Commune internet management

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XanManZA

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Pretoria
Hey guys

So our commune is getting internet and I'm the one that has to do the majority of admin and management.
I'm currently looking at a 10Mbs unshaped uncapped business line from Afrihost.
The telephone line is compatible with 10Mbs
I feel this is necessary as up to 12 people will be using the line at one time.

The main things I need help on and want to fish from you guys are:

  • A checklist on what settings I need to perform and where I need to perform them to ensure optimal performance of the line(DNS etc all that jazz). We are situated in Pretoria.
  • Can I run 'server management' of sorts from my own desktop? What would I need to run this?(hardeware and software). For e.g. we'd like to limit the bandwith of the Wifi while retaining most of the speed for the gamers and more bandwith-important stuff. I would also like to be able to temporarily block the IP's of certain devices if the specific person has not paid.
  • A checklist of what I need to make sure of at the side of the ISP and Telkom so there are no unwanted surprises and/or dissapointments.

Furthermore any information you feel I need to know or keep in mind would be useful!
 
You are not guaranteed 10mbps even if your exchange says so.

Don't just block IPs, block MAC addresses.

Look at smoothwall

You want 12 people and still allow online gaming. Get real
 
Auto settings from the ISP is perfectly fine as the DNS servers will be closer and take less time to resolve than say open servers.

If you want to do QOS/Limiting, you will need a proper router that can do this.
The best option, Mikrotik, as you could use layer 7 protocols which is the least likely to be bypassed, but by far not the easiest for someone with no experience with Mikrotik.

I would suggest a router that supports DD-WRT http://www.dd-wrt.com/site/index

Very easy to use and heaps of info.
Different games never use the same ports but at least you would be able to de/prioritize certain other sorts of traffic. Otherwise you would need to prioritize a new game every time, but if you play a handfull of games online this is a set once affair. So set your game ports to the highest priority and the rest down, you should be golden and it doesn't matter how many people you have on, unless the hardware starts running out of resources.
It also supports layer 7 I believe but your millage my vary depending on the routers processing power.

You could always prioritize IP/MAC addresses on a schedule. Many different ways.
 
Last edited:
Thanks Psion, a much more useful response.
I've seen things at a glance about scheduling IP/MAC addresses, could you possibly point me to a direction to read up on that too?
 
XanManZA said:
Thanks Psion, a much more useful response.
I've seen things at a glance about scheduling IP/MAC addresses, could you possibly point me to a direction to read up on that too?
Click to expand...

The router will assign an IP to each new device, you could reserve the address to always get assigned the same device on the router. So you could throttle/limit that specific address, it just depends on the routers software. Additionally it will allow this to take place at only certain times of the day.
It should be a relatively simple drop down menu to do this. Although every time a new device connects the rules will need to be adjusted, could become a chore in a place like a commune.

I think the best would be to adjust the priorities for each "program" eg. games = high, browsing = medium , streaming/downloading = low
etc...
So only when you are gaming will the other services be slowed down, and if you don't game, browsing will have the highest priority, this will require the least amount of maintenance.
 
psion said:
I think the best would be to adjust the priorities for each "program" eg. games = high, browsing = medium , streaming/downloading = low
etc...
So only when you are gaming will the other services be slowed down, and if you don't game, browsing will have the highest priority, this will require the least amount of maintenance.
Click to expand...

Yes that would be great.
Can DD-WRT achieve this?
 
XanManZA said:
Yes that would be great.
Can DD-WRT achieve this?
Click to expand...

Yes it can, here is a link to the wiki page:
http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Quality_of_Service

If you have a old PC lying around it would be more than enough to do the task too. Then you can get a cheap adsl router.
You can load a software firewall on this eg: http://www.smoothwall.org/ or http://ipcop.org/index.php Your ADSL account needs to be set up on this firewall for easiest use and best result. So your adsl router will be set up in bridge mode and will just be the "converter" from LAN cable to ADSL
There are a few different flavors around. The downside is you need two LAN cards, one to go to the router and one to your network. So you will need a switch or wireless access point additionally too. Also old pc's take up space, use more power and are generally noisy. So it depends on your situation. The config is pretty easy and the interface is just about the same as how a proper router would look like.

So getting an all in one ADSL Router with WIFI could save time/money/space/power. Some good routers have QOS built into the software already but sometimes lack all the features. I suggest finding a router and then try getting hold of the manual on the manufacturers website to look at what it can do.
If you don't find one that can do all you need, get one that can take the DD-WRT firmware update and you should be set.
 
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