LAN tweak guide
Last Updated on December 02, 1999 by Thomas
McGuire
I
had originally intended to make this an addition to the Modem guide, however
given the size of it I decided otherwise. As a result some of the information
may be repeated in the Modem guide.
Setting
it up
Go
to Thresh’s Firingsquad, it has 2
guides up, How to
setup a LAN, & A
guide to Windows Networking. I suggest you read them both for information on
how to setup a LAN & get it running. I will cover how to get them running
better.
Network
cards
Begin
by downloading & installing the latest driver/update for your card from the
manufacturer. This may fix any problem/compatibility issues with the card &
generally give better performance.
Open up Network properties in the Control panel, selecting the appropriate adapter. Then go into the adapters Properties.
Select the Driver type tab, selecting Enhanced mode (32bit and 16bit) NDIS driver.
Under the Bindings tab, select only TCP/IP. Select others only if required to do so, this will give you the optimal speed.
Under
the Advanced tab select the best choice that the LAN is capable of, e.g.
if you (& the LAN) can support Full-duplex operation, then choose so
accordingly.
Protocols
Start
by removing any unnecessary Protocols, Adapters, Clients & Services from the
Network control panel.
Now,
select TCP/IP & hit Properties.
For the sake of these guide the LAN will be a static one, i.e. static IP
addresses & such rather than dynamically assigned. I’ll go into details
for a dynamic one at a later date.
Under
the NetBIOS tab, untick the box there unless
you have chosen to enable File & Printer sharing, then you must
put a tick in the, I want to enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP option.
Under the DNS Configuration tab select Enable DNS. Once more, fill in the required host addresses as applicable.
Under
the WINS Configuration tab, select Disable WINS
resolution if you aren’t connected to a Windows Internet Naming
service (WINS) resolution. If you are, enter in the required information.
Under the IP Address tab choose Specify an IP address & enter your IP address.
Under
the Advanced tab, put a tick in the Set this protocol to be the
default protocol box. Set Allow binding to ATM to No,
unless it is required to do so, most should be able to leave this set to No.
Under
the Bindings tab, tick only the required components.
Under
the Gateway tab, enter in the gateway address if one is used, e.g. it
may be needed to connect the LAN to the Internet.
Click Ok to make the changes. Then click Ok once again; you may need your Windows CD in the drive once the changes have been made, to install some things. Re-boot your PC for the changes to take affect.
If
you have IPX/SPX-compatible protocol installed, then set it up as
follows.
Under the NetBIOS tab, untick the box there unless you have chosen to enable File & Printer sharing, then you must put a tick in the, I want to enable NetBIOS over IPX/SPX option.
Under the Bindings tab, tick only the required components.
Under the Advanced
tab, set Source routing to 16. For Frame type select
the appropriate choice, if unsure set it to Auto. Set Force even
length packets to No or Not present. Leave the others at
their default values.
If the
PC is connected to the Internet & uses Dial-up adapter set it as
follows.
Under
the Bindings tab, tick as many entries as are required.
Under
the Advanced tab, for Enable Point to point IP,
select Yes.
For
IP packet size select Large.
For
Record
a log file
choose No.
Finally, for Use IPX header compression choose No. If you use the PC for browsing & downloading mainly, then set it to Yes instead. Click Ok once all those changes have been made.
If
the PC is connected to the Internet & uses Dial-up adapter set it as
follows.
Under
the Bindings tab, tick as many entries as are required.
Under
the Advanced tab, for Enable Point to point IP,
select Yes.
For
IP packet size select Large.
For
Record a
log file choose No.
Finally, for Use IPX header compression choose No. If you use the PC for browsing & downloading mainly, then set it to Yes instead. Click Ok once all those changes have been made.
Also, set up your network devices MTU,TTL, etc. as described in the Windows registry guide. If you are using the IPX/SPX protocol you can also set the NDI-cache size.
Most
LAN’s connected to the Internet have permanent connections & in Internet
options, under the Connections tab, select Never dial a connection.
This may help others who are also connect to the Internet via DSL or other such
connection, where no dial-up is necessary to connect.
File & printer sharing
Again, up the Network control panel, clicking on the File & Printer sharing button. Enable or disable them as required. For performance & more importantly security reasons it would be best to disable them, particularly if the machine is connected to the Internet.
NOTE - If you have chosen to enable it you must also put a tick in the, I want to enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP option in the other Network protocols.
Conclusion
This guide should help you in optimizing your LAN for better data transfers & such, & of course making LAN games more enjoyable. Feel free to make any suggestions about this guide. Some of this is in testing & may need to be updated for better results. Let me know if it helps.
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