A31P, Wifi issues.. XP Faster than 2k on internet?

[malachont]

Hi all...

I have: A31p 512MB Win2k SP4, 80GB.

The thinkpad came with 2k. I added Win xp Pro at one point, but its disk access was noticeably slower (everything else seemingly equal, 1GB Permanent swapfile, same Thinkpad updates, same applications installed etc). So I formatted the partition and restored Windows 2000 from the IBM Image CD, ran all the MS/Lenovo updates and sat back.
The disk access returned to its choppy normal, but now the
internet access seemed slower! I mean, not the downloading speed of files, but the response time from the 'click' you make on a button or link in IE6, to the result. In XP it was about 3-4 times faster.

I am convinced this is some DNS or peer to peer resolving issue which XP does better (or differently) than 2k, since everything else (to my knowledge) is the same, and the basic thoughput (once the request is answered ) didn't change. Its a Cable internet router with 2 pc's attached (this A31p and a G40 Thinkpad which has xp pro). The TCP/IP settings on both computers are identical and set to automatic and get DHCP Setting from the server- no DNS servers set. No Netbeui used, since the users don't want to share any resources except the internet connection.

Of course the XP has the additional QOS and deterministic network items, which 2k doesn't have...


By the way, the G40 has an add on 54MBPS PC-Card Wifi, and the A31P has its old built in 11MBPS wifi. But It did seem faster with XP, and anyway our cable connection is 750KBPS which is still much lower than 11MBPS...


Any insights..?

Thanks

[a31pguy]

Your issues could be in several areas. I put some website in that might help.

1.) Your hard drive is fragmented - or you have a internal slow drive.
2.) You have too many startups or services. (www.sysinternals.com)
3.) Your TCP registry settings are not optimized for your cable connection. There are some significant TCP optimizations in XP over Win2k. (http://www.cablenut.com)
4.) Your DNS is not set to the faster DNS server.
5.) Your cable modem is getting a weak signal.
6.) Your wireless network has some dead spots.
7.) Your wireless router and wireless card have some incompatibility issues.
8.) You have registry corruption or too many dead links in the registry.

[malachont]

First Thanks for your response...


1. hard drive was recently defragmented
2. too many services- well the XP install that I had on the same machine, had even more programs yet was faster..

3. Used http://www.cablenut.com - seems to be no improvement

4. DNS is set to automatic and so it is on the other Thinkpad which has no problems.


5-6 Signal- the Thinkpad is in the same room of the wifi router. 100% strength shows on AC.

7. If so.. how come it works with the other thinkpad and XP...?

8. New Win2k install straight from the IBM image Cd.


A new finding: ipconfig /release and /renew take several good minutes to return a response, and then they (most of the time, especially renew) fail..

it looks like the NICs (both wifi and cable) are busy with something
(like DNS requests?) but how do I tackle that..

Thanks

[a31pguy]

Do you have the correct driver for your wireless card? Access connections up to date?

[malachont]

Anyway it also happens when the TP is connected to the same router with a cable.

I think I am going to install XP again to a second partition on the same laptop. If the problem disappears, what does that prove?
(I think the new QOS services on the XP TCP/IP protocol, or some other XP method of handling DNS requests, is the difference. but my network engineering knowledge is slim).
But the problem is that XP (or at least a non-IBM installation) has much slower disk access for some reason. If only I would have ordered the A31p with an XP installed.


thanks

[a31pguy]

I've had XP running on my A31p with no issues. The only time I've ever had problems with ipconfig working slow - was when there were issues with the driver. Usually this means stripping out the devices and access connections - then reinstalling. But something is not kosher with XP perhaps...

But in any event - good luck! Let me know if you have any other questions.

[malachont]

Thanks A31pGuy, I am sure XP is not ok on the machine. I have a belief, call it voodo, that a privately installed OS is never as good as a "pure" native image off the IBM recovery CD, even if one takes the most pious care to install everything right according to the XP driver matrix . Perhaps they left out of the matrix some easter eggs in there so that it will always perform slower..
One day after I retire I will prove this scientifically by reformatting the machine, install with the driver matrix, measure performance, format the machine and install an image 2k..and compare performance... Alas I am not as vindictive as in my youth or I would have done this already.

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