TCP/IP

TCP/IP stacks are designed to work efficiently on wired networks. They may perform differently on wireless networks. For example, settings that are appropriate to a 10 Mbps Ethernet connection may consume more bandwidth than necessary on a wireless network by generating unneeded retransmission requests.

To use wireless networking efficiently, some TCP/IP parameters may need to be tuned to the characteristics of the supporting network. Because network parameters are maintained on a per-adapter basis, applications must determine the appropriate adapter and change the associated registry settings. For more information about modifying the registry, see Accessing Persistent Storage. The parameters most likely to need modification are:

• Receive window size. The registry key for this paramater is <Adapter Name>\tcpip\parms\TcpWindowSize. In general, larger receive windows work better with high-delay, high-bandwidth networks. For greatest efficiency, the receive window should be an even multiple of the TCP Maximum Segment Size (MSS). It should not exceed the system maximum. The registry key for this paramater is tcpip\parms\GlobalMaxTcpWindowSize.
• Initial roundtrip time. The registry key for this paramater is <Adapter Name>\tcpip\parms\TcpInitialRTT. Roundtrip times are generally longer for wireless networks than for wired networks.
• Delayed acknowledgment timer. The registry key for this paramater is <Adapter Name>\tcpip\parms\TcpDelAckTicks.