Dell D6000 - Slow ethernet
 

We have both the Dell E5470 and 5480 connected to the Dell D6000 docking station. The E5470 uses USB 3.0 and 5480 uses USB C. When off the dock and with an Ethernet cable plugged directly in to the laptops we get 50Mpbs download and 47Mpbs up. When connected through the dock we get 3Mbps down and 47Mpbs UP.

I have applied all drivers updates, updated the BIOS applied Windows updates but the issue is the same. Anyone have any ideas?

I also have found a way to reproduce the above issue with my company's Dell 7280 laptops connected via USB-C.

If I connected the 7280+D6000 to a older 19" monitor that only has DVI inputs (therefore I need to use a DP to DVI adapter) the NIC slowness persist.
If I then connect the same 7280+D6000 combo to a newer 34" screen via DP to DP, the slowness goes away.

Hello,
This is peculiar and not expected. Especially the second report.
Would you please be able to use the third link in my signature to gather the machine details and other logs?
Also, please specify what network equipment (brand, model and network speed) the Dell D6000 is connected to.
I can then create a bug report for investigation. To have better chances of reproducing this, we will need to select either close or identical equipment. An internal reproduction is likely to be necessary for debugging.

Final question, how do you measure the speed? Is that using a local FTP server, moving files through a Samba/Windows network shared driver, external website test?.

Kind regards,
Alban

Hi Alban, I'm using speedtest.net to test internet speeds.
Your 3rd link details steps through troubleshooting about driver installation issues?
Do you want me to run through all the steps or just gather my test system information?

Yep, just the use the Customer Support Tool to package it all, please.

We have an internal reproduction now of something similar. We have had a report with all the logs. We can't be sure we are looking at the same issue or similar symptoms of a different illness so I'd still like your logs to create a new bug.

8.3 M0 release candidate has already left the station and, as we don't have logs or a fix, it should behave the same way in that imminent release (= don't install and expect it fixed).
However, as we progress on the bug where we already have all details to progress, I should be able to share a development build to check if that addresses your report as well or if more work will be needed.

Kind regards,
Alban

Hi Alban,

Please find attached the standard "Gather Support Information" zip file below.
The monitor i was using is a Dell 1907FPt

Perfect, thank you.
We will be in touch!

My ref = 25392+25998

Just wanted to chime in that I have the same issue on some machines I've been working on. All monitors are DVI hooked up to a D6000 Dell dock through a DVI to DP adapter.

First setup
Monitor: 19" Dell 1905FP
Network: 500-800 kbps

Second setup
Monitor: 17" Dell 1708FP
Network: 500-800 kbps

Third setup
Monitor: 19" Dell P190ST
Network: 8-10 Mbps
*Better on this newer monitor but still no the full 80Mbps.

Fourth setup
Monitor: 20" Dell E2011Ht Widescreen
Network: 80Mbps

This was tested on the same laptop with the same dock. Only things plugged into the dock was the ethernet, laptop through USB-C, and a single monitor. With each setup I could disconnect the monitor from the dock and it would be back up to full speed. The widescreen monitor(fourth test) did not have any issues. Thanks and please update if a solution is found.

Further testing of this problem leads me to believe that the issue is the resolution that is causing the issue.

1280x1024, which is the default and max setting of the 19" causes the problem. When connected to a 2415 - 24" and the resolution set to 1280x1024 the issue also occurs.

I can verify Vansen's test.

Just tried it on my 20" Dell E2011Ht widescreen. I get full 80 Mbps when it is set to 1600x900, but if I change it to 1280x1024 it drops to 8.5 Mbps.

Us too
 

I will also confirm having the same problem. Monitors we've see the issue with are:

Dell 1704FPT
Dell P1914SC
Avocent KVM dongle AMIQ-PS2 (even without the KVM attached)

Without the monitor attached, the D6000 dock will send and receive over the local LAN at speeds of 300mbps+. Once one of these problematic monitors are attached, receive speeds will drop below 5mpbs, but send speeds remain the same.

Detaching the monitor mid file will immediately bring speeds back to normal.

Our LAN switches are enterprise grade Cisco switches, multiple subnets and switches have been tried.

The worst part is that the traffic is so back that it causes Excel documents to fail to open from network shares. Please continue to prioritize this bug. I would be willing to test pre-release drivers or send you one of my KVM dongles if you'd like to re-pro. The resolution idea might be headed the right direction as well, since my KVM will run at a lower resolution by default.

This is still on the top of the list and being worked on.
I take note of your offer to try a development build.

Both your displays are 1280x1024, which is one of the few affected resolutions.
We don't have any reproduction on Full HD (1920x1080) and above.

Good afternoon,

We are still working on addressing the root cause.

In the meantime, we would like feedback on the DisplayLink USB Graphics Software for Windows 8.3 M1 Dev Build ([8.3.1943.0 / 8.3.1942.0]) to check if that changes behaviour for you and unblocks traffic.

Kind regards,
Alban

Thank you Alban. I will test this first thing Monday morning when I am back at work.

Initial testing is showing good results on my test Dell 1907FPt that has a default of 1280 x 1024 res.

Tested the new driver on all four of our setups that were having issues. They are now working correctly. Thank you for the quick turn-around time in getting a beta driver for us to test.

Ok, thank you all who took the time to test!

For new readers, I would like to repeat that 8.3 M0 to be released next week will NOT include the fix. 8.3 M0 been frozen for tests for a few weeks already. This is why I provided an 8.3 M1 Development Build.

I will post back when I've got an estimation for an official 8.3 M1 delivery date with the fix. It must be in September, but I need to balance what we fix (number of bugs and which ones) and the added test time for a wide range a screens with Ethernet speeds to de-risk the change. I am trying to get fewer changes so you get the release earlier for your deployments.

Kind regards,
Alban

DisplayLink 8.3 M1 Release for Windows Scheduled - DL-6950 Ethernet @ Low Res
 

Good morning/evening,

The 8.3 M1 release is now scheduled for Friday 22nd September EOD UK Time.
8.3 M1 is dedicated to addressing the DL-6950 Ethernet speed issue at low resolutions you reported.

8.3 M1 development build stays available from to unblock anyone currently affected.

Kind regards,
Alban

Just had one of my test users come back with some feedback about temprature of the D6000 when using the new DEV drivers.

User report that the dock is running at 43 Celsius.
This is over the max recommended operating temp that Dell recommend - 40 Celsius

Will any code optimizations or power savings be implemented in the PROD version of the drivers to drive down the temperature?

Hello,

If your user is stressing the docking station electronics to test the fix, it would be expected that the system gets warmer than when not. Charging circuitry, memory, and power supply all need to dissipate energy.

Is there not a confusion between the temperature of the environment and the temperature of the device?
If the environment is above 40°C, then the passive cooling design may not be sufficient for proper operation.
Some electronic device user guides also provide humidity level when the device in itself doesn't produce moisture, but is rather sensitive to it.
This question is for the manufacturer though, as DisplayLink only provides one chip in the full system.

Regards,
Alban

I can confirm I am also seeing this issue with the D6000 on our Latitude 5480s with HP L1706 17-inch monitors.

Changing resolution to lower did not fix the issue but disconnecting the monitor did.

@jundis, unless you have installed the development build previously linked, then your report is as expected. Your display is likely to be unable to do higher resolution and is affected.
Should you still experience the issue with the development build, then it is urgent for you to provide the log files as described in my forum signature (3rd link) to understand why you are the only person reporting the issue on it as it may hide something else.
Kind regards,
Alban

Hello,

I have now put the DisplayLink USB Graphics Software for Windows 8.3 M1 release for download from our website.
The EXE and MSI based installation are available.
I am waiting for the INF package if you wish to preinstall and will upload it when the package is built.

This addresses the speed issue at low resolution. We have also noticed that the activity LED were not always reflecting the activity due to misconfiguration and have changed this too. You would most likely not have noticed as there is not functional impact.
This release has nothing else, therefore if you don't use a docking station with a DisplayLink DL-6950 (Hardware ID in Device Manager starting with USB\VID_17e9&PID_6) then, there is absolutely no value updating. Similarly, if your displays are all 1080p or above as only low resolution were affected.

Kind regards,
Alban

Same issue found with D6000 and external displays
 

Hi- I have found multiple occurrences in my environment where the external screens flicker usually after the Windows 7 Enterprise screen has locked and the user unlocks it. Typically what we are seeing is a flashing mouse on the screen, Internet Explorer pages come up as blank white and then become painted on the screen as though the mouse were a paintbrush. Internet Explorer begins to freeze and only a reboot fixes the issue.

I will get the logs and send them.

Logs sent

Still slow Ethernet after 8.3M1 update
 

We have a laptop with the D6000 dock, and even after updating the BIOS and drivers for the system and installing the 8.3M1 displaylink software, we are still receiving slow and random performance from the dock Ethernet. Running Google's speed test, we are receiving a speed test that varies from 30MB down/6MB up to 97MB down/6MB up. The download speed test is normally in the 50-60MB down range. We are on a 100/7MB connection.

If I switch the Ethernet cable to the onboard nic on the laptop, I consistently receive 95-110MB down and 6MB up.

Dell has already replaced the dock once, and the replacement dock has the same performance. We previously had 2 19" low resolution screens connected and were affected by the previous bug, but now have 1 27" QHD screen (2560x1440).

Any thoughts or suggestions on how we can consistently get the max performance?