DSL Download Problems

[Deftones2307]

When I start to download with my DSL the connection jumps high like up to 90- 100 KB/sec but within a sec or two plummets to around 30-40 KB/sec. How can i make my downloads as fast as they should be and not just 30-40
KB/sec

[EvilAjax]

Click the New to tweaking link in my signature.

What you're noticing is called a Burst speed. I'll explain it to you as soon as you provide the information I need to help you.

[Deftones2307]

Ok well heres my info, I am running Windows ME and a PPPoE DSL connection through Earthlink and I connect using WINPoet. Here are my specs from the analyzer:

TCP options string = 020405ac01010402

MTU = 1492
MTU is optimized for PPoE DSL broadband. If not, consider raising MTU to 1500 for optimal throughput.

MSS = 1452
Maximum useful data in each packet = 1452, which equals MSS.
MSS is optimized for PPPoE DSL broadband. If not, consider raising MTU to 1500 for maximum throughput.

Default Receive Window (RWIN) = 31944
RWIN Scaling (RFC1323) = 0 bits
Unscaled Receive Window = 31944
RWIN is a multiple of MSS
Other values for RWIN that might work well with your current MTU/MSS:
511104 (MSS x 44 * scale factor of 8)
255552 (MSS x 44 * scale factor of 4)
127776 (MSS x 44 * scale factor of 2)
63888 (MSS x 44)

bandwidth * delay product:
Your RcvWindow limits you to: 1277.76 kbps (159.72 KBytes/s) @ 200ms
Your RcvWindow limits you to: 511.104 kbps (63.888 KBytes/s) @ 500ms

MTU Discovery (RFC1191) = ON

Time to live left = 52 hops
TTL value is ok.

Timestamps (RFC1323) = OFF

Selective Acknowledgements (RFC2018) = ON

IP type of service field (RFC1349)= 00000000

[EvilAjax]

Have you tried RASPPPoE? http://user.cs.tu-berlin.de/~normanb/
It's a PPPoE client, like WinPoet. I recommend it because WinPoet just sucks.

Try these RWIN values: 40656, 47916, 52272

A burst speed is mis-calculated speed. What happens is that once you click on a link, the download starts. This is when you're browsing for a location to save the file to. When you click Save, your download manager speeds up to catch up to the true download.

[Deftones2307]

ok i have installed RASPPPoE and have it working just fine, i want to remove all the unnecessary "stuff" from my network protocols (i.e TCP/IP, etc) What is safe to remove and what isnt?

I have the following listed: Client for Microsoft Networks,
Dial-up Adapter,
Internet sharing adapter,
NETGEAR FA311 Ethernet Adapter,
Internet Connection Sharing (protocol)->Dial up Adapter
Internet Connection Sharing (protocol)->Internet Connection Sharing,
NDISWAN-> PPP over Ethernet Miniport
PPP over Ethernet Miniport-> PPP over Ethernet Protocol
PPP over Ethernet Protocol-> NetGEar FA311 Fast Ehternet Adapter, TCP/IP (shared)-> Dial Up ADapter
TCP/IP-> Internet Connection Sharing

please tell me what is safe to remove and whats not thank you

EDIT: Oh, could tell me how to change my RWIN value because when i go to TCP optimizer my adapter is no longer in the pull down menu.

[EvilAjax]

Originally posted by Deftones2307
ok i have installed RASPPPoE and have it working just fine, i want to remove all the unnecessary "stuff" from my network protocols (i.e TCP/IP, etc) What is safe to remove and what isnt?

I have the following listed: Client for Microsoft Networks,
Dial-up Adapter,
Internet sharing adapter,
NETGEAR FA311 Ethernet Adapter,
Internet Connection Sharing (protocol)->Dial up Adapter
Internet Connection Sharing (protocol)->Internet Connection Sharing,
NDISWAN-> PPP over Ethernet Miniport
PPP over Ethernet Miniport-> PPP over Ethernet Protocol
PPP over Ethernet Protocol-> NetGEar FA311 Fast Ehternet Adapter, TCP/IP (shared)-> Dial Up ADapter
TCP/IP-> Internet Connection Sharing

please tell me what is safe to remove and whats not thank you

EDIT: Oh, could tell me how to change my RWIN value because when i go to TCP optimizer my adapter is no longer in the pull down menu. Remove Dial Up Adapter (all of them), Internet Sharing (all of em... unless you're sharing your connection).

If TCP Optimizer doesn't work, either reinstall it or download Cablenut from my signature.

[Deftones2307]

im also experiencing badnwidth problems too

[EvilAjax]

Post a speedtest. New to tweaking link...

Have you contacted your ISP about this issue? If so, what fib did they tell you?

[Deftones2307]

ok heres my speedtest results: http://www.dslreports.com/speedtests/342519;326264;a2070bf043860110da0f0349b49d81c8;2.0;nyc.speakeasy.net/1024986794

i also did contact my isp twice now and the first time they gave me some bs about power cycling my modem and the second time the guy i talked to tryed to convince me that a 30-40 KB/sec download speed was pretty good, but i was not convinced and will be contacting them several more times considering the advertised download speed is 1.5 Mega bits/sec.

[EvilAjax]

If tweaking does not help your speeds, then the problem lies within your ISP. They probably capped you wrong. Tell them to check your Network and see what speed you're receiving. Just because it says you're capped @ 1.5mbps in a computer, it doesn't mean jack. ISPs make mistakes everyday, no one is perfect.

Open up IE, click Tools>Internet Options>Connections>LAN Settings>NOTHING SHOULD BE ENABLED OR CHECKED HERE>Click OK to apply changes.

Also, I bet your computer hangs while restarting and shutting down, correct? I'm not sure if you have done this yet, but it's worth a shot.

For Windows 98
1. Click Start>Settings>Control Panel
2. Double click Network
3. Look for your network card. (Make sure it's a TCP/IP protocol) Example: TCP/IP Lynksis LNE100TX Fast Ethernet Adapter
4. Click it and choose properties.
5. Select IP Address from the tab.
6. If Obtain IP Address Automatically is checked, uncheck it and choose Define IP Address.
7. Enter 192.168.0.1 into IP Address.
8. Enter 255.255.255.0 into Subnet Mask.
9. Click Ok on each Window and when it asks to reboot, do it.
10. Now your browser won't hang, neither will your computer when it boots up and shuts down.

For Windows XP
1. Go to Start -> Control Panel
2. Click on Network & Internet Connections
3. Click on Network Connections
4. Right click on Local Area Connection > Choose Properties
5. Click on Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) -> Click Properties
6. In the General tab check off Use the following IP address
7. Enter an internal IP address 192.168.0.1
8. Enter a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0
9. Click OK and OK again to apply changes.

Let me know if you notice any speed differences.

[Deftones2307]

well here is the result of my lastest speedtest after the changes and there is really no difference in the download speed at all: http://www.dslreports.com/speedtests/342519;326264;a2070bf043860110da0f0349b49d81c8;2.0;nyc.speakeasy.net/1025016680

web surfing doesnt hang anymore either like u said but there is no difference in the download speed.

[Deftones2307]

i just chatted to a support rep from earthlink and heres the convo, they sure do like to feed you a lot of bs.

deftones2307@earthlink.net: I have become very dissatified with my download speed and have talked to other support people and they have offered power cycling as an answer and one guy said that my download speed is perfectly fine
deftones2307@earthlink.net: i have tryed speed tweaks and other settings and nothing improves my current connection what can i do?
JamesF: What is the speed?
deftones2307@earthlink.net: on average it is 30 - 40 KB/sec
JamesF: Go here and then send me the link with your speeds:
JamesF: http://toast.net/performance
JamesF: Enter ISP should be Earthlink
JamesF: ADSL in the drop down
JamesF: Then click on Go under All Tests across from Toast.net Free
JamesF: Send me the link after it gives you your speeds
deftones2307@earthlink.net: do i have to do each one individually?
JamesF: no
JamesF: like I said
deftones2307@earthlink.net: ok i see
deftones2307@earthlink.net: sorry
JamesF: ok good
JamesF: np
deftones2307@earthlink.net: ok heres the link
deftones2307@earthlink.net: http://www.toast.net/performance/results.asp?testtype=4&loadtime=40.15
JamesF: Ok that red line there is showing 350 download
JamesF: Do you see that?
deftones2307@earthlink.net: yup
JamesF: What is your zip code?
deftones2307@earthlink.net:
JamesF: What is your street address?
deftones2307@earthlink.net:
JamesF: The phone number you DSL line is on?
deftones2307@earthlink.net:
JamesF: Ok you are 11430ft from the CO
JamesF: That is good
deftones2307@earthlink.net: ok
JamesF: That means that there are many reasons why it is only 350, unfortunately anything above 200 there is really nothing that we can do
JamesF: This is a best effort product, meaning you get what you get
JamesF: What I would do is check all of the following:
JamesF: In order for me to track down where the problem is, I need to make sure you've already done all of the following:

1. You have removed the computer from any network setup you had. We do not support networks and must have the computer connected directly to the DSL modem in order to figure out any problems.
2. You have removed anything that would interfere with the DSL signal such as:

Halogen lamps
Fluorescent lights
Scanners
900 MHz cordless phones
Cell Phones
Ham radios
AM radios
Electrical interference (don't put the router near a Monitor, UPS or motor driven device)
Dialup Modem, fax, or other device on the same phone line
Microwave oven
A shoddy phone cord
Home security/Alarm system

3. You have disabled any proxy, firewall or internet connection sharing software you had running.
4. You have completed a full power-cycle (reboot) of everything in the following order:

A. Turned off the computer
B. Turned off the DSL modem
C. Turned on the DSL modem and waited for the lights to turn solid green.
D. Turned the computer back on and tried connecting.

If you haven't already completed all 4 items, please do so now if possible & let me know when you are done.
JamesF: Shoddy cords really cause a lot of issues
deftones2307@earthlink.net: ok so i should try a different cord maybe
JamesF: get and new phone cord for the DSL modem and a new Ethernet Line for the Modem
JamesF: Okay. Thank you for using EarthLink LiveChat. Should you need further assistance, please feel free to contact us again.

[Old Fart]

Damn, looks like setting up that DSL modem in my microwave is not gonna work.

[EvilCrackMonkey]

lol what a chat how long did it take 3h??? (couse tech suport is slow...):D

[rpeAMP]

They've probably oversubscribed in that area. The local ISP that I have ADSL with did that. My downloads would do exactly what yours did, except a little bit faster. Thankfully I knew the network administrator there and he switched me to a different circuit. Don't know what to tell you except just to wait it out until they install new backhaul circuits. Hopefully people will complain and they will do something about it. :)

[DeathStalker77]

Not only does my connection display the burst symptoms, the connection speeds steadily dwindle down.

This ONLY seems to occur with P2P connections - straight FTP transfers remain steady. My ISP has an open (advocating) policy on P2P, so I don't think they're doing anything because of it - and if I do both P2P and FTP at the same time, the FTP still remains constant.

Here are my TCP/IP Analyser results:

TCP options string = 020405a0010303030101080a000000000000000001010402

MTU = 1480
MTU is optimized for Windows XP PPoE DSL broadband. If not, consider raising MTU to 1500 for optimal throughput.

MSS = 1440
Maximum useful data in each packet = 1440, which equals MSS.
MSS is optimized for Windows XP PPPoE DSL broadband. If not, consider raising MTU to 1500 for maximum throughput.

Default Receive Window (RWIN) = 372296
RWIN Scaling (RFC1323) = 3 bits
Unscaled Receive Window = 46537
For optimum performance, consider changing RWIN to a multiple of MSS.
Other values for RWIN that might work well with your current MTU/MSS:
506880 (MSS x 44 * scale factor of 8)
253440 (MSS x 44 * scale factor of 4)
126720 (MSS x 44 * scale factor of 2)
63360 (MSS x 44)

bandwidth * delay product:
Your RcvWindow limits you to: 14891.84 kbps (1861.48 KBytes/s) @ 200ms
Your RcvWindow limits you to: 5956.736 kbps (744.592 KBytes/s) @ 500ms

MTU Discovery (RFC1191) = ON

Time to live left = 114 hops
TTL value is ok.

Timestamps (RFC1323) = ON
Note: Timestamps add 12 bytes to the TCP header of each packet, reducing the space available for useful data.

Selective Acknowledgements (RFC2018) = ON

IP type of service field (RFC1349)= 00000000

==========================================

Running WIndows XP with a SpeedStream DSL modem - Connection "should" be 1.5MB/192k.


Thanks SO much for any assistance!

--- DeathStalker

[mnosteele52]

DeathStalker77 that RWIN is way too high for your connection, try RWINs of 18720/23040/27360/37440/56160/93600.
:) ;)

[DeathStalker77]

Here are the TCP/IP Analyzer results:

TCP options string = 020405a00103030201010402

MTU = 1480
MTU is optimized for Windows XP PPoE DSL broadband. If not, consider raising MTU to 1500 for optimal throughput.

MSS = 1440
Maximum useful data in each packet = 1440, which equals MSS.
MSS is optimized for Windows XP PPPoE DSL broadband. If not, consider raising MTU to 1500 for maximum throughput.

Default Receive Window (RWIN) = 255552
RWIN Scaling (RFC1323) = 2 bits
Unscaled Receive Window = 63888
For optimum performance, consider changing RWIN to a multiple of MSS.
Other values for RWIN that might work well with your current MTU/MSS:
506880 (MSS x 44 * scale factor of 8)
253440 (MSS x 44 * scale factor of 4)
126720 (MSS x 44 * scale factor of 2)
63360 (MSS x 44)

bandwidth * delay product:
Your RcvWindow limits you to: 10222.08 kbps (1277.76 KBytes/s) @ 200ms
Your RcvWindow limits you to: 4088.832 kbps (511.104 KBytes/s) @ 500ms

MTU Discovery (RFC1191) = ON

Time to live left = 50 hops
TTL value is ok.

Timestamps (RFC1323) = OFF

Selective Acknowledgements (RFC2018) = ON

IP type of service field (RFC1349)= 00000000

========================================

Shouldn't my RcvWindow be larger?

--- DeathStalker

[mnosteele52]

No, larger does not equal faster. Try the ones I suggest and read "My Tips" in my sig. FYI my caps are 3000/256 and I use a RWIN of 51100 and I'm right at my caps.:) ;)

[DeathStalker77]

MNOSteele52:

I'm not certain I understand how the RcvWindow works - you gave several settings, and EVilAjax gave a couple others (40656, 47916, 52272) - I currently have it set as follows:

Default Receive Window (RWIN) = 18720
RWIN Scaling (RFC1323) = 0 bits
Unscaled Receive Window = 18720
RWIN is a multiple of MSS
Other values for RWIN that might work well with your current MTU/MSS:
506880 (MSS x 44 * scale factor of 8)
253440 (MSS x 44 * scale factor of 4)
126720 (MSS x 44 * scale factor of 2)
63360 (MSS x 44)

How does one go about determining the "Optimal" value, as TCPOptimizer said that the previous value (255552) was "Optimal"?

Thanks for any help :)


--- DeathStalker

[mnosteele52]

The TCPOptimizer has predefined settings that work for some, but it is not tailored to your connection. In "My Tips" I explain the proper formula for determining the optimium RWIN for your particular connection. The one's I gave you to try are based on your caps and different latencies.:) ;)

[DeathStalker77]

I ran 2 latency tests at http://www.cable-modems.org/cgi-bin/cm/netdiag/netdiag.pl

10 packets transmitted, 10 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 91.633/98.068/102.342/3.253 ms
10 packets transmitted, 10 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 91.495/97.548/106.023/4.227 ms

So what would be the best value based on those stats?


--- DeathStalker

[mnosteele52]

Try these four and see what works best 18720/23040/27360/37440. One of the first two might be the best one since your latency is low, how is your speed with 18720?:)