XP RD Clients Disconnect

[Ken Doerbecker]

I have two remote offices with small LANs running XP Pro
that connect to my main office using the internet. There
is a win2k server running Terminal Services in
application mode at the main office and linksys befsx41
firewall/routers at each location.
One remote is fine, the other experiences relatively
frequent disconnects (all 3 PCs at that location do this)
from the RD session. The problem location uses a wireless
ISP. The connection seems OK as wireless goes. I get 2-3%
packet loss with 30ms average response with 750ms max.
I assume this packet loss is causing my problem. Am I
correct in this asumption? How can I tell what is causing
a disconnect? Is there a configuration change that will
make RD more tolerant of network faults?
Thanks,
Ken

 

[Ken Doerbecker]

Ron,
Thanks for your interest and taking the time to share
your knowledge and experience with me.
Believe it or not, I just replaced the Netgear FVS318
routers with the Linksys BEFSX41s. I had the same problem
with the Netgears. In addition, of a total of three
Netgears I bought for this project, two have failed with
permanent hardware problems.
I do a lot of networking like this for smaller businesses
and at this point am fairly disgusted with the SOHO
router products, Netgear included. They offer amazing
functionality at prices that make it possible to do this
stuff. However, the reliability of all of them stinks.
Their tech support is useless. The most technically
adnavced help they can offer is to update the firmware.
Firmware seems to change quarterly with the new version
adding as many bugs as it fixes. I yearn for a
professionally supported, reliable, soho router for under
$200.
As for this problem, there must be some code on either
the server or client side that is deciding
to "disconnect" the client. In an IP environment, I can't
imagine why a lost packet would force a disconnect and
not simply be retransmitted under control of TCP.
Ken

 

[Ron Gabaree]

Hi Ken,

A totally agree regarding the SOHO router offerings. In my opnion the
offerings for under $200 is really awful. In my opnion about $500-$750 has
to be spent to get a router that I have confidence in.The information I was
giving you regarding the netgear product line was based some on my
experience but also based on experience from a colleague. Obviously, if a
phone system provider can't make an IP phone work behind a Linksys
router...that certainly doesn't bode well for PC TCP communications.

All of this being said....I have done a lot of research in the last 1-2
weeks regarding client disconnects on W2K Terminal Server. If you can
provide a little more information I may be able to provide some additional
insight.

1) What is the errro message rec'd on the client?
2) What version of client are you running on the clients?
3) The clients are all WinXP Pro...right?
4) Can TS client on the local LAN function without errors?
5) Are there any errors in the event log of the TS?
6) Did this ever work without errors? Is it possible that something changed
at some point to create the errors that are being recieved now?

I hope I can help further. As I know I have recieved some valuable
assistance from this newsgroup myself....

Ron

 

[Ken Doerbecker]

Ron,

First, thanks for hanging in ther with me - its lonely out
here supporting MS products (as I presume you also know).
Specific answers:
1 - Sometimes they get a message saying You have been
disconnected because the network is unavailable. Sometimes
their screen goes blank and they have to click the X in
the dropdown tab at the top of the TS session window.
2 & 3 - The server is win 2k all clients are Windows XP
with up to date service packs and hot fixes.
4 - The problem is at a remote location I'll call remote2.
It connects to the main location via a wireless link to a
nearby ISP who then sends it out on a T1. There is another
remote location remote1 which connects to the main
location via a 128k DSL line. Remote2 is fine. The main
location has 32 workstations and the server. It connects
to the internet via another 128k DSL line. Both
workstations connect to the server over the LAN as TS
clients. Main is fine also.
5 - Yes there are errors in the event viewer but nothing
that coincides with the timing of the disconnects.
6 - Many things have changed. No, it has never worked
correctly from this location. This location did not have
broadband available to it, so we started out with a 56k
dialup through a Netgear RM356 router. As the dialup
disconnected, so did the TS clients, to be expected.
Installed the wireless with the cooperation of a local ISP
to try to get broadband response and reliability. The
wireless link was poor for several weeks which we
eventually got to a point where it should work - less than
2% packet loss. Coincidental with the wireless, we
replaced the RM356with a Linksys BEFsx41
firewall/router/VPN endpoint. Still had disconects.
Checking the router logs I discovered it was cold starting
very frequently. I would expect a disconnect with a cold
start. Bought another router (the same model). Same cold
starts occuring... grrr. At Linksys suggestion I
downloaded the "latest" firmware v 1.44 dated 11/02 which
was older than the 1.44.3 dated 12/02 on the unit.
Downdated (a new term I just coined) it anyway and the
cold starts went away. I have not implemented the VPN
since it seems to be unnecessary with the TS function.

Sad story huh?

I found an article that I cannot find again about a
registry key that sets the number of allowable
retransmissions of a packet before TS disconnects. This
seems to be the solution to my problem at this time.

I love a good mystery, but my customer is getting pissed.

Peace,
Ken

 

[wailakig]

Thanks Colin! I know I've seen many anecdotes about Terminal/RDP
disconnects lately in my work, and I now have something for them to
try.

 

[Colin M. McGroarty]

Quite Welcome.



--
Colin M. McGroarty
MCP+I, MCSE, NT-CIP

(e-mail address removed)
www.McGroarty.org