Re: [PLUG] Internet access in Berwyn slows to a crawl as the day wears on ...

[brent timothy saner <brent.saner@gmail.com>]

replies inline

On 09/13/2017 04:05 PM, george@georgesbasement.com wrote:
> Since some time in September my Internet download speeds have dropped
> to ~0.2Mbit/s ... I'm paying for Verizon FIOS.
> 
> After trying a bunch of online Internet speed measurements that I
> found with Google - most of which didn't work, I came across one
> supported by AT&T that gave me data. Then I refined my search to
> Linux-based speed measurements and found/installed speedtest-cli
> and then discovered I already have speedtest, both of which give
> consistent results. They only get worse, the more I try them ...

first off, +1 to speedtest-cli. i've used it in multiple applications.
it's a good piece of software. (if you're not aware, it does the exact
same test as the speedtest.net test - the Ookla test - but with python
and headless, and some fancy things like CSV output. TERRIBLY handy.)

> 
> In the early morning, everything works speedily enough for my
> purposes, but after 9:00AM EDT, things start to deteriorate and
> the waits for Internet pages go from "blink-and-you'll-miss-it"
> to "go-take-a-bathroom-break."
> 

i've noticed this as well (i'm in brewerytown).

> Here's a typical result:
> (SNIP)
> 
> Is this my Internet Neutrality going away ?

honestly, doubt it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon%27s_razor

likely their infra needs some work.

> Can I measure it in a more specific way ? All I can think of
> using is traceroute ... The choice of best server made by speedtest
> jumps around; it's different every time I run it.

speedtest-cli lets you specify a server with, you guessed it, --server.

you'll need the server ID- --list will give you them. (might want to
instead do a "speedtest-cli --list | grep -i philadelphia" because
there's tons of them.)

note that the ID is likely to change between different runs, so find a
target server you like and script it to parse the output of --list, grab
the server ID, and then run the speedtest using that. if you're
comfortable with parsing XML, you're welcome:

http://c.speedtest.net/speedtest-servers.php


ALSO, run extended mtr reports. cron it for something like once an hour
or so, with a 1k-4k loop and have it save the report in your preferred
format.


> I've used about:config to turn off a bunch of privacy- and
> advertising-hogs.
> 

this shouldn't have the effect that you're experiencing. yeah, these
websites' "features" are crufty, but they aren't going to cause a, what-
20Mbps plan? to drop to 0.2Mbps.

> I'm running Trisquel 7 on a ThinkPad T420 through a ThinkPenguin
> wireless connection and a standard Verizon router. My missus is
> running Windows 10 through the same connection and claims no
> deterioration in service, and she logs on a couple of hours after
> I do. She's using the wireless built into her own Lenovo laptop.
> 

this is where the cron'd mtr reports will help. they'll tell you if the
lag is between your machine and the gateway or the gateway and the
carrier (ISP). it could be that the latency calms down after a couple
hours when she's on, or it could be something localized to your machine.

> I've tried different browsers, and at times one seems marginally
> different from another, but there's no mechanism for time of day
> to affect the speed of my computer that I know of ... When I ping
> my router I get replies in 3ms.
> 

ah, that answers my previous question then. 3ms isn't bad for a wireless
connection. could be better, but it could also be a LOT worse. that's
not causing your lossiness.

as for time of day affecting your computer, no, not unless you have some
cron running somewhere that's, say, rsyncing a distro repository to a
local mirror... ahem (me. i've done this and forgot about it.). but more
to the point, check your latency to your gateway while the slowdown is
happening- is it still 3ms? if it's higher, maybe someone on your
wireless is streaming or something. if the speed between you and your
gateway is good, then it's your carrier- the MTR reports i mentioned
above would help you narrow it down a lot as well (and has the benefit
of not necessitating you check it in real-time).

> Thanks,
> George Langford
> george@georgesbasement.com

On 09/13/2017 06:53 PM, george@georgesbasement.com wrote:
> Michel van der List tried his FIOS connection about a mile
> from my house:
>
(SNIP)

> Which I did. The Chat representative suggested that I restart
> the router. I had to do that twice (again, at his suggestion)
> and now I get:

(SNIP)
>
> I might have thought Whoopie ! What an improvement !
> Except that I already know what Michel is getting.
>

obligatory: https://xkcd.com/806/


> I even tried my alternative Trisquel OS running on a USB-
> connected hard drive, but that gives the same result.

OS shouldn't affect the speed all that much.

> I may have pissed off a few Russians & Ukranians by blocking
> their access to my webpage, and this may be some kind of
> denial-of-service attack, but they would have to be keeping
> the same hours as typical college students, whom I think are
> the culprits, though that doesn't explain why my missus gets
> no download delays while I'm taking frequent B/R breaks or
> playing Freecell during the loading of most web pages. We're
> using the same wireless router, too.

pretty unlikely. consumer ISPs do a fair bit of traffic flow control
that looks aberrational; it's surprisingly hard to DDoS a residential IP
address.

oh, so it occurs at the same time as your wife is able to use it flawlessly?

try an RJ-45 cable directly into the gateway while it's happening. see
if you're still getting issues. is your wife just loading webpages or is
she streaming netflix or anything like that? some gateways prioritize
certain traffic or connections over others.

it's not for the faint of heart, but this is why i built my own gateway-
so i can just shell in and run iptraf and see who - or what - may be
flooding my network.

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