Since I upgraded my HTPC to Windows 7 from Vista I have noticed significant issues with my LAN connection. I am using a motherboard-hosted ethernet port that shows up as a Marvell Yukon (88E8056). Despite upgrading to the latest drivers I have noted:

1. The connections claims only 100Mb speed in the status window.

2. Using the HDHomerun command line diagnostic shows a significant number of dropped packets, resulting in pixelation and in some cases dropped recordings.

3. The connection takes a number of seconds to connect after a reboot, causing it to not set up shared folder connections correctly the first time through.

4. Attempts to modify any Advanced settings on the connection caused it to not connect at all.

The Marvell is connected to a Netgear gigabit switch that then links to a Netgear gigabit router (wired and 802.11n wireless).

Note that I have installed a Realtec-based ethernet card to directly connect my HDHomerun to the HTPC, thus resolving my recording issues; however, I would still like to fix these issues with my primary connection.

Is anyone out there aware of these kinds of issues or know of a solution? I have done some searching but haven't found anything definitive.

I'm having similar problems with the my built-in Broadcom NetXtreme BCM5751... hmm.

What driver revision do you have installed? The latest from Windows Update or direct? If you don't already have them try 11.23.2.3. Network card drivers rarely get updated in Windows Update.

 I have a similar setup that works!

I have 2 systems using that on-board ethernet controller - one running Vista x64, one running Win7 x64.  The Win7 system is used as a primary media center with my HD HomeRun tuners.

These systems connect thru a Netgear GS608 gigabit router. The media center is connected via approximately 50 feet of cat-5 cable. Even tho I am currently using cat-5 cable, I have the controller set for "auto-negotiation" for speed and I connect at gigabit speed as indicated by the lights on the GS608.

I didn't do anything special as far as downloading specific drivers for it, accepting the Microsoft driver supplied as part of the installation and a later windows update. The version for the driver is listed as v11.22.3.9.

So, what type of network cable are you using and what is its approximate length?

keith

mikinho: I currently have the latest drivers loaded from the marvell website. There is no difference in this issue from the version available via Windows Update.

hooverk: My connection runs through roughly 50 feet of cat 5e cable.

I am starting to think that my Windows 7 setup (perhaps drivers, perhaps move to 64 bits) has just created a situation in which a shaky connection has been made even more apparent. I am nothing that my HD Homerun recordings via the direct ethernet connection are rock solid. There is absolutely no pixelization and channel changes also seem to be smoother. Under Vista (32-bit) I would see pixelization on a regular basis, so I am thinking that I probably was already having issues, just not as severe.

This could definitely be a physical connectivity issue. I supposed I need to hunt down something that will let me do some cable quality testing and see what I find. Of course, the hope is that this is just one of the little ethernet cables rather than the cat 5e run through the house....

Since I have resolved the recording side of this issue with the direct connection the priority of this problem has gone down, but perhaps I can improve the quality of other sources if I get this fixed once and for all.