Advice on my network

[chrisoverson]

Hi there

I have two main computers running at all times within my network; a Windows 7 PC (dual realtek gigabit lan) and a Ubuntu Linux PC (single realtek gigabit lan).

I use the Ubuntu computer for hosting websites and storing most of my files (movies, music etc.), and often need to transfer large amounts of files between the two. My router is a Netgear DG834GT, running by the main phone point. I then have a CAT5.E cable running upstairs to a Netgear Gigabit Ethernet Switch, which then goes out using CAT6 cable to each computer.

So its:
Netgear Router (DG834GT) -> Netgear Gigabit Switch -> PC1 (Win7) & PC2 (Ubuntu 9.10)

My main computer is used mainly for internet browsing, managing files on the server, and gaming.

I have recently been thinking about optimizing my network, because my ping on games, and my connection speed on many websites is not what it used to be. I used to get around 28ms on servers, now it's normally 60-80ms. I have changed broadband providers twice in the last two years, but my speed/ping have not improved or got worse. Speedtest.net shows I have 5-6mb/s download, 600-700kb/s upload, and around 50ms ping.

Is there any way I can optimize my network to help decrease latencies or increase speed between the two computers? I have been thinking about buying a better router, but this is not my area so I wouldn't know what to get.

There are a couple of other computers using Wireless (G standard) in my house, with poor signal so I was thinking about going down the N standard route.

I hope I have provided enough information, and if anybody can help telling me where I could improve this setup, it would be great!

** Note: because I host a web server I need to be sure that any router would support DNS loopback and would be good for port forwarding etc. Part of optimizing the network is trying to get better service to my customers. **

 

[Thrackan]

If you wanna know whether the router or switch is at fault, connect a PC directly to the modem, test, then directly to the router, test, and see how your ping is then.

Personally I'd kick the switch out.

 

[IggSter]

Your network actually sounds fine.

Things i would look at:

Do as Thrackan suggested in his post and do a direct test from your PC connected to the modem and see what difference if any there is in ping and upload/download speed.

Check any proxy settings for your browsers (this can often cause speed issues)

The switch will be fine, at best a switch will add microseconds to your ping, at worst a couple of milliseconds.

Check the speed and duplex settings of you PC network cards...force them to full duplex and gigabit speed.

 

[chrisoverson]

reply

Thanks for your reply Thrackan

I just used my laptop (wired via ethernet) to do three tests at pingtest.net
Nothing was changed between each test; same computer, same cable.

Test 1 - Wired directly to gigabit ethernet switch:
0% packet loss
Ping 46ms
Jitter 3ms

Test 2 - Wired directly to back of router:
0% packet loss
Ping 44ms
Jitter 3ms

Test 3 - Wired to back of router with switch disconnected from router
0% packet loss
Ping 45ms
Jitter 2ms

The switch doesn't seem to have a huge impact if any on the connection. Thanks for the advice though, I was wondering whether the switch was causing difficulties before.

Just to add some extra info, I went round and checked all my wiring; the cable between the router and the switch is CAT5E, and the connection from the switch to the two computers is CAT6. I don't know how much difference the cable makes over this distance (3m each for the CAT6, about 15m for the CAT5E), but I want to be thorough.

It looks to me now that the problem might be in the router. I thought I should add that I am using the UberGT firmware on the router rather than the default netgear one, this was to enable the loopback to help the server.

 

[Thrackan]

You didn't connect your laptop directly to the modem. Or is it a Router+Modem?

Cat5E or Cat6 doesn't matter that much for gigabit speeds, unless your cables are faulty. But that's independent of what type of cable it is.

 

[chrisoverson]

I don't have a seperate modem and router, just one box (the negear DG834GT).

This is the router I have: http://www.amazon.co_uk/dp/B0006M5UQG/?tag=tec053-21

I tried changing the Duplex settings on my Windows 7 PC and XP laptop, and did the same test again, with the same results.

According to my Ubuntu server that is using full duplex mode already, and when I ping that from outside my network it gives a ping of around 50ms or more.

Any other ideas?

 

[Thrackan]

Okay, if you don't have a separate modem and router I'm flat out of ideas

All we can conclude from this is that the switch and cabling isn't the problem. The difference in your tests is next to nothing.

So the problem is either the modem/router or the rest of the network between modem and ISP.

 

[chrisoverson]

Ok thanks, well at least I know that I don't have to worry about the switch causing headaches.

Assuming the problem might be in my router, what would be a good replacement in your opinion? I've always favored netgears up till now, but I've heard reports that they can sometimes have issues such as cut-outs and slow downs.

As far as other brands go... I don't really know what to look for. Preferrably a N standard router with loopback and QoS. Any suggestions?

Thanks for your help so far.

 

[Thrackan]

I dunno much about modem/router combo's I'm afraid, especially on (A)DSL.

 

[TIGR]

Hey chris, welcome to TPU.

Try running a traceroute to yahoo.com. Then you can see where your ping is getting a hurt put on it. To do this:

1. On the Windows machine, hit Windows key + R.
2. Type cmd and hit enter.
3. Type tracert yahoo.com.

For what it's worth though, your ping is normal as far as I'm concerned. Mine to any major web site is at least 50ms. Same for gaming in my [Chicago] CoD4 server.

 

[chrisoverson]

Thanks TIGR

Here's the output from that test:

C:\Users\Chris>tracert yahoo.com

Tracing route to yahoo.com [98.137.149.56]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 1 ms 6 ms <1 ms 192.168.0.10
2 30 ms 29 ms 28 ms 78.151.224.246
3 30 ms 29 ms 29 ms 78.151.230.151
4 30 ms 29 ms 30 ms xe-11-0-0-rt002.bir.as13285.net [78.151.225.69]

5 34 ms 33 ms 34 ms xe-11-2-0-rt002.man.as13285.net [62.24.240.8]
6 41 ms 45 ms 42 ms xe-10-1-0-rt001.the.as13285.net [62.24.240.22]
7 74 ms 38 ms 38 ms host-78-144-0-208.as13285.net [78.144.0.208]
8 39 ms 38 ms 86 ms host-78-144-0-204.as13285.net [78.144.0.204]
9 41 ms 41 ms 40 ms ge-3-3-0.pat1.tc2.yahoo.com [195.66.226.129]
10 43 ms 39 ms 42 ms ge-2-0-0.pat1.the.yahoo.com [66.196.65.0]
11 123 ms 126 ms 123 ms so-1-0-0.pat1.nyc.yahoo.com [66.196.65.13]
12 123 ms 122 ms 123 ms ge-2-0-0.pat2.nyc.yahoo.com [216.115.111.64]
13 148 ms 141 ms 142 ms so-3-0-0.pat1.che.yahoo.com [216.115.101.158]
14 181 ms 167 ms 167 ms as-1.pat1.dnx.yahoo.com [216.115.96.34]
15 194 ms 193 ms 193 ms as-0.pat1.sjc.yahoo.com [216.115.101.149]
16 191 ms 200 ms 198 ms UNKNOWN-216-115-107-57.yahoo.com [216.115.107.57]
17 195 ms 200 ms 210 ms te-8-1.bas1-1-prd.sp2.yahoo.com [67.195.128.247]

18 199 ms 202 ms 204 ms ir1.fp.vip.sp2.yahoo.com [98.137.149.56]

Trace complete.

C:\Users\Chris>ping yahoo.com

Pinging yahoo.com [98.137.149.56] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 98.137.149.56: bytes=32 time=199ms TTL=50
Reply from 98.137.149.56: bytes=32 time=200ms TTL=50
Reply from 98.137.149.56: bytes=32 time=199ms TTL=50
Reply from 98.137.149.56: bytes=32 time=199ms TTL=50

Ping statistics for 98.137.149.56:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 199ms, Maximum = 200ms, Average = 199ms

 

[Polaris573]

Looks roughly normal to me too. You aren't get very high ping until you reach Yahoo's servers. I get similar results to yahoo.com. Your first hop to the internal IP address is less that 1ms so there is nothing wrong with your internal network. You can try complaining to your ISP but they probably won't do anything since your ping looks within acceptable tolerances when going through their servers.

 

[newtekie1]

It should be noted that pings will vary greatly depending on what you are pinging, and with pingtest.net the results will vary greatly based on where the server you are using is located.

For example, my results with a server in Chicago(~50 Miles from me) is 11ms. However, my results with a server in San Francisco(~2000 Miles from me) is 64ms.

 

[chrisoverson]

Ok thanks. I'll have a go at talking with my ISP. I just wanted to be totally sure it wasn't a problem on my end before I did that.

I might upgrade my router anyway to get a N standard one. I'll go hunting for that next.

Thanks for your help guys!

 

[slyfox2151]

i just bought a Netgear DGN3500.

havnt been able to connect it up and test it as adsl2 is still being installed but it you wait a few more days i can tell you how good it is.. or bad.

has good reviews and lots of options.


Gigabit lan, wireless N, USB storage? who knows it might come in handy (unlikely)

im running a fairly complex home network (compaired to the avarage) with about 8 devices connected at any one time.

adding more switches / routers has very little if any impact on latency from my testing, adding 4 switches and 1 router + 1 modem incressed latency by 1ms.