Packet Shapers....heard of them?

[GMU-Student]

Hey,

I reside in the George Mason University dorms...Our univ has installed this thing called Packet shaper which limits each individual thread down to whatever speed they specify.
Right now its something like this:
https - capped at around 10 KB max upload/download
ftps - only a few .edu people get 50 KB/sec upload/download speed from me..the others get/send at 5 KB to me.
irc...its capped at 5 KB too..per thread that is..


The only way to use more bandwidth is to use multithreading which, not a lot of things support....not in irc..well i cannot send a single file 8 times at the same time...if you know what i mean


multithreading , as i understand it..is only workable in ftps...
Dont know bout the irc one...

Welps

my question is.. is it possible to get around this packet shaper?


Any help will be appreciated!

[C.M. Weaver]

This method is usually reffered to as traffic shaping or queuing. The most common types are FIFO (First in First Out), Priority, Weighted Fair and Custom.

Since shaping is configured at the switch, no, there is no way for you to get around it. These different queuing methods have benefits over one another and do exactly what they are intended to do. In your case this is limiting the amount of bandwidth you can grab without crippling other users bandwidth tyring to access other services.

C.M.

[GMU-Student]

Awwww man,
That really sucks..
I guess the people at our networking department KNOW what they are doing .. heh

They are supposed to upgrade our internet connection to an OC3 soon ....Let me see what happens next ;)


Btw, Thanks for your help man...
You were precise on your answer =]

[tomsykes]

The university I attend has an STM-1 (OC-3) to the internet. The speed isn't throttled, but we are limited to 200MB/month! (for undergrads anyway)

:(

[twwabw]

Originally posted by C.M. Weaver
This method is usually reffered to as traffic shaping or queuing. The most common types are FIFO (First in First Out), Priority, Weighted Fair and Custom.


C.M.

I used to use a hardware based product called Packeteer to prioritize Citrix Winframe packets over some really crappy WAN links. They did a great job compensating for latency and time outs, and as you said, moved the packets to the "head of the Pack" vs. other WAN traffic.

Good stuff.