[ale] need help allocating / limiting broadband bandwidth between users

[James Sumners]

It's probably overheating or the firmware has a memory leak. The
"consumer grade" Netgear stuff is garbage.

On Thu, Jan 24, 2013 at 2:13 PM, Ron Frazier (ALE)
<atllinuxenthinfo at techstarship.com> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I've got an interesting and frustrating problem here at home that I need
> help with.  My wife works at home using a Citrix connection.  Everything she
> does comes from a remote system.  I have several computers that I use here
> as well, some of which are periodically doing automated data transfers and
> backups, etc.  Periodically, she complains that her system is running so
> slow that it's unusable.  This is an intermittent problem.  Immediately
> after she mentioned it today, I connected to her wifi router and did a speed
> test.  I got .6 Mbps.  Typically, I get around 28 Mbps for downloads.  I
> switched her to my router and the problem went away.  Now, her system is
> blazing fast again.
>
> The routers are configured as follows.  This may or may not work as a text
> diagram.
>
> Old Setup
>
> Ron's wifi router (a) --->\
>                            Master wired router (c) ---> cable modem
> Wife's wifi router (b) -->/
>
> New Setup
>
> Wife's wifi router (a) -->\
>                            Master wired router (c) ---> cable modem
> Ron's wifi router (b) --->/
>
> Hopefully, if that diagram survives the email, you can see that she has a
> wifi router and I have one.  Both of those are connected to a master wired
> router that is connected to the cable modem which is connected to the
> internet.  Normally this works very well.  I like to keep her stuff and my
> stuff on separate networks.  You might think, from this description, that
> router (b) is failing.  And that is a possibility.  I'm prepared to replace
> router (b) if I have to.  However, I'm not convinced.  I rebooted router (b)
> and did a speed test and it's back up in the 28 Mbps range again.
>
> I'm wondering if router (c) is getting confused during times when both (a)
> and (b) are putting heavy demands on the link and trying to send / receive
> more data in aggregate than the link is capable of.  If it's a problem of
> bandwidth hogging by my stuff, I'd rather just curtail that and make sure
> that her stuff has at least, for example, 3 Mbps up / 6 Mbps down at all
> times.  All the routers are NetGear equipment.  The wifi routers have QOS
> settings that I've tried to tweak in the past to address this type of
> problem.  I haven't had much success with that.  The wired master router
> does not have QOS settings.  I have set up a 3 Mbps upstream bandwidth limit
> on my router, but I don't have any option to limit downstream bandwidth.  My
> total upstream capacity is about 6 Mbps.
>
> I need to stick with off the shelf equipment here.  I could replace the
> master router (c) if needed, or stick something in between my router and the
> master router to limit my maximum bandwidth if necessary.  I would be
> willing to reflash a router's firmware if necessary, but I have to have
> something that resets automatically in case of a power failure.  I don't
> really want to be running another pc just for this purpose.
>
> Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Ron
>
>
> --
>
> (To whom it may concern.  My email address has changed.  Replying to former
> messages prior to 03/31/12 with my personal address will go to the wrong
> address.  Please send all personal correspondence to the new address.)
>
> (PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to
> call on the phone.  I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy
> mailing lists and such.  I don't always see new email messages very
> quickly.)
>
> Ron Frazier


-- 
James Sumners
http://james.roomfullofmirrors.com/

"All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts
pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it
is magnetic to the corruptible. Such people have a tendency to become
drunk on violence, a condition to which they are quickly addicted."

Missionaria Protectiva, Text QIV (decto)
CH:D 59