A GigE Vision camera sends each image as many small UDP packets. If the PC's network adapter cannot take them in and hand them over in time, packets are lost and the camera software starts reporting incomplete frames, lost frames and resend requests. Camera vendors document which adapter settings to check. This guide collects only the values written in public documents and compares them — they are the vendors' values, not recommendations made by PortDock.
First: does the bandwidth fit?
Before touching settings, check that the camera configuration fits the link. Image data rate is width × height × bytes per pixel × fps, and 1 GbE carries 125 MB/s gross. In the Beckhoff example, a 1920 × 1200 Mono8 camera at 30 fps needs 69.12 MB/s, and three of them on one link need 207.36 MB/s — more than 1 GbE. That example assumes about 110–115 MB/s is usable on 1 GbE. If the link is oversubscribed, no adapter setting will fix it: lower fps, resolution or pixel format, or spread cameras across ports (GigE Bandwidth Calculator).
Adapter Advanced tab — values in vendor documents
| Setting (Device Manager → adapter → Properties → Advanced) | Basler | MathWorks |
|---|---|---|
| Jumbo Packet / Jumbo Frame | Maximum value | Maximum value (e.g. 9014 bytes) |
| Receive Buffers / Receive Descriptors | Maximum value (2048 if the driver has no registry setting) | Maximum value (e.g. 2048) |
| Interrupt Moderation | On (if available) | — |
| Interrupt Moderation Rate | Extreme (left as is if there is no registry setting). On buffer underruns or packet loss, first try Low or Minimal; if latency matters and CPU load does not, Off | — |
| Receive Side Scaling (RSS) | On, one RSS queue | — |
| Speed & Duplex | — | Auto Negotiation |
Both documents agree on jumbo packets and receive buffers. For interrupt moderation, even Basler's page gives both «Extreme» and «Low or Minimal if you lose packets»: batching interrupts lowers CPU load but empties buffers later. Do not fix one value blindly — change it and compare the loss and resend counts in the camera software.
Jumbo frames need all three ends
- Packet size cannot exceed the smallest MTU along the path (Beckhoff). Raising the PC adapter to 9014 does nothing if the switch or the camera's packet size stays at 1500.
- Set the camera's packet size (GevSCPSPacketSize or similar) no higher than what the adapter and switch accept. Larger packets mean fewer packets per frame and less protocol overhead.
- If there is a switch in between, check its manual for jumbo frame support and whether it is enabled.
Clean up the camera adapter
- MathWorks says to leave only «Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)» checked on a dedicated camera connection and to clear vendor and antivirus drivers bound to the adapter.
- If company rules do not allow removing the antivirus, the same page suggests a second adapter dedicated to the camera, leaving the PC's main adapter as it is.
- With several cameras on several adapters, automatic IP addressing will not do: give each adapter a fixed IP on its own subnet (MathWorks). Use the subnet calculator to confirm a camera and its adapter share a subnet.
- Use the adapter maker's regular driver. MathWorks notes that custom high-performance drivers installed by another imaging application may not work with other software.
Firewall
If everything is set and the stream still stalls or never arrives, look at the firewall. Teledyne documents that Windows Firewall can disable a GigE connection without warning, hanging the application, and that adding the application to the firewall exceptions fixes it. An adapter on the «Public» network profile gets stricter rules.
Reading it all on the PC
In PortDock Port Inspector, choose «GigE camera» as the purpose on the «Network adapters on this PC» card. For each adapter it reads jumbo frames, receive buffers, interrupt moderation, EEE (Energy-Efficient Ethernet), flow control and speed/duplex, «allow the computer to turn off this device», receive errors and discarded packets, the network profile and whether the firewall is on — without admin rights — and shows the vendor values above with links. Advanced-tab values are stored in the registry under Microsoft's standardized keywords (*JumboPacket, *ReceiveBuffers, *InterruptModeration …), so they read the same way whatever the adapter brand. Changes are made in Device Manager (admin rights).
Causes outside the adapter
Some things adapter settings cannot show: the camera's packet size and packet delay, switch buffers and uplink speed, cable quality and CPU load. If discarded packets stay at zero but frames still drop, look at the camera software's resend and loss statistics and at the camera settings.
Sources
- Basler — Affected Network Parameters (pylon GigE Configurator) — jumbo, receive buffers, interrupt moderation, RSS
- MathWorks — Configure Gigabit Ethernet Network Adapter on Windows — jumbo 9014, receive buffers 2048, auto negotiation, IPv4 only, subnets
- Teledyne Vision Solutions — Windows Firewall may disable GigE network
- Beckhoff TwinCAT 3 Vision — Bandwidth management for GigE Vision — bandwidth formula, MTU, 1 GbE 125 MB/s
- Microsoft Learn — Standardized INF Keywords for Network Devices
Published 2026-10-29