problem with network at school, packet sorting

[Sephroth57]

My friend stays at stockton college and hes having trouble playing online games there. apparently they have a packet sorter that sends any packets that are for online gaming to a low priority bandwith. so basicly he can connect to online games but he is so laggy that its worse than dialup. i used to play diablo 2 on dialup pretty fine, he has a 5 second delay from clicking

is there any kind of way around this? thats pretty BS he pays like 10k a year and cant even play games there

[ChadTower]

Did he read his terms of service when he signed up?  I'd bet something like online games are at least discouraged, and possibly forbidden on school resources.

[missioncontrol]

you mean people go to school to learn???

I thought everybody went there for the bandwidth.........

[Sephroth57]

come on theres lots of geeks here, someone has to be a network geek

[missioncontrol]

is he trying to play these games in class?

[Stingray]

I thought packet sorting was something that's done at the post office.

-S

[ChadTower]

The primary point is that if it's against his TOS, he's not likely going to be able to... the only thing I can think of is if the server itself can be told to accept a different port than usual, then the client can be told to send on that same port...

...but probably not, really.

[Sephroth57]

well really what i would need is something that could "mask" packets from the program or whatever that is determining them as for gaming, and downgrading their bandwith

[ChadTower]

Not going to happen.  If it's TCP/IP, it's just a generic packet.  The port # is what is identifying it.

[Sephroth57]

the port number that the game uses? cause that can be changed

[DemonBrew]

the port number that the game uses? cause that can be changed

Yes, the TCP port can be changed - but has to be done on both the client and the server. If it's a server your buddy owns, it's not that hard. Then you have to tell all clients to change the TCP port. Make it something that the filter won't be configured as "suspect". Say like, 5500 for VNC or 6801 for Net2Phone (if those are allowed of course)

The second option is to have some type of packet redirection. I've done incoming packet redirection (SOURCE: WAN PORT: 8521 redirect to DEST: LAN PORT:80) on a router. For outgoing port redirection, you're talking about setting up a Winsock proxy server I think. If your buddy has a router, see if it can do outgoing port forwarding.

Of course, I'm under the assumption that the QoS bandwidth reduction is based on TCP port identification. If it's determining it by some other method (hop count, destination IP, etc) you're probably screwed.

[ChadTower]

This is such a common thing in a dorm, he's probably screwed.

[Sephroth57]

yeah this really sucks =(   im hoping i can find someway around this ive posted on some networking forums but im not sure if its possible. looks like my everquest group just lost its shadowknight, lol

[Captain_Dingo]

Not going to happen.  If it's TCP/IP, it's just a generic packet.  The port # is what is identifying it.

It's not just the port number.  If it was as simple as moving the port, people would have done it.  Besides, there are a limited number of ports available for incoming connections (1024 - 65535), so there is overlap between applications.

A lot of those QoS filters actually inspect the packets to see what the content is and use the payload to determine what the application is.  Consequently, certain things get a lower priority than others.

The only way to get around the filtering is to modify the contents of the packet.  Obviously, changing the packet contents would mess up the game, so the only way to do that is to run his packets through a VPN.  Some games will balk at that, some may not.  He needs the aid of an outside server on the internet somewhere, and the pings are just going to go up with the encrypt / send through VPN / decrypt / send to game server cycle.

In short, he's probably screwed I know some people at schools like that have gotten their own cable modem installation in the dorm, and used that for internet access.  That wouldn't have been an option in my school, but I know it is in some.

[pointdablame]

thats pretty BS he pays like 10k a year and cant even play games there

Try paying 42k a year and not being able to play any games   My school blocked most ports for gaming.  No CS:Source for me this semester 

Plus, they've been "upgrading" the network so for the past 2 weeks, I'll lose my connection every 10 mins or so for a few mins.... its wonderful.

At least I can still use my torrents.

[Sephroth57]

wow thats crap =(   my friend goes to college in PA and each dorm room has their own cable modem, thats badass. now i know if i ever go lookin for colleges away from home the first priority is online gaming capability lol, im dead serious too.

[abrannan]

He needs an off-campus network SOCKS proxy, then he can socks-ify his game client.  All traffic will be wrapped inside a crunchy candy shell until it reaches the proxy, then it will be sent to the game servers.  It's still more hops than strictly necessary, but there's less processing time than a VPN.  Of course, if the network is also de-prioritizing SOCKS traffic, then that doesn't buy him anything. 


Though honestly, most game traffic is fairly low size, and should have a minimal impact on the overall network.  The school'd be better off bandwidth restricting P2P and torrent traffic to realize the greatest improvement. 

[ChadTower]

They restrict gaming traffic so that they don't have to support 500 calls a semester about why the latest MMORPG won't run properly on the network.  Helpdesk can just say "sorry, violates your TOS, turn it off".

Plus, a LOT of students become addicted to online gaming and fail out.  Schools frown on failing out.

I wouldn't be surprised if they do restrict p2p traffic.

[pointdablame]

My school doesn't officially say gaming is against our TOS... its the same with P2P.  They won't answer questions about it though as you mention Chad.  And I agree about restrictions on P2P and torrents to save bandwith.  Playing CS:S is not as bandwith hogging as the 12 torrents I currently have running  

As for failing out, it's not really anything new to colleges.  A lot of colleges see a retention rate of not much over 50%, especially non liberal arts schools (ivy league, tech schools, et al).  If they don't fail out because of Everquest 2, they'll do it for some other reason.

[Sephroth57]

He needs an off-campus network SOCKS proxy, then he can socks-ify his game client.

[paigeoliver]

wow thats crap =(   my friend goes to college in PA and each dorm room has their own cable modem, thats badass. now i know if i ever go lookin for colleges away from home the first priority is online gaming capability lol, im dead serious too.

Even if they do all have their own cable modems they are still all sharing one connection. Don't you know how cable modems work? Everyone in the neighborhood shares the bandwidth.

[shmokes]

Is EV-DO available?  Some other wireless internet?  Could he pick up an unsecured wifi signal with a [/url=www.cantenna.com]Cantenna[/url]?  EV-DO is plenty fast for online gaming.  It'll cost him $50/mo or whatever Verizon is  charging, but it'll definitely work.

Anyway, the school is doing him a favor.  Online gaming will suck the life and grades out of a college student.  BYOAC is bad enough.

[ChadTower]

Is EV-DO available?

[Havok]

Is EV-DO available?

[ChadTower]

Yes, it does, but if all that wireless is connected to is the same packet filtered network, you're buying nothing.

Most dorms don't allow outside net services, thus there would be nothing to which he could connect an wireless connection.

If he is in an urban area, though... maybe a neighboring building has one.

[Havok]

Most dorms don't allow outside net services

How can they stop it? If you get a signal from another company\etc, too bad for the school...

I guess if you go to Backwater U where the college is the only thing around, then, yeah you're screwed...

[ChadTower]

How can they stop it? If you get a signal from another company\etc, too bad for the school...

I guess if you go to Backwater U where the college is the only thing around, then, yeah you're screwed...

That's what I'm saying, major campuses are secluded.  You would only be next to other campus buildings.  The only way to get another connection would be the phone, and those are digital, so no go there.

Hell, UMass Amherst has its own zip code.

[pointdablame]

How can they stop it? If you get a signal from another company\etc, too bad for the school...

I guess if you go to Backwater U where the college is the only thing around, then, yeah you're screwed...

That's what I'm saying, major campuses are secluded.  You would only be next to other campus buildings.  The only way to get another connection would be the phone, and those are digital, so no go there.

Hell, UMass Amherst has its own zip code.

That doesn't matter if you're using EV-DO though.  It runs off of the Verizon network.. if you can get a cell phone signal, you can get EV-DO.  I don't know of many college campuses that won't get a cell phone signal.

And not all campuses are totally secluded.  My campus has areas where residential houses are 70feet away.  A stray wireless signal would not be an impossibility.

[abrannan]

He needs an off-campus network SOCKS proxy, then he can socks-ify his game client.  All traffic will be wrapped inside a crunchy candy shell until it reaches the proxy, then it will be sent to the game servers.  It's still more hops than strictly necessary, but there's less processing time than a VPN.  Of course, if the network is also de-prioritizing SOCKS traffic, then that doesn't buy him anything. 


Though honestly, most game traffic is fairly low size, and should have a minimal impact on the overall network.  The school'd be better off bandwidth restricting P2P and torrent traffic to realize the greatest improvement. 

umm, so that socks thing. can you explain that in english? lol   any FAQ or website you can point me to would be helpful

It's been YEARS since I had to set one up, but this site'll get you started.  Once the proxy is set up, it's just a matter of running the application from within sockscap (download from the site). 



EDIT:  You'll probably be wanting a URL, huh?
http://www.socks.nec.com/AboutSOCKS/SOCKSOverview.asp

[shmokes]

Nearly every campus I've ever been to has been in a residential area.  Even NYU is in a residential area.  The dorms at my school are next door to and across the street from houses, and I'm talking about narrow neighborhood streets.  I was going to post an image, but realize that the webpage with my school's campus map isn't just showing an image, but the individual buildings can be clicked as links.  Oh well....you believe me.

And, of course, EV-DO wouldn't be a problem if Verizon has it in his city and he's willing to pay $60/mo.

[DarkKobold]

How can they stop it? If you get a signal from another company\etc, too bad for the school...

I guess if you go to Backwater U where the college is the only thing around, then, yeah you're screwed...

That's what I'm saying, major campuses are secluded.