Even though the Merging AES67 RAVENNA ASIO driver can function on any Gigabit Ethernet Adapter, including the onboard one, it is advisable to utilize a dedicated card. Merging suggests employing Intel Gigabit network adapters for optimal performance.
ACCESSING NETWORK ADAPTER SETTINGS
In the Windows Control Panel > Device Manager, locate the network adapters, select your card, and access its Properties :
It's crucial to disable any power management features, such as Green Ethernet, Energy efficient Ethernet, Ultra Low Power mode, or System Idle Power Saver. These options are typically found in a Power Management tab, but their location may vary based on the NIC manufacturer and model.
Most of the relevant settings in this guide will be found under the advanced section :
RECOMMENDED SETTINGS
Disable "Reduce link Speed during standby" (especially when using a switch on the RAVENNA network) or "Reduce Speed on Power Down" to "Disabled".
"Wake on LAN" should also be disabled for dedicated RAVENNA network cards, although it's not mandatory.
Jumbo packet is not supported.
Interrupt Moderation can sometimes help reduce sink jitter when disabled (default is enabled).
Receive Side Scaling must be enabled with the default value.
Receive Side Scaling Queues should be set to 1 (default value), as having 2 queues can result in very poor performance.
Adaptive Inter-Frame Spacing Disabled
Flow Control set to RX & TX enabled
Receive Buffers at 256
Transmit Buffers at 512.
For Realtek 2.5 GbE Controllers, the default Receive Buffers value is often set to 512 by default. Please adjust it to 256 (Transmit Buffers should remain at 512).
When upgrading from one OS to another (for example Windows 10 to Windows 11), certain settings may become inaccessible, such as the crucial "RSS Queues." In such cases, open the "Devices Manager", right-click your network adapter, go to Driver, and choose Downgrade Driver. This should grant access to the hidden settings.
ADAPTERS WITH KNOWN ISSUES
Intel i226-V
Suffers from frequent and random disconnections. Currently no fix available from Intel.
Intel i225-V
Suffers from frequent and random disconnections. Fixed by Intel in the controller Stepping B3 / Revision 3.
You can check the revision of the chip in the device manager.
Open the properties of the Intel(R) Ethernet Controller (2) I225-V and open the Details tab.
Select the Device ID/Hardware ID in the drop down menu.
For example: PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_15F3&SUBSYS_87D21043&REV_02
Last part shows the Revision.