# DSL Slow speed/ weird syslog errors



## Fatgoose (Oct 13, 2009)

After very painfully working with verizon for the past 2 months they have agreed to replace the modem... Problem is that replacing the modem did absolutely nothing to fix the slow speed problems I have.

I have an Actiontec GT704-WG-B

Every day now between the hours of 7:00pm, to 12:00am my connection speed significantly slows down. My normal bandwidth is 3mb/1mb down/up. However, during the previously mentioned hours the speed drops to something like this:



I thought this problem was caused by a bad SNR, as the upload rate remained relatively unchanged when the download rate plummeted, and the SNR on the old modem was pretty bad, but now that I have a new modem the SNR is solid, but the speed problem persists.

Logging in to the modem and taking a look around gives me some interesting numbers:










> (GMT-05:00)00:59:57 Fri Nov 13 2009 user info syslog: failed dns request len=148,srcip=68.238.128.12, url=wpad.domain_not_set.invalid
> (GMT-05:00)01:05:48 Fri Nov 13 2009 user info syslog: failed dns request len=153,srcip=68.238.128.12, url=FLANZDESK.domain_not_set.invalid
> (GMT-05:00)01:17:46 Fri Nov 13 2009 daemon err user: ACS Disconnect with error 1
> (GMT-05:00)01:17:47 Fri Nov 13 2009 daemon err user: ACS connect failed, retryCount = 4, backOffTime = 2444000ms
> ...


So my question is:
#1: What are these failed DNS requests? What is going on here?
#2: Are these errors causing the bandwidth slow downs during the high traffic hours?

Thanks in advance, you guys are great!


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## steveb1234 (May 1, 2009)

This sounds like an excessive contention issue- your actual speed will go up/down at offpeak/peak hours - but not to this degree- I would raise this with your service provider and post the above info to them if you can - the disconnects and dns request failures are all during peak hours. It looks from your router info that the line could support a 10Mbit/s line rate ( IP profile limit will cut this to about 9Mbit/s to ensure a stable connection). Now that you have been sent a new router they can't blame your equipment.


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## Fatgoose (Oct 13, 2009)

I will get a sample of the syslog from tomorrow morning (offpeak hours) and see if the errors are still going on. Based off of that and what you can get from the information I can give you will determine if I'm ready to tackle verizon tech support... again.

I understand why it needs to scale the speed during peak/offpeak hours but I'm glad you agree that it should not be scaling them to this extent. And considering how unstable the connection already is the last thing I want to do is offer to pay for the 10mbit connection and get the same speeds


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## Fatgoose (Oct 13, 2009)

Here is some information gathered from this morning:





> (GMT-05:00)07:34:00 Fri Nov 13 2009 daemon err user: ACS connect failed, retryCount = 11, backOffTime = 1480000ms
> (GMT-05:00)07:34:00 Fri Nov 13 2009 daemon err user: ACS Connect Status = 2 Connection to host cpe-ems84.verizon.com(192.168.1.1):443 failed 146 (Connection refused)
> (GMT-05:00)07:43:49 Fri Nov 13 2009 user info syslog: failed dns request len=136,srcip=68.238.128.12, url=_kerberos._tcp.dc._msdcs.email.wsu.edu
> (GMT-05:00)07:51:51 Fri Nov 13 2009 syslog info -- MARK --
> ...


So the errors are still there, but the speed is "normal"... Anyone know whats going on here?


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

Run this test a couple of times when you have the problem, then again when it's "normal".

Post the results here.



Register at DSLReports and run their Line Quality Tests. It's best to run this test with a direct wired connection to eliminate any wireless issues from the results. It's useful many times to run this test several times, and we'd like to see each of the results. Post the results link from the top of the test display page for each test run here.

The link to post is near the top of the page and looks like:

If you wish to post this result to a forum, please copy/paste this URL
*http://www.dslreports.com/linequality/nil/2357195* <- _sample only, yours will obviously be different!_
and your IP will be disguised.

Copy/paste that link here.

*Note:* _You will have to enable PING (ICMP) request response either in your router (if you have one), or in your computer's firewall for direct modem connections. This is very important to get the most important part of the test to run._


DSLReports 

Here's also the Line Quality Tests FAQ to help you understand the results. This will answer some questions about the line quality display.


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## Fatgoose (Oct 13, 2009)

All right I ran a few test, still waiting on the results. For now enjoy the syslog on the modem after a power cycle.



> (GMT)00:00:13 Sat Jan 01 2000 syslog emerg started: BusyBox v1.00 (2009.08.17-21:31+0000)
> (GMT)00:00:16 Sat Jan 01 2000 daemon info pvc2684d: Interface "nas0" created sucessfully
> (GMT)00:00:16 Sat Jan 01 2000 daemon info pvc2684d: Communicating over ATM 0.0.35, encapsulation: LLC
> (GMT-05:00)00:00:19 Sat Jan 01 2000 daemon notice pppd[439]: pppd 2.4.1 started by admin, uid 0
> ...


The part I highlited in red is something I have never seen before. Hope this helps at all. I will post the test results when I get them.


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## Fatgoose (Oct 13, 2009)

Sorry for the double post, Test results are done.

http://www.dslreports.com/linequality/nil/2586171
http://www.dslreports.com/linequality/nil/2586164


What do you make of that?


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

Well, they're less than ideal, but you aren't getting dropped packet on the data tests. I'm not sure what to make of that...


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## Fatgoose (Oct 13, 2009)

Now you see my dilemma. Verizon Tech support constantly tells me that I have a solid signal and yet I have very slow speeds after the modem was replaced. I'll keep an eye on the syslog and keep you updated on any new developments.

I'd like to fix this, but it's just so bizarre.


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

FWIW, I'm seeing some trouble in the Verizon network as well.

Here's what my tests used to look like: http://www.dslreports.com/linequality/nil/2545248

Here's a sample of what they look like now: http://www.dslreports.com/linequality/6a7592524799/2586215

Obviously, something is going on between the East coast and the West coast somewhere!


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## Fatgoose (Oct 13, 2009)

I did not fix the problem with the weird authentication errors in the syslog, however I found one very strange thing about the Actiontecs.

Procedure I followed:
(Default Router IP typed in browser) 192.168.1.1>Utilities
It asked me for a username and password
(Default Username/Password) Admin/Password
from 192.168.1.1>Utilities>Reboot>
Clicked "Reboot"
I was prompted to click "Home" after the "Power" LED finished blinking.
I did.
Download/Upload went from 1.5Mbit/s to 2.78Mbit/s and .72Mbit/s to .72Mbit/s respectively.

The syslog errors are still showing up, but the download speed has improved as well as stability. I've tried power cycling the modem several times before this and it did not seem to help, but this "Reboot" option seemed to fix the problem for the time being. I wonder what the differences are.


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

I can't say, never used that line of modems.


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## Fatgoose (Oct 13, 2009)

3 hours later and I have finished my experiment. I hope you find this useful.

Intro: I'm no expert here (in fact, far from it), and I realize that this might be completely and absolutely wrong, and even a laughable attempt at diagnosing the problem. However, the community here is a nice one, and I feel confident that if this is the case you guys won't give me too much crap for it. This is just the first thought that comes to mind.

*Note* I am terrible with terminology. I hope you can get passed the mistaken uses and understand what I am trying to say. If not ask me to clarify.*
-------------------------
Hypothesis: If problematic DNS routing is the cause of several different internet connection difficulties, and If the frequency of the ACS error is the only aspect of the system log that is changing, then the ACS error is in some way causing DNS failures.

Evidence:

1. The "Reboot" option resets the retry count, and the back off time of this ACS error.


> (GMT-05:00)14:39:20 Sun Nov 15 2009 daemon err user: ACS connect failed, retryCount = 1, backOffTime = 4221000ms
> (GMT-05:00)14:39:20 Sun Nov 15 2009 daemon err user: ACS Connect Status = 2 Connection to host cpe-ems84.verizon.com(192.168.1.1):443 failed 146 (Connection refused)


But other than that, it does not seem to change anything else within the system log reports.
-------------------------
2. This morning I had a download rate of .72Mbit/s but after a "Reboot" within the modem settings the download rate reached 2.6 Mbit/s. About two hours later after the same ACS error reached around 7 retries, and an increasing back off time, the download rate was around 1.5Mbit/s. A second "Reboot" and the new rate showed 2.25Mbit/s. Because only the ACS errors are increasing and possibly even stacking, and the other system log data shows little to no change I am lead to believe that these two things are correlated.

*Note* 2.6Mbit/s to 2.25Mbit/s seems reasonably scaled to the traffic increase between 8:00am and 12:00pm on a Sunday.*
-------------------------
3. The second thing I noticed is that my Xbox 360 is having difficulties establishing a connection to Xbox live. The errors it gives me are either the generic "Your MTU setting is too low" and after a quick check I find that this is just flat out wrong. Or the error report "Your Xbox can reach the internet but cannot contact Live. Reset the router for 30 seconds and try again."

However after a "Reset" the 360 can establish a connection to live instantly and without any problems, and once the connection is established it has no problems hanging on to it even after many hours of gaming without any modem resets. I believe that this points to DNS difficulty.
-------------------------
4. Microsoft exchange seems to have an increasingly difficult time connecting. It tries to connect around every 5 Minutes to sync my email between mail servers and Outlook. As the session time on the modem increases the frequency of this situation also increases: I will get a notification "Microsoft Exchange connection lost", and after a various amount of time it is followed by "Microsoft Exchange connection recovered".
-------------------------
Conclusion: As a result of the ACS errors stacking and the Back off time increasing the little memory the modem has is being taxed heavily. The remaining memory is insufficient to properly perform basic DNS routing, resulting in applications timing out.
-------------------------
I need to do some additional testing tonight during peak hours, however you've been very helpful for me so far, please let me know what you think of this hypothesis.
-------------------------


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

I think I'd update the firmware on the router, then reset it to factory defaults and reconfigure.


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## gasso74 (Nov 26, 2009)

when i ping to any site like ping yahoo.com
i see time over 1000ms which is wrong,how can i fix this prolem
my os :XP
ram:2gb
hdver60 gb and have free space
thank


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

grasso74, please start your own thread.


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## skillstoenvy (Mar 15, 2010)

Fatgoose said:


> After very painfully working with verizon for the past 2 months they have agreed to replace the modem... Problem is that replacing the modem did absolutely nothing to fix the slow speed problems I have.
> 
> I have an Actiontec GT704-WG-B
> 
> ...


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## 2xg (Aug 5, 2009)

skillstoenvy please create a new Thread if you're having the same issue. This is an old Thread.

and this one will be Closed.


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