Author Topic: Cleaning up Connections (UDP Q) (Read 514 times)

Saurdaukar · « **on:** February 03, 2003, 02:50:18 PM »

I elected to post this in general so more eyes could see it - although switch it over to the tech forums if Im overstepping any boundaries here Skuzzy.

In the last month or so my conneciton AH has been pretty poor. Ive had the usual rants of me warping when I engage other aircraft and thought nothing of it - but last week - a fellow virtual stick I know never to complain stated that I was warping rediculously.

I have not noticed any symptoms (other planes are not warping, for example - everything looks smooth to me) And I cant tell whats causing this.

I tend to lose UDP and switch to TCP about 15 minutes after loggin in consistantly.

I have a cable connection and an Athlon 1.3 machine - my ping rates to the MA are always below 60.

Is there anything I can do to clean up the connection a bit on my end? I only lost UDP rarely a few montsh ago - but now its pretty frequent and since its causing a problem for others Id like to fix it.

Any advice?

ra · « **Reply #1 on:** February 03, 2003, 03:01:23 PM »

How is your conx to the rest of the Internet?

You may need to post a traceroute to the HTC server if you want anyone to be able to help.

ra

Vulcan · « **Reply #2 on:** February 03, 2003, 04:36:25 PM »

The thing about cable is its a 'shared' medium. ie, its like comparing a hub and switch.

If your cable segment has other users on it (ie stree/building/etc), you might find someone is hitting the bandwidth occasionally. Peaks in their usage could result in UDP loss. And if your provider uses bandwidth throttling sometimes this doesn't kick in until after the first chunks of data come thru, so you often see a spike choking the segment before it settles down.

As an example, your neighbour might be on Kazza, or newsgroups, queue up a pile of downloads, and the initial brief burst sucks the bandwidth on the segment you share, and causes a lot of UDP dropout for you.

Airscrew · « **Reply #3 on:** February 03, 2003, 04:58:29 PM »

Saurdaukar, I don't know who your provider is but this might help,.. I was having a similar problem for last 6-8 months.
Mine was similar because I was dropping to TCP within 10-15 mins of logging in. For what its worth...

I have TimeWarner RR for over 2 years now. 1st year and half was great, fine. Then starting August connections started to suck, dropping to TCP, cable modem going offline for no apparent reason, not able to reconnect or reset the modem. Call tech support, tech says modem is bad get new modem. Tech delivers modem, checks line, shows some problems with the line. Schedules someone to repair "something" down the road from me. Now everythings fine for a week or two, then same thing starts all over again. Can't stay connected.

Call Tech support, get the same line, "your showing high transmission rates, modem must be bad, Get another modem"
I go to Time Warner and exchange modems and power supply this time. Works fine for a week,....and then starts again...

Call Tech Support again, says I'm showing an unually high transmission rate again. Schedules tech call. Technician comes out, tests lines again, lines fine, replaces corroded connections outside the house, removes about 75Ft of excess cable the installer had rolled up under the house. Tech says installer used wrong cable, I need smaller cable. Says my modem is transmitting at 52 BNs, limit is 55 BNs. If the modem detects transmission levels close to 55 it can shut the modem down.Says lower levels around 20 are better. Schedules tech to return and replace cable. Works for a few days, then here we go again.

Fustration was getting a real work out, Angry phone calls to RR techsupport, gets cable install rescheduled sooner rather than later. Two new guys come out, tests lines, say they just need to replace the splitter. replace splitter at junction. Admit that there have been issues with equipment in the area for last few months. They also mention that new equipment was installed during the summer to boost the signal because of the increased subscribers in my area. Anyway Everythings fine, for about two weeks, and it starts again same thing again.....

More phone calls to RR, wishing for DSL. Another technician comes out (original guy) checks work, finds out they install splitter in reverse, reinstalled the splitter correctly. Says that splitter being reverse increased my transmission rate and made my problem worse. says I still need new cable.

So far its been 3 weeks and smooth sailing, connection better than ever, only discos are from early in the month when he fixed it
Modem has been up consistently since last repair.

Call RR
1. Ask them to check the transmission rates
2. Check the connections at the pole, into the house.
3. Look for cracked or cut insulation on your cable
4. Modem could still be bad
5. They should check the splitter

Saurdaukar · « **Reply #4 on:** February 04, 2003, 08:48:04 AM »

Thanks guys - will look into your suggestions.

Birddogg · « **Reply #5 on:** February 04, 2003, 11:33:57 AM »

I just solved all packet/loss disco problems with my cable modem.
Problem was in too many splitters, it weakend my signal. i'd get discod every hour or so (modem stops transmitting for 20 sec or so then resumes).
After removing splitters (down to 1 from 3) my connection is rock solid.. no discos/packetloss for 4 days now. . ..Downside of this is now my bedrooms dont have cable TV. But that will be fixed in next few days, as i need to drill a hole in the side of the house to bring another cable feed in.

Eagler · « **Reply #6 on:** February 04, 2003, 01:31:04 PM »

if you can switch modem from Motorola to DOCSIS (ericsson)

it increased my bandwidth greatly on our system, this was due to how the cable companies are able to setup modem config on their end. Motorola, being the original ones used, are limited - here at least.

Jebo44 · « **Reply #7 on:** February 04, 2003, 02:12:09 PM »

Cable Modems act more like a security device on a cable drop that will either deny or grant access to the cable companies server.

Things you want to look at if you are having high ping rates or loss of signal are as follows:

1. Check to make sure your cable modem is not dirty. CM's are affected by dirt just as any other computer component. They react negatively to trapped heat.

2. Make sure the modem is not within 2 feet of any form of magnetic field, I.E. monitors, speakers, subwofers, some lamps, surge protectors and other such things.

3. You really need to only have one 2-way splitter between the tap, in the alley, to your modem. Most of 2 way splitters when inserted into the cable drop will decrease your cable signal by 2.5 dBmV(Decibel Millivolts). Since most signals are fairly low when they reach your house you want to have the least amount of signal loss as possible.

4. Make sure that your cable drop is not bent to the extent that any bends in the cable are less than 4 inches if you were to take the cable and make a loop that was 4 inches across. This is mknown as the 2 inch bend radious. If you make 90 degree bends in the cable it can effect the way the cable signal moves along the cable which can greatly reduce your signal level. This is called signal degradation.

5. Check the cable to make sure that there is no damage to the cable itself.

6. Make sure that the line that runs to your modem never is split more than once and that the splitter is a 1 GHz splitter. (This generally means that Radio Shack splitters are not worth the money you spent on them)

You may want to call the cable service TS and request that they rebalance your account.

Just like every other internet technology cable modem is a shared medium, this includes DSL, so you may ask your cable service for information on the Node saturation for your node. They may or may not give that to you, but that can be useful.

From what you described it sounds like either the modem is overheating or somehow is recieving some sort of electrical interferance.

Charon · « **Reply #8 on:** February 04, 2003, 02:17:36 PM »

I was having serious problems that turned out to be splitter related. The guy who wired the whole house for cable used some 3-way splitters to splice just two cables. This left one splitter connection open which allowed RF noise into the system They were also the cheap radio shack variety. Changing these solved a major problem.

Charon

Heater · « **Reply #9 on:** February 04, 2003, 04:32:06 PM »

One of the major problem's is the ISP over sell there networks and the problem with UDP is it is a broadcast type of data (this is to say no acknowledgment if the data is received or not) and when a router is overloaded one of the first things they start to drop is UDP packets.

The only thing you can do about it is complain to them about the packet loss etc...and keep hoping they upgrade the segment you are on.

Jebo44 · « **Reply #10 on:** February 04, 2003, 08:42:11 PM »

Charon your situation is really actually a normal mistake made. Also some of the 3 way splitters can knock out as much as 7 dBmV off of your signal level. The problem you had is called Ingress and if that unused post off the splitter is not terminated then that will cause major problems.