Are you seriously expecting anyone to install a random executable on their system from an unknown publisher, provided by an anonymous person on the web, where one can't even get a proper link in Google to the actual company page?
Sorry, but anyone doing that should not be allowed near 5m of a computer system!
I think I have this fixed. Tried a compiled version of the transport library; this worked without issue. I made the timeout changes, which did not seem to have an impact on performance. I then recompiled everything (the server-side code is used in multiple applications on the system); the delay I was seeing with the one message/response went to expected amounts in tests. I've been waiting to test this with the whole system up and going; unfortunately, we've been battling drive issues that are stopping everything else. Can't definitively say it's fixed. Can't point to a smoking gun.
I'm appreciating this forum and the people on it right now.