Buying WL-500G-D: WDD/Bandwidth management any good? [Archive]

jago25_98

10-03-2005, 15:15

I'm thinking of buying a WL-500G-Deluxe.

But I'm really interested in the Bandwidth management.

- Is the `WDD` bandwidth managent supplied with the WL-500G-D any good? Does it work well enough for me to use Skype while downloading to the max. Does it configure easily or is it as trial and error as using the Wondershaper script?

- Is the bandwidth management on custom firmwares good enough again for me to use Skype while at the same time downloading to the max.

Ditto with ssh, vnc and normal VoIP.

- Will I still be able to play games while my flatmate saturates the connection with p2p traffic?

Finally, any comment on the USB2 HD and webcam sharing features? Do they work well or any problems? It has to be good or I might as well get cheaper Linksys WRT.

jago25_98

20-03-2005, 16:38

Well, bought one now.

WLAN port doesn't work so I can't use it.

Not impressed.

Antiloop

20-03-2005, 20:39

Well, bought one now.

WLAN port doesn't work so I can't use it.

Not impressed.
then it's maybe smart to enable WLAN ?

jago25_98

20-03-2005, 21:42

read this:
http://wl500g.info/showthread.php?t=922

Hardware says connected (light on),
software says "media disconnected"

markyap73

21-03-2005, 14:06

At the moment I'm trying different maxs and mins for my WL-500g bandwidth managment, no joy yet. My daughter uses Skype and it eats away the bandwidth while I play online. I get ping rates of 300+.
As soon as I get a good ping rate while she uses Skype, I'll let you know how I done it (if I ever do!!!)
Marky

jago25_98

21-03-2005, 15:13

Thanks mark, that's the sort of thing I'm interested in.

I'm suprised Skype uses so much, I'll have to check that out next time I use it.

The thing is, do you actually have enough bandwidth to use Skype and play a game at the same time - unlike p2p those 2 probably won't like being throttled?

If you're shes using linux (yeah right) this command might work (I think I'll try it myself later when my downloads finish) -

http://monkey.org/~marius/pages/?page=trickle

so you could try something like

trickle -d 10 -u 5 skype

But that's limiting Skype when ideally you want to priortise gaming ports (27015?)

It's shame Skype can't use a proxy because that could be another avenue to try.

Are you using WDD from the ASUS firmware or wondershaper?

markyap73

22-03-2005, 11:34

Hi ya,
I've been getting some help from Styno with this.
I want to limit Skype (at the end of the day, I'm not using it but I'm paying the bills for NTL. The service I've got is the 300K package, 25-37kbps upload & 250kbps d/l). As for priortise gaming ports, that is what I wanna do but how?. The port of the server I log on while gaming is 27960, do I need to put this in the upload policy and their IP address in the download policy. I thought it was the port of my pc I had to put in the upload. Sorry but I'm a n00b at this.
I've now installed the firmware 1.9.2.7 cr4 from oleg but I have no idea whatsoever on wondershaper or how to start it. It has been spoke about and I've tried to get my head around it but.... duhhoo, no luck :confused: Can you shed some light on this??

Linux, sorry but I'm not using this.
Someone sent me this to read up on about Skype, thought it might intrest you?? http://forum.skype.com/viewtopic.php?t=16251

Cheers
Marky

jago25_98

22-03-2005, 12:03

I'm sorry to hear you're on NTHell

try telnetting in and running this:

wshaper start "$1" 220 220

What's the upload in kbits?

markyap73

22-03-2005, 12:24

Just got of the phone to NTHell, my download is 25-30Kbs and upload is 5-6kps.
Sorry but what's telnetting and where do I type wshaper start "$1" 220 220.
(Arrggghhhh do I hear you scream... sorry)

Cheers
Marky

jago25_98

22-03-2005, 13:31

need custom firmware for telnet access:
http://wl500g.dyndns.org/1.9.2.7-4/

then:

start > run > telnet 192.168.1.1

user default is admin:admin

markyap73

22-03-2005, 13:57

Cheers mate

tried the code and got a message about cannot find "root". I would cut and paste a screen shot but I don't know how.

hezik

22-03-2005, 20:20

Just got of the phone to NTHell, my download is 25-30Kbs and upload is 5-6kps.

Then forget your plan. 5-6kps just is too little to use skype and do other stuff at the same time. You sure they said 5-6 kps? (I take it they ment Kb/s).

Oleg

22-03-2005, 20:29

I'm sorry to hear you're on NTHell

try telnetting in and running this:

wshaper start "$1" 220 220

What's the upload in kbits?
jago, please do not write the things you've no idea about. The code snippet above is intended to run from post-firewall and will NEVER work from the interactive session, as $1 would be undefined. Please try the things yourself BEFORE posting suggestions to the forum.
There was already some noisy posts from you, which I've personally moved to Trash, as questions/suggestions was already discussed on the forum.

markyap73

23-03-2005, 14:59

Then forget your plan. 5-6kps just is too little to use skype and do other stuff at the same time. You sure they said 5-6 kps? (I take it they ment Kb/s).

Mmmm :( . Thanks for your help with this. I've been in touch with AOL about 1Mb broadband, I hope then I can get some gaming in and then prioritize my gaming while she's on Skype (hope I can turn to you guys for help??).
Once again, thanks for your help. :D

markyap73

24-03-2005, 14:12

Then forget your plan. 5-6kps just is too little to use skype and do other stuff at the same time. You sure they said 5-6 kps? (I take it they ment Kb/s).

I've upgraded my NTL to their 2Mb (which is 23Kb/s U/L) service, I still want to put my gaming as high priority so any avaible bandwidth, after I'm online, is used by her Skype.

On the Skpye forum, Jayo25_98 has posted that WDD is used:

The easiest method I've seen is to buy an Asus WL-500G or WL-500G-D. (less than £70). It comes with a built in function called `WDD`. You then need to change the port that Skype uses to the port commonly used for VoIP (voice over IP) - port 5065.

Like I've said before, I'm no expert in anything like this. What is the best way of doing this, Wondershaper?? Or as Styno stated:

Complex: Try setting up QoS with webinterface. Here we have two options:
a) Put Skype in a low priority queue or,
b) Put Castle Wolfenstein in a high priority queue. .
Which is done, how??

Have a good Easter
Marky :)

markyap73

04-04-2005, 12:15

Well I've tried NetLimiter and still no luck getting online gaming to high priority. As soon as my daughter logs on to Skype, nearly all the upload is taken, leaving me with next to nothing :( .
I am a bit of a whimp in trying things I've never done before, like using wondershaper. What would be the best course of action?? I've looked on the Skype forum but there isn't much that helps. All I've been told that it's stupid to reduce the upload on Skype and that I should use NetLimiter (but it doesn't work).
Any help would be greatly welcome.

barsju

04-04-2005, 13:02

Someone sent me this to read up on about Skype, thought it might intrest you?? http://forum.skype.com/viewtopic.php?t=16251

Did you look at this thread on the skype forum? Is your upload used as soon as she logges on to skype, not just when she makes a call? If so, that means that she acts as a supernode and forwards traffic for others. You should look at the link for some tips on changing this behaviour.

S.
PS: Did you install netlimiter on your daughters computer? You should look at the traffic that skype generates. As long as she is not in a call it should only generate small burst every now and then to check for updates, but if there is constantly traffic, she is acting like a supernode.

jago25_98

04-04-2005, 13:23

You can also use the windows task manager (ctrl+shift+esc) to monitor bandwidth she's using.

To help this guy we could do with a command on the WL500G like `iftop` or `nettop`.

Remember you don't have to just get the router to limit although that's ideal, you can also limit the speed on her Windows box. Unfortunately finding free limiting software for Windows is really hard because everything's pay-for on Windows.

We need to figure out what ports Skype is using so go to skype > options > advanced > use port and tell us what it's set to. Then try again under bandwidth and then try limiting that port again along with 80 and 443 (for the moment), making sure to test by doing both upload and download for the moment, and perhaps set extremely low for testing.

You can also try `netstat -ln` to see what ports are open on both the router and Windows box.

markyap73

04-04-2005, 13:48

Did you look at this thread on the skype forum? Is your upload used as soon as she logges on to skype, not just when she makes a call? If so, that means that she acts as a supernode and forwards traffic for others. You should look at the link for some tips on changing this behaviour.

S.
PS: Did you install netlimiter on your daughters computer? You should look at the traffic that skype generates. As long as she is not in a call it should only generate small burst every now and then to check for updates, but if there is constantly traffic, she is acting like a supernode.

I've unticked port 80 but as soon as she logs on, I'm on a go slow. As soon as I get home, I'll check Skype and see what ports she is using.
I've installed netlimiter on both pc, sorry I cannot remember what settings I've got (I'm at the horrid W word... work) but I'll make a note of them.
Thanks for you help

barsju

04-04-2005, 15:03

markyap73

04-04-2005, 16:35

Is your daughters PC firewalled in anyway? Did you set it as DMZ? Because if I'm not mistaken you can only become a supernode if you are not behind a firewall/NAT. Are you forwarding port 80 to your daugthers machine? Or the port skype listens to? If you do you should stop doing that, and it should stop being a supernode.

S.

Her firewall is off and I haven't set up any port forwarding (wouldn't know how to :confused: )
When I'm on Return to Castle Wolfenstien, I use a lalometer and it shows me that there is a constant stream when she's logged on. Like I said, I've untagged port 80 and saved. I'll check the other ports tonight.
Cheers :D

markyap73

11-04-2005, 09:44

We need to figure out what ports Skype is using so go to skype > options > advanced > use port and tell us what it's set to. Then try again under bandwidth and then try limiting that port again along with 80 and 443 (for the moment), making sure to test by doing both upload and download for the moment, and perhaps set extremely low for testing.

The other port that skype is using is 3292. Using Netlimiter, I set the upload to 2Kb.... she was not happy (folks she was talking to had bad sound quality) and on bandwidth mngt, didn't work at all.
I've still got port 80 unticked, it helps a small bit but not enough.
One day I'll get there??? :(

barsju

11-04-2005, 09:56

markyap73

11-04-2005, 10:09

Thanks barsju. Will do tonight and get back to you.
Cheers ;)

jago25_98

11-04-2005, 18:37

At least we're getting somewhere.

Try about 10kb.

Also, don't forget to check out free phone calls from 1899.com or other VoIP providers. Skype isn't bandwidth efficient.

markyap73

15-04-2005, 15:52

Try this. Go to ShieldsUp (search in google), and do a "All service ports"-scan. See which, if any ports, are open. Then type 3292 in the textbox in the middle and click "User specified custom port probe" and see if that port is open. You can do this from your machine or your daughters, but make sure that your daugther is logged into skype, but not in a call while you do the scan.

Post the results. (I.E Which ports are open(red),closed(blue) and stealth(green))

S.
I done this from my pc, not my daughters. The results from Shields Up are:
scan prts 0-1055
0 ports open
1 port closed (21)
1055 ports stealth.
When she logged onto Skype, the port had changed (2844 bpcp-poll), this was also stealth.
I haven't got a clue what this shows :confused: :confused: