MVP performance, a tip for you all

[ram4x4nut]

Hi all,


This is more of a tip than anything.

When I first set up my MVP (rev D1) I had it connected directly to my router (Belkin F5D7231-4) along with the PC running GBPVR (0.9413), two other wired PC's and a laptop connected to the wireless. Every once in a while the MVP would lose connection and go to the main menu. It seemed to do this only when there was high network traffic on the router from the other PC's. The WAF was losing points so I thought I would give an alternate setup a try.

What I did was put my MVP and my GBPVR PC on a Netgear 5 port 10/100 switch I had laying around. I connected that switch to one of the now free ports on the router. This way I know that my MVP to GBPVR traffic was truly segregated from the rest of the network traffic in and out of the router. Now I know some will say that the switch built into the router should handle the switching and this shouldn't be an issue. That is SOMEWHAT true. The buffer cache in the router could be running full and if there is a lot of traffic then the logical "switches" will get refreshed frequently.

With the MPV and GBPVR off of the router's switch it hasn't disconnected or restarted in 3 days. Not even once.

Maybe it is an issue with my router but I believe this is the best setup to go with for a wired system with moderate to heavy network use.

If you are having disconnect issues and have access to a switch then you should give this a try. Helped the WAF here immensely!

[Paulp33]

I have also noticed that my MVP is prone to dropping the connection when I'm moving big video files between the two PCs on my home network.

[wtg]

Agreed... the MVP is quite finicky. It wish it had a reasonable buffer of it's own so that it could handle an occasional network hiccup, but as it is, a dedicated switch is a good idea if you can do it. You can get one for as little as 10 bucks on sale.

[mrming]

Just in case this happens to anyone else...

Since replacing my 8 port ethernet hub with a Linksys WAG354G wireless ADSL router my Media MVP starting dropping out a lot. The router also has a built in 4 port switch to which I connected the MVP. I disabled the DHCP server on the router and assigned static IP addresses to all my machines but to no avail.

Finally I stumbled upon this thread, dusted my old hub off and brought it back into service, connecting the MVP to the hub and the hub's uplink to a port on the ADSL router. This seems to have to done the trick (fingers crossed), the MVP connected as soon as I plugged it in and seems to be coping better.

[ram4x4nut]

You would be much better off using a switch instead of that hub. If the hub starts giving you problems, replace it with a switch in the same configuration you have now. If it is just the MVP and your GBPVR server on the hub you may be ok.

[katit]

I had the same problem with MVP rebooting... I also have Linsys router/switch
But I had built-in Gigabit network card on my server (ASUS MB)
I installed PCI NIC and disabled built-in card in BIOS. Works excellent. No drop-outs for a week.

[mrming]

If it is just the MVP and your GBPVR server on the hub you may be ok.

It is just those two on the hub so there shouldn't be any need for clever switching shenanigans...

[soccerdad]

If you go to a switch before the router, I assume you would have to have a dhcp server on the PC to feed the MVP? If you do that, then do you have to set up all of the computers on the router with static IP's?

[Lucas_24]

Since the switch is connected to the router as well, the MVP can still get an address from the router, but MVP traffic will not go through the router.

[ram4x4nut]

Yep, Lucas is right. As long as the switch is connected to the router, the MVP will DHCP to the router. The switch just keeps the GBPVR<->MVP traffic off of the router, and all other traffic off of the GBPBR and MVP.

A word about on-board NIC's ... most do NOT support process offloading where most newer PCI NIC's do. If your on-board does not support process offloading then you will experience problems with the MVP. You can get NIC's cheap these days, it's well worth the investment if you have an open PCI slot.