Networking WoesFollow

I think the first thing I would do is try to determine where the slowdown is happening. I'm not a networking expert, but I'd try pinging internal to your network (local ip addresses, computer to computer) and see if it is slowing down with the local network traffic increase.

I'm not familiar with DSL, as I've never had it. But I know that my Cable connection can become bogged down if the upstream reaches max, regardless of what the downstream is at.

By chance is your DSL modem rented from the ISP? (ie. You can exchange it for free if you call and tell them you are experiencing issues).

Seems to me like the issue lies in the modem itself or the service.

3MBps isn't really fast enough to accommodate a multi person network with someone watching lots of video streams, especially the high definition feeds. You may simply be saturating your bandwidth pipe. that being said, there are a couple of things to check on your end before you call the DSL company, and if the numbers you are reporting are occuring when no one else is downloading anything on the network, you almost certanly have an exuipment issue or a signal issue somewhere.

First off, DSL signals are very susceptable to noise, and to linequality issues. If you have a newer house with an in wall single gang phone socket, corrosion there shouldn't be much of an issue, but if you have one of the older style baseboard attached boxes, you may want to take a look at it and see if the lines have any greenish white corrosion visible. It's low voltage so you can open the cover and take a look safely if needed.

You also need to make sure you have DSL line filters on all the other devices in the house except the modem. that will prevent your phone system for example, from sending signal noise around your local phone lines inside the house and causing a high latancy condition due to signal loss.

If both those things are in place and correct, you'll want to take a look at your network equipment itself. There may be a firmware update for the router. if it is a particularily old router, it might be failing. there is essentially a small computer inside a router that does the signal processing on the incoming stream from your modem. A simple test to see if it is the issue will be to plug the modem directly into the computer temporarily and check your latancy numbers. You may need to do an ipconfig /release and then ipconfig /renew (or a comptuer restart will also work) to get signal after taking the router out of the loop. If the signal is still bad at that point, you have an issue with the modem or the incoming DSL signal and will need to contact your dsl provider.

If the signal magically cleans up with the router out of the loop, you get to start investigatiing possible causes. Start with the simplest configuration possible, modem, to router, to 1 computer and test signal. then add the switch and test again. add computers and perephrials back in until the symptoms start up again. It may be that a power cycle of the router or switch will fix the issue entirely.

if you discover the router itself is the problem, unless it is a brand new one, I would reccommend just flat out replacing it. A newer faster router will give you less latancy anyways. Same thing with the switch, You can try a router firmware upgrade, but be careful as it is quite possible to turn your router into a paperweight via a failed firmware update.

If you are feeling adventurous, download a free program called "wireshark" and run it. that will tell you what your network traffic looks like and give you some insight into where the problem might be. Its a fairly complicated interface, but it doesn't take too long to figure out.

There is also the possibility that you have a virus infected computer somewhere on the network that is broadcasting a large amount of outbound traffic without your knowledge. if you find the issue onle reappears once you plug one of your computers back in, that should be your first assumption. It could also be a failed network card, but that is extremely rare.

Update: I'm going to try installing NetBalancer on my computer and try limiting Firefox and/or Flash and see if I still get good pings to google while loading a Youtube video.

If it works I'll do the same thing to her computer and we should be good unless dad logs on his (and tries downloading crap). He rarely logs on his tho, so it shouldn't be that big of a deal. If it is, I can do the same thing to his computer too.

I came to this conclusion after thinking about all the work on trying to flash a router, trying to set up QoS that might have negative impacts on the entire network and the fact that I couldn't find any actual detailed step-by-step instructions on how exactly to limit certain stuff. Most websites say it is better to do it at computer level with a network bandwidth limiter (like this one).

I'll let you guys know how it works out!

Edited, Apr 27th 2013 3:28pm by Lyrailis

No, I identified the problem: We're on a 3Mbps DSL and Youtube insists on using 100% of the bandwidth.

Of course when someone in the house attempts to watch YT, pings go way up because they're hogging all the bandwidth.

So, limiting Flash/Firefox (not sure if you can limit Flash separately) to 60-80% of max bandwidth should allow them to watch Youtube (we used to watch any non-HD back when we had 1.5Mbps just fine), but yet should leave bandwidth open for online games.

I've done a few tests with Livestream and it causes no lag whatsoever in WoW. The difference between Livestream and Youtube, is that watching your average Livestream is only about 500kbps (which leaves 2500 kbps open), whereas Youtube takes maximum bandwidth.