Windows XP stealing bandwidth?

[SoldierOfTheCross]

Did you know that Windows XP takes 20% of your internet bandwidth for itself? Would you like to see a 20% increase in your internet connection speed? Here is how you can stop Windows XP from hogging your bandwidth: 1) Click on Start----->Run 2) Type in GPEDIT.MSC then click OK 3) On the left side pane go in this order-----> Local Computer Policy Computer Configuration Administrative Templates Network QoS Packet Scheduler 4) Of to the right side window pane, select Limit Reservable Bandwidth. 5) Right-click on it and select Properties. 6) Under the Setting tab, click Enabled and change the Bandwidth Limit down below to 0% then click Apply and OK. And that's it! Note: Notice that while under the Properties of the QoS Packet Scheduler on the Explain tab it shows this: Determines the percentage of connection bandwidth that the system can reserve. This value limits the combined bandwidth reservations of all programs running on the system. By default, the Packet Scheduler limits the system to 20 percent of the bandwidth of a connection, but you can use this setting to override the default. If you enable this setting, you can use the "Bandwidth limit" box to adjust the amount of bandwidth the system can reserve. If you disable this setting or do not configure it, the system uses the default value of 20 percent of the connection. Important: If a bandwidth limit is set for a particular network adapter in the registry, this setting is ignored when configuring that network adapter. This is how you know that Windows XP by default takes 20% of your bandwidth if this option isn't enabled.

Is this true? If so, how do you do this with XP Home?

[glc]

Start
Run
Type - services.msc
Find the QOS service, and change it to disabled.

[SoldierOfTheCross]

Originally Posted by glc Start Run Type - services.msc Find the QOS service, and change it to disabled.

Thanks glc. Does this really speed up your internet connection noticeably?

[glc]

No idea. Try some speed tests and let us know.

[Alaron]

Out of curiousity, I gave it a try. Using Speedtest.net and the same server, here are my results:

Before: 5189/369
After: 5186/369

[mbossman2]

QoS requires a few things to work:

1) defining the traffic/application data that is prioritized
2) devices that can detect the priority tags (embedded in the ethernet or IP headers) and act on those tags (most consumer grade equipment does not do this)
3) complete control over the network from end to end to keep using the priority tags (and the internet ain't it)

the reason that Alaron saw no change in speed as that while QoS was on, no specific traffic was defined so the net effect is zero

[Floppyman]

I don't think the majority of people will see any speed incresae. I wrote something about this in another thread posted several weeks ago. Basically an app must need priority bandwidth (and tell the OS) for the QoS to have any effect, if I remember correctly. If you don't have such an app, I doubt the QoS is even being used. If the app does request priority bandwidth and doesn't use it, it can be used by other apps -- it doesn't just stay unused (this is really how all QoS should work in the first place). Hence you probably won't see any speed increase if you disable the QoS service. See below for more info:

http://support.microsoft.com/default...;EN-US;Q316666

Edit: looks like mbossman2 beat me to it

[Alaron]

I'm not surprised I didn't see any improvements. I did it to debunk the "Want to see a 20% increase in your internet connection speed" claim. A classic case of if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

[SoldierOfTheCross]

Okay thanks guys, I'll try it anyway and see what happens.

[glc]

If anything, you may get a speed increase by doing some TCP/IP tweaking. Run the tweak tests at dslreports.com and follow any recommendations. The biggest factor is having a RWIN that's within acceptable limits for the advertised speed of your connection. Too low a RWIN will slow down a fast connection.

[SoldierOfTheCross]

I'll just leave everything as it is, I'll probably mess something up otherwise