Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with dsl and networking

DSL speed takes a dive

diode — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 11:30:27 -0800

My non-profit uses a DSL service best typified as a mom and pop operation in our small city. The ISP recently switched their upstream provider and our DSL speeds got an immediate burst in speed and quality. Now it's back to being pokey again. What's the best way to see what's going on in a network sense? Our ISP is apparently owned and managed by one guy, his accountant and a helper/administrator. Our access has been relatively good on the DSL side, since the circuit is provided by Qwest, but is characterized by frequent DNS outages. Nevertheless, our nonprofit seems determined to stay the course and keep our 1.5/768 mbps DSL with this ISP until the heat death of the universe.

A few weeks ago the ISP owner had the bright idea of switching upstream providers for his connectivity. He gave his clients about two hours notice and then tried switching all his circuits over the weekend. Carnage and consternation ensued.

Our DSL circuit, once restored, was a lot cleaner in terms of speed and quality of service than previously and we were mollified. Now though, the circuit speed seems to be degrading again and we are getting about 220kbps download with poor quality.

We run a SonicWall with VPN to several locations. Citrix is running in the VPN. Our remote users definitely notice when the circuit slows down.

My question: what's the best way to get a picture of what's happening? I would think the ISP is overbooking his circuits again. How can I collect some evidence that will give me a clue what's going on?

Since the office here has 20 or so users, it's possible there's some sort of bandwidth suck going on here which is reducing total bandwidth coming to me when I do a speed test.

I could potentially mirror the Sonicwall's switch port and run Wireshark on it to see traffic. Or perhaps there are some useful network tests? Any help appreciated.

Packets, and Gateways, and Routers, Oh My!

rabble — Sat, 31 Dec 2005 21:17:37 -0800

I like to pretend that I'm a big networking wiz, but in reality, I don't even have the wits to play one on TV. Either way, I've been looking for something a little more robust in the router department for my home network, and I think I've found it with the Linksys WRT54G + DD-WRT firmware (v23, 12/25/05 release). And here's where the fun begins - Getting it to manage my DSL connection. My ISP is Qwest. Previously, I ran their Actiontec gateway in Transparent briding mode (DHCP & NAT) off through to my craptacular D-Link router. Even though Qwest uses PPPOA, the D-Link didn't have that option, but using PPPOE worked somehow. I wasn't getting full thoroughput (the gateway was receiving 7mb/sec, but I was only getting 1.5mb/sec), but it worked.

Now, with the upgrade, I've got myself in the position of having WAAAAY more router power than I know what to do with. I basically need a step by step guide as to how to get this damned thing to work with Qwest DSL, for the reasonablyintelligentbutnotsohotwithnetworking kind of guy. I could go into all sorts of details as to how I've TRIED setting it up, but I think that will only confuse the situation at this point. For those who aren't familiar with the DD-WRT firmware, here's a demo page of the web interface, which no doubt will help in explaining the specifics of my problem to me.

I consider myself very technically inclined, but heavy duty networking is a SERIOUS weak spot of mine. No need to dumb it down too far, as I understand the basics, but I'm no pro, either.

The basics:
Gateway/DSL Modem: Actiontec in Transparent Bridging mode (192.168.0.1)
Router: WRT54G w/ DD-WRT v23 (192.168.1.1)
Qwest Primary DNS: 205.171.3.65
Qwest Secondary DNS: 205.171.2.65

Thank you - And, oh yeah, Happy New Year to ya'll out in mefiland as well!

Help me fix my iMac!

JDC8 — Fri, 10 Sep 2004 14:39:08 -0800

iMacFilter. I'm attempting to connect my slot-loading iMac to a SBC DSL router. I can't get the iMac to recognize the DSL connection or locate the modem.

In my attempts to rectify this, I reorganized the hard drive using Discwarrior. Now the computer somehow boots up with MacOS 9.2, even after an OSX re-install. Help!

Router Somehow Blocking Visibility of Printer from Machines

GriffX — Thu, 03 Jun 2004 10:35:24 -0800

StupidRouterFilter: Suppose you have a DSL modem with a computer running XP coming out of it, with a printer attached. Two other machines coming out of the DSL modem can of course see the printer just fine. However, there is also a router coming out of the modem (don't ask), and none of the machines coming out of the router can see the printer. Is there any way to make them able to use that printer?

Wireless Networking

seanyboy — Thu, 22 Apr 2004 02:11:43 -0800

Wireless Networking Question. I want to use wireless networking to connect a DSL router to both my PVR & playstation 2. How do I do it? [M.I.] The PVR and PS2 have ethernet ports and are next to each other. I could easily connect these with a router, but then that router would need wireless access to the wireless router upstairs.

I've seen adverts for Wireless Bridges, but these all seem to have only one port. Can I just plug this into a router's uplink port? Are there any good Wireless Bridges out there with more than one port? Although price is an issue, I'm looking for a fairly good looking solution.