Question regarding IrishBroadband.

TheJaff

I've just recently got broadband from IBB. My first impression of the service is not good but considering its the only broadband service I can get at the moment it better than nothing.
I've installed Sygate Personal firewall on my PC. When I open the firewall there is an application called "NDIS User Mode I/O Driver" running. The amount of incoming traffic that this application is generation is worrying.
I have Kazaa running downloading 8 mp3's and the total download speed is only about 7Kb/s yet the firewall says that incoming traffic is more than twice that and most of it is destined for the NDIS aapplication.
I've also noticed than the source IP addreses for the NDIS application are the same addreses that kazaa is recieving from. I've blocked all traffic destined for this application but it doesn't seem to make any difference in speed.

Can anybody explain to me what this application is all about?

Mutant_Fruit

Ok, theres a few things i want to point out, so i'll do it in points.

1)

I've installed Sygate Personal firewall on my PC

This firewall isn;t that good. I found that it limited my ability to make advanced rules, such as only allowing outgoing connections for certain applications. I found that kerio personal firewall did the best job. I can specify which applications/processes can accept incoming connetcions and which can make outgoing connections.

2)

there is an application called "NDIS User Mode I/O Driver" running. The amount of incoming traffic that this application is generation is worrying

Using the firewall named aboce i can stop stuff like NDIS from taking incoming connections (which it shouldn't do). So step one is get that firewall uninsatlled, and install kerio. If you need further help with that post here or pm me. This should reduce bandwidth used by those processes considarably without harming your computer/broadband. Just one thing, SVCHost has to be allowed make outgoing connections, i think incoming can be blocked.

3)

I have Kazaa running downloading 8 mp3's and the total download speed is only about 7Kb/s

I think this is something to do with IBB themselves, it looks like they are limiting traffic during day times (maybe all the time...) I know that i can rarely get above 5kb's when i use it, unless its in the middle of the night. Then again, it could just be i never get good connections. I rarely use it though, so i can't really say.

4)

My first impression of the service is not good

Http downloads usually seem to be blazingly fast, i.e. over 40kb's a second. If you find they are as slow as kazaa, give IBB a ring. But before you do that, trying using a download accelerator like getright. Then can usually speed transfers up for me if they are going slowly.

I hope that helps.


EDIT: Current average is 24.7kb's, not that good, yet not too bad.

TheJaff

Thanks for the advice Mutant_Fruit. I'll give that firewall a go.
What is NDIS though? Is there any way I can disable it all together. Even though I am blocking it through the firewall it is still taking up bandwidth. Its not until the packets arrive at my pc that they are dropped, by then its too late to stop it using the bandwidth.

Ripwave

Originally posted by TheJaff
Thanks for the advice Mutant_Fruit. I'll give that firewall a go.
What is NDIS though? Is there any way I can disable it all together. Even though I am blocking it through the firewall it is still taking up bandwidth. Its not until the packets arrive at my pc that they are dropped, by then its too late to stop it using the bandwidth.

NDIS is the "Network Driver Interface Specification". Windows talks to network devices through NDIS drivers.

You statement that "The amount of incoming traffic that this application is generating" doesn't make any sense - if it's incoming traffic, it's obviously not being generated by anything on your machine.

Mutant_Fruit

well, it can easily be a virus/trojan/hacker/something nasty connecting remotely to his computer via the NDIS driver... so therefore blocking it from accpeting incoming internet connections is a good thing, and thats why i've done that on my computer.

Sygate either lets the program accept incoming and make outgoing OR completely blocks it. Whereas with Kerio you can say no incoming, but yes to outgoing. A much better way.