SOLVED:Poor networking performance (Slow site lookup)

Misfit138 · 2007-01-22 02:40:07

I am dual booting with Windoze on the same machine. Websurfing performance on Arch is poor, and I can't figure out why. Windoze surfing with Firefox is instantaneous, whereas on Arch, I get "looking up http:www.google.com....................." for a good 5 seconds, sometimes 10 or 20 seconds, or more.
It will be fine for a few minutes, and then I get pretty bad stalls like that quite often.
Heres my rc.conf networking section:

lo="lo 127.0.0.1"
eth0="dhcp"
INTERFACES=(lo eth0)
#
# Routes to start at boot-up (in this order)
# Declare each route then list in ROUTES
#   - prefix an entry in ROUTES with a ! to disable it
#
gateway="default gw 192.168.0.1"
ROUTES=(!gateway)

And my daemons:

DAEMONS=(@syslog-ng @hal @network @netfs @crond @alsa @fam @portmap kdm)

Any ideas?

babyigor37 · 2007-01-22 03:42:40

I had a similar problem when I first came to Arch. The problem was caused by the nameservers sent by my ISP. When I pinged the nameserver addresses in my /etc/resolv.conf, the first would always hang, while the other two would respond instantly. When I deleted the first, non-responsive, nameserver, web browsing came back to the speeds I experienced under Windows or Gentoo. I would try pinging the nameservers in your /etc/resolv.conf and see if you get better performance by rearranging the order of the addresses.

Misfit138 · 2007-01-22 10:55:45

My resolv.conf is nearly empty:

nameserver 192.168.0.1

(I am using a router, obviously.)
Does that look ok?

lucke · 2007-01-22 11:01:18

Sometimes ipv6 causes problem.

You might try adding "alias net-pf-10 off" to /etc/modprobe.conf.

-edit-

And make sure you have localhost set properly in /etc/hosts.

High|ander · 2007-01-22 11:44:17

Try to use your ISP:s DNS (better then letting your router redirect every DNS request)

Misfit138 · 2007-01-22 13:12:14

lucke wrote:

make sure you have localhost set properly in /etc/hosts.

My localhost is just set to my computer name, the same hostname as in rc.conf...I am guessing that is wrong. Should it be my ISP domain? "optonline.net" ?

High|ander wrote:

Try to use your ISP:s DNS (better then letting your router redirect every DNS request)

I am sure I can google a DNS for Optimum Online and plug it in, but I wonder why would it work for Windoze...(?)

Thanks for the replies, I will keep trying to hack away based on your suggestions.

EDIT: I looked up Domain and DNS for Optimum Online. It seems this may be the info I need:
optonline.net <----Add to /etc/hosts (?)
nameserver 167.206.112.3 <---add to /etc/resolv.conf (?)
nameserver 167.206.112.4 <---add to /etc/resolv.conf (?)

Does that look right?

lucke · 2007-01-22 15:06:11

You don't need to set your domain in /etc/hosts - it's important that "localhost" alias points to 127.0.0.1. I don't think that's the problem here anyway.

I'm more inclined to think it could be a ipv6 problem. Try the trick with modprobe.conf or disable ipv6 in firefox's own settings (about:config and set network.dns.disableipv6 to true)

Snarkout · 2007-01-22 15:13:48

I'd add those entries to resolv.conf and see what shakes loose - having routers do DNS proxy often causes this type of lag IME, especially if you haven't entered the dns servers in your router and *everything* is being done via DHCP. Also, try dig @serverip somedomain.com (man dig) and see if any one server is failing or taking a long time to resolve names.

ralvez · 2007-01-22 16:23:57

I concur with Snarkout.
The way I have it set up in my system, and works like a charm, is that I have the nameserver set in the router and in my system.
By default my system will use it's internal nameservers reference in "/etc/resolv.conf" to resolve addresses but for other services running in the Network that rely on the router's resolv.conf data (say NTP) is also there.

Hope this helps.

R.

Misfit138 · 2007-01-23 00:13:46

I will try it out, ASAP, which may be a day or so, since I am swamped with late nights working for a while.
One thing I am thinking is that since Windows gives me excellent performance on the same machine and same router, and since I also Had PCLinuxOS installed on the same machine, which worked well on the web, it must be a setting within Arch, (perhaps other than the DNS) which I have thusfar overlooked.

davidwillis · 2007-01-23 03:06:33

Does anyone want to explain all this so someone with zero networking experience can us? I think I may be having the same problem, but have no idea what everyone is talking about. For some reason my internet is fast in pclinuxos, and windows, but slow in arch, and slack(downloads are fast, but it takes forever to connect to a new site).

p.s. I am using a router, and a switch. I don't know if that matters.

Misfit138 · 2007-01-23 13:20:20

lucke wrote:

Sometimes ipv6 causes problem.
You might try adding "alias net-pf-10 off" to /etc/modprobe.conf.

Tried this, and it did not work. Same lag when "looking up" sights.

High|ander wrote:

Try to use your ISP:s DNS (better then letting your router redirect every DNS request)

Snarkout wrote:

I'd add those entries to resolv.conf and see what shakes loose -

ralvez wrote:

I concur with Snarkout.
The way I have it set up in my system, and works like a charm, is that I have the nameserver set in the router and in my system.

Ok, this seems to have worked. I plugged the DNS ip entries into the router and my resolv.conf, but DHCPD rewrites the resolv.conf on each reboot. I will consult the wiki to correct that, but even with just the DNS info in the router alone, I tried it out for a good 10 minutes and it was zippy fast, just like Windoze and PCLinuxOS (on my other HD).
I will wait a day before renaming the thread as "SOLVED", so I can test ouit the results more thoroughly.

Now, can anyone explain why it works fast under Windoze and PCLinuxOS, but Arch needs the DNS settings? Or is it just one of those weird unexplainable things?
I am using a D-Link router, if it matters. (IIRC, some routers actually use Linux.)
:shock:

Misfit138 · 2007-01-23 13:34:54

davidwillis wrote:

Does anyone want to explain all this so someone with zero networking experience can us? I think I may be having the same problem, but have no idea what everyone is talking about. For some reason my internet is fast in pclinuxos, and windows, but slow in arch, and slack(downloads are fast, but it takes forever to connect to a new site).
p.s. I am using a router, and a switch. I don't know if that matters.

Well, basically, we were trying to narrow down a network performance issue, which we seemed to have isolated on my machine, to DNS settings.
A DNS is a remote server which takes what you type into the address bar of your web browser and correlates it to the appropriate ip address out on the web. Without a DNS, you would have to type in ip addresses to get anywhere on the web. So "google.com" would be something like "106.48.77.2".
We have found that manually plugging in the DNS ip address(es) into our /etc/resolv.conf files and our routers corrects the lag issues described.

Snarkout · 2007-01-23 15:35:37

I'm sure there's a better way to do it, but the q and d way to keep resolv.conf from changing is to chmod 666 /etc/resolv.conf.

Snarkout · 2007-01-23 15:43:15

/etc/resolv.conf
file created by dhcpcd when the client receives DNS and domain name options. The old /etc/resolv.conf file is renamed to /etc/resolv.conf.sv and will be restored back when dhcpcd exits for any reason.

This simply doesn't happen in my experience - the file may be created, but I sure as hell don't get my previous one back when I reboot (I don't use DHCP).

Mefju · 2007-01-23 15:44:19

To keep your resolv.conf, you have to add -R option in /etc/conf.d/dhcpcd.

davidwillis · 2007-01-23 15:48:14

Thanks.

my resolv.conf only has only one line.

nameserver 192.168.0.1

should I add something there? I think that ip is my dns servers ip.

I am also using a d-link router. I wonder if that could be an issure? I actually switched from a linksys around the same time this started.

I am going to see if I can figure out how to put the dns ip address into the router.

One other thing, I am using a static ip address on this machine, because I am sharing my printer with my network.

Thanks again.
David

Edit:
Ok, I am in my router setup.

I found where I can put in a DNS address. It is 0.0.0.0 right now. How do I know what to put in for it?

here are my router settings if it makes any difference.

Router IP Address : 192.168.0.1
Default Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Local Domain Name :
Enable DNS Relay : Yes (there is a box to check, and it is checked)

Enable DHCP Server : Yes
DHCP IP Address Range : 100 to 199 (addresses within the LAN subnet)
DHCP Lease Time : 180 (minutes)

Snarkout · 2007-01-23 16:17:58

global crossing's dns is 206.165.6.11

davidwillis · 2007-01-23 16:19:22

Sorry for all the posts. But should I change my router to a static ip also? If I do that, I need to know my isp gateway address which I don't know. Or does it matter if I leave it as dhcp?

davidwillis · 2007-01-23 16:29:46

Well that did it. I just put 206.165.6.11 in for my DNS address, and left everything else the same, and it is faster than ever.

Thank you very much. I would have never figured it out on my own.

Misfit138 · 2007-01-23 20:00:27

Mefju wrote:

To keep your resolv.conf, you have to add -R option in /etc/conf.d/dhcpcd.

Yup I read it in the wiki, but haven't had a chance to tweak it yet.

thanks:

babyigor
lucke
highlander
snarkout
ralvez
mefju
and davidwillis for your interest and contribution to this helpful thread.

Arch Linux

#1 2007-01-22 02:40:07

SOLVED:Poor networking performance (Slow site lookup)

#2 2007-01-22 03:42:40

Re: SOLVED:Poor networking performance (Slow site lookup)

#3 2007-01-22 10:55:45

Re: SOLVED:Poor networking performance (Slow site lookup)

#4 2007-01-22 11:01:18

Re: SOLVED:Poor networking performance (Slow site lookup)

#5 2007-01-22 11:44:17

Re: SOLVED:Poor networking performance (Slow site lookup)

#6 2007-01-22 13:12:14

Re: SOLVED:Poor networking performance (Slow site lookup)

#7 2007-01-22 15:06:11

Re: SOLVED:Poor networking performance (Slow site lookup)

#8 2007-01-22 15:13:48

Re: SOLVED:Poor networking performance (Slow site lookup)

#9 2007-01-22 16:23:57

Re: SOLVED:Poor networking performance (Slow site lookup)

#10 2007-01-23 00:13:46

Re: SOLVED:Poor networking performance (Slow site lookup)

#11 2007-01-23 03:06:33

Re: SOLVED:Poor networking performance (Slow site lookup)

#12 2007-01-23 13:20:20

Re: SOLVED:Poor networking performance (Slow site lookup)

#13 2007-01-23 13:34:54

Re: SOLVED:Poor networking performance (Slow site lookup)

#14 2007-01-23 15:35:37

Re: SOLVED:Poor networking performance (Slow site lookup)

#15 2007-01-23 15:43:15

Re: SOLVED:Poor networking performance (Slow site lookup)

#16 2007-01-23 15:44:19

Re: SOLVED:Poor networking performance (Slow site lookup)

#17 2007-01-23 15:48:14

Re: SOLVED:Poor networking performance (Slow site lookup)

#18 2007-01-23 16:17:58

Re: SOLVED:Poor networking performance (Slow site lookup)

#19 2007-01-23 16:19:22

Re: SOLVED:Poor networking performance (Slow site lookup)

#20 2007-01-23 16:29:46

Re: SOLVED:Poor networking performance (Slow site lookup)

#21 2007-01-23 20:00:27

Re: SOLVED:Poor networking performance (Slow site lookup)

Board footer