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1 2 Previous Next 18 Replies Last post: Jul 2, 2008 12:43 PM by rmehta   Go to original post

Re: Networking: NAT vs. Bridged?

15. Jul 19, 2007 11:27 PM in response to: tirmidi
Click to view 052569's profile Lurker 1 posts since
Jul 19, 2007
I don't know if this is related, but has anyone looked at the CPU usage of the NAT daemon (vmnet-natd) differs between downloading / uploading?

I noticed that vmnet-natd would consume quite a bit of CPU when there are a lot of network traffic going to a VM, sometimes even more than the vmware-vmx process itself. I suspect when that happens, network throughput within the VM drops.

I haven't tried running NAT using OS X's natd for a comparison, but it may be worth trying.

Re: Networking: NAT vs. Bridged?

16. Jul 1, 2008 7:27 PM in response to: 052569
Click to view eduncan911's profile Novice 5 posts since
Jul 1, 2008
This thread was started over a year ago; but yet, I have the latest and greatest with the same problem.

OS X 10.5.4 Leapord
Fusion 1.1.3 (I see 2.0 Beta is out, but I can't test that now)
Windows Vista
MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo, 4 GB ram (2gb for Vista's VM)

First, I have a monster connection speed. These are the speeds when run at http://www.testmy.net through the mac. No, this is not a fluke. I got a special deal for 20 Mbps down and 20 Mbps up @ home (got to love Verizon FIOSand discount vendors).


20805 kbps (2540 kB/s), verification link - http://testmy.net/stats/id-DYSXTZOI9
16327 kbps (1993 kB/s), verification link - http://testmy.net/stats/id-TQ7SC6NEW


Sadly, my Vista instance of Fusion shows only 300kbps (30kB/s) upstream (downstream is very close to normal speeds). I am using one network interface as NAT and one as Host Only. My idea was to use the Host Only to map a dedicated share (and put my data files on the mac's drive).


After I shut down tonight, I will switch over to Bridged mode for the primary network card. But I highly agree with Yaztromo with his post here: http://communities.vmware.com/message/685175#685175


Switching to Bridged is not a viable solution with all of the roaming I do, but I must do it for now (and God do i hope i have faster speeds when u guys are using).


Will this ever resolved? I made a comment in this http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-2527 for future reference of this issue.

Re: Networking: NAT vs. Bridged?

17. Jul 2, 2008 6:40 AM in response to: eduncan911
Click to view eduncan911's profile Novice 5 posts since
Jul 1, 2008
As others here have experienced, once you switch to Bridged mode it does greatly increase the upload speed.

But only by 300% - which seems capped at 1.2 Mbps upload. Here are my results after 5 tests, 4 last night and one this morning.


1222 Kbps about 1.2 Mbps - verified url http://testmy.net/stats/id-L3FUO6Y5D


Again, my upload has been tested on multiple machines, and even the hosting Mac OS this Fusion is running within. All test around 16 to 17 Mbps upstream.

To recap this unresolved issue:


  • NAT mode limits your upstream/upload to around 300 kbps (around 30 kB/s)
  • Bridged mode limits you upstream/upload to around 1200 kbps (around 1.2 Mbps or 120 kB/s)

So clearly Bridged mode is best, if you can live with it (see my post above). One would think this solution could be resolved because the downstream is blazingly fast (I tested it at 19 Mbps on my 20Mbps Fios line).

Re: Networking: NAT vs. Bridged?

18. Jul 2, 2008 12:43 PM in response to: eduncan911
Click to view rmehta's profile Novice 5 posts since
Feb 27, 2008

Hi eduncan911,

I looked up the results and found that you had just one run for Bridged networking. Is it possible, if you can get more runs.

I also found a case where the VM reported for upload.

Fri Jun 27 2008 @ 6:48:06 pm http://www.testmy.net/images/up_arrow_999.jpg UP 5983 kB 13078 kbps (1596 kB/s)

Can you please verify which mode of networking are you using?

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