NETGEAR WNR3500 user manual Optimizing Your Network Bandwidth, Common MTU Sizes

NETGEAR RangeMax™ Wireless-N Gigabit Router WNR3500 User Manual

If you suspect an MTU problem, a common solution is to change the MTU size to 1400. If you are willing to experiment, you can gradually reduce the MTU size from the maximum value of 1500 until the problem goes away. Table 5-1describes common MTU sizes and applications.

Table 5-1. Common MTU Sizes

MTU	Application
1500	The largest Ethernet packet size and the default value. This is the typical setting for non-
	PPPoE, non-VPN connections, and is the default value for NETGEAR routers, adapters,
	and switches.
1492	Used in PPPoE environments.
1472	Maximum size to use for pinging. (Larger packets are fragmented.)
1468	Used in some DHCP environments.
1460	Usable by AOL if you do not have large e-mail attachments, for example.
1436	Used in PPTP environments or with VPN.
1400	Maximum size for AOL DSL.
576	Typical value to connect to dial-up ISPs.

To change the MTU size:

1.In the main menu, under Advanced, select WAN Setup.

2.In the MTU Size field, enter a new size between 64 and 1500.

3.Click Apply to save the new configuration.

Optimizing Your Network Bandwidth

As your network grows, it might consist of several segments of different networking technologies, each providing different throughput. In planning your network, you should first consider which devices will have the heaviest traffic flow between them. Examples are:

•A media center in one room streaming high-definition video from a server in another room

•A storage device that is used for backing up your computers

Fine-Tuning Your Network 5-21

v1.0, March 2008