- Jun 18, 2013
- 30
- 0
- 10,530
Hi all, apologies in advance for the multi-part question that will follow but I wasn't quite sure what the best title for this would be.
My current network setup is as follows
PC -> Standard router -> CISCO switch -> PC set up with IPFire -> Virgin router (modem)
The internet connection is supplied to multiple apartments, hence the switch and firewall configuration. Everything is hooked up via ethernet, including my PC.
I first noticed a problem when I started getting irregular, severe latency spikes when playing games. I've run some ping tests from my PC for diagnostics, and I get the following results:
Ping 10.1.28.254 (firewall PC): Stable <1ms ping
Ping 192.168.0.1 (Virgin modem): ~4ms when stable, but latency intermittently jumps to ~200ms (and packets occasionally time out completely), correlating with in-game lag spikes.
This implies that there's an issue between the firewall and the Virgin router, but because the network is managed by an external company, I don't have the credentials to access either of these. I also can't wire my PC up directly to the Virgin router because it is set up in modem mode and will only communicate directly with the firewall PC's IP address. Contacting the company for help without having identified the true source of the issue causes weeks of waiting for someone to show up and do some fiddling around, and at the end of the day the problem is still unsolved (I've tried this already).
So I guess my questions are as follows:
1. Is there any way I can do a ping test between a specific segment of a network from my PC? I.e. simulate packets being sent directly from the firewall to the Virgin modem, in order to confirm my suspicions about that segment being the source of the problem?*
2. I'm a big believer in the whole 'have you turned it off and on again' thing. Luckily, I have physical access to both the modem and the firewall/switch. I've tried restarting the modem but the problem remains. Would it be safe to power the firewall PC off and on using the physical power button on the machine? More specifically, if the machine is restarted, would IPFire start itself up again and resume as normal?
3. After doing some more diagnostics and potentially restarting the firewall machine, is there anything else I can do without involving the company that manages the system? I'd just like to exhaust all my options (without brute-forcing my way into the firewall) before having to wait another few weeks and relying on someone else to attempt to fix it.
* Without having login credentials for either of these
Just a final note, I am aware that since the internet connection is shared, problems could arise from other apartments flooding the network. However, I still get these latency issues late at night when speeds are at their best (~80mbps down, ~4mbps up).
Thank you in advance for reading through my wall of text, and please let me know if I can provide any more info (I will try my best).
My current network setup is as follows
PC -> Standard router -> CISCO switch -> PC set up with IPFire -> Virgin router (modem)
The internet connection is supplied to multiple apartments, hence the switch and firewall configuration. Everything is hooked up via ethernet, including my PC.
I first noticed a problem when I started getting irregular, severe latency spikes when playing games. I've run some ping tests from my PC for diagnostics, and I get the following results:
Ping 10.1.28.254 (firewall PC): Stable <1ms ping
Ping 192.168.0.1 (Virgin modem): ~4ms when stable, but latency intermittently jumps to ~200ms (and packets occasionally time out completely), correlating with in-game lag spikes.
This implies that there's an issue between the firewall and the Virgin router, but because the network is managed by an external company, I don't have the credentials to access either of these. I also can't wire my PC up directly to the Virgin router because it is set up in modem mode and will only communicate directly with the firewall PC's IP address. Contacting the company for help without having identified the true source of the issue causes weeks of waiting for someone to show up and do some fiddling around, and at the end of the day the problem is still unsolved (I've tried this already).
So I guess my questions are as follows:
1. Is there any way I can do a ping test between a specific segment of a network from my PC? I.e. simulate packets being sent directly from the firewall to the Virgin modem, in order to confirm my suspicions about that segment being the source of the problem?*
2. I'm a big believer in the whole 'have you turned it off and on again' thing. Luckily, I have physical access to both the modem and the firewall/switch. I've tried restarting the modem but the problem remains. Would it be safe to power the firewall PC off and on using the physical power button on the machine? More specifically, if the machine is restarted, would IPFire start itself up again and resume as normal?
3. After doing some more diagnostics and potentially restarting the firewall machine, is there anything else I can do without involving the company that manages the system? I'd just like to exhaust all my options (without brute-forcing my way into the firewall) before having to wait another few weeks and relying on someone else to attempt to fix it.
* Without having login credentials for either of these
Just a final note, I am aware that since the internet connection is shared, problems could arise from other apartments flooding the network. However, I still get these latency issues late at night when speeds are at their best (~80mbps down, ~4mbps up).
Thank you in advance for reading through my wall of text, and please let me know if I can provide any more info (I will try my best).
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