LAN speed

[snobee]

Hi there,
I have recently added a second FS server to my LAN. The public interface is also on the LAN, though it does point to an internet gateway. The problem is occassionally users need to access the other part of the LAN through the FS server to download files. We are experience noticiably slower speeds when downloading LAN data. The previous hotspot server was unstable and that is why I changed to FS. LAN speeds through the previous hotspot though were fine.

The FS server uses two Intel gigabit nics, and no throttling is in place on the user or global setting. The gigabit backbone is throughout the network, so there is no "weak link" of 10 or 100Mbits. The FS server also has the various LAN ip addresses accessed in its "exception free" database. Is FS supposed to "limit" speed in this way? It seems when I download a file from the other side of the FS server, it takes a few seconds to "think", then it starts and comes in little "spurts". Using the other hotspot server, it comes down in 1/4th of the time at least.

Thanks,
Kev

[alan]

First, please use nslookup to confirm your DNS is stable.

Also, what FTP client are you using? Our experience is that the ftp client within IE can take a couple of seconds to initiate a connection. You might want to use different ftp clients to see whether it makes a difference.
_________________
~ Patronsoft Limited ~

[snobee]

Hi there,
Just an initial response, before I can follow through with checking the DNS issue out:
FTP is probably not used at all. This is primarily with mapping drives. We map drives which are servers on the public side of FS. These files are then downloaded from the remote server and come in slowly. I also have an application for example (actually ConsoleOne of Novell Netware). This application is run off the server and is much slower to run and update its information than when run through the other hotspot.

Thanks.

[alan]

Sorry, I misunderstand that you are using ftp.

What is the way for you to access the shared drive? Do you shared name? Can you try to use IP directly (e.g. \\192.168.0.23\sharefolder)?

Also, did you turn on our "IP Block List" or "Port Filtering" feature?
_________________
~ Patronsoft Limited ~

[snobee]

Thanks. Actually I always use ip addresses for mapping. There are no ip blocked servers, though all users do have the IP blocklist activated under their user profile (in case I do need to add addresses at a later stage). Having said that, my profile does not have any blocklist setting, but the speed issue still occurs. I wonder if the network cards are ok, guess I will need to try and see if the same things occurs if I uninstall FS and just use ICS?

[alan]

Can you post your :

1) config.ini file
2) ipconfig/all of the FirstSpot
3) ipconfig/all of the client PC
_________________
~ Patronsoft Limited ~

[snobee]

Sorry, been so busy so only doing it now. Well, here goes... quite a lot of info :) I will put them in separate posts.

CONFIG.INI:


;
; Description : FirstSpot setting ini file
;
; Filename : config.ini
;

; Note: use a backslash to separate directories and files, those lines starting with
; a semi-colon are considered as comments.
;
; Warning : please don't change this file without supervision of a PatronSoft Engineer
; It is highly recommended that you change the FirstSpot setting in the Web-based Configuration Manager

[version]
version=Advanced
versionDesc=4.0.12

[MNS]
; number of return paths
num_return_path=0
return_path0=

[DHCP]
leasetime=2880
num_ignored_addr=0
ignore_addr0=

[Port Filter]
flt_num=0
flt_0=

[QOS]
dl=
ul=
qos_num=
qos_0=

[Client Pass]
num_mac_addr=0
mac_0=
num_ip_addr=0
ip_0=

[proxyARP]
ip_num=
ip_addr0=

;
; Redirect Login Page php file
;
[loginPhp]
Login_enable0=
Login_php_Num0=

;
; Gateway Settings
;
[gateway]
;Print Log Table
Datasource_Printlog=printlog

;Shared Secret Table Name
Datasource_Shared_Secret_Tablename=fssecret

;maximum timelimit per session in minutes (global), 0 = never
sessionlimit =

;URL tracking, default off
Trace_URL=1

;URL tracking interval, do not log the same url for particular user in x mins
Trace_URL_Interval=15

;URL tracking table
Datasource_URL_Log_Tablename=fsurl

;extra-information field table name
Datasource_extra_field_table =aexlog

;demo_mode=on, off (default)
;
;This demo_mode parameter is for FirstSpot channel partners demonstration purpose
;If demo_mode=on, FirstSpot DNS Server and Web Server will perform a catch-all on all
;requests. After the user login, the client will always see the "firstspotdemo" page.
demo_mode=off

;redirect user to cart.php when login fails
redirect_cart=0

;Client Isolation, NetBIOS over TCP/IP, Default is Disabled
netbios=1

;Scenario 2 (Distributed Network Topology)
scenario2=0

; Post-Startup Batch File Path Name
batch_filePath =

; lan's subnet mask (please change this through Configuration Manager only)
;
subnet_mask =255.255.0.0

; domain name server IP address
;
DNS =0.0.0.0

; domain name server IP address
;
preferred_DNS =0.0.0.0

; domain name server IP address
;
alternate_DNS =0.0.0.0

; username
;
user =admin

; password
;
pass =4e9bace2711e49d321671555f9328c4a

;Number of maximum administrator account
max_admin_account = 10

;Administrator username
admin_username0 =
admin_username1 =
admin_username2 =
admin_username3 =
admin_username4 =
admin_username5 =
admin_username6 =
admin_username7 =
admin_username8 =
admin_username9 =

;Administrator password
admin_password0 =
admin_password1 =
admin_password2 =
admin_password3 =
admin_password4 =
admin_password5 =
admin_password6 =
admin_password7 =
admin_password8 =
admin_password9 =

;Administrator parameter
admin_parameter0 =
admin_parameter1 =
admin_parameter2 =
admin_parameter3 =
admin_parameter4 =
admin_parameter5 =
admin_parameter6 =
admin_parameter7 =
admin_parameter8 =
admin_parameter9 =

; network interface card connected to Internet (after modify this, need to restart FirstSpot)
;
publicNIC=WAN

; network interface card connected Hotspots or visitor-based networks (after modify this, need to bind the FirstHop driver
; to this new card and unbind the FirstHop driver from ALL other cards, then reboot Windows)
;
privateNIC=LAN double length card

; data source for user login
;
Datasource =C:\Program Files\FirstSpot\datasource\firstspot.dsn

; datasource table for user login
;
Datasource_Tablename =fsusr

; datasource table for user login
Datasource_Plans_Tablename =fsplans

; enable session logging into the datasource log table
session_log =ON

; datasource table for user session logging
;
Datasource_Log_Tablename =fsusrlog

; datasource table for PayPal
;
Datasource_PayPal_Table=ppal

; port used by Gateway Service
;
port =5786

; port used by Authentication Server
;
auth_port =5788

; port used by ssl site
;
ssl_port =5789

; Greeting message displayed in login page
;
greeting_msg =Welcome to our Hotspot!

; Enable to show InfoBox
;
show_infobox =ON

; Login page picture (filename)
;
loginpage_pic_name=HCbadge.jpg

; authentication server IP address (please change this through Configuration Manager only)
; Note: different from gateway_IP when it is not installed in gateway (not officially supported in this version)
;
auth_IP =192.168.0.1

; login page filename which dispatcher will call
;
loginpage =login_select.php

; login form filename which login_select.php will call
;
loginform =login_form.php

; anonymous login form filename which login_select.php will call
;
a_loginform =alogin_form.php

; authentication form filename which authentication.php will call
;
reauthenticationform =reauth_form.php

; anonymous authentication form filename which authentication.php will call
;
a_reauthenticationform =alogout_form.php

; idle time (minutes) allowed for authenticated users
;
idle_timeout =15

; private network (please change this through Configuration Manager only)
;
private_IP =192.168.0.0

; gateway IP address (please change this through Configuration Manager only)
;
gateway_IP =192.168.0.1

; allow access to config manager from private network?
;
access_from_private =ON

; allow access to config manager from public network?
;
access_from_public =ON

; license file path
;
licensepath =C:\Program Files\FirstSpot\

; session handling mode, 0 for MAC-based, 1 for IP-based
session_handling =0

; path for dhcp config
dhcppath =C:\Program Files\FirstSpot\dhcp\dhcpservice.ini

; dhcp mode, 0 = auto, 1 = static, 2 = disabled
dhcpmode =2

; for static dhcp only, path of the Ip MAC mapping list
static_dhcp_path =C:\Program Files\FirstSpot\StaticDHCP.txt

; anonymous login
anonymous_login =off

; secret enable
secret_enable=off

; secret code
secret_code=0aed120c6f7090a5b26a4c93df382b21

; anonymous login user table name
Datasource_Anonymous_Tablename =fsa

; anonymous login log table name
Datasource_Anonymous_Log_Tablename =fsalog

; password offloading mode
pwd_offload =off

; password encryption directory path
encrypt_path =C:\Program Files\FirstSpot\dispatcher\encrypt_pwd.exe

; initial air time in minutes for self signup users
self_sign_up_credit=0

; self signup filtering
self_signup_filter=1

;allow self-signup without an ip/mac, 0=yes, 1=no
self_signup_no_mac=1

; null=no filter, 0 = signup once, >0 after x mins
self_signup_period=

;use 3 party ssl cert 0=yes 1=no
ssl_cert=1

;secure socket layer for authentication
;443 for enabled SSL, auth_port=ssl_auth_port for disabled ssl
ssl_auth_port=5788

;rewrite engine for http to https redirection
rewrite_engine=off

;NAT
nat=0

;maximum fail attempt allowed
max_attempt=

;If user accesses http://10.20.7.1:5788 directly, redirect the request to any non-existing ip,
;so that driver can capture the request properly.
;DO NOT put any unresolvable domain name here
redirect_address=http://10.0.0.99/logged_in.html

;port to handle https request in apache when user is not authenticate
redirect_port=5790

restricted_redirect=0

; Allowed Hosts Settings
;
[allowed hosts]
; allowed hosts keywords file path
;
hosts_keywords_path =C:\Program Files\FirstSpot\AllowedHostsKeywords.txt

; allowed hosts IPs file path
;
hosts_ips_path =C:\Program Files\FirstSpot\AllowedHostsIps.txt


; Bandwidth Throttle Settings
[bw_throttle]
; Bandwidth Throttle Mode
bt_mode =0

; Overall Upload Limit (at least 20KB/s recommended)
bt_ul_limit =0

; Overall Download Limit (at least 20KB/s recommended)
bt_dl_limit =0

; low, medium and high definition
bt_low=100
bt_medium=50
bt_high=20
bt_drop_period=2

[bwreset]
bwresetmethod=
bwresetperiod=
lastresetbw=

[creditcard]
payment_method=ppal

[paypal]
; Business id
;
ppal_business=your_business_id@your_email.com

; URL for successful transactions
;
ppal_return=http://10.20.7.1:5788/cart.php

; URL for cancelled transactions
;
ppal_cancel_return=http://10.20.7.1:5788/cart.php

; trust "Pending"=="Complete"?
;
ppal_pending_release=no

; the settlement currency
;
ppal_base_currency=USD

; URL for notify
;
ppal_notify_url=http://fixed_ip:5789

; Starting number for invoice
;
ppal_invoice_start=1

[worldpay]
; Installation id
;
wpay_instID=your_installation_ID

; the settlement currency
;
wpay_base_currency=USD

; URL for notify
;
wpay_notify_url=http://fixed_ip:5789

; Test Mode
; 100 : test mode - always successful validation
; 101 : test mode - always failed validation
; 0 : test mode - live mode, not testing
;
wpay_testmode=0

[AuthorizeNet]

;login id
aNet_id=

;transaction key
aNet_key=

aNet_hash=

aNet_base_currency=USD

; URL for notify
aNet_notify_url=http://fixed_ip

; Test Mode
; 0 : test mode - live mode, not testing
; 1 : test mode - testing only
aNet_testmode=0

[PrinterOn]

PrintSupport=0
SiteURL=
SiteUID=
SiteAuth=
; show siteURL
show_URL_login=1
show_URL_infobox=1

[lang]
; default language file
default_lang_file=lang.php
default_lang_file_attributes=English;en,en-us;iso-8859-1
; number of other language files
lang_fileNumber=0
; other luguage files
lang_file1=
lang_file1_attributes=
lang_file2=
lang_file2_attributes=
lang_file3=
lang_file3_attributes=
lang_file4=
lang_file4_attributes=
lang_file5=
lang_file5_attributes=
; show character encoding
; 0 : hide
; 1 : show
show_charset=1

lang_pack_file=custom_lang.php
cmlang_pack_file=custom_cmlang.php
last_logout=logout
this_logout=logout
last_info=infobox
this_info=infobox
last_cart=cart
this_cart=cart
key_0=
url_0=
signup01=off
signup02=off
signup03=off
signup04=off
signup05=off
signup06=off
signup07=off
signup08=off
signup09=off
signup10=off
ReqSignUp01=off
ReqSignUp02=off
ReqSignUp03=off
ReqSignUp04=off
ReqSignUp05=off
ReqSignUp06=off
ReqSignUp07=off
ReqSignUp08=off
ReqSignUp09=off
ReqSignUp10=off
extra01=off
extra02=off
extra03=off
extra04=off
extra05=off
extra06=off
extra07=off
extra08=off
extra09=off
extra10=off

; Setting of cart description
[cart]
max_slot_open=0

[radius]
use_radius=false
ServerIP=10.20.7.1
AuthPort=1812
AccPort=1813
Secret=secret
FSVendorID=2004
Datasource=C:\Program Files\FirstSpot\datasource\radius.dsn
Datasource_Tablename=fsRadius
Acc_Start=true
Acc_Stop=true
;Acc_FSLogin=true
;Acc_FSLogout=true
;Acc_FSWriteLog=true

[radiusAuthentication]
NAS_IDENTIFIER=FirstSpot
;NAS_IP_ADDRESS=the private nic ip, this can be edited.
;CALLING_STATION_ID=client nic mac or ip, depends on the Firstspot setting, this can not be edited.
;CALLED_STATION_ID=firstspot private nic mac, this can not be edited.

[radiusCustomAttribute]
;Vendor spec type for Firstspot
;fixed value can not be changed.
;
;FS_AUTH_TIMELEFT=1
;FS_AUTH_ACCUMBW=2
;FS_AUTH_BWQUOTA=3
;FS_AUTH_BWCOUNT=4
;FS_AUTH_ULLIMIT=5
;FS_AUTH_DLLIMIT=6
;FS_AUTH_LOGINTIME=7
;FS_AUTH_LOGOUTTIME=8
;FS_AUTH_TIMEDIFF=9
;FS_AUTH_BWUSAGE=10

;Account Status Type Attributes, can be changed.
;
;default ACCT_STATUS_FSLOGIN=217
;default ACCT_STATUS_FSLOGOUT=218
;default ACCT_STATUS_FSWRITELOG=219

[prepaidCard]
random_usr_prefix=usr_
random_usr_suffix_salt=abcdefghjkmnpqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHJKMNPQRSTUVWXYZ123456789
random_usr_suffix_length=5
pwd_salt=abcdefghjkmnpqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHJKMNPQRSTUVWXYZ123456789
pwd_length=7

[ACL]
num_acl=0

[fssmtp]
smtp =false
IspSmtpDomain=

[misc]
show_cart=no
enable_chgpwd=1
block_icmp=off
block_udp=on
_debug=1
pkt_period=20
oem=C:\WINDOWS\INF\oem7.inf
PublicAdapterIP=10.0.0.99
PublicAdapterIpMask=255.255.254.0
PublicAdapterGateway=10.0.0.35
PrivateMAC=000423d7cbd8
[DataTransfer]
bwcount_dl=0
bwcount_ul=0

[snobee]

FIRSTSPOT SERVER IPCONFIG /ALL

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : hotspotdh
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes

Ethernet adapter WAN:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/1000 GT Desktop Adapter

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0E-0C-C3-93-9C
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.99
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.254.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.35
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.30

Ethernet adapter LAN double length card:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/1000 MT Server Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-04-23-D7-CB-D8
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

[snobee]

CLIENT IPCONFIG /ALL (WINDOWS VISTA 32BIT)
I find the DHCP on Firstspot tends to stop functioning if the FS server is left running for over two weeks or so (approx). Then I have to restart FS to get it going again, so I added a Windows 2003 box for DHCP allocation and for more control/monitoring of users.


Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : firstspot.org
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/1000 PL Network Connection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-16-76-D3-F9-91
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::45db:2f24:be19:3a90%8(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.10.64(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 08 August 2007 10:58:43 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 06 November 2007 10:58:28 PM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.10.1
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 201332342
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 6:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : firstspot.org
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.firstspot.org
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::5efe:192.168.10.64%10(Preferred)
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 7:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 02-00-54-55-4E-01
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:4136:e388:3c7b:fb08:d60f:e0ee(Pre
erred)
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::3c7b:fb08:d60f:e0ee%9(Preferred)
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : ::
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled