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Re: ADSL Test Report was: ADSL Installation Update



Title: dslreports.com - About Speed

Here is some info that may be of use to you (from ADSLguide.org.uk)

 

 

What is NAT? How does it operate over ADSL?

 

What is NAT?
NAT is an acronym for Network Address Translation. It operates as a solution to having multiple, global IP addresses. If you intend to connect your current LAN to The Internet, it is likely you will use a form of NAT so that each computer does not require a global unique IP address, but instead can use private addressing in the ranges:

10.0.0.0 -> 10.254.254.254 
172.16.0.0 -> 172.31.254.254
196.168.0.0 -> 192.168.254.254

All traffic for an The Internet goes through one external host--Usually a router.

 

How does NAT work?
NAT is often built into routers. It receives each packet from the internal private network and modifies the IP header to match the global IP address of the router, before it is transmitted out into The Internet. The router stores the internal IP address, destination IP address and port number in a routing table so when a request is returned on the same port, the NAT can match the internal IP address that originated the request, and then modify the IP header to match that of the internal address.

 

So NAT is a good thing?
Generally, yes. NAT saves on IP allocation. You can use an IP address from one of those in the ranges stated above for all the internal hosts on your LAN, but still connect to The Internet using NAT. Each IP address costs money, so NAT will help reduce costs. It should also help keep IPv4 address available until we are converted to IPv6.

 

Why do I hear complaints about NAT?
You may hear a lot of complaints from people complaining about NAT especially on the BT ADSL trials. These people however are incorrectly referring to NAT when they should be speaking of port forwarding. 

 

What is port forwarding?
Port forwarding is often a feature built into routers which perform NAT. It allows the router to forward any unrequested traffic generated from The Internet side of the router to a specified internal host. For example, you may run an Apache Web Server on port 80 of machine 10.0.0.5, and may want this server accessable from The Internet. A rule can be added to the router so that any requests, that are not replies to those from the local network, on port 80 are forwarded to IP address 10.0.0.5. You can assign a global rule so that all ports are forwarded to one internal server, or you can specify different IP addresses for different ports. So if you have a different IP address for your FTP server, you can specify this rule in the routers configuration also.

 

Why do I hear complaints about port forwarding?
Those people on current ADSL trials from BT are connected via a NAT enabled router. However, the router has not been configured to allow port forwarding. Although the feature is available on the router, BT have said that the service is not to be enabled. There is speculation as to whether this will also be the case in the final release of the service, and this choice may be up to each ISP to choose how they want it configured.

 

 
What does it mean if port forwarding is not enabled?
If it is not enabled, you will not be able to host any services on your ADSL connection. You may be thinking "So what?". You may think that this does not affect a large proportion of consumers but you are wrong. There are many applications that require port forwarding enabled to function properly, such as:
  • DCC send & IDENTD functions of IRC
  • Netmeeting will only allow you to hear the other person. They can't hear you.
  • ICQ fails on some functions due to it thinking you are behind a firewall
  • Direct play games don't work

The list is long.

 

So NO port forwarding is totally a bad thing?
Not totally. The router does not forward requests anywhere, it will mean that you network is more secure against attacks on the services running against them. It should not be seen as a firewall solution, but is more secure than having port forwarding enabled. Note: This does not mean your network *IS* secure. It is still possible to make outbound connections by malicious programs.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, October 16, 2000 4:29 PM
Subject: RE: [ukha_d] ADSL Test Report was: ADSL Installation Update

BT do seem to have disabled the ability to run a server over OpenWorld.  Mark McCall tried to access my machine earlier today without success.  I'm hoping they will be pressured into relaxing some of their blocking as more people come on-line and start hassling them.
 
Graham
-----Original Message-----
From: Neil F [mailto:automated@xxxxxxx]
Sent: 16 October 2000 16:23
To: ukha_d@xxxxxxxSubject: Re: [ukha_d] ADSL Test Report was: ADSL Installation Update

WOW!! thats fast!
 
Just for anyone who's thinking of getting a Blueyonder cable modem, here's my result for the megapath server:
Your download speed : 408940 bps, or 408 kbps.
Browsers would show : about a 49.9 k/sec transfer rate.
Your upload speed : 89887 bps, or 89 kbps.
 
The ADSL result was very impressive! but I heard you can't run servers on the BT package?
----- Original Message -----
To: ukha_d
Sent: Monday, October 16, 2000 4:10 PM
Subject: RE: [ukha_d] ADSL Test Report was: ADSL Installation Update

East coast was even faster
 
Your download speed : 711742 bps, or 711 kbps.
Browsers would show : about a 86.8 k/sec transfer rate.
Your upload speed : 2485501 bps, or 2485 kbps.
Your upload speed is much faster than down.. have you tweaked?
:-)
 
Keith
-----Original Message-----
From: Graham Kiff [mailto:graham.kiff@xxxxxxx]
Sent: 16 October 2000 15:33
To: UK HomeAutomation ListServer
Subject: [ukha_d] ADSL Test Report was: ADSL Installation Update

I've just run the test suggested by Neil F, here are the results:
 
Graham
 

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glossary:


Your download speed : 437595 bps, or 437 kbps.
Browsers would show : about a 53.4 k/sec transfer rate.
Your upload speed : 244200 bps, or 244 kbps.
Have you seen?
Keep online diary
Line Monitoring
More free tools!
Busy Forums..
(table key)
kbps
65

129

193

257

321

385

449

513

577
k/sec
8

16

24

32

40

48

56

64

72
time
21.3h

10.6h

7.1h

5.3h

4.2h

3.5h

3h

2.6h

2.3h
  Some useful comparisons
 
telephone quality voice
 
33.6k modem download speed
 
typical 56k modem download speed
 
single channel ISDN
 
dual channel ISDN
 
IDSL
 
150k Video Stream
 
Fastest multiplayer game
 
192k 'near CD quality' MP3
 
300k Video Stream
DOWN
UP
Cable/DSL Performance Archive Project
Help us collect accurate speed statistics:
My zip code is: (just so we know what city you are in)
My provider is: (or .. name of ISP):
My line speed should be: down / up kbps
(eg 640 / 90 or 608 / 128 or 3000 / 300)
The time here is now: :30 (24 hour clock)
I've already tweaked my PC: (for higher download speed)


Privacy concerns? this information is used to create per provider/region speed statistics, thats it!
How good is this? Compare against others in your area

The last few minutes lines tested at (kbps down/kbps up):
1211/300 (wc)
1154/332 (ec)
1927/346 (ec)
239/580 (wc)
346/796 (wc)
1261/103 (ec)
225/247 (wc)
702/121 (wc)
371/123 (wc)
349/610 (ec)
1825/373 (wc)
482/107 (wc)
346/370 (wc)
43/28 (wc)
381/134 (wc)
239/603 (wc)
165/85 (wc)
155/110 (ec)
277/292 (wc)
312/108 (wc)
396/226 (wc)
656/642 (ec)
648/136 (wc)
497/72 (wc)
1041/215 (wc)
173/103 (wc)
460/709 (wc)
3163/934 (wc)
681/121 (ec)
1422/692 (wc)
1273/335 (wc)
1111/435 (ec)
53/105 (wc)
912/578 (ec)
34/382 (wc)
270/122 (wc)
509/67 (wc)
42/394 (wc)
640/317 (wc)
1101/108 (wc)
705/137 (wc)
508/70 (wc)
500/47 (ec)
3221/748 (wc)
364/54 (ec)
3095/780 (wc)
2876/247 (wc)
138/97 (wc)
640/104 (wc)
188/50 (wc)


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