network woes

[Trent Shipley]

Eric Shubert wrote:

> Trent Shipley wrote:
>   
>> Eric Shubert wrote:
>>     
>>> Trent Shipley wrote:
>>>       
>>>> Benjamin Francom wrote:
>>>>         
>>>>> On Tue, Dec 22, 2009 at 7:18 PM, Mark Phillips
>>>>> <mark at phillipsmarketing.biz> wrote:
>>>>>           
>>>>>> Trent,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I ran into a similar problem today - my network slowed waaaaaaaaaaaaaay down
>>>>>> on me. All I used was ping to methodically to check all the connections and
>>>>>> found that a switch was reseting itself and dropping packets. Basically, I
>>>>>> turn everything off, reset all the routers, cable modems, etc, and then turn
>>>>>> on one piece of equipment at a time and ping to the main router to see if I
>>>>>> can connect and if there is any packet loss. You can find a out a lot of
>>>>>> information by being methodical and knowing your network topology.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Good Luck!
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Mark
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Tue, Dec 22, 2009 at 5:52 PM, Trent Shipley <tshipley at deru.com> wrote:
>>>>>>             
>>>>>>> Somewhere my connection to the Internet is borken.  Load times take
>>>>>>> forever.  It doesn't seem to effect the wireless client routers, but I
>>>>>>> have had trouble on both the wired machines under Ubuntu 9.10 and
>>>>>>> Windows Vista.  Sometimes the Linux machine effectively looses
>>>>>>> connectivity with the Internet.  It comes back if I log out of my X
>>>>>>> session and log back in ... most of the time.  I have a firewall router,
>>>>>>> but effectively no household LAN since I've been too lazy to really
>>>>>>> figure out how to configure the Ubuntu desktop machine as a primary
>>>>>>> domain controller, then adjust it's firewall to suit.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I'd like an idiot friendly tool to help track this problem down,
>>>>>>> preferably on the Linux machine which seems to experience the problem
>>>>>>> most consistently.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Baring a GUI tool friendly to mortal users, I am not above using the
>>>>>>> @#$% command line and a text editor.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I am not too network savvy.  I have to look up the layers of the OSI
>>>>>>> stack every time.  What is a reasonable diagnostic or fault tree for
>>>>>>> approaching my symptoms.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> It is also worth noting that this problem seems to date back to
>>>>>>> precisely when I upgraded from Ubuntu 9.04 to 9.10.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> ---------------------------------------------------
>>>>>>> PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss at lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
>>>>>>> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings:
>>>>>>> http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss
>>>>>>>               
>>>>>> ---------------------------------------------------
>>>>>> PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss at lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
>>>>>> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings:
>>>>>> http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss
>>>>>>
>>>>>>             
>>>>> Unplug all devices for at least one min.  Start with modem and work
>>>>> your way up to the PC
>>>>> The Vista and Ubuntu machines are separate machines, not a single dual
>>>>> boot, right?
>>>>>
>>>>> tracert=windows
>>>>> traceroute=linux
>>>>> ---------------------------------------------------
>>>>> PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss at lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
>>>>> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings:
>>>>> http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss
>>>>>           
>>>> I have "rebuilt" the network a couple of times from the modem up.  My 
>>>> suspicion is focused on the Ubuntu desktop because of the coincidence 
>>>> that the problem started with a major upgrade.
>>>>
>>>> Yes. We have the following on the network ... not all at the same time.
>>>> * Qwest modem, outside the firewall.
>>>> * Netgear wired/802.11g wireless router. No evident problems with 
>>>> wireless connections.
>>>> * Ubuntu 9.10 on Dell hardware.  Wired connection. (Main suspect) 
>>>> Thinking about putting in a new Ethernet card since I have it "in stock" 
>>>> anyway and it's doing me no good in the box.
>>>> * Apple notebook.  Wired connection.
>>>> ** Windows Vista.  Have seen some symptoms.
>>>> ** OS X.  mild symptoms.
>>>> * Apple notebook.  Wireless.  No known symptoms.
>>>> * Apple iMac. Wireless  No known symptoms.
>>>> * (Occasional) HP netbook running Ubuntu 9.10 netbook remix.  Wireless. 
>>>>   No known symptoms.
>>>>         
>>> That's helpful.
>>>
>>> I really doubt the upgrade was a cause of any kind, given that your 
>>> Apple notebook (other wired) connection also experiences problems.
>>>
>>> Have you tried alternate wired ports on the Netgear router? Sometimes a 
>>> single port/plug can be defective. The whole wired side of the router 
>>> might be failing as well.
>>>       
>> I have tried swapping wires and ports.  It doesn't seem to help.
>>
>>     
>>> Do you have a switch you can put in place of the wireless router to see 
>>> if the problem persists?
>>>       
>> I don't have a spare switch.  Of course switches aren't too expensive. 
>> I just don't have much use for it outside of testing unless I change my 
>> network architecture to something like,
>> * Router
>> ** Wired switch
>> *** wired computers.
>>     
>
> I don't think that'll buy you anything, especially if the wired part of 
> your router is hosed. I would try something more like this:
> * DSL modem
> ** Wired switch
> *** wired computers
> *** wireless router
>
> FWIW, this isn't really the best from a security standpoint, but I don't 
> think it's any less secure than what you have now.
>
>   
>>> Does your DSL modem do dhcp/nat? (most do these days)
>>>
>>>       
>> The DSL modem definitely does dhcp.  I do not know if NAT is being done 
>> by the modem or the router.
>>     
>
> Probably both. That's not necessarily a problem. You don't want both the 
> DSL modem and the router providing dhcp on the same subnet though.
>
>   
A new router solved the problem.  Everything wired is faster.  The
Ubuntu machine is much faster.

Now back to that Fedora (virtual box): WinXP; Win7 problem.