VPN Access

I have recently had reason to access my work Pc from home using VPN (I have idiots instructions on how to do it) but the connection is incredibly slow I can watch the desktop building up a line at a time, it is all but unusable, I am on Premier Option 1 and do not believe that there is any traffic management on VPN traffic

Any ideas as to what is wrong?

I am going to shut down my firewall (Zonealarm) as I am not able to access the internet whilst using VPN to see if that works any better - is that a good (or bad) idea?

Thanks

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I am going to shut down my firewall (Zonealarm) as I am not able to access the internet whilst using VPN to see if that works any better - is that a good (or bad) idea?

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If your home PC is behind a router with firewall, it shouldn't do any harm.

You might also want to check the broadband firewall settings, if this is on 'High' then it can cause VPN access issues. You can check this here:-
https://portal.plus.net/my.html?action=firewall

That is set to 'off'

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I am on Premier Option 1 and do not believe that there is any traffic management on VPN traffic

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All Plusnet traffic is managed/shaped, VPN per se does not have any Rate Limits, but is shaped and rated as Bronze traffic, ie the lowest priority on the network = slow.

Hi Pod,

Where did you read that VPN was treated as bronze traffic? It's classed as Gold so should offer good speeds throughout the day.

Post deleted by macowens

We have this page which shows what sort of speeds you should expect to see your traffic on Premier perform at.

As mentioned earlier, VPN is treated as Gold, which should allow good speeds throughout the day.

Hi James.

I took the information from the Plusnet site here:

Link

In the second table down headed 'How Broadband Your Way traffic is prioritised' it clearly shows BBYW Option 1 VPN traffic classed as Bronze.

EDIT: My apologies, OP is not on this account.

Edited by deleted (Thu 20-Dec-07 15:47:31)

Ah, that's a bit different.

VPN traffic is restricted to 128Kbps on BBYW Option 1 (because of the pricing of the product).

The OP is referring to Broadband Premier which is completely different.

Thanks for the responses, but my main point is to try and resolve why my VPN access is so slow. Irrespective of traffic management it is slow - how can I identify why it is running slowly?

Hi,

A traceroute to the destination would certainly be helpful.

Do you also see similar slowdowns when you have rebooted your router?

I don't leave my PC/Router running so it is typically just switched on - does that count as a reboot.

Pretty much, yes.

Would you be able to supply some traceroutes to the place that you're trying to connect to?

I will but it won't be today and I may have a few sore heads in the next few days.

Thanks for your help

It is possible that the VPN software you are using may result in the traffic not being recognised as VPN - that would account for slow speeds. You will probably need to do a Wireshark capture (or use the VPN whilst PN monitor from their end) so that a check can be made that it is being given the correct priority. If it isn't they will add the appropriate signature which should then sort out the problem.

Hi,

the VPN I use for work is normally fine at any time of the day for Email, remote desktop and UNC access to servers etc. I am on Premier 1.

I would look into Jelvs suggestion.

Another premier user here, who doesnt have any probs using VPN.

Just a thought on where you are connecting to? Is that an ADSL line? Are other people using it at the same time? Are other people using VPN to the same place, and if so is it performing ok for them? I'm just trying to eliminate other factors just incase!

Phil

Do you care to setup the VPN and then run a ping across the connection (to the private IP of the endpoint PC) then disconnect and run a tracert to the gateway or external IP of the PC at the other end.

James from PN is floating around here and I am sure he can then assist should it be an ISP issue.

There is a possibility that it is not the traffic that is actually slowing down but the way the data is being transmitted by your vpn software.

I regularly use a variant of VNC from work to one of my two machines at home. One runs XP, the other runs Linux. The screen refresh on the linux machine is much slower than on the XP one, and that's through the same connection, yet when I connect to the linux box through an SSH terminal it's fine.

I freely admit to not knowing a quarter as much about linux as I know about XP (which I support at work), so I suspect that it's the way my VNC is configured on the linux box.

Sorry I can't offer much more that that, other than the suggestion that since you are using a graphical interface, a high resolution on the Windows PC will cause a high proportion of data to be transmitted in simply redrawing the screen.

Do you know how work is connected to the internet - specifically what upstream speed they have? If you were connecting using remote desktop to a high resolution (say 1280x1024) in full 32 bit colour I would expect it to chug somewhat if the office is on ADSL say. It would also be dependant on what other internet usage was going on inside the office.

When I'm using remote desktop I restrict the colours to 16 bit - the VPN I use gives me up to 1MB - the office link is much faster than that so I don't see slowdowns.

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Do you know how work is connected to the internet - specifically what upstream speed they have? If you were connecting using remote desktop to a high resolution (say 1280x1024) in full 32 bit colour I would expect it to chug somewhat if the office is on ADSL say. It would also be dependant on what other internet usage was going on inside the office.

When I'm using remote desktop I restrict the colours to 16 bit - the VPN I use gives me up to 1MB - the office link is much faster than that so I don't see slowdowns.

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Good point. If your work is also on an ADSL line, your download speed will be restricted to their upload speed, so to speak.

I would also check everything is working OK at work on and your PC/Laptop. Your works internet pipe may be heavily utilised, the VPN server under powered for the amount of traffic it recieves etc.

The traceroute would be handy as it shows where the slow down is.