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VPN & Unlimited Fibre

minimos
Grafter
Posts: 83
Registered: ‎11-10-2007

VPN & Unlimited Fibre

Hi,
I have just switched products from the old 250GB Fibre product (can't remember is official name) with the Pro addon to the new Unlimited Fibre product.
What attracted me to switch above all else was the fact that there is no longer any speed limting on traffic like the old product without the Pro addon so it should in theory work out cheaper.
However, I have logged into the office from home a couple of time since the change last week and my VPN connection is now quite slow.  Now I know that it is no longer classed in the Titanium queue as I removed the add on, but the fact that it is Gold should mean it is not at crawling pace for accessing email through outlook and a network share on a a standard working day morning.
It now takes me on average 3 - 4 seconds for an email to open , where as before the product change it was instantaneous.  Accessing Windows shares on the VPN can take up to 20 seconds, where as before it was 1 - 3 seconds.
There are no other devices consuming bandwidth so it is not  a case of priotisation. 
I have also tested using Steam to download a game update and I believe this is Gold plated (technically lower in classification than Gold I believe?)  and I am getting full line rate throughput.
Is this to be expected (I know you market the Pro addon at home workers), but I can't imagine unless there is an unusual event (like the Olympics, new game release etc) that I would have seen such a drastic drop in responsiveness or is the traffic management not quite tweaked to optimum just yet for the product?
Thanks in advance
14 REPLIES 14
Kelly
Hero
Posts: 5,497
Thanks: 380
Fixes: 9
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: VPN & Unlimited Fibre

hmm.  Shouldn't be slow if the VPN is being identified properly.  Can you get us a wireshark of the start of the VPN set up?
Kelly Dorset
Ex-Broadband Service Manager
minimos
Grafter
Posts: 83
Registered: ‎11-10-2007

Re: VPN & Unlimited Fibre

Hi
Thanks for the quick reply.
I am not sure I will be able to do that, the laptop is a company one which is locked down really tight with no privelages to install any software.
Is it possible for me to capture it using my own PC or router somehow?
Thanks
Kelly
Hero
Posts: 5,497
Thanks: 380
Fixes: 9
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: VPN & Unlimited Fibre

If you can get your router to mirror the traffic to a different device with it installed you can see it that way.  We've done this with our TG582n before to be able to capture wiresharks of PS3 traffic.
Kelly Dorset
Ex-Broadband Service Manager
pwatson
Rising Star
Posts: 2,470
Thanks: 8
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎26-11-2012

Re: VPN & Unlimited Fibre

But surely it shouldn't matter if the VPN traffic is mis-identified as long as the customer link isn't being used for any other bandwidth heavy apps at the same time?
Kelly
Hero
Posts: 5,497
Thanks: 380
Fixes: 9
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: VPN & Unlimited Fibre

Yes, it shouldn't, but I want to see it anyway so we know what we are dealing with.
Kelly Dorset
Ex-Broadband Service Manager
minimos
Grafter
Posts: 83
Registered: ‎11-10-2007

Re: VPN & Unlimited Fibre

Hi,
I am in luck from a quick google search.  I'm using a Fritzbox 7390 and it has its own tools to capture throughput per device in an 'Easter egE' function not documented, which creates- a wireshark compatible file.
I'll get it to monitor  the  WLAN interface for an hour or so and then get the output to you.
I imagine it It has some private addressing stuff on there which my company would want to keep confidential, so is there somewhere I can securely place it or I can edit/extract bit of the file if you tell me which parameter you are looking for?
I can use a CAT 5 if needed if the results are inconclusive, but it worked fine on wireless before the product change and my other wireless devices are operating as they where so I do not suspect it to be this.
minimos
Grafter
Posts: 83
Registered: ‎11-10-2007

Re: VPN & Unlimited Fibre

Hi,
Ok I have looked at some of the sample output using the wireshark guide in the plus net libary.
It looks like my outgoing call to the VPN endpoint is classed as bronze but the return traffic is gold (IP details masked).  The VPN is type IPsec  Examples below:-
Outbound
4908 296.210345 xx.xx.xx.215 xx.xx.xx.11 ESP 130 ESP (SPI=0x5830a9d1)  Differentiated Services Field: 0x00 (DSCP 0x00: Default; ECN: 0x00: Not-ECT (Not ECN-Capable Transport))
Inbound
4910 296.250184 xx.xx.xx.11 xx.xx.xx.215 ESP 1386 ESP (SPI=0x50fd4a74) Differentiated Services Field: 0x80 (DSCP 0x20: Class Selector 4; ECN: 0x00: Not-ECT (Not ECN-Capable Transport))
Let me know if you need more details
Thanks
pwatson
Rising Star
Posts: 2,470
Thanks: 8
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎26-11-2012

Re: VPN & Unlimited Fibre

Quote from: minimos
It looks like my outgoing call to the VPN endpoint is classed as bronze

There is no 'classification' of upload traffic from your router as Plusnet can only prioritise the traffic they send you, not vice versa...
minimos
Grafter
Posts: 83
Registered: ‎11-10-2007

Re: VPN & Unlimited Fibre

Ah a very good point, there has been no wizardry at that stage.
Is there a chance it could be something else?
pwatson
Rising Star
Posts: 2,470
Thanks: 8
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎26-11-2012

Re: VPN & Unlimited Fibre

A test worth doing would be to turn the Pro option back on and see if it makes a difference...  I'm sure Plusnet will be up for doing this without charge if it's helping diagnose a potential problem with their traffic management...  Wink
minimos
Grafter
Posts: 83
Registered: ‎11-10-2007

Re: VPN & Unlimited Fibre

Potentially a good idea but I'll wait for the PN verdict on that one Wink
chrispurvey
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 5,369
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎13-07-2012

Re: VPN & Unlimited Fibre

It's being identified as gold which is correct, is this happening every-time you log on to the VPN?
minimos
Grafter
Posts: 83
Registered: ‎11-10-2007

Re: VPN & Unlimited Fibre

Hi
Yes it was up until I reported it on Wednesday.  I was out and about yesterday and did not use it but this morning it seems a  little snappier than it had been.  Perhaps it was a problem at my companies end.  I'll continue to monitor and report back
Thanks
Kelly
Hero
Posts: 5,497
Thanks: 380
Fixes: 9
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: VPN & Unlimited Fibre

Yeah, keep your eye on it and give us a yell if you see problems.
Kelly Dorset
Ex-Broadband Service Manager