sktn77a
join:2001-04-08
Chapel Hill, NC
1 edit | RT314 intermittent operation
Hi there: I have a Netgear RT312 (~6 years old) with two FS108 switches on a CAT5E wired network in the house for 4-to-5 computers. Recently, over the last year, web surfing will slow down to a halt (timeouts on pinging the ISP) once or twice a day. If I power down the router and cable model, this sometimes solves the problem. My first thought is crappy service from Time-Warner Cable (Roadrunner). But the fact that I can sometimes get rid of this by powering down the router and/or connecting my computer directly to the modem, makes me suspect the router. What would cause this if, indeed, it is the router? Will a new FVS318/338 solve the problem or am I likely to have the "reboot" problem with this router?
I'd like to stick with Netgear as I have the two switches and 2 WAG302 APs but if their wired routers are dogs I'll go elsewhere. Suggestions? I don't need VPN but a hardware firewall would be nice.
Thanks
Keith |
|
decx
Premium
join:2002-06-07
Vancouver, BC
 ·Bell Sympatico
2 edits | Are you running any P2P or other applications that opens a large number of connections? The RT314 can only handle 256 open NAT connections after which everything will just basically just halt until old connections are purged (either by timing out or a reboot). To check, next time you get the problem try logging into the RT314 via telnet, then going into the console commands enter
ip nat if wanif0 st
While you're at it you could also check out if the CPU is being over taxed by entering
sys cpu display
to see the RT314's CPU usage.
If you want to get a new router, I'd suggest a router like WRT54GL which can use a third party firmware. Such a setup is generally more reliable and more feature rich than stock consumer router setups. |
|
sktn77a
join:2001-04-08
Chapel Hill, NC
| Thanks decx: Yes, my kids are using Limewire and Ares P2P programs. So, this will gunk up the NAT stack? And the only reliable and quick solution is to reboot the router? (I take it that pulling the power cord out is the way to do this as as the RT314 has no power switch or reset button?)
Do you know if the RT338 (or Linksys) has a larger number of available NAT connection addresses? I'm not a greast fan of 3rd party firmware as I'm not too network savvy and have to believe that big companies like Netgear know what they are doing (???)
Keith |
|
public
join:2002-01-19
Santa Clara, CA
·DSL EXTREME
| said by sktn77a  :Thanks decx: Yes, my kids are using Limewire and Ares P2P programs. So, this will gunk up the NAT stack? The problem may be the ptp pegging the uplink connection and preventing your packet acks getting out. Allowing more connections will make it worse.
I'm not a greast fan of 3rd party firmware as I'm not too network savvy and have to believe that big companies like Netgear know what they are doing (???)
Companies like netgear buy a box from china with firmware from taiwan or india and attach a netgear label. |
|
sktn77a
join:2001-04-08
Chapel Hill, NC
| "P2P pegging the uplink connection"
Thanks Public; can you elaborate on this, please?
"Companies like netgear buy a box from china with firmware from taiwan or india and attach a netgear label."
Yes, I understand this but, despite all of the firmware updates, I believe that commercial operations have the resources to perform more extensive QC and beta testing than the avearge third party supplier, hence my ambivalence!
Keith |
|
Bobcat
Volvo sucks donkey balls
Premium
join:2001-02-04
Bedminster, NJ | reply to sktn77a
Check the options on your P2P applications and see if you can limit the number of connections. |
|
sktn77a
join:2001-04-08
Chapel Hill, NC | Doesn't look like Ares or Limewire have those options  |
|
public
join:2002-01-19
Santa Clara, CA
·DSL EXTREME
| said by sktn77a :Doesn't look like Ares or Limewire have those options Basically p2p keep opening connections until something breaks. Usually it is the uplink because most ISPs have asymmetrical up/down bandwidth.
In commercial settings the problem is solved using a traffic shaper like the Packeteer to redirect the offending users to a slower queue.
You could get a router with some kind of QOS capability and limit the uplink speed for everybody. It will have little effect on web browsing but it will limit p2p. |
|
public
join:2002-01-19
Santa Clara, CA
·DSL EXTREME
| reply to sktn77a
said by sktn77a :Yes, I understand this but, despite all of the firmware updates, I believe that commercial operations have the resources to perform more extensive QC and beta testing than the avearge third party supplier, Beta testing and QC is performed by the end user. |
|
Bobcat
Volvo sucks donkey balls
Premium
join:2001-02-04
Bedminster, NJ
3 edits | reply to sktn77a
With Limewire, set it to do a maximum of 2 downloads and 0 uploads.
Make sure the upload bandwidth of Limewire plus Ares is less than 75% of your upload speed.
I don't know about Ares' settings. |
|
sktn77a
join:2001-04-08
Chapel Hill, NC
| Public: Ha! Yes, unfortunately, you're right in many instances!
Bobcat: I think there are problems with Limewire when you set the uploads to 0, aren't there (doesn't the program think you're leeching and stop downloads)? The bandwidth suggestion is a good one that hadn't occurred to me - with three kids downloading at 100% each, maybe that's the problem!
Keith |
|
Bobcat
Volvo sucks donkey balls
Premium
join:2001-02-04
Bedminster, NJ
·Verizon Online DSL
| You need to control two things:
1) The total number of connections. You can use the RT314 command posted earlier to monitor this.
2) UPstream bandwidth. You need to make sure the upstream is not saturated. Otherwise, your DOWNloads will suffer.
Some Limewire users may prevent you from downloading from them if you don't allow uploads, but I haven't observed a real problem. And do YOU care if your kids can't get all the bootlegs they want? P.S. I hope your anti-virus program is up to date! |
|
sktn77a
join:2001-04-08
Chapel Hill, NC
| OK, thanks all. I had to log into the router via Telnet several years ago in order to install the latest firmware with web management. Now I've forgotten how I did that and the manual is long gone:( Anybody able to help me how to log on via telnet and how to enter those commands in the post above?
Also, how do I find out how many open connections my old router (RT314) and my new router (FVS338) can have at once (it's not in any of the specs on the web that I can find)?
Thanks millions (I don't know what I'd do without these fora)!
Keith |
|
