WoodPeckr said:
Made is an interesting discovery last weekend.
Was using µTorrent and getting decent DL speeds and a buddy said you can get a substantial speed boost by bypassing your wireless router when using µTorrent. Tried it and sure enough DL speeds went from ~300-400 to 500-700 KBps!
After that I went on linux without turning the router back on and noted my Opera browser was flying again. It seems the router was slowing down Opera but not the Firefox browser on linux.
Any idea what may be causing this?
I have a Belkin wireless router.
Not sure your particular issue but I know I just replaced my stock firmware on my Linksys WRT54GS (version2.0) router and I have eliminated the constant crashes I was getting everyday due to utorrent use.
Installed DD-WRT (dd-wrt.com).
There is a FAQ about utorrent use and routers.
Extract from utorrent.com:
Special note for users with Linksys WRT54G/GL/GS routers, there are severe problems with them when running any P2P app (read for fix)
The following note does NOT apply to WRT54G/GS v5 and up! Use the latest official firmware (1.00.9+) with those, they do not suffer from this specific problem (though they do suffer from different problems).
The default firmware for Linksys (and all replacement firmwares except for the latest DD-WRT and HyperWRT Thibor) have a severe problem where they track old connections for FIVE days, which causes the router to hang when using P2P apps, or any software that generates a lot of connections. DHT only aggravates the situation because of the number of connections it generates.
Linksys has yet to address this issue, but there is a fix. If you use alternative firmware, you can put in a start-up script to fix this problem. DD-WRT and HyperWRT support custom start-up scripts.
HyperWRT Thibor (14+) (54G/GL/GS only, excluding hardware revision V5 of 54G/GS)
DD-WRT (v23+)(54G/GL/GS excluding hardware revision V5 of 54G)
I am not responsible if you screw up your router, so you do this at your own risk. This page has instructions on recovering a bricked router.
If you experience any strange issues or performance problems, clear your NVRAM, and if all else fails, try changing firmwares (but make sure you clear the NVRAM afterwards!)
You should avoid upgrading over a wireless connection, since the connection may drop out and brick the router.
To upgrade the firmware follow the instructions on the download section of Thibor's page if flashing to HyperWRT Thibor, and make sure you download the correct firmware version for your router!
Neither DD-WRT v23+ nor DD-WRT Thibor14+ require these steps, but older versions of HyperWRT tofu/Thibor do. If you are on an old DD-WRT, you MUST upgrade to v23 SP2 or later.
The following instuctions for HyperWRT tofu and older Thibors.
Go to the web interface (default password is admin) by typing
http://192.168.1.1 into your browser.
Click Administration, then Edit Startup. Put the following commands in the box:
echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/icmp_echo_ignore_broadcasts
echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/icmp_ignore_bogus_error_responses
echo "600 1800 120 60 120 120 10 60 30 120" > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_conntrack_tcp_timeouts
Click Save, close the window, then click Save settings.
Reboot the router (the Administration page has a Reboot button) and you'll be done.
To upgrade to DD-WRT, follow the instructions on this page. WRT54G v4 Installation Tutorial.
The following instructions are for DD-WRT v23 or later only.
Enter the following values at 'Web-Admin -> Administration -> Management -> IP Filter Settings'
Maximum Ports: 4096
TCP Timeout (s): 300 (decrease if you have many TCP connections)
UDP Timeout (s): 300 (decrease if you have many UDP connections)
Save Settings and then Reboot Router
For a detailed explanation of what these settings do, see Router Slowdown @ DD-WRT Wiki
Remember, I am not responsible if you screw up your router, so it's your problem if something goes wrong. However, if something does go wrong, this page has instructions on recovering a bricked ("dead") router.
If you require further assistance with either firmware, please visit HyperWRT.org (the main site does not have the latest builds however), HyperWRT Forum's Advanced Help Section, DD-WRT.org, and DD-WRT's Wiki.
Please do not ask for help with these firmwares on the µTorrent forums.
