Internet problems.

[Doug Laidlaw]

For a long time, I have had problems with Internet connectivity, despite
my location being high. Playing any YouTube video always hesitates
every few seconds. I have always blamed our National Broadband Network,
which is known to have problems. Today, however, just for comparison, I
tried doing the same thing on Linux Mint. The video playback on Firefox
was faultless, so the problem must be in the distro's software.

I suppose that I should file a bug report? My problem seems too basic to
be called a bug.

[David W. Hodgins]

Post by Doug Laidlaw
For a long time, I have had problems with Internet connectivity, despite
my location being high. Playing any YouTube video always hesitates
every few seconds. I have always blamed our National Broadband Network,
which is known to have problems. Today, however, just for comparison, I
tried doing the same thing on Linux Mint. The video playback on Firefox
was faultless, so the problem must be in the distro's software.
I suppose that I should file a bug report? My problem seems too basic to
be called a bug.

The command "ip addr" will show which addresses are being assigned, assuming
Mint supports it. In Mageia, ifconfig -a can also be used to see the addresses.

I suspect it's a Mageia 8 install using the drakx scripts which don't seem to
work with ipv6 in many cases. If that's the case, ipv6 only sites will not work
and others may be slow as it tries the ipv6 connection first before falling back
to ipv4. If the only inet6 address shown starts with fe80 (similar to localhost),
then ipv6 is not working.

In Mageia, you can switch it to use networkmanager instead, though I think that
requires dropping the existing connection and setting up a new one in mcc/network
and internet/network center, making sure the checkbox to use networkmanager to
control the interface is selected.

As network manager doesn't support bridging (drakx tools do) and bridging is
required for things like xen, I've personally switched to systemd-networkd which
supports both ipv6 and bridging, but requires manually creating/editing the config
files.

Regards, Dave Hodgins

[David W. Hodgins]

Post by David W. Hodgins
I suspect it's a Mageia 8 install using the drakx scripts which don't seem to
work with ipv6 in many cases. If that's the case, ipv6 only sites will not work
and others may be slow as it tries the ipv6 connection first before falling back
to ipv4. If the only inet6 address shown starts with fe80 (similar to localhost),
then ipv6 is not working.

Meant to add, I had to replace my router to get ipv6 working even though the old
one (which I replaced as it stopped working completely) supposedly did support
ipv6.

Regards, Dave Hodgins

[Doug Laidlaw]

On Wed, 04 May 2022 16:14:05 -0400, David W. Hodgins

Post by David W. Hodgins
I suspect it's a Mageia 8 install using the drakx scripts which don't seem to
work with ipv6 in many cases. If that's the case, ipv6 only sites will not work
and others may be slow as it tries the ipv6 connection first before falling back
to ipv4. If the only inet6 address shown starts with fe80 (similar to localhost),
then ipv6 is not working.

Meant to add, I had to replace my router to get ipv6 working even though the old
one (which I replaced as it stopped working completely) supposedly did support
ipv6.
Regards, Dave Hodgins

Thanks, Dave. My router was supplied by the NBN, so I am probably stuck
with it. It has been suggested that users leave the router where it is,
and install a conventional router for a direct connection to the
provider. I have already tried network-manager, but couldn't see any
improvement As the default for GNOME, it is what Mint employs, and Mint
was my comparison. BitTwister has always recommended that we disable
ipv6. I haven't looked at that recently, so the present setting is
probably the Mageia default.

Doug.

[Bit Twister]

Post by Doug Laidlaw
My router was supplied by the NBN, so I am probably stuck
with it.

In any case, ISP needs the mac/serial number of device to grant you
access to their network.

Post by Doug Laidlaw
It has been suggested that users leave the router where it is,
and install a conventional router for a direct connection to the
provider.

Again, if router is direct connected to ISP network it has to be provisioned
by ISP which will need mac/serial/model to configure it remotely.

I configured my ISP router to supply fixed ip addresses and a little bit of
port forwarding for ssh.

First time I had connection problem the tech factory reset the modem
breaking my LAN connections. Went and got my own router to place
between my LAN and ISP router. No longer care if ISP router is reset. I still
have LAN access.

< I have already tried network-manager, but couldn't see any

Post by Doug Laidlaw
improvement As the default for GNOME, it is what Mint employs, and Mint
was my comparison.

You need to check node nic for any TX/RX errors.
ifconfig | grep error

I was amazed that a few number of error severally impacted my throughput.
Replaced cheap ethernet cable with more expensive cable and my throughput
went way up.

Used iperf to test my gigabit network between nodes.

FYI: bought 500 Mbs up/down. Found out I can only push ~300 Mbs through
my computer according to speed testing sites.

Post by Doug Laidlaw
BitTwister has always recommended that we disable ipv6.

Only if your ISP is providing IPV4 from their gateway to your machine.

I do not see reason to have IPV6 send/receive packets to be repackaged
as IPV4 packets unless you want a IPV6 LAN setup.
Would not do me any good since I have IPV4 only network cameras.

Paste any of the following in a terminal to see your WAN ISP Internet ip address.
If any returns IP address with colons you have a IPV6 ISP WAN connection,

curl http://icanhazip.com
curl http://ident.me
curl whatismyip.akamai.com
curl https://ipecho.net/plain
wget -qO - http://icanhazip.com
wget -qO - http://ident.me/
wget -qO - http://smxi.org/opt/ip.php
wget -qO - https://ipecho.net/plain

[David W. Hodgins]

Post by Bit Twister
Paste any of the following in a terminal to see your WAN ISP Internet ip address.
If any returns IP address with colons you have a IPV6 ISP WAN connection,

If ipv6 is working, each of the curl/wget sites show either your ipv4 address or
your ipv6 address, not both.

Post by Bit Twister
curl http://icanhazip.com

shows ipv6 addr only

Post by Bit Twister
curl http://ident.me

shows ipv6 addr only

Post by Bit Twister
curl whatismyip.akamai.com

shows ipv4 addr only

Post by Bit Twister
curl https://ipecho.net/plain

shows ipv4 addr only

Post by Bit Twister
wget -qO - http://icanhazip.com

shows ipv6 addr only

Post by Bit Twister
wget -qO - http://ident.me/

shows ipv6 addr only

Post by Bit Twister
wget -qO - http://smxi.org/opt/ip.php

shows ipv4 addr only

Post by Bit Twister
wget -qO - https://ipecho.net/plain

shows ipv4 addr only

The command "inxi -i" will show both the ipv4 wan address and the computer's ipv6 address.

[TJ]

Post by Bit Twister

Post by Doug Laidlaw
My router was supplied by the NBN, so I am probably stuck
with it.

In any case, ISP needs the mac/serial number of device to grant you
access to their network.

I use Spectrum cable for Internet these days. With Spectrum, a
modem-only is free, but a wireless router/modem has a monthly rental fee
attached. They say you can use your own modem if it's an "approved"
model, but the service installation technician couldn't get it to work,
so I wound up with one of theirs. So far, I haven't been charged for it.

Spectrum requires the information for the modem, but the output from the
modem will connect to anything. I use my own wireless router, and have
even upgraded once, with no notification to the ISP.

Post by Bit Twister

Post by Doug Laidlaw
It has been suggested that users leave the router where it is,
and install a conventional router for a direct connection to the
provider.

Again, if router is direct connected to ISP network it has to be provisioned
by ISP which will need mac/serial/model to configure it remotely.
I configured my ISP router to supply fixed ip addresses and a little bit of
port forwarding for ssh.
First time I had connection problem the tech factory reset the modem
breaking my LAN connections. Went and got my own router to place
between my LAN and ISP router. No longer care if ISP router is reset. I still
have LAN access.
< I have already tried network-manager, but couldn't see any

Post by Doug Laidlaw
improvement As the default for GNOME, it is what Mint employs, and Mint
was my comparison.

You need to check node nic for any TX/RX errors.
ifconfig | grep error
I was amazed that a few number of error severally impacted my throughput.
Replaced cheap ethernet cable with more expensive cable and my throughput
went way up.
Used iperf to test my gigabit network between nodes.
FYI: bought 500 Mbs up/down. Found out I can only push ~300 Mbs through
my computer according to speed testing sites.

Post by Doug Laidlaw
BitTwister has always recommended that we disable ipv6.

Only if your ISP is providing IPV4 from their gateway to your machine.
I do not see reason to have IPV6 send/receive packets to be repackaged
as IPV4 packets unless you want a IPV6 LAN setup.
Would not do me any good since I have IPV4 only network cameras.
Paste any of the following in a terminal to see your WAN ISP Internet ip address.
If any returns IP address with colons you have a IPV6 ISP WAN connection,
curl http://icanhazip.com
curl http://ident.me
curl whatismyip.akamai.com
curl https://ipecho.net/plain
wget -qO - http://icanhazip.com
wget -qO - http://ident.me/
wget -qO - http://smxi.org/opt/ip.php
wget -qO - https://ipecho.net/plain

I use network manager on this laptop as I have a dual-frequency router
and network manager seems to be better at connecting to the frequency
*I* want, rather than the one *it* wants, than Mageia's net_applet.

I was curious, so clicked on the wireless icon in Plasma's panel,
clicked on the connection, then Details. It showed ipv4 number, ipv4
gateway, ipv4 dns, ipv6 number, ipv6 dns, and other stuff.

So apparently, I am connected both ways. I haven't had any noticeable
problems from it. Performance seems good. I'm inclined to leave well
enough alone, but what should I look for to determine if I should change?

TJ

[Bit Twister]

Post by TJ

Post by Bit Twister

Post by Doug Laidlaw
My router was supplied by the NBN, so I am probably stuck
with it.

In any case, ISP needs the mac/serial number of device to grant you
access to their network.

I use Spectrum cable for Internet these days. With Spectrum, a
modem-only is free, but a wireless router/modem has a monthly rental fee
attached. They say you can use your own modem if it's an "approved"
model,

That is just sales speak to sell router rental fee. Any router that can
accept WAN Dhcp connection should work. Spectrum modem is in the bridge
mode for ISP.WAN access and hands out a dynamic ip LAN address.

Post by TJ
but the service installation technician couldn't get it to work,
so I wound up with one of theirs. So far, I haven't been charged for it.

I am impressed with your Spectrum tech description. I was with my neighbor
when he changed from Verizon fios to Spectrum. Tech had to spend a lot time
getting wiring converted to coax cable input. When we got down to actually
connecting to his modem. I told the tech that the computer was fixed lan
address and I did not know how to tell the linux OS to use dhcp connection.

He said just a minute, slapped in a router and we were connected. I assumed
the router fix was because he was way over on site time and wanted to
get to next install.

Neighbor is still not paying for Spectrum wireless router either. :)

[David W. Hodgins]

Post by TJ
I was curious, so clicked on the wireless icon in Plasma's panel,
clicked on the connection, then Details. It showed ipv4 number, ipv4
gateway, ipv4 dns, ipv6 number, ipv6 dns, and other stuff.
So apparently, I am connected both ways. I haven't had any noticeable
problems from it. Performance seems good. I'm inclined to leave well
enough alone, but what should I look for to determine if I should change?

As long as the ipv6 address isn't just the fe80 (Link Local) address, nothing.
If it isn't broken, don't fix it!

Regards, Dave Hodgins

[David W. Hodgins]

Post by David W. Hodgins

Post by TJ
I was curious, so clicked on the wireless icon in Plasma's panel,
clicked on the connection, then Details. It showed ipv4 number, ipv4
gateway, ipv4 dns, ipv6 number, ipv6 dns, and other stuff.
So apparently, I am connected both ways. I haven't had any noticeable
problems from it. Performance seems good. I'm inclined to leave well
enough alone, but what should I look for to determine if I should change?

As long as the ipv6 address isn't just the fe80 (Link Local) address, nothing.
If it isn't broken, don't fix it!

To double check run "ip addr|grep inet6". It should show three lines ...
::1/128 scope host (aka localhost).
fe80::(some value)/64 scope link (aka link local).
(some value)/128 scope global dynamic noprefixroute (aka the wan address for that
computer).

Regards, Dave Hodgins

[William Unruh]

Post by TJ
I use network manager on this laptop as I have a dual-frequency router
and network manager seems to be better at connecting to the frequency
*I* want, rather than the one *it* wants, than Mageia's net_applet.

I had the problem that network_center would sort of randomly pick a SSID
even though I had selected a specific one from the choice list. Ie,
wpa_supplicant would go through the list in wpa_supplicant.conf and
randomly pick the SSID that was a) in the list or wpa_supplicant.conf
and b) was visible to the wireless. I therefor edited
/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifup-eth to first extract the stnaza for
the SSID that had been selected and put it into a file in wireless.d,
and then start wpa_supplicant pointing it to that file, rather than the
default to use as its conf file. But this still does not stop
wpa_supplicant from picking the first fitting SSID it sees rather than
say the one with the strongest signal.

Mageia really has problems with network_center. The person who origianly
wrote the perl code has left and no-one has picked it up. I like it
because I can configure things much more easily than I could when I
tried network-manager.

It should not be using wext as the driver but nl80211. The former has
been strongly deprecated for at least 5 years by now.

It should not use iwlist to find the visible networks but probably
wpa_cli scan/scan-results even if the user is not root. (eg make things
suid root, or make it. iwlist craps out if there are too many sources,
and refuses to print out anything in a case like that (instead of for
example printing out the strongest BSSIDs )

The system should try first to connect to the stongest signal for a
given ssid (name) not the first one it sees. This seems to be a problem
with wpa_supplicant, although there is a way of telling wpa_supplicant
which one to try first using wpa_cli bssid ... command.
Again that probably needs the program to be suid root.

[Doug Laidlaw]

Post by David W. Hodgins
As network manager doesn't support bridging (drakx tools do) and bridging is
required for things like xen, I've personally switched to
systemd-networkd which
supports both ipv6 and bridging, but requires manually creating/editing the config
files.

There is a tutorial for setting up systemd-networkd (on Ubuntu) at :

https://hesamyan.medium.com/switching-from-networkmanager-to-systemd-networkd-dcbda0b15056

I just found it, and haven't tried it yet. Ubuntu is not as heavily
customized as Linux Mint, meaning that I don't have to run scripts
intended for Mint alone.

[David W. Hodgins]

Post by Doug Laidlaw

Post by David W. Hodgins
As network manager doesn't support bridging (drakx tools do) and bridging is
required for things like xen, I've personally switched to
systemd-networkd which
supports both ipv6 and bridging, but requires manually creating/editing the config
files.

https://hesamyan.medium.com/switching-from-networkmanager-to-systemd-networkd-dcbda0b15056
I just found it, and haven't tried it yet. Ubuntu is not as heavily
customized as Linux Mint, meaning that I don't have to run scripts
intended for Mint alone.

Since I only have one ethernet card in my system, I've added net.ifnames=0 to
the kernel cmdline. That way my nic is eth0 rather then enp7s0.

I've set my router's lan address is 192.168.10.11 and use a /16 instead of the
normal /24.

I had problems getting static for ipv4 with dynamic for ipv6 working, so I
have dynamic for both and the static for ipv4.

On my rpi 4b where I don't run xen ...

$ cat /etc/systemd/network/10-eth0.network
[Match]
Name=eth0

[Network]
Description=LAN_NIC
DNS=::1
DNS=192.168.10.2
DNS=192.168.10.101
DNS=8.8.8.8
Domains=rp4.hodgins.homeip.net
DHCP=no
LLMNR=false
IPv6AcceptRA=yes

[Address]
Address=192.168.10.101/16

[Route]
Gateway=192.168.10.11

$ cat /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0
DEVICE=eth0
BOOTPROTO=static
IPADDR=192.168.10.101
NETMASK=255.255.0.0
GATEWAY=192.168.10.11
ONBOOT=yes
METRIC=5
MII_NOT_SUPPORTED=yes
USERCTL=yes
DNS1=192.168.10.2
DNS1=192.168.10.101
RESOLV_MODS=no
LINK_DETECTION_DELAY=1
IPV6INIT=yes
IPV6TO4INIT=no
ACCOUNTING=no
NM_CONTROLLED=no
NOZEROCONF=yes
PERSISTENT_DHCLIENT=yes

On my main system, where I also need bridging for xen ...

$ cat /etc/systemd/network/eth0.network
[Match]
Name=e*

[Network]
Bridge=xenbr

$ cat /etc/systemd/network/xenbr.netdev
[NetDev]
Name=xenbr
Kind=bridge

$ cat /etc/systemd/network/xenbr.network
[Match]
Name=xenbr

[Network]
Description=LAN_NIC
DNS=::1
DNS=127.0.0.1
DNS=8.8.8.8
Domains=x3.hodgins.homeip.net
DHCP=yes
LLMNR=false
IPv6AcceptRA=yes

[Address]
Address=192.168.10.2/16

[Route]
Gateway=192.168.10.11

$ cat /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0
DEVICE=eth0
BOOTPROTO=dhcp
ONBOOT=yes

$ cat /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-xenbr
DEVICE=xenbr
BOOTPROTO=dhcp
ONBOOT=yes

Regards, Dave Hodgins

[Gilberto F da Silva]

On Fri, 20 May 2022 13:57:28 -0400, Doug Laidlaw

Post by Doug Laidlaw

Post by David W. Hodgins
As network manager doesn't support bridging (drakx tools do)
and bridging is required for things like xen, I've personally
switched to systemd-networkd which supports both ipv6 and
bridging, but requires manually creating/editing the config
files.

https://hesamyan.medium.com/switching-from-networkmanager-to-systemd-

networkd-dcbda0b15056
I just found it, and haven't tried it yet. Ubuntu is not as heavily

Post by Doug Laidlaw
customized as Linux Mint, meaning that I don't have to run
scripts intended for Mint alone.

Since I only have one ethernet card in my system, I've added
net.ifnames=0 to the kernel cmdline. That way my nic is eth0 rather
then enp7s0.
I've set my router's lan address is 192.168.10.11 and use a /16
instead of the normal /24.
I had problems getting static for ipv4 with dynamic for ipv6
working, so I have dynamic for both and the static for ipv4.
On my rpi 4b where I don't run xen ...
$ cat /etc/systemd/network/10-eth0.network [Match] Name=eth0
[Network] Description=LAN_NIC DNS=::1 DNS=192.168.10.2
DNS=192.168.10.101 DNS=8.8.8.8 Domains=rp4.hodgins.homeip.net
DHCP=no LLMNR=false IPv6AcceptRA=yes
[Address] Address=192.168.10.101/16
[Route] Gateway=192.168.10.11
$ cat /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 DEVICE=eth0
BOOTPROTO=static IPADDR=192.168.10.101 NETMASK=255.255.0.0
GATEWAY=192.168.10.11 ONBOOT=yes METRIC=5 MII_NOT_SUPPORTED=yes
USERCTL=yes DNS1=192.168.10.2 DNS1=192.168.10.101 RESOLV_MODS=no
LINK_DETECTION_DELAY=1 IPV6INIT=yes IPV6TO4INIT=no ACCOUNTING=no
NM_CONTROLLED=no NOZEROCONF=yes PERSISTENT_DHCLIENT=yes
On my main system, where I also need bridging for xen ...
$ cat /etc/systemd/network/eth0.network [Match] Name=e*
[Network] Bridge=xenbr
$ cat /etc/systemd/network/xenbr.netdev [NetDev] Name=xenbr
Kind=bridge
$ cat /etc/systemd/network/xenbr.network [Match] Name=xenbr
[Network] Description=LAN_NIC DNS=::1 DNS=127.0.0.1 DNS=8.8.8.8
Domains=x3.hodgins.homeip.net DHCP=yes LLMNR=false
IPv6AcceptRA=yes
[Address] Address=192.168.10.2/16
[Route] Gateway=192.168.10.11
$ cat /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 DEVICE=eth0
BOOTPROTO=dhcp ONBOOT=yes
$ cat /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-xenbr DEVICE=xenbr
BOOTPROTO=dhcp ONBOOT=yes

These weird net names have already bored me a lot until someone
passes me the following text:

You basically have three options:

1 - You disable the assignment of fixed names, so that the
unpredictable kernel names are used again. For this, simply mask
udev's .link file for the default policy: ln -s /dev/null
/etc/systemd/network/99-default.link

2 - You create your own manual naming scheme, for example by naming
your interfaces "internet0", "dmz0" or "lan0". For that create your
own .link files in /etc/systemd/network/, that choose an explicit name
or a better naming scheme for one, some, or all of your interfaces.
See systemd.link(5) for more information.


3 - You pass the net.ifnames=0 on the kernel command line.


- --
Abraços
Gilberto F da Silva
Mageia release 9 (Official) for x86_64
Kernel: 6.4.9-desktop-2.mga9
Desktop: KDE

[Bit Twister]

Post by Doug Laidlaw

Post by David W. Hodgins
As network manager doesn't support bridging (drakx tools do) and bridging is
required for things like xen, I've personally switched to
systemd-networkd which
supports both ipv6 and bridging, but requires manually creating/editing the config
files.

https://hesamyan.medium.com/switching-from-networkmanager-to-systemd-networkd-dcbda0b15056

Not as informative as I would have thought. See my reference links in
network conf file.

Post by Doug Laidlaw
I just found it, and haven't tried it yet.

I use it, reduced my boot time by decreasing time to get network up.

Post by Doug Laidlaw
Ubuntu is not as heavily
customized as Linux Mint, meaning that I don't have to run scripts
intended for Mint alone.

Why are you posting/asking information for Ubuntu, Linux Mint in this
Mageia group?

I set up systemd-networkd to work with my nic and wireless connections.
Pretty straight forward process. Used google to search for info, created
systemd network file for each network device, disabled current network managers,
enabled systemd-networkd stuff. Did not go with systemd name services.

systemd-networkd.service enabled
systemd-networkd.socket enabled
systemd-networkd-wait-online.service enabled
systemd-network-generator.service disabled

Devices configuration files I created/configured

$ ls -al /usr/lib/systemd/network/*xx*
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 852 Jul 14 2021 /usr/lib/systemd/network/10_xx__enp3s0.network
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 822 Feb 10 2021 /usr/lib/systemd/network/11_xx__enp4s0.network
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 920 Feb 10 2021 /usr/lib/systemd/network/12_xx__wlp2s0.network
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 780 Feb 9 2021 /usr/lib/systemd/network/20_xx__dhcp.network

Using ipv4 fixed ip addressing, named dns, and ipv6 disabled.

$ cat /usr/lib/systemd/network/10_xx__enp3s0.network
#*********************************************************************
# /usr/lib/systemd/network/10_xx__enp3s0.network
# Created by /local/bin/systemd-networkd_net_nic_changes Wed 14 Jul 08:07 2021
#
# man systemd.network
# http://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/systemd.network.html
# https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Systemd-networkd
#
# If you change this file, make the same change in
# /local/bin/systemd-networkd_net_nic_changes and run
# systemctl restart systemd-networkd
#
#*********************************************************************

[Match]
Name=enp3s0

[Network]
Description=LAN_NIC
DHCP=ipv4
DNS=127.0.0.1
Domains=home.test
IPv6AcceptRouterAdvertisements=false

[Address]
Address=192.168.50.132/24


#****** end /usr/lib/systemd/network/10_xx__enp3s0.network ****