Networking Question

[three_gunn]

need some advice/help with networking. my roommate has been dl'ing a bit too much as of late which i assume gives me horrible pings in TF2 (average around 300+ and is why i haven't been playing much) ...is there anything i can do to my rig or our network hub to work around him (other than sappin his own rig)?

i'm guessing theres not much i can do but i figured i'd just throw it out there in case someone might know something.

we have SBC(which is crap already) and network through a d-link wireless router. i'm on wireless and he's hardlined and we have two 360's that are hardlined.

thanks in advance...

[Dog]

Yep. Very easy way to improve your ping.

1. Use a baseball bat and break both of your roommate's kneecaps
2. See 1 above.

I read somewhere about ways of limiting bandwidth for individual machines....
*runs off to look it up*

[Hamese]

First thing is to put yourself on the hardline and your roomy on the wireless. This might improve some, but if he is eating bandwidth while you are playing then not too much can happen.... unless Dog finds a limiter, which would be cool to know about.

[three_gunn]

[quote="StrontiumDog";p="55123"]Yep. Very easy way to improve your ping.

1. Use a baseball bat and break both of your roommate's kneecaps
2. See 1 above.

I read somewhere about ways of limiting bandwidth for individual machines....
*runs off to look it up*[/quote]

haha ...trust me i've thought of numerous ways to 'handle it' but if it ever got to that point i'd probably just move out and live on my own again.

[quote="Hamese";p="55157"]First thing is to put yourself on the hardline and your roomy on the wireless. This might improve some, but if he is eating bandwidth while you are playing then not too much can happen.... unless Dog finds a limiter, which would be cool to know about.[/quote]

yeah i was thinking about just going hardline too. the router is in his room though so he'd probably not want to go wireless. but i wonder if both of us are hardlined then it'd be better? i think i'll give that a shot.

[l3eeron]

Actually I heard that the wireless can give you better band width...

I could be wrong but, it supposedly "bridges" what bandwidth is avail and directs it to what ever needs it the most.

I think your best bet is to call SBC and ask to pay for more bandwidth. I think they set you up as a commercial account to allow more traffic etc.

[Gen.Ben]

I did a quick google search and you should look for

"Packet Shaping" "Packet Shaper" "Bandwidth manager"

I couldn't find any free apps though, I am sure you can if you look for a bit though. Sorry I couldn't help anymore.

[three_gunn]

[quote="l3eeron";p="55164"]Actually I heard that the wireless can give you better band width...

I could be wrong but, it supposedly "bridges" what bandwidth is avail and directs it to what ever needs it the most.

I think your best bet is to call SBC and ask to pay for more bandwidth. I think they set you up as a commercial account to allow more traffic etc.[/quote]

yeah ever since i got the wireless up from my rig i've been happy with it even during many hours on tf2. but i'm at the point where i'll try anything.

i'll keep upping our bandwith service in mind as an option but would still have to talk about it with mr dl-happy roomie for the split cost...but that's a good idea too.


[quote="Gen.Ben";p="55167"]I did a quick google search and you should look for

"Packet Shaping" "Packet Shaper" "Bandwidth manager"

I couldn't find any free apps though, I am sure you can if you look for a bit though. Sorry I couldn't help anymore.[/quote]

no that's perfect..i'll definitely look into that. never even heard of the packet shaping so you've helped tons.

thanks guys...thanks everyone!

[Nanite]

The RIAA and the MPAA will be by to arrest him shortly and you'll have your bandwidth back.

[Buzzy Beetle]

The programs that "shape" bandwidth or general internet traffic at all are what major ISPs use to throttle down bittorrent traffic. It works fairly well for unencrypted traffic too, so I think you're on the right track, though I don't know if you could impliment it on a PC user level.

Of course, this is the internet...

[three_gunn]

[quote="Nanite";p="55179"]The RIAA and the MPAA will be by to arrest him shortly and you'll have your bandwidth back.[/quote]

nice! i'll try to stand there with my best 'sad and dissapointed' face as he is cuffed and escorted out.

[quote="Buzzy Beetle";p="55180"]The programs that "shape" bandwidth or general internet traffic at all are what major ISPs use to throttle down bittorrent traffic. It works fairly well for unencrypted traffic too, so I think you're on the right track, though I don't know if you could impliment it on a PC user level.

Of course, this is the internet...[/quote]

haha ...thanks for the heads up bzzb. i'm going to look into it more when i'm home. don't want to use the work comp for it.

[mujo]

I second Dog's suggestion.

[Clay Pigeon]

I know this is going to sound odd, but have you considered talking to your roommate and asking him to limit his bandwidth usage? Im sure whatever he is using can be configured to not hog all the bandwidth.

[Buzzy Beetle]

[quote="Clay Pigeon";p="55204"]I know this is going to sound odd, but have you considered talking to your roommate and asking him to limit his bandwidth usage? Im sure whatever he is using can be configured to not hog all the bandwidth.[/quote]

Pfft... that's if you want to take the easy way out >D

[Simple]

Get one of these http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6833127158 or one of these http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6833127215 and set it up so you have priority and you'll be set.

[nmeboat]

alot of new routers out now have QoS (quality of service, ie, packet shaping) built-in, where you can essentially tell the router how to prioritize traffic. ie, you could limit your roomate's bandwidth to only be able to pull through like 100KB/s, while you get 100% of available bandwidth. or maybe even limit it to applications, like if his d/l's are bittorrent, then you can set it to limit bittorrent traffic to a specified speed/bandwidth.

heck, which router do you have? it may already be one of them with QoS built-in already dlink (and i imagine the other big networking co's), actually have router marketed as a "gaming" router, which i believe just uses QoS for certain types of traffic already setup.

well any case, you will probably want to check more into QoS (quality of service)/packet shaping/etc, because even if you do decide to bump up you service speed, you will have the same problem, because instead of him d/l-ing at 500KB/s (hypothetically speaking) which is you current max speed, then he'll be d/l-ing at 900KB/s and you'll still be trying to vie for your little 30KB/s for when you're gaming...

and i i 'preview', it looks like Simple posted a push in the router direction