TCPAckFrequency does not take effect.
This happened when TCPIP started to add a network interface based on its TCPIP registry, and TCPAckFrequency could not apply because the TCPIP configuration was incorrect.
First of all, when tcpip.sys driver starts, it reads followings from the registry,
TcpAckFrequency default:2 max:255, min:1
TcpDelAckTicks default:2 max:60 [min:1 (2012 and later OS) | min:20 (2008 and 2008 R2)]
TcpDisableWindowScaling default:false
Here is how Windows processing the keys,
3/14/2017 3:23:37 PM 3:23:37.9329717 PM 0.0000093 System 4 236 RegQueryValue HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\{DB24AA04-F46C-43B7-9783-F0A822B741BF}\TcpAckFrequency SUCCESS Type: REG_DWORD, Length: 4, Data: 1
0 ntoskrnl.exe CmpCallCallBacks + 0x1c0 0xfffff80002a7e100 C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
1 ntoskrnl.exe NtQueryValueKey + 0x6e2a6 0xfffff80002a17776 C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
2 ntoskrnl.exe KiSystemServiceCopyEnd + 0x13 0xfffff800026d78d3 C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
3 ntoskrnl.exe KiServiceLinkage 0xfffff800026d3e70 C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
4 NETIO.SYS NetioRegSyncQueryAndUpdateKeyValue + 0x7a 0xfffff8800152e3ba C:\Windows\system32\drivers\NETIO.SYS
5 NETIO.SYS NetioRegSyncInterface + 0x135 0xfffff8800152dfa5 C:\Windows\system32\drivers\NETIO.SYS
6 tcpip.sys OlmQueryNsiForTcpInterfaceParameters + 0x71 0xfffff880016b8f71 C:\Windows\System32\drivers\tcpip.sys
7 tcpip.sys OlmNotifyAddInterface + 0x35 0xfffff880016ba165 C:\Windows\System32\drivers\tcpip.sys
8 tcpip.sys IppNotifyInterfaceChangeToNlClients + 0x15f 0xfffff880016e3fcf C:\Windows\System32\drivers\tcpip.sys
9 tcpip.sys IpFlcAddInterface + 0x4f2 0xfffff880016b6812 C:\Windows\System32\drivers\tcpip.sys
10 tcpip.sys FlpOpenAdapterComplete + 0x19a 0xfffff880016b932a C:\Windows\System32\drivers\tcpip.sys
11 tcpip.sys FlBindAdapter + 0x2aa 0xfffff880016c26ca C:\Windows\System32\drivers\tcpip.sys
12 ndis.sys ndisInitializeBindingEx + 0x716 0xfffff880014c8d46 C:\Windows\system32\drivers\ndis.sys
13 ndis.sys ndisInitializeBinding + 0x4d 0xfffff880014c90fd C:\Windows\system32\drivers\ndis.sys
14 ndis.sys ndisCheckAdapterBindings + 0x278 0xfffff880014c6f58 C:\Windows\system32\drivers\ndis.sys
15 ndis.sys ndisQueuedCheckAdapterBindings + 0xd9 0xfffff880014d34e9 C:\Windows\system32\drivers\ndis.sys
16 ndis.sys ndisWorkerThread + 0xba 0xfffff88001438a2a C:\Windows\system32\drivers\ndis.sys
17 ntoskrnl.exe PspSystemThreadStartup + 0x5a 0xfffff80002975cce C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
18 ntoskrnl.exe KxStartSystemThread + 0x16 0xfffff800026c9fe6 C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
3/14/2017 3:23:37 PM 3:23:37.9507527 PM 0.0000058 System 4 236 RegQueryValue HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Nsi\{eb004a03-9b1a-11d4-9123-0050047759bc}\1\0000000600000600 SUCCESS Type: REG_BINARY, Length: 4, Data: 01 00 FF FF
0 ntoskrnl.exe CmpCallCallBacks + 0x1c0 0xfffff80002a7e100 C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
1 ntoskrnl.exe NtQueryValueKey + 0x6e2a6 0xfffff80002a17776 C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
2 ntoskrnl.exe KiSystemServiceCopyEnd + 0x13 0xfffff800026d78d3 C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
3 ntoskrnl.exe KiServiceLinkage 0xfffff800026d3e70 C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
4 NETIO.SYS NsipReadExact + 0xb53 0xfffff88001532a43 C:\Windows\system32\drivers\NETIO.SYS
5 NETIO.SYS NsipReadPersistentData + 0xe6 0xfffff8800152e246 C:\Windows\system32\drivers\NETIO.SYS
6 NETIO.SYS NsiGetAllParametersEx + 0x322 0xfffff88001520ce2 C:\Windows\system32\drivers\NETIO.SYS
7 NETIO.SYS NsiGetAllParameters + 0xbd 0xfffff88001522f5d C:\Windows\system32\drivers\NETIO.SYS
8 tcpip.sys InetGetRwParameters + 0x46 0xfffff880016b9056 C:\Windows\System32\drivers\tcpip.sys
9 tcpip.sys OlmQueryNsiForTcpInterfaceParameters + 0x4c 0xfffff880016b8f4c C:\Windows\System32\drivers\tcpip.sys
10 tcpip.sys OlmNotifyAddInterface + 0x35 0xfffff880016ba165 C:\Windows\System32\drivers\tcpip.sys
11 tcpip.sys IppNotifyInterfaceChangeToNlClients + 0x15f 0xfffff880016e3fcf C:\Windows\System32\drivers\tcpip.sys
12 tcpip.sys IpFlcAddInterface + 0x4f2 0xfffff880016b6812 C:\Windows\System32\drivers\tcpip.sys
13 tcpip.sys FlpOpenAdapterComplete + 0x19a 0xfffff880016b932a C:\Windows\System32\drivers\tcpip.sys
14 tcpip.sys FlBindAdapter + 0x2aa 0xfffff880016c26ca C:\Windows\System32\drivers\tcpip.sys
15 ndis.sys ndisInitializeBindingEx + 0x716 0xfffff880014c8d46 C:\Windows\system32\drivers\ndis.sys
16 ndis.sys ndisInitializeBinding + 0x4d 0xfffff880014c90fd C:\Windows\system32\drivers\ndis.sys
17 ndis.sys ndisCheckAdapterBindings + 0x278 0xfffff880014c6f58 C:\Windows\system32\drivers\ndis.sys
18 ndis.sys ndisQueuedCheckAdapterBindings + 0xd9 0xfffff880014d34e9 C:\Windows\system32\drivers\ndis.sys
19 ndis.sys ndisWorkerThread + 0xba 0xfffff88001438a2a C:\Windows\system32\drivers\ndis.sys
20 ntoskrnl.exe PspSystemThreadStartup + 0x5a 0xfffff80002975cce C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
21 ntoskrnl.exe KxStartSystemThread + 0x16 0xfffff800026c9fe6 C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
In process monitor log, NSI repository registry was accessed. {eb004a03-9b1a-11d4-9123-0050047759bc}\1 ==> TCP module \ Interface Object
If validation fails, then default value will be used.
For my issue, TcpDelAckTicks was incorrectly set to 0 in 2008 R2 machine, and it would fail the validation because the tick did not hit the range. All the three settings would be set to default, which for end users, they could find TcpAckFrequency did not work as expected.
Although, from MS document, it was fine to have TcpDelAckTicks 0 in the OS prior to Windows Server 2003, but that does not apply to later OS.
TcpDelAckTicks
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc938206.aspx
BTW: Once OS boots up, the settings can be found from dump,