*BSD News Article 83579


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From: Tony Griffiths <tonyg@OntheNet.com.au>
Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc
Subject: Re: PPP: horrible telnet latency with ftp
Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 12:55:08 +1000
Organization: On the Net (ISP on the Gold Coast, Australia)
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To: caj@comm.net

Pisces Iscariot wrote:
> 
> I'm running user mode PPP.  Everything works just fine except that
> latency over, say, a telnet connection becomes unbelievably bad when
> I am also doing an ftp transfer.  I've tried messing with the MRU, to
> no effect.  Any other ideas?
>
This is a function of the fact that there is no priority given to
"interactive" (eg. telnet) traffic .v. "bulk data xfer" traffic (eg.
ftp)
so your telnet packets each containing only 1 or 2 chars queue up behind
16KB (the default TCP window size) worth of ftp data.  Basically the TOS
(type of service) bits are not being set or the lower layers of the
protocol stack are ignoring them (or both!!!).  The only way to improve
the interactive response is to lower the TCP ack window to a much
smaller value and also make the MTU smaller at the same time.  The MTU
is easy enough but I'm not sure if you can easily adjust the TCP ack
window.  Try playing with-

# sysctl -a | grep tcp

net.inet.tcp.sendspace = 16384		<-- make these only 2048 ?
net.inet.tcp.recvspace = 16384		<--

values to see it that improves telnet responsiveness (at the expense of
ftp throughput of course!).
 
> Might kernel ppp handle this a bit better?  I am considering switching
> anyway as I move to a dedicated link with fixed IP.  Good idea?
>

I doubt that kernel-mode PPP will provide any better performance in this
situation.
 
> thanks,
> Craig
> 
> --
> caj@comm.net        ---        "Ponder this on the tree of woe."
> CAUTION: operator may employ sarcasm without warning.
> Don't forget government's real face: the barrel of a gun.
> NEW ORLEANIANS: neworleans.personals exists.  Ask your newsadmin for it.

Tony