More Internet Concerns

Rubber Bullets

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Hi,

In a previous thread I described a bad ciouple of days that I had with my internet that turned out to be BT upgrading my line. Instead of 8Mb ADSL I now have up to 20Mb ADSL 2+ (I think). The kind of speeds I have been getting are 10-12Mb down and 1Mb up. These are OK, not a vast increase, but welcome none the less.

However since then I have had other problems.

Firstly my router (Netgear DG834GT - I know Trem, but it has worked flawlessly for me for several years) started dropping connection at least once a day. I found a firmware upgrade that promised ADSL 2 compatibility and this did seem to help, not totally, but resets were only required every 2-3 days.

The problem was that there were sites I couldn't connect to. speedtest.net for instance, the browser (any one, I tried FF, IE8 and Chrome) would just sit with the icon going round for minutes on end. I also tried the BT broadband test linked in a recent thread, but the test failed every time, and I still haven't managed to get it to work.

My router started to get worse again, needing more frequent resets, and so I tried an automatic set up on it and this did at least appear to result in a slight improvement, firstly the resets are less frequent again and also I can now connect to speedtest.net, but the BT broadband test still refuses to work, and today I tried to connect to microsoft.com and that doesn't work (along with random other websites.

On speetest.net I found a beta test of something they call pingtest. I tried this and discovered that I get a 100% packet loss every time I try the test, and from every server I try, I have no idea what this means but it can't be good, though it could be a problem with the beta I guess.

Where is the problem most likely to lie? Is this a line issue or is it more likely to mean a new router? If so what would you recommend? How easy is it to swap? It looks like a pain in the arse to start again with a wireless network :(

many thanks

RB
 

MYstIC G

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Have you told the router to reset all its settings?
 

Rubber Bullets

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I think that's what the set up wizard did, but I'm not certain.

RB
 

Dr_Weasel

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I had a netgear router before (The 632 model) and after a firmware upgrade once, some random websites failed to work. Turns out there was something kooky going on with the MTU discovery.

The router was defaulting to 1500. By forcing the PC down to 1492 everything started working. That and other issues made me ditch it in the end, but setting the MTU down lower on the PC interface fixed my issues.
 

Rubber Bullets

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Dr_Weasel, that is inspired.

I have no idea what MTU is or are, but I had a look and it was set at 1452. I put it back up to 1492 and instantly microsoft.com popped back up!

Unfortunately the Bt speedtester is still showing a fail every time I try it, and the speedtest.net ping test is still giving me a 100% packet loss.

Is it even possible that I could actually have a 100% loss? Would anything work? As I said the line speed is pretty good.

RB
 

Jupitus

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MTU = Maximum Transmission Unit - basically a maximum size for the TCP/IP packets being transmitted/received... I think.

For the loss of connection to some sites, I suppose it is possible that all of your routing has changed with the upgrade so your PC is still thinking site A is 'there' in the web when in fact it is now 'somewhere else'... sort of DNS or route ghosts in the OS. Dunno how to fix that, if it is the case :D
 

Dr_Weasel

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Yes, MTU == Maximum Transmission Unit as Jup says.

Ideally the router should be set to 1500 and MTU path discovery should kick in and lower it to whatever it works out is best.

I think most ISPs recommend a setting of 1458 as the optimum if you want to go fiddling with this though.

Which ISP are you on?
 

Dr_Weasel

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Actually I think if the router is set lower than the PC you can also experience these types of issues. Normally PC interfaces default to 1500.

Set the router back to 1500 and see what happens. If its like my Netgear that will be broken anyway. If that doesnt work, let us know what OS you are on and Ill let you know how to find out what the PC is set to.
 

MYstIC G

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MTU = Maximum Transmission Unit - basically a maximum size for the TCP/IP packets being transmitted/received... I think.

For the loss of connection to some sites, I suppose it is possible that all of your routing has changed with the upgrade so your PC is still thinking site A is 'there' in the web when in fact it is now 'somewhere else'... sort of DNS or route ghosts in the OS. Dunno how to fix that, if it is the case :D
Delete the hosts file afaik?
 

Dark Orb Choir

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try another pc on the router if you can, you have prolly got some spyware installed.........
 

Cyradix

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MTU path discovery should keep this from happening, but as said try to set your MTU to 1492 (recommended for DSL) as your router is a bit old.
Back in the day I used "Dr TCP" to set the MTU. I suggest you try that if you are not comfortable fiddling with the registry :D

Adjusting the MTU
 

Rubber Bullets

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DOC, was getting the same from Sharon's PC, but thanks.

Dr_Weasel and Cyradix,

Excellent, I did the reg edit and set the MTU to the same as the router, 1492. I now get a 0% packet loss from the Pingtest.net site :). Thank you very much for the help.

RB
 

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