VPN for the streamings

[gaijinpunch]

Hmm....
Awful performance now (midnight).

VPN through DD-WRT


VPN directly on Mac


No VPN


Shit don't seem right.

[FG Lurker]

Hmm....
Awful performance now (midnight).
Shit don't seem right.

There's something else wrong. When you're not doing anything on your computer(s), are the lights on your router still going nuts? If so someone or something may be using your network and you need to figure out what and get rid of it/them.

If that's not the case then you may have a badly configured router, a poorly performing router, or some other network problems.

If all of that can be confirmed to not be causing issues then you may have problems with your Internet connection itself, something that you'd need to get in touch with NTT and/or Asahi Net about.

Speedtest.net over StrongVPN from a few minutes ago:


Same server, VPN off:


Tokyo server:


I used to get 140Mbps down and 60Mbps up. Looks like I've gained some downlink speed and lost a bit of uplink speed. Could be network congestion too.

[gaijinpunch]

I'll dick around later, and maybe call NTT. Maybe gomigirl can jump in here and do a test, as she's physically close enough to be a nice test subject.

These two are from my Linux box.

Tokyo


SF


Two from my Mac (wifi)

SF. A little better than before.


My main router's wifi is being a whore right now (maybe that's a sign?) so can't check it. I will try bypassing the non-DD-WRT router at some point as well, although you'd think using it and the VPN connection on the mac would be a good test.

What area are you in, if I may be so bold?

[FG Lurker]

I'll dick around later, and maybe call NTT. Maybe gomigirl can jump in here and do a test, as she's physically close enough to be a nice test subject.

These two are from my Linux box.

Tokyo


SF

Those look much more realistic. Dump the Mac and get a real computer.

Edit: More seriously: If the Mac is running over Wifi and the Linux box is on a wire then you may have found your problem.

[gaijinpunch]

Those look much more realistic. Dump the Mac and get a real computer.

Yes, but notice they're not going through the VPN. I have a real computer or two... they're not hooked up to the TV though, and that's kind of the idea.

The other question: If you're only going to stream Hulu+ and Netflix, why not use Unblock us and keep your full provider speed?

[FG Lurker]

The other question: If you're only going to stream Hulu+ and Netflix, why not use Unblock us and keep your full provider speed?

I use the VPN for business purposes as well. I sometimes need to "be" in the US.

[Coligny]

SIDENOTE (SERIOUS):

There is quite a shitstorm of solar activity going on these days affecting wireless basestations. Don't expect good or reliable experience on wifi. (5Ghz band seems less affected than the usual 2.4Ghz)

[gaijinpunch]

I've got a long network cable on it's way. Going to see if that helps. When I tested during the day, the difference in quality was only minimal. Could be different at night. Something is eating the fuck out of my bandwidth at night though. It goes to total shit at about midnight (maybe a bit earlier?) and gets tolerable sometime around 2. Sucks, as that's couch potato time. :-/ Anyway, more tweaking to come. Hopefully someone is learning something from this post.

Also, the other VPN I used is about to offer a DNS-only system, much like unblock-us. I will admit, their personal service is excellent -- way better than Strong VPNs. They seem eager to keep business, and are going to let me beta test in a couple of weeks when it's ready.

[gaijinpunch]

20:20 No VPN.

[gaijinpunch]

West Coast Speedtest result from a few minutes ago, via StrongVPN:



A tracert to my Strong VPN IP is 11 hops which break down as follows:

• One to my pfsense firewall
• Three hops inside Asahi Net, my provider (Osaka, Tokyo, Tokyo)
• Three domestic hops on NTT (Tokyo, Tokyo, Osaka)
• Three USA hops on NTT (San Jose, San Jose, Unkown but probably SF)
• Final hop to Reliable Hosting aka Strong VPN (SF)

My ping times are ~120ms on average but ~20ms of that is wasted going to Tokyo and back to Osaka before hopping to San Jose.

Coming back to this, since my results suck. I'm on 24 hops, and from 15 on it's a mystery. So, this can't be good. Can you tell me:
1: Which StrongVPn server you're pointing to?
2: What your'e using for DNS?

I found that Asashi-net's DNS lookups sucked balls, so I used Google. Now, I'm on (I think) Asashi-net again but not sure how they got in there. :-/ whois tell's me it's JPNIC, so I'm assuming it's what Asahi-net dishes out.

I put Google's DNS server up at the top of the stack, and now have a better route (15 hops total). Results are still laughable though.



Okay... probably a prob w/ the computer and or wifi. This is from my Linux box. Good thing to know I probably don't have to get the morons from the ISP involved... assuming they're as useful as every other ISP I've dealt with.



Last Edit:
Seems the router is cocked up w/ the night time traffic. Abysmal bandwidth from from here to SF. Using software on the Mac (through my normal router) and I get about the same bandwidth as my Linux box, which is not rocking, but still between 4-6Mbp's. Streaming now. Not bad, but not HD. Seems to be about 480p at times, but then drops to about half of that at times.

Problem is it probably only checks every X seconds. Good enough for now.

[FG Lurker]

Coming back to this, since my results suck. I'm on 24 hops, and from 15 on it's a mystery. So, this can't be good. Can you tell me:
1: Which StrongVPn server you're pointing to?
2: What your'e using for DNS?

I'm on the "vpn-sf20" server and use bog standard Asahi Net DNS servers, the ones they included with my account information when I signed up with them ~5 years ago. They seem to still be current as they are shown on this Asahi Net setup guide:
Preferred DNS server: 202.224.32.1
Alternate DNS server: 202.224.32.2

I found that Asashi-net's DNS lookups sucked balls, so I used Google. Now, I'm on (I think) Asashi-net again but not sure how they got in there. :-/ whois tell's me it's JPNIC, so I'm assuming it's what Asahi-net dishes out.

Perhaps I'm missing something here but I can't see how swapping DNS servers would change the routing a packet takes from A to B. Each router makes a routing decision when a packet reaches it and sends that packet onwards as best it can. If your packets are going through some badly configured routers then that would account for the extra hops. If you post your tracert I don't mind taking a look at it.

[gaijinpunch]

Perhaps I'm missing something here but I can't see how swapping DNS servers would change the routing a packet takes from A to B. Each router makes a routing decision when a packet reaches it and sends that packet onwards as best it can. If your packets are going through some badly configured routers then that would account for the extra hops. If you post your tracert I don't mind taking a look at it.

Well, I think we have different DNS servers. I need to check what they gave me though. If I look through my resolv.conf file, I've only commented out the ones from my last provider, and replaced them w/ Googles. I do remember trying out what they gave me though and there lacking "crispness" when browsing.

I will mess around and show you the output from traceroute. I did notice they start off similar (3 Asashi-net hops, then some NTT) but things got dodgy on the other side of the pond.

I did watch an episode of TV w/ the lady on Friday night, which is the busiest time. Slightly jumpy but very watchable. I didn't mess w/ the Hulu buffer settings at all.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

I think this thread sets a new world record for longest ever without being interrupted by a stupid Coligny post...(so I fucked it over with a stupid SDH post...)

[Coligny]

Usually, my solar storm warningz are considered quack science and shit by most peoples...

Space Weather Message Code: WARK06
Serial Number: 212
Issue Time: 2012 Oct 09 0033 UTC

WARNING: Geomagnetic K-Index of 6 expected
Valid From: 2012 Oct 09 0035 UTC
Valid To: 2012 Oct 09 0600 UTC
Warning Condition: Onset
NOAA Scale: G2 - Moderate

NOAA Space Weather Scale descriptions can be found at
http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/NOAAscales

Potential Impacts: Area of impact primarily poleward of 55 degrees Geomagnetic Latitude.
Induced Currents - Power grid fluctuations can occur. High-latitude power systems may experience voltage alarms.
Spacecraft - Satellite orientation irregularities may occur; increased drag on low Earth-orbit satellites is possible.
Radio - HF (high frequency) radio propagation can fade at higher latitudes.
Aurora - Aurora may be seen as low as New York to Wisconsin to Washington state.

But the activity continues... and got another wifi basestation needing reboot this morning.

[Coligny]

Perhaps I'm missing something here but I can't see how swapping DNS servers would change the routing a packet takes from A to B. Each router makes a routing decision when a packet reaches it and sends that packet onwards as best it can. If your packets are going through some badly configured routers then that would account for the extra hops. If you post your tracert I don't mind taking a look at it.

d00d...

we might be forgetting something...


AKAMAI...

[FG Lurker]

Well, I think we have different DNS servers. I need to check what they gave me though. If I look through my resolv.conf file, I've only commented out the ones from my last provider, and replaced them w/ Googles. I do remember trying out what they gave me though and there lacking "crispness" when browsing.

I've actually never noticed a response time issue with Asahi Net's DNS servers. I was curious though so I grabbed namebench and ran its tests against Asahi Net's primary DNS, 202.224.32.1. Turns out Google does respond about 30% faster:



It's not going to make any difference to routing speeds or route length though, but it will make non-locally-cached DNS lookups ~20ms faster.

Thought of something else we can try. I'll PM you the IP I have from StrongVPN and you can PM me the one you have. We can run traceroutes to each other's StrongVPN IPs and see how that goes.

[gaijinpunch]

Coligny: My 3G performance has been awful lately. So, I will not say you are wrong right away, despite Frenchess.

FG Lurker: Sounds good. Long weekend threw me for a loop, but I should have a lot more free time to tinker this weekend. Hopefully get a good chunk of this LEDs for my bike project done.

[gaijinpunch]

I'm still experiencing wonkiness in the busy times. From nihon to west cose amerika, I had about 4.5Mbs download and 7 or 8 upload last night. However, strongvpn is now beta testing strondns, which I'm using. Tried it w/ Hulu & tv.com last night, and it worked at least better than their vpn (as you'd expect). The caveat is that it only works with pre-defined services, which appear to be all the same ones unblock-us uses. HBO didn't work.

Once it's gone gold, my guess is you can add it on cheaply to a VPN package (I'm hoping, anyway) and use which ever one suits your needs.

[BigInJapan]

So, it looks like illegal downloaders in the US are starting to feel the heat.
A few years ago, I remember a gaijin friend here in Japan getting a note from his ISP, forwarded from Sony or some other company in the US, warning him not to download, but nothing ever came of it (that was a few years ago though).
-------------------------------------------------------------
Internet providers to begin warning customers who pirate content

It is about to get a bit more difficult to illegally download TV shows, movies or music online.

A new alert system, rolling out over the next two months, will repeatedly warn and possibly punish people violating digital copyrights. The Copyright Alert System was announced last July and has been four years in the making.

If you use AT&T, Cablevision, Comcast, Time Warner, or Verizon as your Internet service provider, you could receive the first of one of these notes starting in the next two months.

The Internet provider is delivering the message, but the legwork is being done by the copyright owners, which will monitor peer-to-peer networks such as BitTorrent.
[Cont. on CNN]

[Taro Toporific]

I hate that most VPN services will (and do) rat you out to any "authority's" email request.

VPN Services That Take Your Anonymity Seriously, 2013 Edition
TorrentFreak | March 2, 2013
More than a year ago TorrentFreak took a look at a selection of the web’s VPN providers to see which ones really take privacy seriously. During the months that followed we received dozens of emails begging us to carry out an update and today here it is. The first installment in our list of VPN providers that due to their setup cannot link user activity to external IP addresses and activities.
More...