Need some geek help!

[Dr.Drew]

Ok guys, my network has gone all screwy.

It started with slow internet speeds. For instance a speed test would give me the following:

850ms DL: 0.45 UL: 0.05

So I called AT&T and we reset the password and whatnot and now magically I'm getting:

35ms DL: 4.50 UL: 0.45

I know it's not amazing but it should be more than enough to watch some Netflix right? Wrong! I can't do crap, it took over a minute to get this page to load.

Then my internal network speeds dropped off. I can't watch movies on my xbox from my computer because there's not enough speed. I can't remote into my server because there's not enough speed. When I ping between two computers both connected to the router by wire I get an average of 1350ms. That speed's about average for any computer pinging any other computer on the network so I ruled out the machines.

Obviously I've restarted everything, reset caches, checked for malicious activity, etc.

So how am I getting these speed test results that seem ok but it's impossible to watch a youtube video? I'm assuming my router is fried and that's ok because AT&T is sending me a new one, but before I get another I want to see if I'm missing anything. If the speed test results were **** I wouldn't worry about it but it's certainly confusing.

[metalman]

May I suggest a new Motorola 28.8 modem? :D
http://www.mx5atlanta.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=3572&d=1283627848

[FooSchnickens]

Sounds like a modem or other hardware issue assuming all the devices on your network are getting the same speeds.

Have you tried manually setting your DNS servers in your modem? Att's default DNS is pretty much **** and has completely failed several times in recent memory. I switched to google's servers years ago and never looked back.

[Dr.Drew]

Very good to know. Yeah, speeds are **** on everything (even though all speed tests say otherwise). I'll look into switching the DNS, never even considered it.

Jesus Christ Kurt! Throw that old **** away.

[FooSchnickens]

Hah, I've still got a stack of Hayes modems at my parent's house from when my dad used to work there.

When I say we were the first people on the block with a 56k modem we were probably more like the first people in a 30 miles radius :lol:

[spinnerdog]

Att's default DNS is pretty much ****

QFT and your too kind foo. it's just flat broke and doesn't respect ttls.

A buddy of mine said ATT started bandwidth monitoring recently. I wonder if you are getting throttled. Have you gone into the ATT account manager to see what your data utilization is?

[Dr.Drew]

I was suspicious of that at first but my usage really isn't that high. Plus it's not a steady reduction like a throttle would be, more like a wildly fluctuating instability. Also, I would imagine the people at AT&T would have just told me today instead of offering a new modem/router for free.

Plus that wouldn't interfere with my local network.


---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=33.193122,-84.340073

[spinnerdog]

Your local net is slow too? How many computers do you have? Turn them off one at a time to see if one is satturating the LAN.

[Dr.Drew]

I have several, I did take it down to only the two wired in and nothing was using an abnormal amount.

Even with everything on checking traffic nothing is doing anything weird. It's why I think it has to be the router.


---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=33.193069,-84.340034

[qualcon]

I'm guessing router. Pinging another computer on lan should be single digits, and if you have a short route to a server is in your city, ping should be teens to 20's. Either that, or maybe you caught a virus?

[Stealth97]

If your local network is slow you probably have a bad switch/router or a failed NIC card or network aware virus that's broadcasting like crazy. You could even have a hacker aka ****head neighborhood kid screwing with your network. Go to wireshark.org, download their excellent free protocol analyzer and see what's going on. If you don't know what your looking at just upload a trace file if you can and I'll check it out... I manage/troubleshoot large enterprise networks for a living :)

[amaff]

It started with slow internet speeds. For instance a speed test would give me the following:

850ms DL: 0.45 UL: 0.05

So I called AT&T and we reset the password and whatnot and now magically I'm getting:

35ms DL: 4.50 UL: 0.45

I'll just leave this here...

http://speedtest.net/result/1462919932.png
:lol:


Seriously though it does sound like there may be a hardware issue. Try a different switch / router, and as was suggested prior, take each machine off your network, one at a time. Take one down, check to see if anything changes, bring it back up. Take the next one down, etc.

[91LudeSiT]

Sounds to me like your router may be out to lunch. I have **** speed with ATT though too, run a wireshark capture and post it here for ****s and giggles.

[Dr.Drew]

I've done everything I can to check for malicious activity and I'm pretty sure that no one has gotten in.

The good news is AT&T is sending me a new router/modem. The bad news is that every review I can find says it's ****, like serious ****. I would just bridge it and use my Belkin but the bridge mode apparently drops off every few minutes.

They don't even offer 802.11n for home users. I'll try wireshark when I get home.

[Stealth97]

If thats the case, I'd tell AT&T to shove it and use my own.

[Dr.Drew]

Ok, here's a wireshark capture I did. I honestly have no idea if I did this right, cool software and I can't wait to learn it but it's certainly over my head at the moment. I checked the devices to capture from and this was the only one that seemed to be doing anything on the list. I understand what it's doing but I don't quite get what I'm supposed to do with a giant list of IP's where packets are going. Oh well, that's why I make a point to know people smarter than me ;)

On my list of available captures it doesn't display the IP's but it looks like I captured from the router.

I have ruled out any of my machines though. Even the minecraft server is barely using any bandwidth and it would certainly be the vulnerable point on the system (if it's ports were a wall it would look like swiss cheese). I took everything off and went machine by machine with no difference.

(BTW, posting this isn't compromising any security or anything is it?)

Also, things are actually a bit better tonight:

http://www.speedtest.net/result/1463620327.png

Although when I ran the same test when I first got home from work it was 320ms 0.12DL 0.04UL. Actually if I run the same test back to back my results fluctuate pretty wildly.

[Stealth97]

With this file, I can see broadcast traffic and traffic directly to or from the machine you captured it from if youre on a switch, or if using a hub or wireless I can see just about everything. It looks like you're doing this from wireless since I see some other unicast traffic (but not much) and capturing from the 192.168.1.93... and Damn, you sure do love that midget porn (j/K). You have a large TCP/HTTP conversation between the 192.168.1.93 machine and 198.78.206.254 that is certainly large enough to slow things down. Were you downloading something at that time? I can't find any info on what 198.78.206.254 is, but if that is something that is running in the background it could cause a real issue. I don't see much else, and definitely not any virus activity.

..but yes, posting a file like that can have privacy risks, It's possible that it could contain passwords and such if it captured you logging into something, but most of that is encrypted. Might be a good idea to go ahead and take it down.

[doombastic]

throttling or modem on it's way out. imo

Had that problem with comcast. Picked up a new modem and problem solved.

[Dr.Drew]

I'm not familiar with that IP either but I'll check the modem when I get home. It's a 192 so it would seem to be local but everything local on my network is 192.168.... So Ive got no clue.

Thanks for the info guys, I'm gonna spend more time with that software.



---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=33.449393,-84.160510

[Stealth97]

the 192.168.1.93 is on your side, and the 198.78.206.254 is out on the internet. Trouble is I can't identify it, cant find a DNS/whois record. Go to each machine and grab the ip address... for windows run ipconfig /all from the command prompt or ifconfig -a on a *nix/Mac box and find the 192.168.1.93 machine and find out whats running on it. Unplug it and your situation will likely improve, there was a lot of data being moved there.

[Dr.Drew]

The .93 is the laptop I run my Xbox through so that's the Netflix traffic. So I guess that makes sense with streaming video.


---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=33.248722,-84.265506

[Zadnak]

Were you able to get this issue resolved? If not, lmk and maybe I can help.

[Dr.Drew]

Not really. I got a new modem/router and everything is set up but my external speeds are still ****. My home network is vastly improved and up to speed but I can't even use Netflix unless I want to wait 10 minutes for something to buffer.

With the new equipment I'm somewhere around 85ms, 0.80DL, 0.30UL.

I honestly think it's on AT&T's side. Perhaps some noise in the line or a bad connection somewhere. They said they were going to put in a service ticket but I'll believe it when the speeds increase.

[jzilla]

AT&T has been having issues lately with the new fiber for uverse. Sometimes it does not play well with old wiring in the house. I've had several clients have this issue.

[Dr.Drew]

They don't offer uverse anywhere near where I live ;)

[jzilla]

Then ur screwed. Unless they are prepping for it. I blame congress.

[FooSchnickens]

They don't offer uverse anywhere near where I live ;)
Call them and ***** about wanting a credit on your bill for the **** service. Don't even ask for a tech, let them suggest it.

[Zadnak]

Not really. I got a new modem/router and everything is set up but my external speeds are still ****. My home network is vastly improved and up to speed but I can't even use Netflix unless I want to wait 10 minutes for something to buffer.

With the new equipment I'm somewhere around 85ms, 0.80DL, 0.30UL.

I honestly think it's on AT&T's side. Perhaps some noise in the line or a bad connection somewhere. They said they were going to put in a service ticket but I'll believe it when the speeds increase.

Plug your computer directly into your modem, or whatever box AT&T provided you, and run a speedtest. If you get the same results, then call and complain until they send a tech out to examine your line.

As Foo said, also get a full month's credit on your bill because your internet is so slow it's unusable. They will easily give in. If not, don't be afraid to ask for a manager or the customer complaint department.

Also check and see if Comcast or Charter are in your area.