Gigabit Ethernet not working on Targus USB 3.0 Docking Station

[Wim]

Originally Posted by jmtechguy

When I unplug the network cable from the back of the dock and use the wireless connection, I have no issues with browsing network directories/files or browsing websites through IE. With the network cable plugged in and the wireless disconnected, I can still browse to shared files/directories on the network but when browsing websites, some won't connect and most don't load in any readable format. It looks like the Targus Gigabit Ethernet driver is installed and working fine, just having issues browsing websites.

Attached is the debug report that was run while the network cable was plugged in and the wireless was disconnected.

The logs show that we were able to ping www.google.com through the Gigabit Ethernet connection on the dock when the logs were taken:

Pinging www.google.com via DL DeviceTargus Giga Ethernet

Pinging www.google.com [173.194.75.147] from 10.20.12.37 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 173.194.75.147: bytes=32 time=39ms TTL=47
Reply from 173.194.75.147: bytes=32 time=38ms TTL=47
Reply from 173.194.75.147: bytes=32 time=38ms TTL=47
Reply from 173.194.75.147: bytes=32 time=38ms TTL=47

This means that it looks like you have internet connectivity through the Targus dock and the problem with websites must be somewhere higher up in the network on the PC.

Wim

[half_pint!]

Recently bought a Dell XPS13, Windows 7 OS, and a Targus USB 3.0 SuperSpeed Dual Video Docking Station with Power and have had nothing but probs with internet connections. When initally setup the equipment on our small office network everything seemed to work fine, except we thought the internet connection was unreasonably slow. Then disconnects started happening with recovery after a few seconds to a minute. As of yesterday, we can't get out to the internet at all with the network cable plugged in through the targus docking station.

When I unplug the network cable from the back of the dock and use the wireless connection, I have no issues with browsing network directories/files or browsing websites through IE. With the network cable plugged in and the wireless disconnected, I can still browse to shared files/directories on our intranet but cannot get out to the internet. The link lights show everything is fine, but the computer says there is a cable disconnected when I diagnose the problem. I even tried different cables, powered the machine on and off, and even restarted my router. Other users in the office are browsing the internet with no problems while this is happening.

I also plugged a USB 2.0 to gigabit Ethernet NIC network adapter into the XPS13 to route the ethernet cable directly in to the computer to make sure it wasn't an issue with the computer...and everything works just fine that way.

My conclusion is that it is something internally wrong with the Targus Docking station. Is there something else I can try, or has anyone had this exact same issue and found a fix????

Thanks for any help....my manager is beyond P.O. right now....as its his machine.

[Wim]

Originally Posted by half_pint!

Recently bought a Dell XPS13, Windows 7 OS, and a Targus USB 3.0 SuperSpeed Dual Video Docking Station with Power and have had nothing but probs with internet connections. When initally setup the equipment on our small office network everything seemed to work fine, except we thought the internet connection was unreasonably slow. Then disconnects started happening with recovery after a few seconds to a minute. As of yesterday, we can't get out to the internet at all with the network cable plugged in through the targus docking station.

The Ethernet on the dock does not support half duplex. If you plug it into a half duplex port (eg an Ethernet hub) you will see really slow Ethernet performance due to the collisions on the wire.

Could this be the issue?

Wim

[half_pint!]

Originally Posted by Wim

The Ethernet on the dock does not support half duplex. If you plug it into a half duplex port (eg an Ethernet hub) you will see really slow Ethernet performance due to the collisions on the wire.

Could this be the issue?

Wim

Wim -
That might be the case as we have an older router SMC 7004VBR Barricade and it auto-negotiates transmission modes to either duplex or half-duplex. Hmmmmm.....
Thanks for the idea.
Deb

[XPS_GPE]

Hello

I too am having the exact same issues with an XPS laptop and the Targus 3.0 docking station.

I have also tested this on a newer latitude laptop and it has the same issue.

Problems running it on both Windows 7 32 and 64bit clients.

When I first installed the device , it worked perfectly.
But following a reboot it fell over and refused to work.
At one stage , I could get it working if we unplugged the power to the targus but this has given up being a workaround.


The USB 2.0 side of the targus works , but I get no video or NIC.
USB keyboard and mouse will work on any of the ports on the tragus hub.

The displaylink.exe does not appear in the notifications area and refuses to start if we click on it manually.

I am running the latest BIOS on the XPS (A07)
The fresco logic usb 3.0 drivers are at the lastest version (3.5.93.0)


Come on Displaylink , tell us it's an known issue and when it will be resolved !

[Wim]

Originally Posted by XPS_GPE

Hello

I too am having the exact same issues with an XPS laptop and the Targus 3.0 docking station.

I have also tested this on a newer latitude laptop and it has the same issue.

Problems running it on both Windows 7 32 and 64bit clients.

When I first installed the device , it worked perfectly.
But following a reboot it fell over and refused to work.
At one stage , I could get it working if we unplugged the power to the targus but this has given up being a workaround.


The USB 2.0 side of the targus works , but I get no video or NIC.
USB keyboard and mouse will work on any of the ports on the tragus hub.

The displaylink.exe does not appear in the notifications area and refuses to start if we click on it manually.

I am running the latest BIOS on the XPS (A07)
The fresco logic usb 3.0 drivers are at the lastest version (3.5.93.0)


Come on Displaylink , tell us it's an known issue and when it will be resolved !

This is not specifically a problem with Ethernet and I've answered this on your separate thread here:

http://displaylink.org/forum/showthread.php?t=2154

Wim

[wlfuer]

I wanted to share if it helps someone. This gigabit network issue has been a problem for me in my home office which is wired with Cat5 100MBt. I have 11 machines, many new ones with Gigabit adapters that have no problem negotiating down.

This Targus ACP71USZ dock's gigabit port simply will not reliably negotiate down or it seems even work on anything less than a 1GBit Cat5e or Cat6 connection.

What I did was take my source network (cat5/100mbt) and plug into a gigabit desktop switch. From that switch connected to the dock with a cat6 cable. Since then, network keeps working don't have to power off/on the dock or anything. It does not look like there are any settings for this Targus gigabit to have it work in 'slow mode' or half-duplex that I could find.

Hope this helps someone, besides this it has worked great for me and now I am OK with this workaround.

[Wim]

The Ethernet on the dock must be set to auto negotiate, as there is no way to fix the port speed through the UI.

Also, half duplex modes are not supported, so if you try and force half duplex, the throughput will be very slow (due to packet collisions) and the speed will probably not be correctly negotiated.

Wim

[wlfuer]

Originally Posted by Wim

The Ethernet on the dock must be set to auto negotiate, as there is no way to fix the port speed through the UI.

Also, half duplex modes are not supported, so if you try and force half duplex, the throughput will be very slow (due to packet collisions) and the speed will probably not be correctly negotiated.

Wim

Interesting, you mind explaining how to set this on the Targus Giga Ethernet Properties? I can only set a MAC address, VLAN ID, and Wake on LAN.

I have multiple other machines on the same network with Gigabit capability and have no issues with them on my Cat5/100Mbit network.

Where is the 'auto negotiate' setting on the dock or are you saying it is something the manufacturer (Targus) would have to set?

I'm just trying to understand. I appreciate the info and as I noted, just connecting the dock to a gigabit desktop switch that is connected to my network is working reliably now. Never had a gigabit capable device have problems before on my network. I am only posting as it was a pain for me and hopefully it helps someone. Thank you!

[TargusIsBad]

This thing is absolute trash. Do not buy it. I spent half a day wrestling with this thing trying to get it installed. I called both Targus and Dell support (I was trying to use it with a new xps laptop) and it simply does not work. Windows only recognizes it as a USB hub... the network, display, and audio do not work. Save yourself the trouble and look for alternate solutions. This is not only a waste of money but worse a waste of time and source of frustration.

This is only useful as an overpriced USB hub or brick.