[Albino Gibbon]

Maybe there is someone that can answer this. I have 4 computers on my network. Right now I am running off a cable connection. 1.5 down. My question is, if I am on playing online and my son or my daughter is also on and they are browsing the web or downloading a file, it seems like they drink the bandwidth off me. Is there any way I can dedicate bandwidth to each computer without buying an expensive router? My cable provider lets me have up to 8 dhcp connections off my account, which the modem supports. I am not sure if I get one static ip, that it would change anything. I did change the Maxreceive window size to windows default and it gets a bit better, but doesn't cure the problem. If we both are playing online, it works fine, if I cut the Maxfps down to 45. When I didn't have that set and both machine were running at 75fps it would swamp the connection and we both would lag. It only seems to happen when they are browsing or downloading now. I guess I could get another separate account, but I will try and figure if there is something I can do first. By the way there is a good site that some of you probably already know of. http://www.speedguide.net. If you haven't been there and you have a broadband connection or even if you don't, I recommend it. They told me I would have to go the router way.

_________________


Albino Gibbon <King of the detpack>

[ This Message was edited by: Albino Gibbon on 2002-03-07 13:16 ]

[Hamese]

Bandwidth is first come first server when it comes to most home networks. You could Set you machine to a 100mb Full duplexed setting, and the others to a 10/half. That way your packets would flow faster in the network than theirs. Meaning you could use more of the bamdwidth.

Or you could seperate the others from the router, with a 10mb hub. And only you would hook up to the router 100. Both Ideas are teh same, but they are differnt in how you accomplish it.

Hope that wasn't confusing.

_________________

[SpeCies]

I think it has allot to do with the Cable itself and it's filters. Here is something more in detail as in why,

o Note that for most "Internet users", downstream (from the Internet)
bandwidth is in much greater demand than upstream bandwidth,
But this is not always the case.





CMTS = Cable Modem Termination System
HFC = Hybrid Fiber Coax
MCNS = Multimedia Cable Network System


o Cable companies use a "tree and branch" structure to deliver service to
their subscribers. Each time the signal from one coaxial cable is split
into two, the signal in both cables is weakened. To remedy this, the cable
company installs amplifiers to restore the the signals. However, the
majority of these amplifiers that are in place today are one way amplifiers,
and will have to be replaced with units that can amplify in both directions,
on different frequency bands.

o Cable companies are working to replace all of their central
infrastructure coax with fiber optics, which has better reliability, can
transmit over longer distances before requiring amplification, and
can handle a higher frequency range. HFC cable service occupies the 40MHz
to 750MHz portion of the spectrum while coaxial cable only covers the 40MHz
to 550MHz portion.

o The majority of the cable modems use 64QAM (64-state quadrature amplitude
modulation) for downstream transmissions, which handles 8 bits of data for
every hertz of bandwidth. This amounts to a peak throughput of 28Mbps
for each clear 6MHz channel. (Each television channel is a 6MHz channel)

o The bandwidth allocated for upstream transmissions is much narrower,
typically from 5MHz to 40MHz. And that skinny pipe must be shared among
500 to 2,000 customers. Problems associated with upstream transmission
include the one way amplifiers (mentioned above), and the problems
with the aggregation of all of the "branch noise" onto the trunk back
to the head end.

o The upstream band is plagued with all sorts of interfering noises that
can garble data. The upstream modulation technique needs to be noise
resistant and frequency agile, so it can switch on the fly to less noisy
areas of the band. 64QAM can't handle such a hostile environment, so the
less efficient QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying) scheme is often used.
It is noise resistant, but only delivers 1.5 bits of data for every hertz
of bandwidth. Depending on channel quality, this amounts to throughput
from about 200kbps to 3Mbps.

o Note that for most "Internet users", downstream (from the Internet)
bandwidth is in much greater demand than upstream bandwidth,
But this is not always the case.

o Generally the head-end controller acts as the arbiter, using a special
control channel. It tells each subscriber's cable modem when it can
transmit, on which frequency band, and for how long.

o Some current scenarios use a phone line connection as the upstream
connection.

o The cable modem communicates with the subscribers computer through
10BaseT Ethernet. The cable modem may also act as a router, so that
multiple computers could be connected via a hub.

o Cable modems cost ~$375-$500, or leased for about $15-$40 per month.

o Some current sytems use DHCP to dynamically allocate addresses when the
cable modem is turned on. This can be set up to work with nameservice,
so that web servers and such can still be set up at the home.

o Users will share the capacity of the broadcast network, therefore the
cable companies will have to be sure to monitor usage, so as not to get a
reputation of providing poor service.

o @Home (TCI, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Buyers) is setting up a national
"backbone" network to connect many of the largest regional cable networks
to the Internet, and will handle most of the network-management and billing
problems.

--------------
SPECIFICATION:
--------------
o 12/96: The Data Over Cable System Interface Specification working
group developed a set of specifications aimed at gaining interopable
high-speed cable modems.
o The spec is complete, but very conducive to future change/expansion
o Modems compliant with the specification will be capable of delivering
data to users at a minimum rate of 27Mbps.
o The network layer is IP
o The data link layer is comprised of 3 sublayers:
1. A Logical Link Control (LLC) sublayer, which conforms to Ethernet
standards.
2. A link-security sublayer that supports the basic needs of privacy,
authorization, and authentication.
3. A Media Access Control (MAC) sublayer, suitable for cable system
operation, that supports variable-lengh protocol data units (PDU).
The main features of the MAC protocol defined in the specification
are:
a) Headend (CMTS) controlled mix of contention and reservation
transmission opportunities
b) A stream of mini-slots in the return, or upstream communication
channel
c) Bandwidth efficiency through support of variable-length packets
d) Extensions provided for future support of ATM or other protocol
data units
e) Support for multiple grades of service
f) Support for a wide range of data rates
o In the downstream direction, the Physical (PHY) layer is based on North
American digital video transmission specifications and includes these
features:
1. 64 level and 256 level QAM modulation formats
2. Contiguous serial bit-stream (input and output) with no implied
framing provides complete physical layer and MAC sublayer decoupling
o The cable modem's upstream transmission Physical layer characteristics,
under headend control, include:
1. Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) and 16 level QAM modulation
formats
2. Multiple symbol rates
3. Frequency agility
4. Support of both fixed-frame and variable-length PDU formats
o "The process has defined a system that allows for transparent, two-way
transfer of data using Internet Protocols between cable headends and cable
customers with telephone return or RF return on the cable system"
o The spec identifies means by which cable modems can "self-discover" the
appropriate cable system frequencies for reception and transmission, bit
rates, modulation formats, error correction, and power levels.


The specification documents (See Figure 1)

At this time, the cable modem industry is highly proprietary, which
can be easily seen by the great variation in vendors' claims of
upstream/downstream speeds. Although I have gathered info on many
different cable company services, and many different vendors' products, I
have focussed on ADELPHIA and LANCITY, because they seem to be the most
relevant to the University at Buffalo.


http://www.oss.buffalo.edu/TechInfo/RemoteAccess/feb21_97.html




_________________
http://www.nosmacktards.com

[Hamese]

That was way to much to read, I think a simple NO would have safficed.



_________________

[Bada Bing]

Router the best way to go. Here's one that is around $90.00
EtherFast® Cable/DSL Router w/Built-in 4-Port Switch
Available at techdepot.com

_________________

Are you threatening me ???

[Albino Gibbon]

Not confusing at all. I did have it all set through a router, but I could only get one ip from the 4 computers. It was a problem when me and son would be one in the same. I have all the cards set to half-duplex as of right now. Now I just have them ran through a switch to a switch/print server. I took the router out. It was ok for a firewall, but when I was told I had up to 8 connections off the modem, it was more of a pain than a help. With the router I have 1 Wan port for the modem and 4 ports with the built in switch. I really can't run it any other way. I could run the modem into the uplink of a hub and put the router through one of the hub ports, but I think I would be no better off. Thanks for replying though. I will check some of my other settings. Right now, I will tell him not to download the 100 meg demo while I am playing.

[ This Message was edited by: Albino Gibbon on 2002-03-07 13:18 ]

[CyC0Dad]

I'd suggest a router as well if you are currently just using a hub. I bought a pretty good one for around $40 at frys electronics a month or so ago. All depends on if you want firewall type protection with your router or not. The more features the more expensive.

And Species, some of that info is old. The Cable Modems sell for as low as $129 these days. If you do purchase 1 you need to be sure it is on the approved list for your supplier.

Edit:

We have 3 seperate IPs routing to a single connection on the cable modem. The only time we have problems is when CyCoMom tries to play and download at the same time. The problem may be that you needed a cheaper router, one that ONLY routes. Sometimes those firewall type combo boxes are a pain because they have the NAT built in. To have more than 1 person playing the same multiplayer internet game without problems you NEED seperate IPs. We tried on many a game and that is the only way to go, seperate IPs.

Often we are playing TFC or EE or something and our kids are downloading on the 3rd computer without any problems.

[ This Message was edited by: cycodad on 2002-03-07 13:44 ]

[Albino Gibbon]

I run the network through two 100mb switches. You can play halflife behind a router that only gives you one ip by adding +clientport 2700X (x being a number between 1 and eight) in the command line, as long as each machine doesn't use the same clientport. The problem I was having with the router is the server only sees one ip and the stats would be combined for both players. We could both play at the same time though. We were accused of having bots playing a couple times. The router would not solve my problem, I don't think. When I had one, I still had the same problem. I was told there were routers by Cisco that are in the $1000's of dollars range that you can distinguish what bandwidth is given and to who. I didn't like the router because of the having to open ports to get things done behind the firewall. You could open all ports, but usually only one computer on the network was allowed this.

[ This Message was edited by: Albino Gibbon on 2002-03-07 18:32 ]

[(+)ASSASSIN(+)]

I know that with AT&T when my roomate had his own laptop we just got another IP address from them and it only cost an additional 5 bucks a month, seemed more reasonable than shelling out a hundo on a router. another thing I use is a program called tweakmaster, it optimizes your settings in the registry for maximum bandwith, when I first used it my downloads went from 100kbs to over 300 and higher if availible. its a 30 day trial if you get the demo but I have a key if you need it , it did seem to work better on 98 than xp tho. just a thought you might want to check out.

_________________
Killing is my bidness ladies and BIDNESS IS GOOD!!!!

[CyC0Dad]

I have a sohoware 5 port 10/100 autosensing switch ($40). It does NO firewall stuff. It's entire purpose is to improve throughput from multiple computers. Similar to a hub but has more smarts. Didn't really notice a major improvement over the Netgear hub to be honest.

The problem with NAT and firewall stuff is they aren't designed for games and stuff. Most games will have a problem of some type if you use a NAT and are both playing the same game. After we got 2 additional IPs we had no more trouble using just a 4 port hub to the cable modem. All ports are set up Full Duplex.

[ This Message was edited by: CyCoDad on 2002-03-07 21:03 ]

[ToRaK]

I don't know if it's just me but it doesn't sound like he has a problem with his hardware setup, he just wants to be able to control the bandwidth to each computer. Cable modems are much slower than even a 10 mb hub, so you won't really gain much control by sitting your NIC's to only communicate at 10 mb. A switch will have slightly lower lag and higher throughput. However, I don't know of any consumer router that has the cabilities to control the bandwidth to each computer.

The only way I can think of doing this without an expensive router is using a software based method. I haven't ever used such a feature, but I assume that there might be a possibility using a software router on windows, and much more likely using a form of IP masqurading on Linux. Sorry I can't be more helpful, if I run across any specifics I'll post 'em up.

ToRaK

_________________
The most hated.

[Kjeldorian Royal Guard 42]

My friend runs his home business network through a router. Five computers for shipping merchandise. One PC and a laptop for the wife, one PC and a laptop for the daughter, one PC for him. He still gets lagged out if someone is d-loading something and he is playing online. If you've ever played "My_Ass", you've prolly seen him lag or get booted a lot.

As your demand for power grows so must your hardware and connections. There's just no way around it.

_________________

You have offended my family and you have offended the Shaolin temple. Now I must whoop yo @ss!

[ This Message was edited by: Kjeldorian Royal Guard on 2002-03-07 21:14 ]

[ToRaK]

I forgot something in my last post. Your biggest problem isn't your downloading ability, it's your upload. What is your cable connection capped at uploading? 1.5 mb should probably be enough to support 4 computers downloading/playing/surfing. However, your upload cap might prevent this from working.

ToRaK

_________________
The most hated.

[(+)ASSASSIN(+)]

in the ville tradition im taking this off topic. Torak take a good look at your sig you might want to fix that.

_________________
Killing is my bidness ladies and BIDNESS IS GOOD!!!!

[ToRaK]

Hehe. About time I changed that old thing anyway. Funny, I never noticed it until now. Thx man.

ToRaK

_________________
The most hated.