06-Jun-2019, 23:24
@Manfred detailed switch settings table and the questions following triggered my memory. There was a mention of auto negotiation some time back so I did a search.
In post #142 of this thread @K4680 had a description of network problems arising from the auto negotiation setting and recommendations. As I've said before, I don't understand networking at all but one of the things @K4680 says in that post is "Gigabit Ethernet (1000Base-T, 1000Base-SX, 1000Base-LX) is always transmitted only full duplex. Full duplex is only available with switches." If gigabit ethernet is always transmuted only full duplex then from the way I read his other comments the auto negotiation setting should be irrelevant for gigabit connections because auto negotiation appears to be an alternative to full duplex. The auto negotiation setting will therefore make a difference with a 100 MBPS connection but that setting shouldn't be an issue with a gigabit connection so it's not relevant to the gigabit speed connections. I could easily be reading that wrong so hopefully he will comment on this.
The other setting of interest to me in @Manfred 's table is the Flow Control setting. As I've said previously, Roon have a page on 'Best Networking Practices". There's a section on managed switches which contains the following information:
"Managed switches can be very robust, but they are often designed for professional installation, so in many cases the out-of-box configuration is not right. If your switch has a “flow control” setting, please make sure that it is enabled. Also, make sure that the switch is not performing any sort of throttling that might impact communication between cores, storage, remotes, and/or audio endpoints. Finally, ensure that the switch is configured to pass multicast and broadcast traffic. If in doubt about any of this, try temporarily replacing your managed switch with a “dumb” switch to see if things improve."
Given that Roon recommend flow control be enabled, I wonder about the settings for ports 3 and 4. The server appears to be connected to port 3 so Roon's statement suggests that flow control should be enabled on that port. Perhaps that setting is part of the reason for the issues @Manfred reports with a gigabit connection. He also has auto negotiation enabled on that port. My reading of @K4680 's comments back in April suggests that ports 2 and 3 should have identical settings for flow control and auto negotiation and the settings shown for port 2 look to conform with his suggestions. I wonder whether changing those 2 settings on port 3 to match port 2 would improve the performance of a gigabit connection.
As I keep saying, I don't understand this stuff. All I'm trying to do is to match up what different people say, look for differences, and highlight those differences for consideration.
In post #142 of this thread @K4680 had a description of network problems arising from the auto negotiation setting and recommendations. As I've said before, I don't understand networking at all but one of the things @K4680 says in that post is "Gigabit Ethernet (1000Base-T, 1000Base-SX, 1000Base-LX) is always transmitted only full duplex. Full duplex is only available with switches." If gigabit ethernet is always transmuted only full duplex then from the way I read his other comments the auto negotiation setting should be irrelevant for gigabit connections because auto negotiation appears to be an alternative to full duplex. The auto negotiation setting will therefore make a difference with a 100 MBPS connection but that setting shouldn't be an issue with a gigabit connection so it's not relevant to the gigabit speed connections. I could easily be reading that wrong so hopefully he will comment on this.
The other setting of interest to me in @Manfred 's table is the Flow Control setting. As I've said previously, Roon have a page on 'Best Networking Practices". There's a section on managed switches which contains the following information:
"Managed switches can be very robust, but they are often designed for professional installation, so in many cases the out-of-box configuration is not right. If your switch has a “flow control” setting, please make sure that it is enabled. Also, make sure that the switch is not performing any sort of throttling that might impact communication between cores, storage, remotes, and/or audio endpoints. Finally, ensure that the switch is configured to pass multicast and broadcast traffic. If in doubt about any of this, try temporarily replacing your managed switch with a “dumb” switch to see if things improve."
Given that Roon recommend flow control be enabled, I wonder about the settings for ports 3 and 4. The server appears to be connected to port 3 so Roon's statement suggests that flow control should be enabled on that port. Perhaps that setting is part of the reason for the issues @Manfred reports with a gigabit connection. He also has auto negotiation enabled on that port. My reading of @K4680 's comments back in April suggests that ports 2 and 3 should have identical settings for flow control and auto negotiation and the settings shown for port 2 look to conform with his suggestions. I wonder whether changing those 2 settings on port 3 to match port 2 would improve the performance of a gigabit connection.
As I keep saying, I don't understand this stuff. All I'm trying to do is to match up what different people say, look for differences, and highlight those differences for consideration.
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