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On Thu, 2 Jun 2011, Martijn Grooten wrote:
Hello. I've got some network issues that I've spent a long time trying to find the reason behind - or even something that causes it. Perhaps someone here has knows some suggestions. I have a fairly large (20+ machines) local network. There are many different machines on the LAN (some Linux boxes, some Windows server ones, some VMs, some hardware appliances) but the gateway machine runs SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 11. The machine is connected to the Internet with a BT 2700 router/hub (and via a BT ASDL business broadband connection). It is this connection that is seeing problems.
I'd try another router - simplest way forward.Actually, since you have another machine doing the gateway, you now have 2 levels of NAT (unless you get a fixed IP forwarded through?)
So I'd replace it with a simple modem that can fo PPPoE passthrough. e.g. Vigor 120.
that's how I run my home/office network: Vigor 120 -> Linux server/router -> various LANs.The Vigor handles the PPPoA and ADSL modem wibbly wobbly stuff. Connected via Ethernet and the Linux box does PPPoE to it. The Linux box doing NAT, firewalling, etc.
Basically, the connection occasionally dies and the router cannot be pinged. This lasts between a few seconds to a few minutes.
I presume you've checked the output of dmesg in the Linux box? There are (still) some Ethernet interfaces that have problems - dropped interrupts, etc. although the only time I've seen it has been when running an interface at high speed for a long time... (This was a Marvell chip)
I have some control over the activity on the LAN (which includes the amount of traffic between the LAN and the internet) and reducing it reduces the likeliness of the problems to occur (but currently the problems occur so frequently that I have to reduce the activity to well below what is workable for the problems to disappear almost altogether).
Changing the router is easy. For a start, it'll stop BT fiddling with it and snooping your LAN, and giving away your network bandwidth for free (you know they do that, don't you?)
Personally I'd not touch any BT routers with a bargepole - had no end of issues with customers trying to get VoIP working behind them - unless it was a BT VoIP service of-course.
And of-course, I'd not touch BT as an Internet provider, but that's another story!
Gordon -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/listfaq