Tearing my hair out!!! Outgoing problem with Unotelly, Netflx and Spark. Traffic Management or technical problems?

Forums › Online streaming services › Tearing my hair out!!! Outgoing problem with Unotelly, Netflx and Spark. Traffic Management or technical problems?

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78 posts

Master Geek

#1370508 19-Aug-2015 19:49

Yes I did. So what should I check next? Cabling? TV/ Home Theatre. Is the ping attack thing an issue or is this normal? Its occurring every 2 minutes from servers in the states.

Jase2985

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#1370536 19-Aug-2015 20:30

try another device to do the streaming to rule out the TV

surfisup1000

5288 posts

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#1370611 19-Aug-2015 22:28

I wouldn't worry about the ping attack thing. IP's are constantly being scanned by all sorts of people .

Your modem stats look pretty good (I'd give it a B+).

Can you plug a laptop directly into a spare ethernet port on the thomson via an ethernet cable. Then, try some speedtests at speedtest.net, or , download itunes from apple to get a rough idea of real life speed.

With a 17gbps connection I'd expect you could download constantly between 1 to 1.5 MB/s (megabyte per second).

I know older thomson modems were a bit rubbish , not sure about this one. If possible, try to swap it out with a late model modem that has decent reviews. The majority of network issues I had in the past were due to crappy modems .

Someone asked if you had re-powered your modem sometime in the last day or so -- the modem stats say it was switched on 23 hours ago----- did you? Unexpected modem resets mean the AC adaptor or modem may be failing.

If your laptop performs well when directly connected to the thomson, then you need to start looking at the next point in the network chain (cables/switches/routers). You should not really have another router in your setup (the dlink?)...you should only use switches . Multiple routers might cause issues as they all try to be intelligent and end up bashing each other up.

SparkyP

78 posts

Master Geek

#1370739 20-Aug-2015 10:13

I will do the speed test thing later when I get home but did notice something about the ping thing and think it could be part of the trouble.

I have been monitoring the ping flooding thing since early evening last night. It seems to do the ping thing every 20 secs to 4 minutes constantly. Every so often (possibly about once every half hour), it goes through some kind of ack, request commands. Then every so often it kind of resets everything eg: Block WAN Ping enabled, remote management disabled and a whole host of things that suggest its kind of resetting itself. Then the pings start again. I imagine this is all normal but I did notice that the 2 times this occurred yesterday/today (Cant tell if it happened in the early AM) was at 8.00 pm and 7.30ish am.

Originally I thought Spark was traffic shaping because the worst disconnections seemed to occur at peak times (when the kids watch TV in the morning) and every night at 8pm or within 10 minutes either side. This is when I have to go out and turn everything off and reboot it all to try and get Netflix US on again. It's only a one day sample so too early to tell and may be coincidence but I'll keep watching it. I also had a period there of about 3 weeks where there was virtually no disconnections and greatly reduced stalls so I am wondering if that coincided with a cessation in pings? Just another wild theory.

Whatever is occurring I am pretty sure that it is more than one issue. I checked the TV and the streaming. When wireless streaming to PC and Tablets, there were no stalls etc in the 10 minutes I tried it so that works fine. I disconnected the TV and home theatre and found no difference in the number of stalls so I am thinking that the home theatre system is ok. TV could still be an issue. And I think I might get the eectrician to replace the extension type cabling to the TV and cupboard switch so I can be sure it is proper Ethernet rather than this IR cabling system thing.

I can ditch the second router in favour of a switch if necessary as they are only $50 or so.

What dictates how many switches we should have? Distance or no. of devices? Distance is 20 metres, cupboard hub to garage (entry point router). Devices 3 x Tablets, 1 Smart TV, 2 - 3 PCs, 1 kindle. Usually 3 devices are running at one time, sometimes 4 or even 6. But in the evenings normally 3 - 4. And I have tried switching everything off but the TV and Home Theatre but that didn't seem to make any difference to the drop out rate.

Thanks again

Jase2985

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#1370742 20-Aug-2015 10:18

did you reset the device yourself 24h prior to that modem stats above being posted?

number of switches is determined by number of hard wired devices and location of devices

trig42

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#1370778 20-Aug-2015 10:31

Where are you located?

I think you need to get someone in (not an electrician) to look at your networking setup and tidy it up a bit.

I'd say you have a good enough connection to stream from Netflix and Lightbox (and both will provide a nice HD stream at your connection speed). The issue is that there are too many hops or too much distance between modem/Wifi and TV.

You mention that the data port behind your TV no longer goes? It sounds like your Dlink Router is doing DHCP/DNS duties for your network, and DHCP is switched off on the Thomson. The cable to the TV port is probably connected to the Edimax in the garage (where the Thomson is?) and therefore never 'sees' the Dlink, therefore doesn't get an IP address. Previously (BC) it was connected to the Dlink in the garage, and the port behind the TV worked.

With the Dlink and the Thomson both running, you are probably behind a Double-NAT, which may affect Lightbox and Netflix.

As a quick check, can you connect the cable out of the wall where the Dlink is into a LAN port on the back of the DLINK instead of the WAN port? THis will turn the Dlink effectively into an Access point and should remove the double NAT. You may need to turn DHCP back on on the Thomson, and turn it off on the Dlink though (hence why I suggest getting someone in to have a good look).

Good news is that it sounds fixable, and shouldn't cost a whole heap (I don't think you need any parts, just an hour of someone's time).

SparkyP

78 posts

Master Geek

#1370799 20-Aug-2015 11:09

That would certainly explain the TV point ceasing operation. We are in Upper Hutt and would love to know who is best to call. I did try a guy locally when we initially set up the system but it was very expensive and I wasn't terribly convinced he knew what he was doing. He came back a second time but we still had the wireless connection problems at one end after fitting an extra aerial and amplifier? thingy.

I presume by reset the device you mean did we switch it off at the wall? Yes we did. When it fully crashes (which it does periodically eg: 8pm). We switch off the tv, dlink and then the 2 in the garage at the wall and then turn them all back on again one by one.

Any recommendations on a Hutt Valley networking type guy would be great.

Thanks

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

surfisup1000

5288 posts

Uber Geek

#1370843 20-Aug-2015 12:29

SparkyP: I presume by reset the device you mean did we switch it off at the wall? Yes we did. When it fully crashes (which it does periodically eg: 8pm).
Thanks

We are talking about the thomson modem here right? It should never crash. I'd get a top quality modem/router, will not regret. Thomson modems I've used in the past are not the best.

The ideal setup, is like this...

Spark/ISP >---incoming street phone line ----> ADSL Master filter >-- phone cable --> modem/router (thomson) ---> cat5e/6 cable --> switch (with 16 or more ethernet ports) --> connects all required network devices in house via cat5e/6 network cable, as star topology (google that).

You can plug a wifi access point (or router in access point mode) directly into your switch to provide wifi to your house.

The big trick is figure out the most central point for your switch where you can feed cat5e/6 to your devices.

SparkyP

78 posts

Master Geek

#1370912 20-Aug-2015 15:05

What is a good router? I have about $400 in points for Noel Leeming and they have D Link, Linksys and Netgear, prices range from $150 - $500. I imagine that the guy set the system up with a second d link as the Thomson isn't wireless and in order to repeat/ boost the signal further away. I prefer wired internet with wifi capability for a number of reasons so would need a modem that has capability to function both wired and wirelessly. Its ADSL currently with potential for upgrade to VDSL but no fibre.

Currently comes in the house via the Thomson and into the switch which is almost adjacent then there is a point off to the right five metres but the rest runs in a straight line with a few telephone points off along the way with a large cluster of data points at the far end. At about 12 metres (sorry I previously quoted over all length) you get the cupboard which is now housing the D Link, the cupboard is situated immediately before the large cluster of points with the TV point being the furtherest away from the cupboard by about 10 metres. I imagine the cupboard is the star set up.

So I looking for something that will give me a strong wifi signal across roughly 22 metres as well as ethernet connections. Or should I give up on wifi in the living areas as we did originally. I was making the kids go down their rooms to use their tablets because there was no wifi signal down the living end. Its obviously less convenient but there are plenty of data connections in the living areas if a couple of us want to use a laptop or printer etc.

Thanks.

surfisup1000

5288 posts

Uber Geek

#1371001 20-Aug-2015 17:35

SparkyP: What is a good router? I have about $400 in points for Noel Leeming and they have D Link, Linksys and Netgear, prices range from $150 - $500. I imagine that the guy set the system up with a second d link as the Thomson isn't wireless and in order to repeat/ boost the signal further away. I prefer wired internet with wifi capability for a number of reasons so would need a modem that has capability to function both wired and wirelessly. Its ADSL currently with potential for upgrade to VDSL but no fibre.

Currently comes in the house via the Thomson and into the switch which is almost adjacent then there is a point off to the right five metres but the rest runs in a straight line with a few telephone points off along the way with a large cluster of data points at the far end. At about 12 metres (sorry I previously quoted over all length) you get the cupboard which is now housing the D Link, the cupboard is situated immediately before the large cluster of points with the TV point being the furtherest away from the cupboard by about 10 metres. I imagine the cupboard is the star set up.

So I looking for something that will give me a strong wifi signal across roughly 22 metres as well as ethernet connections. Or should I give up on wifi in the living areas as we did originally. I was making the kids go down their rooms to use their tablets because there was no wifi signal down the living end. Its obviously less convenient but there are plenty of data connections in the living areas if a couple of us want to use a laptop or printer etc.

Thanks.

Good router: Precisely, you need a modem/router. Get a fritzbox 7340/7390/7490 off trademe (get 7340 for less than $10 if lucky). You're on spark? The 2wire 2701 worked really well for me but is ADSL only and only works on spark/telecom network -- you can buy cheap ones on trademe.

You can stick to the thomson for now since you know it is working OK apart from the occasional disconnect.

Currently comes in the house via the Thomson and into the switch which is almost adjacent then there is a point off to the right five metres but the rest runs in a straight line with a few telephone points off along the way with a large cluster of data points at the far end. At about 12 metres (sorry I previously quoted over all length) you get the cupboard which is now housing the D Link, the cupboard is situated immediately before the large cluster of points with the TV point being the furtherest away from the cupboard by about 10 metres. I imagine the cupboard is the star set up.

I don't quite understand. What is the 'point' off to the right 5 metres? Data jack? The telephone jacks are connected on a completey separate cable system than your network jacks. I'm guessing you already have some kind of structured cabling system for data installed in your house?

It sounds like your cupboard has some kind of patch panel or a bunch of loose cables which run to the various data jacks around your house?Do you have some kind of cabling plan , or can you draw one?

My understanding, without a cabling plan so this is somewhat of a guess, is that you should disconnect the dlink and move the edimax switch into your cupboard, as this is a decent switch that can be the central 'hub' for your star network. The edimax has 8 ports, so, one is used by the thomson->edimax connection, and the other 7 can feed to the different data jacks around your house-- that should get your tv data jackpoint working again.

Then, to get the wifi working from the cupboard again, configure the dlink into access point mode which disables routing functionality and connect the dlink to the edimax via one of the lan ports -- nothing else should be connected to the dlink .

Since your TV data jackpoint is working again, you could buy another cheap switch (eg, http://www.pbtech.co.nz/index.php?z=p&p=SWHTPL1010&name=TP-Link-TL-SG1008D-8-Port-Gigabit-Switch-Non-block) and plug this into the tv data jackpoint, then plug a wifi Access point into the new switch near your tv -- that will flood your TV room with a strong wifi signal .

But, as I write this i realise so much stuff can stuff up depending on how your house is wired. So best to get an expert unless you like to tinker around but document your current setup so you can go back to it if you need.

SparkyP

78 posts

Master Geek

#1371314 21-Aug-2015 09:22

Ok - Update. Spoke with the electrician about the cabling. A major issue is that the star set up has been put in but coming out of the garage. Seems crazy to me as at 23 metres it was never going to work well. Secondly there is a second system coming out of the box and we don't know whether these are cat 4? cables or not. They seem to work but who knows? Subsequent people have tried to put in work arounds using the extra modem and mixing the 2 systems together. Which probably hasn't helped.

Cabling needs to be reorganised so the system can function properly. TV may or may not be working optimally. D Link is the problem not the Thomson. When it crashes wired internet still available. Major crashes rather than continued drop outs are definitely occurring in a pattern related to the ping flooding attacks. We had no Netflix last night after 10 to 8 which again coincided with the system reset thing on the D Link to get rid of the ping flooding. Then there is the issue of whether the D link and Thomson are blocking each other (D Nat thing mentioned earlier). So my conclusion, we need cabling completely revisited, probably need a new router and I should try and see if Spark? can sort out the ping thing.

My conclusion, it will be expensive but I will probably need to get a decent networking guy out from Wellington. Thank you all for your helpful suggestions and at least now I have some idea of what's needed so it wont be good money after bad fixing it piece by piece or putting in more work arounds. The elusive goal of being able to sit and watch 45 minutes [or more}of Netflix without drop outs and stalls is in sight .....

Thank you all so much, you have been really helpful.

Talkiet

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#1371331 21-Aug-2015 09:39

I hate to say this after you have a course of action, but IF (and it's really an IF) your Netflix performance is only dropping out in peak times, and works just fine the rest of the day, then it's very very very unlikely to be a local network issue.

It does sound as if there is some dodgy stuff going on, but if your internet is fine most of the day, and only has issues between about 8 and 10pm, it's going to be something outside your direct control. It might be Chorus and it might be us (Spark).

If your Netflix is configured correctly, and you are using the NZ service (without mucking around with region unblocking etc and changing DNS servers), then your Netflix traffic should be coming from servers inside our network. If all of that is setup as I describe, then the issue is likely to be some peak time congestion on either a local Chorus owned piece of equipment, or a handover from spark to Chorus.

Have you tried running a speedtest (using speedtest.net and manually selecting the nearest spark server from the map) at peak times when you have the issue? Try that and if the results are worse than outside the peak times then it does look like an ISP or Chorus issue.

If your performance is consistent and good outside peak times (consistent speedtest results and good Netflix performance etc) then as I said, I think the issue is not with your LAN.

Cheers -N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

SparkyP

78 posts

Master Geek

#1371347 21-Aug-2015 10:08

I will try the speed test at peak times and see but we are running Netflix US so I am aware that could be part of the problem. I would say there is definitely some kind of peak usage problem as well because the worst times are between 8 and 9, especially Thurs - Sun and Sunday mornings. Various people have said that having Unotelly causes problems but nobody has told me what kind of problems I'm likely to get as a result of operating Netflix US via Unotelly so if you could give me some examples of what to look for that would be great.

Thanks again

Talkiet

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#1371349 21-Aug-2015 10:12

In order to troubleshoot (and I am not suggesting this as a permanent solution), how about changing to NZ Netflix for a few days (make sure your DNS servers are set automatically and fully disable and geo-unblockers you have) and see if the performance is good at peak for NZ Netflix.

If it is, that will eliminate a whole heap of things that might be the issue.

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

SparkyP

78 posts

Master Geek

#1371351 21-Aug-2015 10:17

Will do that as well tonight.

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