Forum Discussion

Aspirant

Oct 13, 2016

Solved

GS108PE-v3 throughput reduced in firmware version 2.00.08

Hi there, We have used the GS108PE and GS105 for a number of years, to drive 3 machine-vision cameras (Gig-E). The system requires a total throughput of around 844 Mbps. Today we attempted to...

Firmware

ALI_B
Oct 28, 2016
Hi DaneA,

I measured, and this is what I found:

0. Factory default settings with firmware version 2.00.03: Greater than 844Mbps. I didn't attempt to measure higher than that.

1. Factory default settings with firmware version 2.00.08: About 683 Mbps or less.
2. Firmware version 2.00.08 with Flow Control set to "Enable": Greater than 944Mbps, the highest I could generate with 2 cameras.

My conclusions:
1. With factory default settings and 2.00.08 firmware, the GS108PE-v3 has limited bandwidth. This implies flow control is enabled by default.
2. The values displayed for Flow Control in the GUI are misleading. A status of "Enable" displayed against a port means flow control is *disabled* for that port, and vice-versa.

Cheers
Alistair

Retired_Member

Oct 13, 2016

Hi ALI_B

Welcome to the Netgear Community!

For your question, there have made some changes in Flow Control after initial 2.00.03 release. In 2.00.08, please try to disable "Flow Control" on all ports to achieve the full throughput.

Hope it could help you, thanks.

DaneA
NETGEAR Employee Retired
Oct 13, 2016
Hi ALI_B,

As a follow-up to the response of Bruce_G, kindly read pages 56-57 of the ProSAFE® Gigabit Web Managed (Plus) Switches user manual here on how to disable Flow Control on the GS108PEv3 switch.

Regards,

DaneA
NETGEAR Community Team
- ALI_B
  Aspirant
  Oct 13, 2016
  Thank you Bruce-G and DaneA for your responses.
  
  I checked the Flow Control settings mentioned in the manual and found that I could get a higher throughput with the Flow Control setting at "Enable". The default setting (used for my earlier tests) is "Disable".
  
  According to my experiments, to disable flow control you need to set the "Flow Control" column like this:
  
  This user interface has a very confusing bug: Flow control is disabled (off) when the text says "Enable". To disable flow control, the user must select "Enable" from the combo box. It would be helpful if Netgear can confirm these findings are correct.
  
  I suggest that Netgear reviews the text of this user interface for the next version of the firmware. Flow control states should be represented by the words "Enabled" and "Disabled". The verbs "Enable" and "Disable" are appropriate for actions (commands). They are not states.
  
  With flow control disabled (I believe), I get higher throughput. I still have some more tests to run before I'm sure this gives sufficient throughput for our application. In the meantime we'll revert to using version 2.00.03. I'll come back when I've had a chance to measure the throughput properly with flow control disabled in 2.00.08.
  
  Thanks
  Alistair
  - DaneA
    NETGEAR Employee Retired
    Oct 24, 2016
    Hi ALI_B,
    
    I just want to follow-up on this. Were you able to measure the throughput properly with flow control disabled using firmware v2.00.08? If yes, what are your observations?
    
    Regards,
    
    DaneA
    
    NETGEAR Community Team