Uploading Kills Internet Connection

L

Landmine

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 19, 2011
Messages
402
Wne I upload a large file (10mb or larger) my download drops out and my connection crashes.

I'm using a pfSense on a VM as my router, I have a Motorola SurfBoard Cable Modem (Comcast Business Class 12/2) and a $150 Trendnet Rackmount Switch.

Any ideas or things I can test to find out why?
 
Are you maxing your upstream? It's pretty common when on a cable modem to kill your downstream when your upstream gets maxed.
 
I'd say so. Is there a way I can do some kind of QoS as to keep my connection alive? The annoying part is my upload can sometimes be 2mbps and sometimes 30 mbps.... So I dont want to make a rule that limits me to 1.8 when I could be doing 20.
 
Odd that your upstream varies that much.

What speeds are you paying for?

Never mind. Just saw the speeds in your original post.
 
@Melon, How would a software firewall help? The connection for all computers/devices drops.

@RiDDLeRThC, I think it has something to do with with their power boost stuff...
 
If you saturate your upload speed, your download will crap out and be slow. The way TCP works it has to send acknowledge packets back to the source and if your upload speed is pegged, it'll take longer for the source to receive the ack packets.
 
Landmine said:
@Melon, How would a software firewall help? The connection for all computers/devices drops.

@RiDDLeRThC, I think it has something to do with with their power boost stuff...
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IIRC, you can cap your upload speeds with them.
 
PFSense should be able to handle that without breaking a sweat.

*I see you have it in a VM...potential problem, depending on what type of NICs the host has. What type are they?
*Have you run your traffic shaper in PFSense? Correctly? (many people run it backwards not understanding which interface is what).

You don't need some clunky 3rd party software firewall to manage your uploads, PFSense will easily handle all of that properly.
 
NICs are the ones that came with my Supermicro board (Intel 82574L Gigabit)

I have not configured that in pfSense no.

VMSummary.png
 
Ya, I have the same problem and nothing I could find would fix it. My internet will completely drop for about 5 minutes unless I unplug/cycle the modem. Literally the cable modem's connection just drops. I have argued with the cable company repeatedly and they say I am not supposed to be uploading anything and it's normal.... wtf...
 
KarsusTG said:
Ya, I have the same problem and nothing I could find would fix it. My internet will completely drop for about 5 minutes unless I unplug/cycle the modem. Literally the cable modem's connection just drops. I have argued with the cable company repeatedly and they say I am not supposed to be uploading anything and it's normal.... wtf...
Click to expand...

Time for a new modem/ you have signal problems.
 
awesomo said:
Time for a new modem/ you have signal problems.
Click to expand...

This. I have brighthouse. Was having the same problem for a couple months(connection dropping when uploading). They replaced the modem which was the Cisco 2100 with a surfboard sbg6580. Installed a new line and added a signal amplifier for the tv.
 
For any firewall you shouldn't even need to do traffic shaping to upload and keep your connection from dropping. This is more of a router or modem issue. Maybe a bad cable. Seems we are making this harder than it needs to be.

I would bet the modem needs replaced or cables replaced. Traffic shaping is intended to prioritize traffic you want to have the most bandwidth on....not to fix a problem you shouldn't have in the first place.
 
/usr/home said:
If you saturate your upload speed, your download will crap out and be slow. The way TCP works it has to send acknowledge packets back to the source and if your upload speed is pegged, it'll take longer for the source to receive the ack packets.
Click to expand...

Any decent modem handles this properly without a crap out. Slowness can occur but by no means is a crap out an expected occurrence.
 
If you get excessive packet loss (which is common) it'll eventually "die" or at least become highly unusable. Please have a look at the link I provided earlier.
//Danne
 
Tarrant64 said:
For any firewall you shouldn't even need to do traffic shaping to upload and keep your connection from dropping. This is more of a router or modem issue. Maybe a bad cable. Seems we are making this harder than it needs to be.

I would bet the modem needs replaced or cables replaced. Traffic shaping is intended to prioritize traffic you want to have the most bandwidth on....not to fix a problem you shouldn't have in the first place.
Click to expand...

No it isn't a router/modem issue at all.
With cable connections, I also have to either setup QoS in a router or traffic shaping in PFSense in order to physically limit the upload speed from capping, otherwise my download speeds are severely penalized due to lack of throughput on the upload.

It has nothing to do with the cables, modem, router, or anything else hardware related.
Sorry, but you don't really know what you are talking about.

Melon said:
The pretentiousness of your post is quite cute. :rolleyes:
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The lack of information in your posts is also quite cute. Not.



Landmine said:
I have 1 WAN Port and 1 LAN Port.

WAN - Comcast
LAN - Link to my rackmount switch

What do I click on? Dedicated?
Click to expand...
This might help you a bit: http://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Traffic_Shaping_Guide
 
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RedFalcon, I'll try not to take that personally.

Look - what the OP stated was that when uploading files the internet connection drops. That is not normal. Despite what you might think - it's not a normal occurrence to upload files to the internet and have your internet connection drop because you don't have QoS or any type of traffic shaping.

What you stated is in fact true, when you upload files your internet download speeds will be penalized to some degree (depends on your service honestly).

Landmine - good luck with Pfsense, but know that your internet shouldn't have this issue in the first place. QoS is the right answer for you though if you think there's no other solution. As others have suggested, you may have signal problems with your modem. If you setup QoS you may just be masking another issue and not really getting what you paid for with your business line, please keep that in mind.
 
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Tarrant64 said:
RedFalcon, I'll try not to take that personally.

Look - what the OP stated was that when uploading files the internet connection drops. That is not normal. Despite what you might think - it's not a normal occurrence to upload files to the internet and have your internet connection drop because you don't have QoS or any type of traffic shaping.

What you stated is in fact true, when you upload files your internet download speeds will be penalized to some degree (depends on your service honestly).

Landmine - good luck with Pfsense, but know that your internet shouldn't have this issue in the first place. QoS is the right answer for you though if you think there's no other solution. As others have suggested, you may have signal problems with your modem. If you setup QoS you may just be masking another issue and not really getting what you paid for with your business line, please keep that in mind.
Click to expand...

I have yet to see any kind of cable ISP connection that doesn't have this issue, so when you say this, especially from all that I've experienced and what I've read online, it contradicts everything you are saying.

Ok, so it might be "signal problems" with all of our cable modems... what do you presume to do to fix it?
You have yet to show any solutions that might help the situation.

If you know so much, then please, give us some potential solutions to the problems that have been presented; other than, of course, QoS or Traffic Shaping as those were presented by other individuals other than yourself.
You talk a great deal, but you haven't given us a damn thing to work with, hence why I said you don't know what you are talking about; if you know so much, give us a solution.

I would bet the modem needs replaced or cables replaced. Traffic shaping is intended to prioritize traffic you want to have the most bandwidth on....not to fix a problem you shouldn't have in the first place.
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I've replaced modems and cables before, it makes no difference.
Also, traffic shaping will act like QoS if you tell it to, and yes, it will fix the problem that, unfortunately, we do have in the first place. :rolleyes:

No offense, but you completely remind me of these "IT guys" that will present the problem, talk about its limitations and faults all day, yet don't know a single solution to the problem and are dicks about it when asked for a solution.
Sorry, but you don't appear to know what you are talking about, and I'm going to stand by this until I hear a solution from you to the problem.
 
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I happen to disagree or rather propose another possible problem already stated by others - that is all. If the modem is the issue the solution has already been stated several times for that.

Since you're committed in attacking me on this ill leave it be. You're being a completely disrespectful.
 
Tarrant64 said:
I happen to disagree or rather propose another possible problem already stated by others - that is all. If the modem is the issue the solution has already been stated several times for that.

Since you're committed in attacking me on this ill leave it be. You're being a completely disrespectful.
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The modem isn't the issue. I stated that, he stated that, and everyone else has already stated that. :rolleyes:
Yeah, your "solution" was replace the hardware, which many of us have done and stated that it did nothing and wasn't this issue; so why are you still disagreeing???
In other words, you have no possible solution to the problem and have added nothing to this thread. :rolleyes:

That isn't "attacking" you or "being disrespectful", it's called stating the obvious.
Once again, you don't know what the hell you're talking about when it comes to this specific issue.
 
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I must be the only one reading the actual posts then. I'm seriously going off of what has been posted. Let's recap what the OP has and hasn't done:

The OP has not stated whether or not the modem is or isn't the issue. The only thing tried so far that has been stated is an attempt to get PFSense properly setup - which I have supported as a solution. I also happened to state that I don't think it was actually fixing the problem but was rather a bandage to mask what might be a problem elsewhere.

Others have posted that replacing the modem in this thread has or hasn't fixed the issue. Go back through the posts and you'll see that. Someone else has verified it has fixed their issues in the past, and I myself have had a similar problem that was fixed by replacing the modem.

You're not stating the obvious - you're stating what you feel is ultimately the only solution. I gave another opinion - which others have shared that it could be the cable modem. Again - OP has not stated that this has been checked out yet that I've seen.

Just the facts from what has been posted here man - what I'm talking about is the best that can be given based on what has been posted.
 
Red Falcon said:
The modem isn't the issue. I stated that, he stated that, and everyone else has already stated that. :rolleyes:
.
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No one has given any evidence that the modem has been checked out and is in fact not the problem. You stated it - yes. He stated that - no. And everyone else has either stated it may or may not be the problem. :rolleyes:

Just because you say it's not - doesn't mean everyone should just bend over and accept it.
 
Tarrant64 said:
No one has given any evidence that the modem has been checked out and is in fact not the problem. You stated it - yes. He stated that - no. And everyone else has either stated it may or may not be the problem. :rolleyes:

Just because you say it's not - doesn't mean everyone should just bend over and accept it.
Click to expand...

Bend over, damn it! :p
 
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