Hi Roberto,
On Wednesday 09-Feb-00, Roberto Rena wrote:
> For some time MD is receiving news headers very very slowly: while I'm
> writing this, it's around 2 (yes,two!) - 100 cps! :(
> Getting articles is faster, anyway, but first I need to check for what
> I'm interested in...
> Is there a way allowing me to track down where the problem is (i.e. my
> machine or my ISP) in order to reduce the range for further
> investigations? Plus: can I guide my ISP into looking in the right
> direction to solve my prob and how?
You can try (assuming Miami here, so substitute with equivalents if you're
not using Miami):
I've taken "news.tin.it" as your NNTP server, if this is incorrect, replace
it with what it should be.
Miami:MiamiPing news.tin.it
Miami:MiamiTraceRoute news.tin.it
Sample output:
5.Ram Disk:> miami:miamiping localhost
PING localhost (127.0.0.1): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=255 time=3.486 ms
64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=255 time=2.86 ms
64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=255 time=3.807 ms
64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=255 time=2.856 ms
64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=255 time=2.84 ms
64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=5 ttl=255 time=2.864 ms
--- localhost ping statistics ---
6 packets transmitted, 6 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max = 2.84/3.118/3.807 ms
The "time=" part is the important bit here. If it's fluctuating
dramatically or rather a large value, then there is something wrong on the
route.
I'm getting 3ms response time by pinging my own machine, which is slightly
worrying (should really be <1ms)
5.Ram Disk:> miami:miamitraceroute localhost
traceroute to localhost (127.0.0.1), 30 hops max, 38 byte packets
1 localhost (127.0.0.1) 3.92 ms 3.176 ms 3.168 ms
This shows each server the data passes through, along with the response time
for each part. Where it increases shows the dodgy link.
If you do both of these (btw Ctrl-C aborts the ping) and send the output to
your ISP, they should be able to determine where the problem lies.
The other thing to check is your TCP/IP stack configuration - try running
MiamiInit again if you're using Miami, and see if that helps. Make sure
you are using the Miami built-in serial.device, with a fast speed (4x modem
speed). If that doesn't help, ask your telephone company to increase the
gain on your line, as it might be that.
Good luck!
Chris
