ISP asking me to turn off firewalls

nordberg

Have you included all the info in the email received from Plusnet? I've had issues with them in the past and they get you to log as test_user at test_domain (or similar) which is on BT's private segment. As such, the chances of you experiencing an kind of nefarious activity are very slim indeed as there is very little routing on that network (just enough for BT to run their tests as I understand it).

Fifer

nordberg wrote:

Have you included all the info in the email received from Plusnet? I've had issues with them in the past and they get you to log as test_user at test_domain (or similar) which is on BT's private segment. As such, the chances of you experiencing an kind of nefarious activity are very slim indeed as there is very little routing on that network (just enough for BT to run their tests as I understand it).

They used to use the BT private segment (when I first reported this problem back in early November) but they appear to have changed their testing process. They also used to use a BT speed test which I could never get to run.

albertross, thanks for the links. None show any problem at my exchange, although Plusnet have been suggesting that there were problems which were due to be fixed in November, rescheduled to December then rescheduled to yesterday. However, I discovered they had closed my original query on 2nd January due to inactivity (?) despite telling me to wait until 7the January.

Your speed test is showing 2.6MB tonight (which is faster than Plusnet's own has ever shown). I've made sure that the laptop is fully patched and the AV update is current, so I'll risk going bareback for a wee while. I'll let you all know how it goes.

wolfman

I personally wouldn't disable the firewall. I can't see how disabling the hardware firewall (which is effectively a port blocker) would change the speed. It would either work, or it wouldn't.

Things to check.

Firstly, strip down to the bare essentials.

- No wireless if possible. Connect your pc to the modem via a cable. That eliminates poor wireless performance (it can happen, currently does with me )

- Do you use an extension cable to hook up the router? For example at my parents, they used about a 25m extension cable so that the router could be on one side of the house and the phone point on the other. By moving the router next to the phone point and not using an extension cable they got an additional 2Mbit p/sec. The extension cable you often buy at B&Q etc... is poorer quality in relation to what comes up to your house. Hence it can lead to performance loss.

- Log into your router and try to find the connection status page. You want to see what speed your line is sync'ing at. Mine typically sync's at 8Mbit. I may never get this, but the potential is there. If for example your line is sync'ing at 2Mbit, then that's where your problem could lie.

- It's probably worth asking your ISP if you're on an IPStream or LLU connection. Just an extra bit of information worth knowing.

- Don't startup any services that might use up bandwidth. MSN Messenger for example.

- Download from a know source to test the speed. The internet speed tests aren't the most accurate way of determining your speed. Go to somewhere like this:
http://ubuntu-releases.datahop.it/edgy/
Pick one of the large iso image to download. Watch the speed you get when doing so in the browser. I typically get about 600kB/sec. Roughly 120kB/sec is a 1Mbit connection. So I'm getting 600/120 = 5Mbit.

There are other things such as packet loss, but try the above first.

espresso

Plusnet has to apologise yet again!

Moneymaker

Borrow an Apple Mac. If the problem is still there, you can turn off the firewall with impunity.

everythingblogcast

NEVER turn off your firewall for what ever reason.

cookie_monster_8

personally i dont see what the big problem is if they only what your firewall off for a short time to test then let them. theres a very slim chance youll get a bug or virus.... i mean if your that concerbed just dont browset the internet while their testing. then the only way someone can do it is to actively search for you etc which is extremely unlikely.

i believe people get too security concisous these days, as long as you backup everythig and are sensible with internt use you should be fine. yes i use the firewall but if necessary i would happily switch it off. but then again ive never had a serious virus. or a normal one in years to be honest

firewalls can cause problems with a net connection so best try every possibility

albertross_2

You don't have to do anything to get infected with a worm..

NAT will help to protect against this, but an adsl modem, unpatched XP, and no firewall, out of date/no av, and you will get infected in minutes.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/08/19/infected_in20_minutes/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5414502.stm
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2004-11-29-honeypot_x.htm
http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:zMZ4AdHtRXkJ:www.techweb.com/wire/security/54201306+xp+worm+minutes&hl=en&gl=uk&ct=clnk&cd=5
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/4423733.stm

judderman62

espresso wrote:

Plusnet has to apologise yet again!

Indeed - they are a bunch of Merchant Bankers.

I eventually walked away from them approx 7-9 weeks ago after 5/6 years with them

Shame really , they used to be superb