Possible traffic routing issue

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CR34M3

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I’ve got an issue with my home network, it’s much slower than it ought to be. I think the issue is how network traffic is routed, but I’m not sure. Also, I’m not sure if “traffic routing” is the correct term, but bear with me.

My setup:
WISP (which assigns IPs), WiFi antenna and MicroTik router, cable to ADSL router (DNS off), 2 PCs connected to ADSL router (i.e. ports 1-3 are connected). To bypass login screens both PCs have static IPs given by my WISP.

Now when I open a shared location on one of my PCs and copy a file it is dreadfully slow. Could it be that traffic is essentially flowing to the WISP and back when I copy? This would explain the speed as upload speeds on my connection is not wonderful.

If this is indeed a possible problem, is there some way to correct/change it? If this is an unlikely situation, does anyone have suggestions of what I could check to troubleshoot this speed issue?
 
For efficient operation, all the devices should be on the same network. You can confirm this by checking that all your devices are configured to use the same default gateway. The default gateway should be an IP number on your home network (the Mikrotik router?). If using different default gateways or if default GW is not on your network, then one consequence could be be slow transfers speeds.
 
You need to give us a bit more info about your setup. A few questions:

  1. I'm assuming the WiFi antenna plugs into your Mikrotik router, and then the Mikrotik router plugs into you ADSL router, which is basically functioning as a switch?
  2. Does the ADSL router have WiFi, and is it being used?
  3. Are there any Telkom lines connected to the ADSL router?
  4. What do you mean by "bypass login screens"?
  5. Do you have access to the Mikrotik router?
  6. What is the Mikrotik router's IP address?
  7. What is your ADSL router's IP address?
  8. What are the IP addresses on your 2 PCs?
  9. What is the transfer speed when copying files accross the shared folder?
 
Saajid said:
You need to give us a bit more info about your setup. A few questions:

  1. I'm assuming the WiFi antenna plugs into your Mikrotik router, and then the Mikrotik router plugs into you ADSL router, which is basically functioning as a switch?
  2. Does the ADSL router have WiFi, and is it being used?
  3. Are there any Telkom lines connected to the ADSL router?
  4. What do you mean by "bypass login screens"?
  5. Do you have access to the Mikrotik router?
    [*]What is the Mikrotik router's IP address?
    [*]What is your ADSL router's IP address?
    [*]What are the IP addresses on your 2 PCs?
  6. What is the transfer speed when copying files accross the shared folder?
Click to expand...
Apologies for the delay (I blame New Year's Day) -- I'll post the required info when I get home today. Just a question (a silly one at that); posting local IPs don't pose a security risk, right? (e.g. 192.168.0.56, etc.)
 
CR34M3 said:
Apologies for the delay (I blame New Year's Day) -- I'll post the required info when I get home today. Just a question (a silly one at that); posting local IPs don't pose a security risk, right? (e.g. 192.168.0.56, etc.)
Click to expand...

Not at all. They're only useful if you also post your public IP address.
 
CR34M3 said:
Apologies for the delay (I blame New Year's Day) -- I'll post the required info when I get home today. Just a question (a silly one at that); posting local IPs don't pose a security risk, right? (e.g. 192.168.0.56, etc.)
Click to expand...
No and just to prove it my main dev system is 192.168.11.201 :)
 
Saajid said:
You need to give us a bit more info about your setup. A few questions:

  1. I'm assuming the WiFi antenna plugs into your Mikrotik router, and then the Mikrotik router plugs into you ADSL router, which is basically functioning as a switch?
  2. Does the ADSL router have WiFi, and is it being used?
  3. Are there any Telkom lines connected to the ADSL router?
  4. What do you mean by "bypass login screens"?
  5. Do you have access to the Mikrotik router?
  6. What is the Mikrotik router's IP address?
  7. What is your ADSL router's IP address?
  8. What are the IP addresses on your 2 PCs?
  9. What is the transfer speed when copying files accross the shared folder?
Click to expand...

  1. Yes.
  2. It has wifi, which is off.
  3. Nope.
  4. The WISP I'm using has a login screen where you enter a username and password which then allows you to access the internet (like a wifi hotspot). I've got an arrangement with them where my two PCs have static IPs which bypasses this login screen and allows 'always on' internet access.
  5. Yes (both physically and remotely via WinBox).
  6. 192.168.88.1
  7. 192.168.1.1 (funny thing is that my network works, both PC can access the internet and each other, I can access http://192.168.1.1/ to change settings, but I can't ping my router... :confused:)
  8. 192.168.1.140 and 141
  9. 13.4Mbps (write) / 0.769Mbps (read) [LAN Speed Test (Lite)]
morgan_g said:
For efficient operation, all the devices should be on the same network. You can confirm this by checking that all your devices are configured to use the same default gateway. The default gateway should be an IP number on your home network (the Mikrotik router?). If using different default gateways or if default GW is not on your network, then one consequence could be be slow transfers speeds.
Click to expand...
Both PCs are configured to used a default gateway as supplied by the WISP -- 192.168.1.2. I haven't tried changing it.

EDIT: Something else I noticed just now; I can ping yahoo.com but a traceroute times out (ping -r 1 yahoo.com). Probably due to the router ping issue above.
 
Last edited:
OK your reply clears things up a bit. As you mentioned in your first post, I suspect this is a routing issue, with your internal LAN traffic going to the WISP and then back. A couple more questions:

  1. What are the full IP settings on each PC. You need to provide:
    • IP address
    • Netmask
    • Default Gateway
    • DNS servers
    • NetBIOS (friendly) names assigned by Windows. E.g. Johns-PC, MyMediaServer
  2. How are you accessing the shares on the PCs? Is it via IP address, or NetBIOS name?
  3. If you ping each PC, from the other PC, what are the results? Try pinging via both NetBIOS name and IP address.
 
Saajid said:
OK your reply clears things up a bit. As you mentioned in your first post, I suspect this is a routing issue, with your internal LAN traffic going to the WISP and then back. A couple more questions:

  1. What are the full IP settings on each PC. You need to provide:
    • IP address
    • Netmask
    • Default Gateway
    • DNS servers
    • NetBIOS (friendly) names assigned by Windows. E.g. Johns-PC, MyMediaServer
  2. How are you accessing the shares on the PCs? Is it via IP address, or NetBIOS name?
  3. If you ping each PC, from the other PC, what are the results? Try pinging via both NetBIOS name and IP address.
Click to expand...
1. cr34m3-pc (192.168.1.140) and pandy (192.168.1.141)
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
Default gateway: 192.168.1.2
DNS server: 192.168.0.1 (no secondary DNS)

2. I access them with the NetBIOS names.

3. Ping-ing each PC from the other...

Pinging 192.168.1.141 with 32 bytes of data:
...
Ping statistics for 192.168.1.141:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 12ms, Maximum = 303ms, Average = 151ms

Pinging pandy [192.168.1.141] with 32 bytes of data:
...
Ping statistics for 192.168.1.141:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 151ms, Maximum = 229ms, Average = 183ms

Pinging 192.168.1.140 with 32 bytes of data:
...
Ping statistics for 192.168.1.140:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 1ms, Maximum = 2ms, Average = 1ms

Pinging cr34m3-pc [192.168.1.140] with 32 bytes of data:
...
Ping statistics for 192.168.1.141:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 1ms, Maximum = 10ms, Average = 4ms
 
The default gateway of 192.168.1.2 - what device is that?

You mentioned earlier that 192.168.1.1 is your ADSL router. I'm stabbing in the dark here, trying to remember from a 10 years ago university course, but my best guess is that there is a static route configured on your ADSL modem, which is forwarding some traffic back to your ISP, which then has its own static routes, which forwards the traffic back.

From your ping results, traffic to cr34m3-pc seems to be routed locally, while traffic to pandy is being routed via the WISPs network. Open up your ADSL router, and check the static routes / routing table / similar, take a screenshot, and post it here.

And since both PCs are plugged into the ADSL modem which is also a router, it is not acting as a simple switch, as initially thought. It is acting as a router. If you plugged both PCs into a simple switch, and then plugged the switch into the ADSL router, you would not have this problem. The switch would simply forward the traffic destined for each PC onto the correct port. However, since your traffic is hitting the router first, the router will apply rules form its routing table to decide where the traffic must go. Switches do not have routing tables. They work purely on MAC addresses. I believe some switches will simply broadcast the packets to everyone in the network (i.e. broadcast domain), while other more intelligent/advanced switches will remember which port on the switch can access which MAC addresses of clients on the network, and forward the traffic only onto those ports.

If I'm wrong, your best bet is to probably ask you WISP to check it out. Their technicians should be able to sort it out fairly quickly, if they are half decent at networking.

Also, that said, your WISP probably has full access to your network. Not great from a security point of view. Ideally you want to block them from accessing your private network. You'll want to protect your network either with a firewall, or via NAT. Perhaps someone with more networking knowledge can provide input here.
 
Last edited:
Guys a PC won't use a default route if it contacts a pc on the same subnet. It will broadcast the traffic. So routing will not come into play. Connect a cable directly to the 2 pcs then test if the problem is not there get another router to test with
 
Saajid said:
The default gateway of 192.168.1.2 - what device is that?
Click to expand...
It's a machine on the WISP's side. Default for anyone connecting to their network.
Saajid said:
From your ping results, traffic to cr34m3-pc seems to be routed locally, while traffic to pandy is being routed via the WISPs network. Open up your ADSL router, and check the static routes / routing table / similar, take a screenshot, and post it here.
Click to expand...
Couldn't find anything that had values in it. Port Forwarding, QoS Setup, Outbound Filter, Inbound Filter; all show empty tables.
TheGuy said:
Guys a PC won't use a default route if it contacts a pc on the same subnet. It will broadcast the traffic. So routing will not come into play. Connect a cable directly to the 2 pcs then test if the problem is not there get another router to test with
Click to expand...
That does make sense, but I'm doing something here that is messing up the normal working of my network.
I did some tests:
Direct cable -- 395Mbps (write) / 329Mbps (read)
Via ADSL router (router DHCP enabled, auto IP on PCs) -- 85Mbps (write) / 74Mbps (write)
Back to 'normal' -- 13Mbps (write) / 0.8Mbps (read)
 
Can you please do a "route print" in a command prompt on both PC's and post the output. Also what is the subnet mask (ipconfig in command prompt) of both machines, as stated earlier in this thread the two machine's should be able to see each other and communicate directly, only if they are on the same subnet however.
 
Last edited:
If i understand correctly, then the below form TheGuy is correct.
There is no routing happening between the 2 pc's, it is all layer 2 connecitivty. You dont need to look further than the 2 pc's and the ADSL modem. Traffic between the two will not go past that.


TheGuy said:
Guys a PC won't use a default route if it contacts a pc on the same subnet. It will broadcast the traffic. So routing will not come into play. Connect a cable directly to the 2 pcs then test if the problem is not there get another router to test with
Click to expand...

CR34M3 said:
That does make sense, but I'm doing something here that is messing up the normal working of my network.
I did some tests:
Direct cable -- 395Mbps (write) / 329Mbps (read)
Via ADSL router (router DHCP enabled, auto IP on PCs) -- 85Mbps (write) / 74Mbps (write)
Back to 'normal' -- 13Mbps (write) / 0.8Mbps (read)
Click to expand...

Are you saying that when you put on DHCP, your speed increases? but when you have static IP's its slow?

Your ping times above are also screwed.
Pinging pandy [192.168.1.141] with 32 bytes of data:
...
Ping statistics for 192.168.1.141:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 151ms, Maximum = 229ms, Average = 183ms
Click to expand...

There is no ways in hell you should be getting an average of 183ms on a local lan segment, even if your cables are absolutely garbage.

If the dhcp thing i mentioned above is correct, then thats pretty bizarre.
What happens then if you unplug the ADSL from the microtik and just have 2 pc's and the ADSL with static assignment?
Do you still get slow response?

Have you tried to replace the ADSL with a normal cheap R150 switch?
 
1. I should have asked this earlier. What are the LAN ports on your PCs configured to? They should preferably set to auto-negotiate for both speed and duplex.
2. Do you have the ability to check your bandwidth usage with you your WISP? If yes, then start a large file copy from one PC to another and then monitor the bandwidth usage. If it changes in a manner that corresponds to the file transfer progress, then you your initial suspicion that the traffic is going via the WISP is correct.
3. 192.168.1.2 is probably( form what you state), the address of the local port of the mikrotik router. It must have an IP Address on your local 192.168.1.0 network or else your internet will not work.
4. Can you do a traceroute (Windows - tracert) to 8.8.8.8 and post your results?
 
Stratt said:
Can you please do a "route print" in a command prompt on both PC's and post the output. Also what is the subnet mask (ipconfig in command prompt) of both machines, as stated earlier in this thread the two machine's should be able to see each other and communicate directly, only if they are on the same subnet however.
Click to expand...

Subnet mask is 255.255.255.0 on both PCs.

I can do a route print to the other local PC, but it's still slow.

>ping -r 1 pandy

Pinging pandy [192.168.1.141] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.141: bytes=32 time=297ms TTL=128
Route: 192.168.1.141
Reply from 192.168.1.141: bytes=32 time=136ms TTL=128
Route: 192.168.1.141
Reply from 192.168.1.141: bytes=32 time=135ms TTL=128
Route: 192.168.1.141
Reply from 192.168.1.141: bytes=32 time=193ms TTL=128
Route: 192.168.1.141

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.141:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 135ms, Maximum = 297ms, Average = 190ms


Can't do the same to e.g. google. Is this normal?

>ping -r 1 google.com

Pinging google.com [74.125.233.72] with 32 bytes of data:
Request timed out.

syntax said:
Are you saying that when you put on DHCP, your speed increases? but when you have static IP's its slow?

...

If the dhcp thing i mentioned above is correct, then thats pretty bizarre.
What happens then if you unplug the ADSL from the microtik and just have 2 pc's and the ADSL with static assignment?
Do you still get slow response?
Click to expand...

The test above marked "Via ADSL Router" was without MicroTik connected. It worked fine. With static IPs the results are the same (ie. good).

Excuse the bad jargon, but where the IPs come from seem to be the problem.

syntax said:
Have you tried to replace the ADSL with a normal cheap R150 switch?
Click to expand...

I've ordered one and will test when it gets here. Till then I'm messing about with the ADSL router's IP a bit. Will report if I manage to get something.
morgan_g said:
1. I should have asked this earlier. What are the LAN ports on your PCs configured to? They should preferably set to auto-negotiate for both speed and duplex.
2. Do you have the ability to check your bandwidth usage with you your WISP? If yes, then start a large file copy from one PC to another and then monitor the bandwidth usage. If it changes in a manner that corresponds to the file transfer progress, then you your initial suspicion that the traffic is going via the WISP is correct.
3. 192.168.1.2 is probably( form what you state), the address of the local port of the mikrotik router. It must have an IP Address on your local 192.168.1.0 network or else your internet will not work.
4. Can you do a traceroute (Windows - tracert) to 8.8.8.8 and post your results?
Click to expand...
1. Uhm... Where do I find this? :)
2. Nope. Uncapped and like I said, the static IPs are bypassing things a bit. :D
3. Not sure about that. If I open the MicroTik config (WinBox) and go to IP Addresses then it lists 192.168.88.1.
4.>tracert 8.8.8.8[\B]

Tracing route to google-public-dns-a.google.com [8.8.8.8]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 2 ms 51 ms 2 ms 193.28.213.196.in-addr.arpa [196.213.28.193]
2 11 ms 12 ms 11 ms 1.216.214.196.in-addr.arpa [196.214.216.1]
3 10 ms 11 ms 12 ms cdsl1-rba-vl144.isdsl.net [196.35.63.65]
4 10 ms 10 ms 14 ms core1a-pkl-te-1-2.ip.isnet.net [168.209.1.139]
5 37 ms 10 ms 9 ms 179.1.209.168.in-addr.arpa [168.209.1.179]
6 10 ms 11 ms 10 ms 66.49.125.74.in-addr.arpa [74.125.49.66]
7 267 ms 197 ms 186 ms 102.232.14.72.in-addr.arpa [72.14.232.102]
8 185 ms 188 ms 186 ms 42.43.239.216.in-addr.arpa [216.239.43.42]
9 215 ms 200 ms 188 ms 229.242.85.209.in-addr.arpa [209.85.242.229]
10 192 ms 188 ms 187 ms 45.49.239.216.in-addr.arpa [216.239.49.45]
11 * * * Request timed out.
12 228 ms 364 ms 218 ms google-public-dns-a.google.com [8.8.8.8]

Trace complete.



Thanks for the help so far everyone. Apologies for my networking ignorance. ;)
 
That is very odd, as was said before seeing as they are on the same subnet, the two PC's should use ARP to find each others mac addresses and communicate directly. You did however say that it works fine when getting DHCP from the Billion router which makes me wonder what is the settings you are receiving. What is the difference of a "ipconfig /all" between the two PC's when you get DHCP and when you statically assign them?

FYI I meant a actual route print eg (But this is irrelevant as you said they are both on a /24 :D):

C:\Users\Stratt>route print
===========================================================================
Interface List
10...1c 6f 65 31 f8 67 ......Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
1...........................Software Loopback Interface 1
11...00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0 Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
16...00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0 Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
===========================================================================

IPv4 Route Table
===========================================================================
Active Routes:
Network Destination Netmask Gateway Interface Metric
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 172.20.13.1 172.20.13.30 10
127.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 On-link 127.0.0.1 306
127.0.0.1 255.255.255.255 On-link 127.0.0.1 306
127.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 127.0.0.1 306
172.20.13.0 255.255.255.0 On-link 172.20.13.30 266
172.20.13.30 255.255.255.255 On-link 172.20.13.30 266
172.20.13.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 172.20.13.30 266
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 On-link 127.0.0.1 306
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 On-link 172.20.13.30 266
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 127.0.0.1 306
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 172.20.13.30 266
===========================================================================
Persistent Routes:
None

IPv6 Route Table
===========================================================================
Active Routes:
If Metric Network Destination Gateway
10 266 ::/0 fe80::be16:65ff:fe51:a308
1 306 ::1/128 On-link
11 58 2001::/32 On-link
11 306 2001:0:9d38:6abd:3c06:3b3:53eb:f2e1/128
On-link
10 18 2001:470:6be0::/64 On-link
10 266 2001:470:6be0:0:9d42:ffd9:54:2261/128
On-link
10 266 2001:470:6be0:0:a97b:17f3:f581:51b5/128
On-link
10 266 fe80::/64 On-link
11 306 fe80::/64 On-link
11 306 fe80::3c06:3b3:53eb:f2e1/128
On-link
10 266 fe80::9d42:ffd9:54:2261/128
On-link
1 306 ff00::/8 On-link
11 306 ff00::/8 On-link
10 266 ff00::/8 On-link
===========================================================================
Persistent Routes:
None
 
I suspect you have an ip conflict on your network. Can you change the Billion router IP and then test? If this doesn't work change the IPs on the PCs one up or down and see if it fixes the problem.
 
Please also run "ipconfig /all" on BOTH pandy and cr34m3-pc and display the results. I'm pretty certain one of the PCs has been set up incorrectly. The inconsistent ping times in post #9 point to this.
 
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