heat84
join:2004-03-11
Fort Lauderdale, FL
 ·AT&T Southeast
| Comcast isn't traffic shaping, its home routers crashing?
This person seems to think the claims of traffic shaping by Comcast is actually crappy home routers crashing. Maybe this isn't news around here, just thought I'd post it anyway. |
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NormanS
Premium,MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA
·Pacific Bell - SBC
| I don't know to whom you are referring, but I do know that the most reliable description of Comcast throttling of BitTorrent suggests that Comcast was using the Sandvine appliance to tear down connections after a BT client switched over to "seeding" mode.
I have run a BitTorrent client, on brief occasions, on a Comcast connection, and seen the download complete, but the post download completion upload slow way down. I just stopped the torrent after completing the download, and moved on (saved the .torrent files, though; they remember the ratio, and I could complete the transaction to a 1:1 ratio on my DSL connection after retuning home).
I have been through two Netgear routers, though. Neither had the guts to stand up to the concurrent connections opened by torrent swarms. I would throttle speed and connections until I could maintain a reasonably stable connection; for a time. Since switching to this D-Link DIR-655 router, though, I have not had any more connection problems.
--
Norman
~Oh Lord, why have you come
~To Konnyu, with the Lion and the Drum |
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Rob
In Deo speramus
Premium
join:2001-08-25
Kendall, FL
 ·Comcast
| reply to heat84
Comcast was using Sandvine. Which is a big no no. The issue now is that anytime a person experiences problem with their connection, they are first to accuse Comcast of throttling, or doing something with the connection.
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CheckSite.us | YourIP.US |
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dadkins
Merry Whatever
Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA
·Comcast
| reply to heat84
I have a D-Link refurb from 2005.
I have yet to see it cause any slowdowns - ever.
While I don't try to download entire newsgroups, I do download a few "things".
If the source isn't throttled/rate limited on their end, I can max my Blast connection through that old-ass, rebuilt, beatup router.
--
Think outside the Fox... Opera |
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fmrcomtech3
@comcast.net
| reply to heat84
first you have to remember that each city or town has its own custom system for both cable and internet, you can think of it kinda like a franchise. each area is not built exactly the same they all have slightly different software & backend equipment.
in my area (sacramento) they are using a method that crashes your router and basically turns it off (does not broadcast the ssid) and like the poster in the link said it will resume function after a power cycle (most of the time.. heh). now from what ive read about sandvine i do not believe that its the same method being used here in my area, and what where dealing with is multiple throttling/traffic shaping solutions being implemented in various degrees across comcasts different networks.
personally i've about had it with comcasts throttling practices myself and i am on the verge of switching over to the local dls provider (frontier) but i have heard bad things about the company from an employee no less and thats whats holding me back atm.
but since my internet connection is piratically UNUSABLE in its current state i believe i will be forced to give frontier a try. either that or mobile broadband but that cant be cheap... |
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willyjack
Premium
join:2007-11-26
Richmond, VA
clubs: | What method is that? |
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espaeth
Misanthrope
Premium
join:2001-04-21
Minneapolis, MN | It must use FM to crash his wireless.
(F@$*ing Magic!) |
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netcool
@comcast.net
| said by espaeth  :It must use FM to crash his wireless. (F@$*ing Magic!) I thought that was frequency modulation  |
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EG
The wings of love
Premium
join:2006-11-18
Union, NJ | reply to fmrcomtech3
said by fmrcomtech3 :
in my area (sacramento) they are using a method that crashes your router and basically turns it off (does not broadcast the ssid)
LOLLLL !!! |
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hadirtyJlo
join:2004-03-31
Elk Grove, CA
·Comcast
| reply to fmrcomtech3
said by fmrcomtech3 :
in my area (sacramento) they are using a method that crashes your router and basically turns it off (does not broadcast the ssid) and like the poster in the link said it will resume function after a power cycle (most of the time.. heh). now from what ive read about sandvine i do not believe that its the same method being used here in my area, and what where dealing with is multiple throttling/traffic shaping solutions being implemented in various degrees across comcasts different networks.
Really? Because I moved out to the Sacramento area a few months ago, around January, and I have Comcast, and they have yet to "crash my router." If your router continuously has issues not broadcasting the SSID, you might want to look into, oh I don't know, GETTING A NEW ROUTER? No matter what you say, you're going to get proven wrong, as I'm almost positive I use more bandwidth than you, between work, torrents, and newsgroups. |
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dadkins
Merry Whatever
Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA
·Comcast
| reply to fmrcomtech3
No, I'm thinking maybe a cordless phone or a REAL leaky microwave oven is hitting the router or computer and "confusing" it to the point of not working.
Or... the router is dying.
Or, flaky firmware.
Comcast is not killing the wireless of your router.
--
Think outside the Fox... Opera |
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NormanS
Premium,MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA
·Pacific Bell - SBC
edit:
August 31st, @05:55PM
| reply to fmrcomtech3
said by fmrcomtech3 :
in my area (sacramento) they are using a method that crashes your router and basically turns it off (does not broadcast the ssid)...
No ISP will do anything that will crash a router. That would be counter productive. I have had routers that locked up. Linksys BEFSR11 was just plain bad out of the box (I've seen three Linksys products DoA, so I don't trust them). SMC Barricade 7004BR, flashed with firmware only available in the EU, will mysteriously die (probably should just downgrade the firmware to the last U.S. version; but it is a really old box). Netgear FR114P and Netgear FVS114 fold under the pressure of multiple, concurrent BitTorrent connections (both are fine, otherwise, just not "Torrent friendly; I still use the FR114P as a Print Server).
Your wireless router should not care about lack of SSID from other devices; but you should not disable SSID on your own router. SSID makes it easier for your local devices to find your router. Change the SSID name to something fairly unique, and use is to help your own devices to find your router quickly. Use WPA for security.
And, if you have an older router, check the WAN to LAN throughput. My Netgear FR114P ostensibly has a 100 mbps WAN port, but is only rated, by independent testers at less than 10 mbps throughput. Same with the Netgear FVS114. Both are the older "blue box" form factor. When I got tired of the FVS114 crashing under the load of BT, I actually did what I should have done before buying that one; researched routers, for throughput, and multiple connections. The D-Link DIR-655 was the second highest rated on the comparison I found; but about $50 cheaper than the highest rated; also a D-Link product, but specifically designed for gamers.
Comcast is not crashing your router.
--
Norman
~Oh Lord, why have you come
~To Konnyu, with the Lion and the Drum |
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ShaghaiSurprise
@lodgenet.net | reply to heat84
Yeah, they really crash routers and even more. When they issue TCP RSTs, my fridge spits ice cubes onto the floor and my garage door opens and closes. Please stop buying tinfoil - or at least for hats. |
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joako
Premium
join:2000-09-07
Gainesville, FL | reply to heat84
Maybe some routers lock up when they detect a man-in-the-middle attack? Nothing's unpossible.
I'm being dead serious, not sarcastic.
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09:F9:11:02:9D:74:E3:5B:D8:41:56:C5:63:56:88:C0 |
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sturmvogel
Obama '08
join:2008-02-07
Houston, TX
| reply to heat84
I do NOT think Comcast is to blame for this.
What I believe is happening is the crappy router not keeping up with the BT load, locking up and of course the SSID broadcast would disappear.
I NEVER heard of Comcast crashing any customer's hardware. Interferring via Sandvine with traffic they might dislike maybe, but not anything of this type as implied.
--
Treason is a matter of dates |
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MadMANN
Premium
join:2005-08-19 | reply to fmrcomtech3
said by fmrcomtech3 :
in my area (sacramento) they are using a method that crashes your router and basically turns it off (does not broadcast the ssid) Umm. . .no they're not. |
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MalibuMaxx
join:2007-02-06
Chesterton, IN
·Comcast
| reply to heat84
Went through 2 routers in a month... just cuz they eventually died... one i realized was shoddy firmware
- Netgear - Not sure the model... the one with the blue lights with the dome... locks up now... probably overloaded it with the traffic that goes over my LAN...
- WRT54GS - Shoddy firmware - flashed with DDWRT worked great afterword...
- WRT310N - Finally settled on... flashed it with ddwrt too just cuz... works good so far... |
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brianl703
join:2004-02-26
Manassas, VA
| reply to heat84
I used to have a Gigafast EE400-RP (this is identical to the older SMC Barricade routers, hardware-wise). I got it at Microcenter years ago. It would sometimes crash while doing P2P. Then one day it died and resetting it didn't help---it was totally dead.
I replaced it with a Linux box (dual PIII550/512MB RAM) running NAT with iptables.
It's a LOT faster than the Gigafast was..and it never crashes. It can also do much more complicated routing/firewalling...and I can run tcpdump on it to see what traffic is going through the ethernet port connected to the cablemodem. |
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funchords
Robb
Premium,MVM
join:2001-03-11
Hillsboro, OR
·Verizon Online DSL
 ·Skype
·Comcast
| reply to fmrcomtech3
said by fmrcomtech3 :
in my area (sacramento) they are using a method that crashes your router and basically turns it off (does not broadcast the ssid) and like the poster in the link said it will resume function after a power cycle (most of the time.. heh). now from what ive read about sandvine i do not believe that its the same method being used here in my area, and what where dealing with is multiple throttling/traffic shaping solutions being implemented in various degrees across comcasts different networks.
With a high degree of confidence, I can tell you that Comcast is not behind the problems that you are describing -- neither on purpose, nor as a side effect.
Even if they had technology that could temporarily brick the router somehow, given that a user may bypass the router and connect directly to the modem (which you should do as a trouble-shooting step), it would be a poor way to manage anything. (Not that Comcast has ever picked poor ways to manage something, but lest I digress...)
From your description, I can't tell if your issue is primarily a wireless problem or if the wireless problem is a side-effect of a crashing router. The SSID will disappear if your client has blacklisted it due to authentication violations, and that protection works and is rarely attacked. But sometimes an authentication violation can happen if one side or the other of a wireless connection doesn't complete its key exchange in time, and that can happen as a side-effect of simply being on an overloaded, bogged down device.
If this only happens during P2P sessions, then limit the number of simultaneous connections and do not use features like "DHT" or the "distributed database." After making those changes, power-cycle the router. If the problem stays away, then your router is too underpowered (in memory, most likely) to handle as many connections as your previous settings allowed. The good news for most P2P users is that disabling those features will usually not harm performance.
said by fmrcomtech3 :
personally i've about had it with comcasts throttling practices myself and i am on the verge of switching over to the local dls provider (frontier) but i have heard bad things about the company from an employee no less and thats whats holding me back atm.
Check out »stopthecap.com/ -- I predict you won't be going to Frontier.
Robb
--
Robb Topolski -= funchords.com =- Hillsboro, Oregon
More features, more fun, Join BroadbandReports.com, it's free...
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EG
The wings of love
Premium
join:2006-11-18
Union, NJ
| reply to sturmvogel
said by sturmvogel :What I believe is happening is the crappy router not keeping up with the BT load, locking up and of course the SSID broadcast would disappear. Why would the wireless transceiver shutdown under a "lockup" condition ? |
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