Need help with a 512/128 Microwave link!

ViperKnight · Post by **ViperKnight** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 5:19 am

Gday...just new to these forums but I signed up because I've got a serious problem with my connection. Sorry if this is in the wrong section....but I couldn't find a more suitable place.

The problem is that as of about a month ago my upload bandwidth has been completely crippled. The ISP I'm with has a speed tester on their website which is hosted locally on their server (so I'm connected directly to it) and it reads my download speed correctly, roughly 500kbps but the upload speed reads at a shoddy 20-30kbps. Sometimes it doesn't work at all and I get like 2kbps

This is the applet they use:
http://www.auditmypc.com/speedtest.asp

I've contacted the ISP and they're stumped. They even upped my upload bandwidth to 192kbps and that only helped slightly.

I've installed NetMeter just to check if my computer is doing anything but it is all clear when I have nothing running.

Here's a list of tests I've done:
-AV test with AVG came up clean.
-Spyware/Malware scans with both Ad-Aware and Spybot. Both came up clean.

I've also done a ping test to a relatively local game server and I get strange results. I get an average of about 50ms but about 1 in every 4-5 packets will get lost

As well as that I've updated the firmware on my router and drivers for my NIC. I also have a wireless card (54mbps) card in my Pc which suffers from the same problem.

This doesn't really bother me for normal web browsing but is an absolute nightmare for online gaming!

I think it may be the radio/microwave system but my ISP can successfully ping my bridge without fail.

Any ideas?

Here's my system stats:
Windows XP SP2
Asus A8N SLI mobo
1024 DDR ram
Built-In Lan card (Nvidia)
D-Link AirPlus DWL-G520 (I only use this when I move my comp around. I'm connected by 100mbps ethernet to my router)
Zyxel P334-WT Router

trogers · Post by **trogers** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 5:25 am

Do this network diagnostic test and post the results under the 'Statistics' button:

http://nitro.ucsc.edu/

ViperKnight · Post by **ViperKnight** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 3:27 am

Here we go:

WEB100 Enabled Statistics:
Checking for Middleboxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
running 10s outbound test (client to server) . . . . . 70.98Kb/s
running 10s inbound test (server to client) . . . . . . 493.43kb/s

------ Client System Details ------
OS data: Name = Windows XP, Architecture = x86, Version = 5.1
Java data: Vendor = Sun Microsystems Inc., Version = 1.5.0_06

------ Web100 Detailed Analysis ------
Dial-up modem link found.
Link set to Full Duplex mode
No network congestion discovered.
Good network cable(s) found
Normal duplex operation found.

Web100 reports the Round trip time = 932.78 msec; the Packet size = 1420 Bytes; and
No packet loss - but packets arrived out-of-order 0.22% of the time
This connection is receiver limited 85.71% of the time.
This connection is network limited 14.27% of the time.

Web100 reports TCP negotiated the optional Performance Settings to:
RFC 2018 Selective Acknowledgment: ON
RFC 896 Nagle Algorithm: ON
RFC 3168 Explicit Congestion Notification: OFF
RFC 1323 Time Stamping: OFF
RFC 1323 Window Scaling: OFF
Information: Network Middlebox is modifying MSS variable
Server IP addresses are preserved End-to-End
Information: Network Address Translation (NAT) box is modifying the Client's IP address
Server says [203.206.xxx.xx] but Client says [192.168.xxx.xxx]

trogers · Post by **trogers** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 6:24 am

[quote="ViperKnight"]
Web100 reports the Round trip time = 932.78 msec]

High latency (Round trip time) at 932ms. Data packets arrive out of order.

It may be due to your modem being affected by electromagnetic interference. Isolate it a few feet away from other electrical device such as router, speakers, cordless phone, etc.

ViperKnight · Post by **ViperKnight** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 6:29 am

well....it's setup like this:

PC -> Router -> Bridge ->Microwave/Radio transmitter -> Reciever at server.

So there isn't really a "modem" where I am. I can't move the bridge as it's fixed but my router is sitting right next to another computer....

Could it be that my ISP has their modem in a bad place?
I've noticed that any other computer I attach to my router has the same issues.

trogers · Post by **trogers** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 6:37 am

Try relocating your router first and do the network diagnostic test to see if latency falls and no more packets arriving out of order.

If that did not improve things, then it is probable the bridge.

ViperKnight · Post by **ViperKnight** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 7:05 am

Strange results....lower latency but also lower outbound bandwidth :S

WEB100 Enabled Statistics:
Checking for Middleboxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
running 10s outbound test (client to server) . . . . . 31.02Kb/s
running 10s inbound test (server to client) . . . . . . 400.26kb/s

------ Client System Details ------
OS data: Name = Windows XP, Architecture = x86, Version = 5.1
Java data: Vendor = Sun Microsystems Inc., Version = 1.5.0_06

------ Web100 Detailed Analysis ------
Cable modem/DSL/T1 link found.
Link set to Full Duplex mode
Information: throughput is limited by other network traffic.
Good network cable(s) found
Normal duplex operation found.

Web100 reports the Round trip time = 297.09 msec; the Packet size = 1420 Bytes; and
There were 4 packets retransmitted, 32 duplicate acks received, and 28 SACK blocks received
The connection was idle 0 seconds (0%) of the time
This connection is network limited 99.97% of the time.

Web100 reports TCP negotiated the optional Performance Settings to:
RFC 2018 Selective Acknowledgment: ON
RFC 896 Nagle Algorithm: ON
RFC 3168 Explicit Congestion Notification: OFF
RFC 1323 Time Stamping: OFF
RFC 1323 Window Scaling: OFF
Information: Network Middlebox is modifying MSS variable
Server IP addresses are preserved End-to-End
Information: Network Address Translation (NAT) box is modifying the Client's IP address
Server says [203.206.xxx.xxx] but Client says [192.168.xxx.xxx]

trogers · Post by **trogers** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 7:27 am

Do the TCP Analyzer test and post your results:

http://www.speedguide.net/analyzer.php

ViperKnight · Post by **ViperKnight** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 7:33 am

I think these are the results of my ISP's server....
SpeedGuide.net TCP/IP Analyzer

TCP properties for IP = 165.228.xxx.xxx ()
Browser/OS = Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.0.7) Gecko/20060909 Firefox/1.5.0.7
Notes: Read the Analyzer FAQ if the above is not your IP address.
Your IP (192.168.xxx.xxx, 203.217.xxx.xxx) appears to be behind a web proxy server (165.228.xxx.xxx) and results shown might not be for your system.
TCP options string = 0204058c01010402
MTU = 1460
MTU is not fully optimized for broadband. Consider increasing your MTU to 1500 for better throughput. If you are using a router, it could be limiting your MTU regardless of Registry settings.
MSS = 1420
Maximum useful data in each packet = 1420, which equals MSS.
Default TCP Receive Window (RWIN) = 65320
RWIN Scaling (RFC1323) = 0 bits
Unscaled TCP Receive Window = 65320

RWIN is a multiple of MSS
Other RWIN values that might work well with your current MTU/MSS:
522560 (MSS x 46 * scale factor of 8)
261280 (MSS x 46 * scale factor of 4)
130640 (MSS x 46 * scale factor of 2)
65320 (MSS x 46) <-- current value
bandwidth * delay product (Note this is not a speed test):

Your TCP Window limits you to: 2612.8 kbps (326.6 KBytes/s) @ 200ms
Your TCP Window limits you to: 1045.12 kbps (130.64 KBytes/s) @ 500ms
MTU Discovery (RFC1191) = ON
Time to live left = 56 hops
TTL value is ok.
Timestamps (RFC1323) = OFF
Selective Acknowledgements (RFC2018) = ON
IP type of service field (RFC1349) = 00101000 (40)
Precedence (priority) = 001 (priority)
Delay = 0 (normal delay)
Throughput = 1 (high throughput)
Reliability = 0 (normal reliability)
Cost = 0 (normal cost)
Check bit = 0 (correct, 8th checking bit must be zero)

DiffServ (RFC 2474) = AF11 001010 (10) - Assured Forwarding class 1, low drop precedence (RFC 2597).

trogers · Post by **trogers** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 7:36 am

Use TCP Optimizer with the following custom settings:

General Settings tab:
Custom settings - check
Modify All Network Adapters - check
network adapter selection - your NIC
MTU 1460
TTL - 64
TCP Receive Window -31240
MTU Discovery - Yes
Black Hole Detect - No
Selective Acks - Yes
Max Duplicate ACKs - 2
TCP 1323 Options:
Windows Scaling - unchecked
Timestamps - uncheck
Advanced Settings tab:
Max Connections per Server - 10
Max Connections per 1.0 Server - 20
LocalPriority - 5
Host Priority - 6
DNSPriority - 7
NetbtPriority - 8
Lan Browsing speedup - optimized
QoS: NonBestEffortLimit - 0
ToS: DisableUserTOSSetting - 0
ToS: DefaultTOSValue - 80
MaxNegativeCacheTtl - 0
NetFailureCacheTime - 0
NegativeSOACache Time - 0
LAN Request Buffer Size - 32768
Then select "Apply Changes" and reboot to take effect

trogers · Post by **trogers** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 7:51 am

ViperKnight wrote: I've also done a ping test to a relatively local game server and I get strange results. I get an average of about 50ms but about 1 in every 4-5 packets will get lost

This doesn't really bother me for normal web browsing but is an absolute nightmare for online gaming!

If you are into gaming, you may experiment with lower TCP Receive Window (RWIN) values to get lower ping time.

Formula to use:

RWIN = Bandwidth x Max Latency divided by 8

RWIN = 512 x 320 / 8 = 20480

To make sure RWIN is an even multiple of MSS

20480 / 1420 = 14.42

Use RWIN = 1420 x 14 = 19880

The trick is in determining your Max Latency so that you have a tighter bandwidth value that will not affect your download speed. I use 320ms to give some allowance from your network test of 300ms.

ViperKnight · Post by **ViperKnight** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 7:59 am

EDIT: Scrap that....figured it out.

Thanks...I'll get back and see if this helps