Network card settings

Some network cards and settings have an adverse effect on World of Warcraft (and other games that manage a lot of network data).

Known issues with certain cards

 * Netgear FA311
 * Replace this if you can.


 * Linksys LNE TX series
 * Some early versions of this card behave exactly like the FA311.


 * 3Com 3c90x
 * Older versions of these cards can stop working when overloaded with packets.


 * Nvidia nForce MCP
 * Older onboard Nvidia network adapters have issues.
 * The boards usually have a second network port so use that instead.
 * Remove Nvidia's firewall software (it can cause error #132).

Network card settings
Extraneous features on network cards can cause latency or routers/modems to freeze.


 * IPX (Novell networks) cause continuous network activity even though there may not be anything that uses it.
 * If you don't know what it is and don't have NetWare installed, you can probably get rid of it.
 * If you still play the original WarCraft or WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness it's used for multi-player support.

It was added in Windows XP for network traffic management but it has a 20% overhead, meaning it can lower your connection speed by that much.
 * QoS (quality of service) can cause issues with some networks (usually home networks) that do not support it.


 * IPv6 on a network that does not support it can also cause problems or slowdowns.

Starting with connection settings, follow the steps below:

Connection settings in Windows XP

 * 1) Open My Computer.
 * 2) Click My Network Places.
 * 3) Click View network connections.
 * 4) Right click Local Area Connection and click on Properties.

Connection settings in Windows Vista and 7

 * 1) Open the Start menu and type network.
 * 2) Click on Network and sharing center.
 * 3) Click on Change adapter settings.
 * 4) Right click Local Area Connection and click on Properties.

Connection settings to disable or remove
Click OK to save changes after disabling these items.

QoS
Clear the checkbox next to QoS Packet Scheduler to disable it.

IPv6
Clear the checkbox next to Internet Protocol Version 6 to disable it.

Comcast has started rolling out IPv6 on its network so disabling it may cause issues for some customers.

Link-Layer Topology (Vista/7)
Clear the checkbox next to Link-Layer Topology Discovery Mapper I/O Driver to disable it. Clear the checkbox next to Link-Layer Topology Discovery Responder to disable it.

Adapter settings
To get to the adapter settings, click Configure. It may complain about settings not being saved so be sure to save them before continuing.

Click the Advanced tab on the adapter properties window.

To disable an item click on the pulldown under Value.

Checksum offload
Disable any and all items in the Property list that mention Checksum offload.

Large send offload
Disable this also if it is present.

Link speed / duplex
Depending on the speed of your network it should either be set to 1000M/Full or 100M/Full.