are 1 to 9999.

Don’t forget to set the binding order of the network cards.   Go to the Adapter.  Hit the ‘Alt’ key once for the menu.  Click on Advanced and then Advanced Settings.

Move the network card with a higher priority to the top.

Seizing the Operation Master Roles in Windows Server – RID issues

How to repair AD in this state (object can’t be created -users/other)

• command prompt (admin) – Type the following…
• ntdsutil
• roles
• connections
• connect to server
• quit
• seize schema master
• seize naming master
• seize RID master
• seize PDC
• seize infrastructure master

Reboot

Should you disable 8dot3 for performance and security?

icrosoft did recommend to disable short names  in a security guide some times back.  There is evidence that file operations in directories (folders) that contain a large number of file can be slowed by short file name creations.  So does it improve performance? The short answer – Yes.

Now should you disable short names?  This answer is going to be on a case by case basis.  Some questions to ask yourself –

• Do you have older programs that use 8dot3 (short names)?
• Do you have a folder with a significant amount of files and coping or creating files is slow?

Below is a pic showing the improvement by disabling and stripping

Image:  Blog Technet Microsoft

Here’s what you need to do –

• Always backup your system
• Open a Command Prompt as Administrator
• Type fsutil 8dot3name query c:
  (enter the drive letter at the end)
• Type fsutil 8dot3name set c: 1
  (This will disable 8.3)
• If you want to do this system wide, type –
  –  fsutil behavior set disable8dot3 1
• To strip existing files with a 8.3 short name, this will scan your computer and the system registry and strip the files of their short names type the following-
  –   fsutil 8dot3name strip /s /v c:

Example:

References:

• KB Article on short names: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/121007
• TechNet article with a reference for FSUTIL.EXE 8dot3name: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff621566.aspx
• TechNet article on the registry setting to disable 8.3 names system wide: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc778996.aspx
• https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/josebda/2012/11/13/windows-server-2012-file-server-tip-disable-8-3-naming-and-strip-those-short-names-too/

Wireless Dropping? Change your Scan Valid Interval

Is your Wireless dropping?  Update your driver of course and then try changing your Scan Valid Interval.   By default, most wireless cards are set to 60.   This is the amount of time before your wireless ‘looks’ for other access points (for roaming).   Try changing the interval to 120.

Open the device manager, double click on the wireless adapter, under advanced, click on Scan Valid Interval – change this to 120.   If you have a card that has roaming under advanced, select the lowest option.

Note:  If you have a laptop and are moving around in an area, you may need to lower this number.

Also, you may want to lower the Beacon Interval in your router if your signal is low or if you have drops.  This sends beacons more frequently and can help with your signal.   This may slightly decrease your bandwidth (wireless) and use a little extra battery on mobile devices.

While the default is 100, did you know if you increase this time (assuming you have a great signal in your home or business) that you can increase wireless bandwidth (slightly) and even increase your battery life of devices?

Got Atheros? Follow this link to drivers.

Also, do a quick survey of your entire home.  As you can see, one side of our house has interference on channel 11.   Because the ‘user’ of the other wireless is using Channel 6 + 10 (40 mhz ) spread, Channel 6 and 11 are NOT optimal.  Therefore, channel 1 is the optimal channel (you can see two devices – my AP and printer)

Left – host computer  Right – TightVNC into another computer in my home.

Remember, router position and direction matters.  As you can see below, repositioning the router got rid of “Saw Tooth” (signal that goes up and down).

AlphiMAX PTP Estimator provides an excellent way to align your wireless antennas

When you are networking computers, wireless access points, printers and other nodes in multiple rooms, try to avoid daisy-chaining switches or using small 4-8 port switches when you are in a hurry.  Replace any hubs on your network as soon as you can.

With a hub, collisions can be >20% and utilization can stand at >50%.   By replacing a hub alone, you can reduce collisions to 5% on switches in rooms and <1% in the server room.  Switches help to isolate traffic, relieve congestion, separate collision domains (reduce collisions), segment and restart distance/repeater rules.

Daisy Chaining Switches -what not to do

Real world scenarios may require you to temporarily daisy chain switches.  If you do, test the network and run additional backbones or replace core switches to accommodate more nodes as soon as you can. (remember, replace any hubs in your network)

One of many solutions is to run independent lines to the core switch

Basic tips on optimization of your network –

• Use stackable managed switches
• Purchase switches that support
  IEEE 802.1D , IEEE 802.1p , IEEE 802.1Q , IEEE 802.1s , IEEE 802.1w , IEEE 802.1x , IEEE 802.3 , IEEE 802.3ab , IEEE 802.3ad (LACP) ,
  IEEE 802.3ae , IEEE 802.3u , IEEE 802.3x , IEEE 802.3z
• Use a battery backup on the switches

This is the very basics behind network switch infrastructure.  Managing switches and using the IEEE standards above along with optimizing your network and managing the network infrastructure is important.

Excellent articles on Networking Infrastructure

http://www.lantronix.com/resources/net-tutor-switching.html

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/it-consultant/only-novices-daisy-chain-switches/

Why Do You Subnet?

Why? The Golden Question

All over the internet you will find information on ‘How to Subnet’.   Suddenly you are thrown into a world of bits and binary and given charts of ‘How to Subnet’.   But why do you subnet?

Subnets are created to separate areas of your network for security and/or to hold down broadcasts.  Computers constantly ‘talk’ to each other.   If you have a network of 10 computers, the talking (opening files or programs) or broadcasting packets that are sent out during networking is not much traffic at all.   However if you have 10,000 computers talking and passing data, you will have thousands of computers passing data and your network will slow down from all of the information.   If you still don’t understand, invite 10 friends over for a get together.  It’ll get noisy but you can still hear every conversation.    Now, go to a rock concert with 10,000 screaming fans.   Get the picture.

Subnetting allows you to divide areas of your network out to prevent this.   So here comes the golden question.  How can you get them to ‘talk’ when you need to?   With the installation of a Layer 3 Switch or a router, these subnets can talk.

And for all of the folks who know a ton of details on the subject, this is just an example for people who are searching why to subnet.

Other Ways to Divide Your Network

Are there other ways to divide your network?  You can use VLANs.  Devices such as switches allow virtual lans to be set up.    By purchasing managed switches, you can separate different areas of your network thus separating areas for security and holding down traffic.

So now I know why – but how and don’t give me binary and all the fuzzy stuff!

The best explaination I have found is at this link.   A simple chart with examples!

Here’s my example –

Subnetting allows your network to become more efficient and allows you to separate your network by subnets.

Let’s say your network is on a 192.168.1.x numbering scheme.

How do you know what your network is?  Open a command prompt and type ipconfig.   See the gateway?  That is your starting number for your network.   The network allows 254 computers to be in the broadcast domain.

So if you do an ipconfig and see this-

192.168.1.125      – your ip address
255.255.255.0    – your current subnet
192.168.1.1           – your gateway (This is your router or firewall – the point leading to the internet)

Now let’s say you have 20 devices in your network.   How can you effectively hold down broadcast and prevent your router from building tables for each device?  How can you make it more effective and hold down traffic?   Actually without understanding binary, you can do this.   Remember this is basics and should help you understand.

You see under the current network, you can have 254 devices in your network.  Printers, routers, computers, tablets, netbooks, notebooks, etc.    The last set of numbers called an octet only goes from 1-254.   But lets narrow this down.

You can use a CIDR calculator online to determine how to tweak your network.   A good site is Subnet Calculator.   Go there and enter your router’s number in the ip field.   Now go down and enter a number close to the number of devices you have on your network.  In this example, enter 30.

Did you see where the subnet changed to 255.255.255.224?    (Did you notice that 224 + 30 is 254?)

Ok, now open your adapter settings by clicking the network icon at the bottom right corner and selecting Open Network and Sharing Center.

Now click on the adapter settings.

Right click and select properties on your adapter that is active.

Now select Internet Protocol v4

Enter an ip address statically (manually put it in).  Put in your new subnet and your gateway.   You must also put in your DNS or a public DNS server.  You should keep a list of each devices number to avoid any problems.  All ip addresses must be different on each device.

The only valid numbers in this broadcast domain now is – 192.168.1.1, 192.168.1.2, 192.168.1.3 continuing until you get to 192.168.1.30 (remember you chose to have up to 30 devices on your network.)  If you enter any number above this, you will get an error.

Error screen showing an ip address above what you selected.

If you get the above error screen, you have entered an invalid number.

After you select a number between 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.1.30, click OK and exit all screens by clicking OK.

If you do an ipconfig now, you will see this-

When you change subnets as the above example shows, you have to remember that you may lose connectivity to devices such as routers or network printers.   You will need to set devices such as servers and these devices on the same subnet so that whoever is assigned this subnet can communicate with them.

This by no means is a thorough subnetting lesson.   It can become much more complex by introducing multiple routers into your network, DHCP servers or other devices.   This is a simple how-to that shows you how broadcast domains can be more efficient.

Now one more thing.  Want to know how to subnet?  You can use the magic number method.

Need to optimize your network – Silly Window Syndrome could be happening

Need to speed your internet up or tweak your network out?  Here’s some things to take into consideration.  Something called Silly Window Syndrome can occur if a server or workstation that has a shared files has high latency.

You see, when there is no synchronization between the workstation and a server (or ws to ws) regarding the capacity of the flow of data being sent or the packet size, Silly Window Syndrome can occur.

Here’s where Nagle’s algorithm is used if the Silly Window Syndrome occurs from the sender.  You can make sure it is enabled by running the script below from a command line (as administrator). Nagle  will send the first segment even if it is tiny.  Then it’ll wait for the acknowledgement (known as an ACK) is received or a MSS is accumulated. (MSS – maximum sized segment)

You see, Nagle’s algorithm works by improving TCP efficiency.  This algorithm reduces the number of small packets  being sent over a network.

So what if the delays are caused by the receiver?  David D Clark’s solution can be and is used.  Clark’s solution closes the window until another segment of MSS can be received or if the buffer becomes half empty.

Now there something else – Delayed ACK tries to send more data over a segment if it can.   Here’s the problem.  the interaction of Delayed ACK with Nagle’s algorithm can create 200+ ms delays.

How do I?

Run this from a command line as an administrator to turn off Nagle’s algorithm  

REG ADD HKey_Local_Machine\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\ /v TcpAckFrequency /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

REG ADD HKey_Local_Machine\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\ /v TCPNoDelay /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

taskkill /f /im explorer.exe

start explorer.exe

pause

______________________________________________________

Run this from a command line as an administrator to turn on Nagle’s algorithm  

REG ADD HKey_Local_Machine\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\ /v TcpAckFrequency /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

REG ADD HKey_Local_Machine\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\ /v TCPNoDelay /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

taskkill /f /im explorer.exe

start explorer.exe

__________________________________________________________________________________________

There’s several other things you can do for latency –

1. Check things like LLMNR.  You can get delays with SQL and you may need to disable it on work stations and the server.
2.  Look at Nagle’s Algorithm and Delayed ACK.
   1. You can turn Nagle’s algorithm on or off as needed.   It’s not always the best choice in highly interactive networks but can help to speed up downloads and remote connectivity.   We’ve had several students in a jam that needed a file moved and high latency stopped them or the download failed.  So what did they do?  Adjusted Nagle’s Algorithm.
3. Disable everything in the network card settings with the exception of flow control
4. Manually adjust the connection speed – we’ve seen even with the correct network card drivers slow throughput on networks.  After adjusting to 1Gbps manually instead of auto, the computer speed up.
5. Is everything a gigabit?  Switches, servers, workstation and other.  If so, enable jumbo frames.

Remember always optimize your network before you throw hardware at the problem.

Also, don’t worry, Karn’s algorithm will be working when computers are talking.  It basically measures time from point A and B and if there is a delay, it’ll say ‘hello’ again to try and get a response.

If you have an application you need to access that uses TCP across the network, you may be able to speed it up by enabling TcpAckFrequency and/or TcpNoDelay in the registry.  –

Open regedit and then find-

Registry Key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces

Make sure you find the correct interface for your active network connection.One way is to look at the IP Addresses listed until you find the correct interface.

On the right window, create a DWORD32 for-
TcpAckFrequency=1
TCPNoDelay=1

Reboot

Always make sure you measure your network speed before you make changes to set a baseline.  Measure the speed after you make changes.   How do you measure it?  Put the following software on the workstation and server.  Totusoft’s Lanspeed

http://www.totusoft.com/lanspeed

 

 

Truly reset the TCP/IP stack – Fix network/internet problems Updated 3/14/2021

Having connection issues and no viruses or malware?  Hardware ok?

Try typing the following at a command prompt as an administrator
(you can copy and paste the bold text below) to fully reset the TCP/IP Stack-

---

netsh winsock reset catalog
netsh interface ipv4 reset
netsh interface ipv6 reset
arp d
netsh winsock reset 
netsh int tcp reset
netsh int ip reset
netsh int ip delete neighbors
netsh int ip delete destinationcache
netsh int ip delete arpcache
ipconfig /flushDNS
ipconfig /registerDNS
ipconfig /displayDNS
NBTStat -R
NBTStat -RR

---

Because you may have ports opened or your firewall has exceptions, the next command resets your firewall –  This is optional

netsh advfirewall reset

Need to optimize your network? Look at adjusting LocalPriority, HostPriority, DNSPriority or NetBTPriority.

Need to optimize your network? Look at adjusting LocalPriority, HostPriority, DNSPriority or NetBTPriority.  (Host/DNS resolution)

The tweak works by increasing the priority of four processes.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\ServiceProvider\
LocalPriority = 4 (DWORD, the default is 499, change to 4)
HostPriority = 5 (DWORD, the default is 500, change to 5)
DnsPriority = 6 (DWORD, the default is 2000, change to 6)
NetbtPriority = 7 (DWORD, the default is 2001, change to 7)

You can use this script at a command prompt (as Admin) or in PowerShell (as Admin)-

reg add HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\TcpIp\ServiceProvider /v “LocalPriority” /t REG_DWORD /D 4 /F

reg add HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\TcpIp\ServiceProvider /v “HostsPriority” /t REG_DWORD /D 5 /F

reg add HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\TcpIp\ServiceProvider /v “DnsPriority” /t REG_DWORD /D 6 /F

reg add HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\TcpIp\ServiceProvider /v “NetBtPriority” /t REG_DWORD /D 7 /F

taskkill /f /im explorer.exe

start explorer.exe

Optimizing your server with more than one network card

New IT professionals may think that adding a second network card will improve throughput.  While this can be true, IT personnel need to be aware of several rules behind configuring multiple network cards.

Assuming the server will be in the same subnet, once the network cards are installed, several decisions have to be made.  Will the cards be independent and have separate IP addresses or will the cards be bridged and have the same IP address?

Two IP addresses

If you plan on installing two nic cards in your server and you want to use two ip addresses-

• Make sure that licensing of software is not based on the MAC address of one of the NIC cards
• Do NOT enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP – This can cause the name of the server to appear on the network more than once and an error will occur (multiple NetBT Event ID 4319 Errors stating “A duplicate name has been detected on the TCP network)
• Use an internal DNS server – Client computers will use a DNS round-robin and routing tables will be built

One IP Address, multiple NIC cards

If you plan on using aggregation or the bridging of your network cards-

• USE HP, Intel, Broadcom or other NICs that support teaming (drivers) – this is important so that the cards will be used together

Note- (Our recommendations)

• Connect each NIC to a separate switch to ensure switchport flooding does not occur.”  Use switches that support IEEE 802.3ad
• USE RSS and modify the registry appropriately to use multiple CPUs
  In Windows Server 2008, administrators can set the maximum number of RSS CPUs with the MaxNumRssCpus registry keyword in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Ndis\Parameters. TheMaxNumRssCpus value is a DWORD type and, if it is not present, NDIS uses the default value of 4.
  More information: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/ff570795(v=vs.85).aspx
• To enable RSS:
  1. Open a command prompt as an administrator
  2. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:
     netsh int tcp set global rss=enabled
• You may want to also enable TCP Chimney if your NIC card supports it. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/951037

Is TCP Chimney working? Type netstat -t if you see Offloaded during a connection, this feature is working

An excellent article on the use of multiple NIC cards http://blogs.technet.com/b/josebda/archive/2010/09/03/using-the-multiple-nics-of-your-file-server-running-windows-server-2008-and-2008-r2.aspx

Review – GL-MT300N-V2 (Mango) Mini Smart Router

Do you travel?  Want extra protection of taking a router with a firewall with you when you are on the road?    Want the flexibility of OpenWRT?

The GL iNet GL-MT300N-V2 mini smart router is loaded with a ton of features.   These Routers can act as a router, repeater, WDS, 3/4g Modem or it’ll work with phone tethering.

For less than $21,  this tiny router packs a lot of punch.  Able to fit in the palm of your hand, the router has the following features.

• Powered by MTK 7628NN 580Mhz SoC
• 300Mbps high speed
• Small, light, easy to use
• LEDE pre-installed
• Increased RAM from 64MB to 128 MB
• Better Wi-Fi with MTK driver
• Faster OpenVPN encryption
• 4 GPIOs

Tech Specs.

CPU	MTK 7628NN @580Mhzz
Memory/Storage	DDR2 128MB/ FLASH 16MB
Interfaces	1 WAN, 1 LAN, 1 USB2.0, 1 micro USB (power), 1 Reset button
Frequency	2.4GHz
Transmission rate	300Mbps
Max Tx Power	20dBm
Protocol	802.11 b/g/n
External Storage support	FAT32/EXFAT/EXT4/EXT3/EXT2/NTFS
Webcam support	MJPG, YUV
DIY features	UART, 4GPIO, 3.3V & 5V power port
External antenna support	No
Power input	5V/1A
Power consumption	<2.75W
Dimension, Weight	58*58*25mm, 39g

Using the default login, the GL-MT300N-V2 can be accessed by a web browser.

The admin panel contains every feature you’ll need in any router.  While this custom menu has Internet, Wireless, Client info, Upgrade (firmware), Firewall, VPN (OpenVPN), Applications and more settings; its OpenWRT that makes this router unique.

Because the router runs on OpenWRT firmware, items such as a firewall, OpenVPN and more are available.

The firewall features logging and a Captive Portal.

The Network Mode includes changing the router from being a router to a wireless access point, Extender or WDS (Wireless Distribution System).

By entering the IP address with /cgi-bin/luci, you can gain access to OpenWRT. What is LuCi?

The full OpenWRT menu is available including graphs and all of the features of OpenWRT.

Real-time information can be accessed under the OpenWRT menu.

Firmware
https://docs.gl-inet.com/en/3/release_notes/

Firmware for gl-mt300-n-v2
https://docs.gl-inet.com/en/3/release_notes/gl-mt300n-v2/

Documents
https://docs.gl-inet.com/en/3/setup/mini_router/upgrade/#official-openwrtlede-firmware

First Time Setup
https://docs.gl-inet.com/en/3/setup/mini_router/first-time_setup/

Fix Windows Update errors by using the DISM or System Update Readiness tool

At an elevated command prompt (command prompt as administrator) – type 
DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth

What should you try first? – Try the PowerShell post we made on an earlier date to check for updates.

Open PowerShell as an Administrator

Type the following-

Install-Module PSWinodwsUpdate
Get-WindowsUpdate
Install-WindowsUpdate

 

Optimizing MySQL- Moodle

To be specific, if you are loading Moodle, look at the optimization at – https://docs.moodle.org/37/en/Performance_recommendations

On our server, we use a SSD with the Inetinfop\Parameters set to 2.  You need to run the performance under plugins at 100,000 request.  So go to site administration and see how you do.

https://yourdomain/cache/testperformance.php and request 100,000.

Make sure you set all of the settings under FastCGI to 10,000 or their max of 1000.

Opcache should be enabled in the php.ini file.

Optimize the my.ini file for Windows Server.
https://www.percona.com/blog/2016/10/12/mysql-5-7-performance-tuning-immediately-after-installation/

IIS performance (https://docs.moodle.org/37/en/Performance_recommendations)

All alter this location in the registry:

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Inetinfo\Parameters\

• The equivalent to KeepAliveTimeout is ListenBackLog (IIS – registry location is HKLM\ SYSTEM\ CurrentControlSet\ Services\ Inetinfo\ Parameters). Set this to between 2 to 5.
• Change the MemCacheSize value to adjust the amount of memory (Mb) that IIS will use for its file cache (50% of available memory by default).
• Change the MaxCachedFileSize to adjust the maximum size of a file cached in the file cache in bytes. Default is 262,144 (256K).
• Create a new DWORD called ObjectCacheTTL to change the length of time (in milliseconds) that objects in the cache are held in memory. Default is 30,000 milliseconds (30 seconds).

Updating Drivers? Don’t forget the chipset!

While I’d like to guess that over 98% of the computers that I have worked on that are privately owned; the drivers were out of date or missing critical drivers that other drivers rely on.

Here’s what I mean.  If you decide to update your wireless drivers,  don’t go to the manufacturer of the computer, look for drivers from the hardware website. Don’t download any program that offers to update your drivers.  Update your drivers manually.   Open the device manager, look for the device you want to update, navigate to the hardware manufacturer’s website, download the zip file,  unzip the file, click update driver, select let me choose and point to the location of the driver.

       

Now which drivers should you update?  Video, sound, network (wired and wireless), camera, mouse (synaptics if a laptop), and most importantly, the chipset.  Why the chipset?  It controls the peripheral equipment (e.g. video, sound, network).  Updates usually correct problems or latency issues.

Remember, the chipset and BIOS (UEFI) control these devices.  It’s important to get BIOS/UEFI updates along with what controls your computer…the chipset.

Link aggregation – Use Multiple NIC Cards

There is truly an advantage to adding multiple NIC cards to a computer.   It won’t speed up a single internet connection but it can help with loss of signal, detecting access points, transferring information to and  from computers.

When adding a second NIC card to a computer, you can highlight both by holding down the CTRL key and clicking on them and then right clicking to bridge the connections so they act as one…this can allow you to bridge a wireless network to a wired network.

Two nic cards on the same network can allow for load balancing.

Dual Wireless Cards

Need System Information? Use PowerShell

If you need system information about your BIOS, Motherboard and more, open PowerShell as an Administrator and past the following into PowerShell –

Get-WMIObject -Class Win32_ComputerSystem
Get-WMIObject -Class Win32_BIOS
Get-WMIObject -Class Win32_Baseboard
Get-WMIObject -Class Win32_Processor
Get-WMIObject -Class Win32_LogicalDisk
Get-WMIObject -Class Win32_DiskDrive
Get-WMIObject -Class Win32_PhysicalMemory
Get-WMIObject -Class Win32_NetworkAdapter
Get-WMIObject -Class Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration

Windows 10 Shell Commands you can run from the ‘Run’ line

e following shell commands can be ran from the ‘run’ line in Windows 10

shell:AccountPictures	%AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\AccountPictures
shell:AddNewProgramsFolder	Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Get Programs
shell:Administrative Tools	%AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Administrative Tools
shell:AppData	%AppData%
shell:Application Shortcuts	%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Application Shortcuts
shell:AppsFolder	Applications
shell:AppUpdatesFolder	Installed Updates
shell:Cache	%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache
shell:Camera Roll	%UserProfile%\Pictures\Camera Roll
shell:CD Burning	%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Burn\Burn
shell:ChangeRemoveProgramsFolder	Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Programs and Features
shell:Common Administrative Tools	%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Administrative Tools
shell:Common AppData	%ProgramData%
shell:Common Desktop	%Public%\Desktop
shell:Common Documents	%Public%\Documents
shell:CommonDownloads	%Public%\Downloads
shell:CommonMusic	%Public%\Music
shell:CommonPictures	%Public%\Pictures
shell:Common Programs	%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
shell:CommonRingtones	%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Ringtones
shell:Common Start Menu	%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
shell:Common Startup	%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
shell:Common Templates	%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Templates
shell:CommonVideo	%Public%\Videos
shell:ConflictFolder	Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Sync Center\Conflicts
shell:ConnectionsFolder	Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Network Connections
shell:Contacts	%UserProfile%\Contacts
shell:ControlPanelFolder	Control Panel\All Control Panel Items
shell:Cookies	%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\INetCookies
shell:Cookies\Low	%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\INetCookies\Low
shell:CredentialManager	%AppData%\Microsoft\Credentials
shell:CryptoKeys	%AppData%\Microsoft\Crypto
shell:desktop	Desktop
shell:device Metadata Store	%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\DeviceMetadataStore
shell:documentsLibrary	Libraries\Documents
shell:downloads	%UserProfile%\Downloads
shell:dpapiKeys	%AppData%\Microsoft\Protect
shell:Favorites	%UserProfile%\Favorites
shell:Fonts	%WinDir%\Fonts
shell:Games	Games
shell:GameTasks	%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\GameExplorer
shell:History	%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\History
shell:HomeGroupCurrentUserFolder	Homegroup\(user-name)
shell:HomeGroupFolder	Homegroup
shell:ImplicitAppShortcuts	%AppData%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\ImplicitAppShortcuts
shell:InternetFolder	Internet Explorer
shell:Libraries	Libraries
shell:Links	%UserProfile%\Links
shell:Local AppData	%LocalAppData%
shell:LocalAppDataLow	%UserProfile%\AppData\LocalLow
shell:MusicLibrary	Libraries\Music
shell:MyComputerFolder	This PC
shell:My Music	%UserProfile%\Music
shell:My Pictures	%UserProfile%\Pictures
shell:My Video	%UserProfile%\Videos
shell:NetHood	%AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Network Shortcuts
shell:NetworkPlacesFolder	Network
shell:OneDrive	OneDrive
shell:OneDriveCameraRoll	%UserProfile%\OneDrive\Pictures\Camera Roll
shell:OneDriveDocuments	%UserProfile%\OneDrive\Documents
shell:OneDriveMusic	%UserProfile%\OneDrive\Music
shell:OneDrivePictures	%UserProfile%\OneDrive\Pictures
shell:Personal	%UserProfile%\Documents
shell:PicturesLibrary	Libraries\Pictures
shell:PrintersFolder	All Control Panel Items\Printers
shell:PrintHood	%AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Printer Shortcuts
shell:Profile	%UserProfile%
shell:ProgramFiles	%ProgramFiles%
shell:ProgramFilesCommon	%ProgramFiles%\Common Files
shell:ProgramFilesCommonX64	%ProgramFiles%\Common Files
shell:ProgramFilesCommonX86	%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Common Files
shell:ProgramFilesX64	%ProgramFiles%
shell:ProgramFilesX86	%ProgramFiles(x86)%
shell:Programs	%AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
shell:Public	%Public%
shell:PublicAccountPictures	%Public%\AccountPictures
shell:PublicGameTasks	%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\GameExplorer
shell:PublicLibraries	%Public%\Libraries
shell:Quick Launch	%AppData%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch
shell:Recent	%AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent
shell:RecordedTVLibrary	Libraries\Recorded TV
shell:RecycleBinFolder	Recycle Bin
shell:ResourceDir	%WinDir%\Resources
shell:Ringtones	%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Ringtones
shell:Roamed Tile Images	%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\RoamedTileImages
shell:Roaming Tiles	%AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\RoamingTiles
shell:SavedGames	%UserProfile%\Saved Games
shell:Screenshots	%UserProfile%\Pictures\Screenshots
shell:Searches	%UserProfile%\Searches
shell:SearchHistoryFolder	%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\ConnectedSearch\History
shell:SearchHomeFolder	search-ms:
shell:SearchTemplatesFolder	%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\ConnectedSearch\Templates
shell:SendTo	%AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo
shell:Start Menu	%AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu
shell:StartMenuAllPrograms	StartMenuAllPrograms
shell:Startup	%AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
shell:SyncCenterFolder	Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Sync Center
shell:SyncResultsFolder	Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Sync Center\Sync Results
shell:SyncSetupFolder	Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Sync Center\Sync Setup
shell:System	%WinDir%\System32
shell:SystemCertificates	%AppData%\Microsoft\SystemCertificates
shell:SystemX86	%WinDir%\SysWOW64
shell:Templates	%AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Templates
shell:ThisPCDesktopFolder	Desktop
shell:UsersFilesFolder	%UserProfile%
shell:User Pinned	%AppData%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned
shell:UserProfiles	%HomeDrive%\Users
shell:UserProgramFiles	%LocalAppData%\Programs
shell:UserProgramFilesCommon	%LocalAppData%\Programs\Common
shell:UsersLibrariesFolder	Libraries
shell:VideosLibrary	Libraries\Videos
shell:Windows	%WinDir%

 

Good tweak or bad tweak? TweakHound helps you decide.

An excellent site to look at tweaks and optimization of your operating system is TweakHound.   TweakHound gives step by step guides and hundreds of tweaks – they also help you look at these individually and explain why they are good or bad.

Go check them out.