Possibly OT - Cross Browser Broadband Performance

Forums › New Zealand Broadband › Possibly OT - Cross Browser Broadband Performance

pcrosley

49 posts

Geek

#28768 11-Dec-2008 09:37

Apologies if this isn't the best forum, but nothing else looked spot-on either.

I have Telecom Broadband Pro package (FS/FS) synched at 8.7 Mbps.

My problem is that any time I go to a website (like Geekzone) that links in other services (like Google analytics or ads) my browser (FF 3 is preferred) starts to retrieve the page then just hangs until I refresh 2-3 times at which time I presume that enough cache has been filled that it continues onto the real content. If I go to a web page that doesn't have all those linkages (like our homepage) it comes up straight away.

I was just slightly annoyed and contemplated regressing to FF2 because several people are reporting other issues and I assumed this may be related; until, that is, I sat down and tested all my browsers which are Opera, Safari, Chrome, IE, and FF (all latest versions).

It appears to be consistent and Opera has the good grace to tell you how long you are waiting. It took 1:05 minutes to load the Forum topics page.

I am not sure now where the problem lies.

Anyone else getting behaviour like this or have any suggestions? Or is this just the state of life these days loading congested pages on an overloaded information superhighway?

OS is XP Pro on laptop wireless connection to 3Com 11g modem/router.

zocster

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#183464 11-Dec-2008 09:46

hmm i guess it's the adverts, as when I am browsing without adverts it seems to have improved. I will try to turn advert back on again now and see how that pans out. I am on Telstra Clear.

Andy Ghozali Geekzone Member	E: andy@ghozali.ru M: +64 21 395 458 A: Andy's Business Services, 231 High St, Christchurch 8011, NZ
www.andy.mobi

jfnz

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#183469 11-Dec-2008 10:04

Are you able to try with another set of DNS servers and report back?

OpenDNS is ok for temporary use.

Please note: Any posts, comments, or contributions in this forum are posted by me as an individual acting in my own right and do not necessarily reflect the views of any company I work for, clients I've consulted for, or anyone else.

pcrosley

49 posts

Geek

#183473 11-Dec-2008 10:36

I'll give that a try, thanks.

pcrosley

49 posts

Geek

#183833 13-Dec-2008 10:10

Anarkist: Are you able to try with another set of DNS servers and report back?

OpenDNS is ok for temporary use.

Well, after 2 days of using OpenDNS, I have to say it isn't the solution.

Some pages "seem" to resolve quicker, but I think that is more a cache issue because if I go to a GZ forum (for example) that I haven't visited before it still takes up to 2 minutes to load and always hangs on either adsfac.info or googlesyndication which is really annoying.

I take it, from the lack of responses, that no one else is having similar irritations.

jfnz

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#183834 13-Dec-2008 10:19

Hmm, that is strange. This is probably a question you would have already touched on if you did, but do you have access to another PC you can test with there?

Perhaps you could run a traceroute and see whether or not there's anything funny happening with the routing?

pcrosley

49 posts

Geek

#183840 13-Dec-2008 11:09

Anarkist: Hmm, that is strange. This is probably a question you would have already touched on if you did, but do you have access to another PC you can test with there?

Perhaps you could run a traceroute and see whether or not there's anything funny happening with the routing?

Well I ran a traceroute (below) but not sure what that tells me (limited network knowledge!).

C:\>tracert www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?ForumId=84

Tracing route to www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?ForumId=84 [208.67.219.132]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 2 ms 2 ms 2 ms 192.168.10.1
2 11 ms 13 ms 11 ms 219-89-53-1.dialup.xtra.co.nz [219.89.53.1]
3 * * * Request timed out.
4 11 ms 9 ms 10 ms xe6-0-0-10.akbr5.global-gateway.net.nz [202.37.244.221]
5 8 ms 8 ms 8 ms xe0-0-0-2.akbr4.global-gateway.net.nz [202.50.232.77]
6 22 ms 14 ms 8 ms g1-3-5.tkbr9.global-gateway.net.nz [202.50.232.82]
7 134 ms 134 ms 275 ms so-1-1-2.labr5.global-gateway.net.nz [202.50.232.234]
8 134 ms 134 ms 134 ms g6-0-0.lebr6.global-gateway.net.nz [202.50.232.178]
9 134 ms 164 ms 164 ms gi1-3.mpd01.lax05.atlas.cogentco.com [154.54.13.121]
10 133 ms 132 ms 133 ms te4-2.mpd01.lax01.atlas.cogentco.com [154.54.6.229]
11 171 ms 168 ms 169 ms te4-1.mpd01.sjc01.atlas.cogentco.com [154.54.6.30]
12 168 ms 171 ms 172 ms te9-3.mpd01.sfo01.atlas.cogentco.com [154.54.2.53]
13 169 ms 171 ms 169 ms te9-3.mpd01.sjc04.atlas.cogentco.com [154.54.0.170]
14 169 ms 167 ms 169 ms 38.104.140.46
15 167 ms 169 ms 169 ms hit-nxdomain.opendns.com [208.67.219.132]

Trace complete.

I'll see about testing another PC.

jfnz

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#183842 13-Dec-2008 11:15

Can you go back to using your old DNS settings (e.g. having them automatically assigned in your network settings)
And run a the trace again, this time 'tracert geekzone.co.nz' and another 'tracert google.co.nz'

Sharesies

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

pcrosley

49 posts

Geek

#183844 13-Dec-2008 11:43

Anarkist: Can you go back to using your old DNS settings (e.g. having them automatically assigned in your network settings)
And run a the trace again, this time 'tracert geekzone.co.nz' and another 'tracert google.co.nz'

Interesting results.......(I changed the DNS to default)..........

C:\>tracert geekzone.co.nz

Tracing route to geekzone.co.nz [210.48.73.74]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1     4 ms    22 ms     3 ms 192.168.10.1
2     9 ms    10 ms     9 ms 219-89-53-1.dialup.xtra.co.nz [219.89.53.1]
3     *        *        *     Request timed out.
4     8 ms     8 ms     8 ms x6-0-0-v20.akcr10.global-gateway.net.nz [202.50.
238.49]
5    10 ms     7 ms     8 ms g0-1-0.tkcr3.global-gateway.net.nz [210.55.202.5
0]
6     9 ms    10 ms    10 ms iconz-dom.tkcr3.global-gateway.net.nz [203.96.64
.70]
7     9 ms    10 ms    14 ms ge-0-2-0.sky01-jcore.iconz.net [210.48.5.69]
8     9 ms     9 ms     9 ms ge-0-3-0.air01-jcore.iconz.net [210.48.5.2]
9    15 ms    28 ms     9 ms ge-1-1.cat01-air01.iconz.net [210.48.5.102]
10    10 ms     9 ms    10 ms wan1.petrescu.iconz.co.nz [210.48.4.76]
11     *        *        *     Request timed out.
12     *        *        *     Request timed out.
13     *        *        *     Request timed out.
14     *        *        *     Request timed out.
15     *        *        *     Request timed out.
16     *        *        *     Request timed out.
17     *        *        *     Request timed out.
18     *        *        *     Request timed out.
19     *        *        *     Request timed out.
20     *        *        *     Request timed out.
21     *        *        *     Request timed out.
22     *        *        *     Request timed out.
23     *        *        *     Request timed out.
24     *        *        *     Request timed out.
25     *        *        *     Request timed out.
26     *        *        *     Request timed out.
27     *        *        *     Request timed out.
28     *        *        *     Request timed out.
29     *        *        *     Request timed out.
30     *        *        *     Request timed out.

Trace complete.

C:\>tracert google.co.nz

Tracing route to google.co.nz [72.14.207.104]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1     2 ms     2 ms     2 ms 192.168.10.1
2    10 ms    10 ms     9 ms 219-89-53-1.dialup.xtra.co.nz [219.89.53.1]
3     *        *        *     Request timed out.
4     7 ms     7 ms     7 ms xe6-0-0-10.akbr5.global-gateway.net.nz [202.37.2
44.221]
5     8 ms     8 ms     9 ms xe0-0-0-2.akbr4.global-gateway.net.nz [202.50.23
2.77]
6    13 ms     8 ms     9 ms so0-3-2.tkbr9.global-gateway.net.nz [210.55.202.
82]
7   135 ms   261 ms   136 ms so0-3-1.labr5.global-gateway.net.nz [202.50.232.
254]
8   133 ms   133 ms   132 ms so-0-0-0.lebr6.global-gateway.net.nz [203.96.120
.102]
9     *      185 ms   167 ms google-pni-3.lebr6.global-gateway.net.nz [202.50
.232.114]
10   168 ms   213 ms   168 ms 216.239.46.180
11   167 ms   168 ms   170 ms 72.14.238.130
12   204 ms   193 ms   196 ms 209.85.242.210
13   205 ms   253 ms   220 ms 209.85.243.116
14   223 ms   194 ms   206 ms 72.14.232.140
15   199 ms   199 ms   202 ms 209.85.250.110
16   226 ms   226 ms   225 ms 66.249.94.92
17   234 ms   235 ms   235 ms 72.14.236.134
18   226 ms   226 ms   198 ms eh-in-f104.google.com [72.14.207.104]

Trace complete.

jfnz

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Master Geek

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#183860 13-Dec-2008 14:08

To me those results look fine, and wouldn't suggest that there is any issue. The response times to both Geekzone (a national route) and Google (an international route) are good.

Here are some from my Xtra broadband connection for comparison sake.

root@kryten:~# tcptraceroute geekzone.co.nz
Selected device eth0, address 192.168.0.4, port 49481 for outgoing packets
Tracing the path to geekzone.co.nz (210.48.73.74) on TCP port 80 (www), 30 hops max
1 192.168.0.1 1.145 ms 0.679 ms 0.635 ms
2 219-89-54-1.dialup.xtra.co.nz (219.89.54.1) 40.119 ms 43.834 ms 40.912 ms
3 * * *
4 202.50.238.49 39.549 ms 39.564 ms 40.097 ms
5 g0-1-0.tkcr3.global-gateway.net.nz (210.55.202.50) 39.749 ms 40.211 ms 40.238 ms
6 iconz-dom.tkcr3.global-gateway.net.nz (203.96.64.70) 42.405 ms 41.413 ms 41.076 ms
7 ge-0-2-0.sky01-jcore.iconz.net (210.48.5.69) 42.927 ms 41.838 ms 42.358 ms
8 ge-0-3-0.air01-jcore.iconz.net (210.48.5.2) 70.694 ms 41.973 ms 41.493 ms
9 ge-1-1.cat01-air01.iconz.net (210.48.5.102) 41.184 ms 41.973 ms 41.564 ms
10 wan1.petrescu.iconz.co.nz (210.48.4.76) 74.522 ms 42.201 ms 40.936 ms
11 ip-210-48-73-74.iconz.net.nz (210.48.73.74) [open] 41.710 ms 42.057 ms 41.868 ms

root@kryten:~# tcptraceroute google.co.nz
Selected device eth0, address 192.168.0.4, port 42179 for outgoing packets
Tracing the path to google.co.nz (72.14.207.104) on TCP port 80 (www), 30 hops max
1 192.168.0.1 1.059 ms 0.767 ms 0.940 ms
2 219-89-54-1.dialup.xtra.co.nz (219.89.54.1) 39.992 ms 39.204 ms 39.456 ms
3 * * *
4 xe6-0-0-10.akbr5.global-gateway.net.nz (202.37.244.221) 38.263 ms 39.807 ms 39.932 ms
5 xe0-0-0-2.akbr4.global-gateway.net.nz (202.50.232.77) 39.454 ms 38.090 ms 38.252 ms
6 so1-2-0.tkbr9.global-gateway.net.nz (203.96.120.74) 42.218 ms 39.053 ms 38.905 ms
7 so0-3-1.labr5.global-gateway.net.nz (202.50.232.254) 196.821 ms 194.284 ms 194.866 ms
8 so-0-0-0.lebr6.global-gateway.net.nz (203.96.120.102) 194.961 ms 196.218 ms 194.682 ms
9 google-pni-3.lebr6.global-gateway.net.nz (202.50.232.114) 198.881 ms 198.417 ms 199.521 ms
10 216.239.46.180 175.453 ms 176.206 ms 176.163 ms
11 72.14.238.130 176.487 ms 176.529 ms 178.354 ms
12 209.85.242.210 225.740 ms 240.772 ms 225.167 ms
13 209.85.243.116 214.442 ms 234.426 ms 235.715 ms
14 72.14.232.140 218.427 ms 225.993 ms 218.327 ms
15 209.85.250.110 235.615 ms 228.193 ms 227.894 ms
16 66.249.94.90 229.735 ms 236.519 ms 229.869 ms
17 66.249.94.118 264.684 ms 267.512 ms 270.718 ms
18 eh-in-f104.google.com (72.14.207.104) [open] 257.815 ms 257.700 ms 258.584 ms

freitasm

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#183862 13-Dec-2008 14:21

pcrosley:
C:\>tracert www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?ForumId=84

Tracing route to www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?ForumId=84 [208.67.219.132] over a maximum of 30 hops:

Very strange because Geekzone is 210.48.73.74 so I don't know why your tracert is going to 208.67.219.132.

Anyway, we don't use many scripts (certainly way less than some other New Zealand pages) and basically they are Google Analytics, Google AdSense, Google Ad Manager and Nielsen//Netratings.

Geekzone loads under a second on my browser, and I don't filter any ads. Could it be a transparent proxy on your connection (not that I'be seen any other complaints from Telecom users)? Or could it be your firewall filtering too much? Or your anti-virus? Or even your router or PC with wrong Window Size, or something similar?

pcrosley

49 posts

Geek

#183869 13-Dec-2008 15:22

You might be onto something, Mauricio. I put my laptop in a DMZ and performance improved (short-term) quite noticeably.

I am not confident about depending solely on MS for a firewall, but I guess that's no more dangerous than being connected over dialup.

Thanks for the tip, I'll keep looking in this area.

jfnz

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#183871 13-Dec-2008 15:43

Are you running anything that would cause the router to become saturated with excessive amoutns of connections (e.g. torrents or similar?). This could cause delays similar to what you've described.

At the end of the day, a host based firewall is not really needed if you have a router. The only plus side of said application is that you're able to control the outgoing connections (which Windows Firewall will do quite happily anyway). As long as you have an anti-virus client running, and maybe some anti-malware software (Adaware/Spybot .etc) you should be fine.

skykissme

219 posts

Master Geek

#184199 15-Dec-2008 10:13

A friend of mine has a similar problem, but not just geekzone site though.. BNZ site too using FF3, on Opera 9.51 is fine. We download a Windows security update patch and installed, problem seems to go away, my friend's using Window XP Pro SP2. I'll check with my friend if the link to the download page still in the history. I'll edit this post when I get the link URL.

But I'm not sure if it will solve your problem though.

Edit: (just a thought) meanwhile you can try firefox in safe mode to see if it improve, because it's also maybe a bug or two on your add-on.

We'll never be too old to learn, and we learn at least one new thing every day.

pcrosley

49 posts

Geek

#184257 15-Dec-2008 13:38

Anarkist - Don't do any torrents or heavy work. Basically just constant streaming of internet radio (<192kps) and web work do I
don't see that as an issue.

Skykissme - Thanks for the tip, if you post the specific patch I'll check it out but I should be uptodate (XP Pro SP3).

Things seem to be more normal since I put this laptop in a DMZ so I guess the hardware firewall may be the issue.