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[Glen]

Is there a way to specify what ipa media server grabs when it starts up? I have seen it rotate between three different addresses on my network. Two of those seem to operate very quickly while the third is quite slow (lots of buffering). I am letting it select the default port of 80, but I would like to specify its address if possible. Also, is there any reason that some ipa's might operate slower than others?
Thanks, Glen

[JimH]

It's taking the IP address of the machine.  There is no way to specify a different one for Media Server, but you could set up your network so that PC gets a static address.  Right now, you must be using DHCP and having a router assign the addresses.  Check the documentation for whatever is assigning the addresses.  Alternatively, shut everything down, and always start your machines in the same order.  The first one started will get the first available IP address, and so on.

There's no logical reason I can think of that one address wouldn't work as well if you have just one network card.  Well, maybe one is getting routed differently.  I don't know.

[RemyJ]

Actually, it's taking ALL the IP addresses of the machine.  If you have 3 network interfaces on a machine, media server will bind itself to all 3.  It only shows the "first" one in the title bar.   If you do a "netstat -an" from a command prompt you should see an entry for "0.0.0.0:80" assuming you're using port 80.

Jim's right about DHCP and yes, if the DHCP server is misconfigured or there is more than 1 way to get from client to server, one ip address could be "slow" and another "fast".

The 169.*.*.* address you mentioned in the other thread is a default address windows assigned when it cannot contact a dhcp server.  It's always a "local only" address which explains why it might be faster.  It sounds like the other address you're getting might be taking you out to your ISP and back again.  Refresh my memory on your exatc network setup including machines, connections, routers, etc.

[Glen]

Let me see if I can get this right. Main system (server) is xp pro thru usb ethernet interface to linksys wireless 4 port router acting as gateway to dsl. Second machine is using ME and a wireless interface pci card. Third machine is using xp pro and a usb wireless interface. All machines are on the same workgroup, etc. and all network interfaces are on the same ssid. Wep is enabled and I can transfer data etc, between all of the computers (inasmuch as I have sharing enabled) and I have access to the internet on all machines thru the router via dsl. There do not appear to be any latency/delays during normal data ops on the network, however with media server I may/may not get delays depending on the ipa that server picks as per an earlier post. As of now I have not tried to go static ipa using the fast address, hopefully in the morning, and there are still a whole pile of things that I do not understand about this whole networking.
Hope this answered your question Remy, and maybe you can help me get this solved.
Thanks, Glen

[RemyJ]

We'll figure it out...

Next steps:

What are the IP addresses of each of the machines?
Are the router's DHCP and NAT functions turned on?
Do you have a static IP address from your ISP?
What's the exact model number of the Linksys router?
Who's your DSL provider and what's the exact model number of the DSL modem?

Sounds more and more like a router configuration issue.

[Glen]

Hope this helps.
Of all the times that I have powered up and down the two machines, (slave number two is still not reliably put together to include) mine (server) comes up with 192.168.1.100 (ethernet) whether it is first or second on. The slave (client #1 and wireless) comes up with 192.168.1.102
If memory serves the second slave came up with 192.168.1.103
I will asume that the two slaves will pick whichever is the next address on a first come first serve basis.
DHCP is enabled
NAT sounds familiar but I can find no info in the router config or the manual. I think that it is a built in firewall for the router???
I believe that I am using PPPoe for ISP connection, at least that is what the router config says.
The router is a linksys BEFW11S4. I am on port 1, dsl is on wan and the wlan link is active with one slave (currently).
My ISP is sympatico (Canada) and the modem is a Speedstream.
Hope this helps.
Thanks, Glen

[RemyJ]

OK, we're getting there...

On client #1, open a command prompt and type the command "tracert 192.168.1.100".   Then do a "tracert www.mediajukebox.com".  Finally, do a "ping -l 1400 192.168.1.100" from the client.

Paste all the results back here.

[Glen]

Here you go and I hope this helps.
First test results are,

C:\WINDOWS\Desktop>tracert 192.168.1.100

Tracing route to GLEN [192.168.1.100]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

 1   <10 ms   <10 ms    13 ms  GLEN [192.168.1.100]

Trace complete.

Second test results,

Tracing route to www.mediajukebox.com [198.73.82.148]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

 1    69 ms    69 ms    68 ms  HSE-Toronto-ppp315938.sympatico.ca [64.231.114.]
 2    69 ms    82 ms    69 ms  dis9-toronto12-Vlan100.in.bellnexxia.net [64.23.245.65]
 3    69 ms    68 ms    83 ms  core4-toronto12-Gigabite4-0.in.bellnexxia.net [06.108.107.221]
 4    82 ms    82 ms    83 ms  core1-chicago23-pos10-0.in.bellnexxia.net [206.08.103.134]
 5    82 ms    83 ms    82 ms  bx1-chicago23-pos10-0.in.bellnexxia.net [206.10.103.142]
 6    82 ms    83 ms    82 ms  s213773-1.uschcg1-bsn.savvis.net [216.89.108.57

 7    96 ms    96 ms    96 ms  64.241.95.18
 8    96 ms    96 ms    96 ms  border-1-fa4-1-0.msp.origix.net [64.247.192.133

 9    96 ms   110 ms    96 ms  www.mediajukebox.net.jriver.com [198.73.82.148]


Trace complete.

And the third test resulted in,

C:\WINDOWS\Desktop>ping -l 1400 192.168.1.100

Pinging 192.168.1.100 with 1400 bytes of data:

Reply from 192.168.1.100: bytes=1400 time=13ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.100: bytes=1400 time=27ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.100: bytes=1400 time=14ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.100: bytes=1400 time=14ms TTL=128

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.100:
   Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
   Minimum = 13ms, Maximum =  27ms, Average =  17ms

Hope that this is what you were expecting, maybe?
Thanks, Glen

[RemyJ]

Well, I was hoping to see something obviously wrong but other than slightly higher ping times (maybe due to WEP being enabled) I don't see anything.

One more thing to try,  from the server, do the ping and tracert back to the client machine.

[Glen]

All right here goes. First test from server to client was ping and the results were,

Pinging 192.168.1.102 with 1400 bytes of data:

Reply from 192.168.1.102: bytes=1400 time=13ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.102: bytes=1400 time=12ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.102: bytes=1400 time=13ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.102: bytes=1400 time=13ms TTL=128

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.102:
   Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
   Minimum = 12ms, Maximum = 13ms, Average = 12ms

The second test was the tracert from server to client and its results were,

Tracing route to SEAN [192.168.1.102]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

 1     4 ms     4 ms     3 ms  SEAN [192.168.1.102]

Trace complete.

Looking at the numbers it appears that the turnaround from server to client is better than client to server. Is that true? Any bearing on problem.
So if this is the end of the line, then back to the beginning. Is there a way to do a static IP assignment for all of my comps on my network using the default windows IP which seems to work faster? Would this cause other troubles?
Thanks, Glen

[RemyJ]

Well Glen, I'm stumped.  The numbers aren't perfect but hardly an issue.   Here's what I'd do next...

Assign static IP addresses on all the machines.   First do an "ipconfig /all"  on any of the machines and write down the following...   Subnet Mask, Default Gateway, DNS Servers.

Based on what you've already told me, I'm going to assume that the subnet mask is 255.255.255.0.  If so, on each of the machines, open the properties for the lan connection (I'm assuming windows 2000 or xp) and then open the properties for TCP/IP.   Change the radio button to "Use the following IP address" and fill the foem out with the info you just wrote down.  For IP addresses, use 192.168.1.65, 192.168.1.66, and 192.168.1.67 for each of the machines.  The subnet mask, default gateway and DNS servers should all be exactly the same.  Now try connecting to the server using "m01p://192.168.1.65" and see what happens.

To be honest, I'm not sure that this will do anything but this way you will be able to disconnect your ISP and maybe that will tell us something.

[Glen]

Ok, I will give that a try tonight when I get home. Something interesting that I found this morning. With the server and one client running, I did a connection based on the name of the server as opposed to the ipa and the connection went thru fine and fast with no buffering. Maybe fluke? who knows. Will try more experimenting tonight.
Is there any specific reason that you picked those ipa's for me to try?
And I will assume that I am to dissconnect from my isp during buffering to see what happens?
Thanks, Glen

[RemyJ]

Interesting comment about the name vs ip address.  Before you make any changes, do a ping by name and note the ip address it converts to.  I.E.  "ping glen"

I picked those addresses because the router is already configured for the 192.168.1.* subnet but the 65, 66, and 67 addresses aren't in it's DHCP pool (which starts at 100).   The result is you'll have static addresses but still be able to get to the internet if you need to.   Do a test with your ISP connected and one where it's disconnected and see if it makes a difference.

The next step will be to use addresses the router doesn't know about at all.  After that, we'll turn off the DHCP capability of the router, and let Windows choose ip addresses.

[Glen]

Ok Remy, here is what I have so far as I am still playing.
When I ping by name it is turned into the proper ipa and the response is about 3-5 ms. As well, when I look at the DHCP table in the router, I see that the three ipa's appear to be permanently assigned to the 3 comps.
Glen is 100, Sean is 102 and Music is 101.
This is the case even if one or more of the clients is turned off. I kind of thought that DHCP would clear its table when a connection dissapeared and then reassign it to the next in line on powerup. At this time, the response that I am getting from the server to Sean is what I would hope to see. The client is only a p233 running ME and when I do a connect with name, within 3 secs the download is complete. I can then start a song and the buffering is about 3-5 sec before playback happens. However, I can then pick any other song and there is almost no delay before play starts. Now I seem to remember from this morning when I did a test on the music system that there was almost no time delay involved, however that system is a p3-700, so that would explain alot. Unfortunately, that system went unstable this evening and I am in the process of reloading it. With luck it will be healthy in the morning and I will retest it for delays. At this point I am thinking that most of the bugs are getting ironed out of this setup, however I am still crossing my fingers for the morning.
Thanks, Glen

[Glen]

Further to my last message. Having rebuilt my music client with ME, I now have two clients working with ME.
Server is still with XP. The delay is still there on the initial play or any play from stop on the p233 system but I realize that this is a problem with slow hardware not networking (non issue).
The rebuilt music system is working fine and there is virtually no noticeable buffering happening during any function (there is a little bit of hassle when the video card comes back from screen saver/power off monitor, but this is from a slow 4 mg video card).
The network as a whole now appears to be working, dare I say it?, perfectly!!
As to the original reason that I started this posting, it appears to be a non issue at this point.
I find that I can connect to the server with either address or name and the connection seems happy. I did a test yesterday with both clients running from server and I had MJ playing on the server. Three streams and I don't think there were any unaccounted for glitches
Thanks for all the help and at least I learned a few things about networks and troubleshooting them.
Glen.

[RemyJ]

Good deal Glen, thanks for the update.