University Networking Problems

[Kaneda]

Hello everyone, I'm new to these fourms, however a friend pointed me over here saying you guys would know best when it comes to networking problems.

My problem is quite strange though...

First week I arrive on campus I set up my new computer (specs under signature) and hook it into the network. Things seem fine until I load up my P2P software (kazaa lite and winMX). Both download around 0.5 k/s. Needless to say this is pathetic. My room mate right across from me downloads anywhere from 20 k/s to 300 k/s.

I've run multiple web tests to check my speed and all place my connection up there with T1's and above. When downloading things such as patches for games (Counter Strike) they download incrediably fast.

Here's the real kicker... when I go to play games such as Counter Strike or Team Fortress Classic the packet loss is amazing. Pings in excess of 200-3,000.

How is it that I am able to download off the web at a nice rate however when playing games or downloading files p2p the rate kicks the bucket? My room mate across from me has a great connection. Several people mentioned that my settings could be screwey with WinXP home but I'm unsure. I run ping and tracert commands to servers which I've gotten 30ish ping wise and see nothing wrong.

To see exactly whats wrong... check out the link I made.
http://www.geocities.com/arcticblast2001/help.htm

Anyways - here are the results from that Analyzer on the front of this nice site. Any ideas what that means?

Browser/OS = Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1)
Note: Read the FAQ if the above is not your IP address.

TCP options string = 020405b401010402

MTU = 1500
MTU is fully optimized for broadband.

MSS = 1460
Maximum useful data in each packet = 1460, which equals MSS.

Default Receive Window (RWIN) = 1460
RWIN Scaling (RFC1323) = 0 bits
Unscaled Receive Window = 1460
RWIN is a multiple of MSS
Other values for RWIN that might work well with your current MTU/MSS:
513920 (MSS x 44 * scale factor of 8)
256960 (MSS x 44 * scale factor of 4)
128480 (MSS x 44 * scale factor of 2)
64240 (MSS x 44)

bandwidth * delay product:
Your RcvWindow limits you to: 58.4 kbps (7.3 KBytes/s) @ 200ms
Your RcvWindow limits you to: 23.36 kbps (2.92 KBytes/s) @ 500ms
Consider increasing your RWIN value to optimize TCP/IP for broadband.

MTU Discovery (RFC1191) = ON

Time to live left = 118 hops
TTL value is ok.

Timestamps (RFC1323) = OFF

Selective Acknowledgements (RFC2018) = ON

IP type of service field (RFC1349)= 00000000

Help!

[littlerumper]

rwin is a little small...and the ttl could be around 64-50 hops, but if you're getting 350+k downloads...might not need to tweek.

All in all you have to remember...with Kazaa, loop hole for speed will be the other end...if your downloading from someone who claims to have a cable connection, but is a 56k modem, and they are over-seas...It's gonna suck. As for the online gaming, try playing with the rate settings within the game ( I play alot of q3 games and am used to the console commands.)

Do you know how the network is setup?...maybe there is a Quality of Service (QoS) implimented on certain ports to stop Kazaa freaks from eating up bandwidth....LOL.

[Kaneda]

I was thinkin' about that QoS idea on ports because I was able to use a sock5 or whatever its called to get around and my download speeds increased.

I did mess around with the settings in-game and found a better consistancy however I still get those nasty packet losses.

Oh well... how can I go about changing the rwin if necessary?

[littlerumper]

I like http://www.speedguide.net there are some patches that'll do it for you....

[pino]

kaneda , i think your ttl is right around 118-119 because u use xp
u only to make change for rwin to find good performance for browser not only for test

[Kaneda]

Well I have still been unable to fix this problem. I thought it was my roommate using his P2P and allowing uploads however after fixing that there is still no change.

Is there any way to see if he is the hog of all the bandwidth? Specifically, any kinda of free program to monitor who is eating all the bandwidth?

I'll try adjusting my rwin but I'm not totally sure how to do it.

[pino]

for me to ajust rwin , first i use drtcp with default , rwin blank , ack blank and mtu blank , go to test , u got basic rwin , so test to multiplied this rwin

[cyberskye]

Is there any way to see if he is the hog of all the bandwidth? Specifically, any kinda of free program to monitor who is eating all the bandwidth?

If this only happens when you are using p2p (and not straight downloads/browsing), why would you assume that it is a bandwidth problem?

What AV software do you use? Is the XP or any other firewall running?

[cyberskye]

I have heard from those who use it that SG analyzer can show incorect values in RWIN sometimes.

Try this and post the recommendations provided. Be interesting to compare.

http://www.dslreports.com/tweaks

[Kaneda]

No firewalls are running... not sure whatcha mean by AV software...

Anyways... its now with all kinds of p2p and games, nothing else.

All p2p is slow no matter who i download from and no matter what connection. (I have a buddy who I know is on a multiple T-3 connection where back home on cable I could download off him in like 15 seconds... well here I average 0.05 Kb/s off him...

And all games still have massive packetloss and choke. So Im assuming I am trying to send too much data out at once if I am experencing choke. I'm still lost... at this point I'm ready to kick my computer.

Here is my results from the dslspeedreport

http://monitor.dslreports.com/tweak/blo ... via=normal

[YeOldeStonecat]

[quote]Originally posted by Kaneda
No firewalls are running... not sure whatcha mean by AV software...QUOTE]

AV meaning anti-virus software....various versions have different impact on performance...also dependent on the horsepower of your computer.

Is your P2P software setup in the "connection type" area to the proper setting? Try various settings...see if you get any change in performance.