Member Avatar for houndhen

Is there a way to speed up Debian 4.0 access to my dsl internet? It seems like 15 or 20 seconds before the lights start flashing on my modem after I click my mouse.

Thanks,
houndhen

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Summary: reported a consistent 15–20 second pause on Debian 4.0 (Etch) before a DSL modem shows activity. clarified the link is Ethernet; suggested disabling IPv6 and later noted that helped. That exact pause is often not the browser itself but one of: DNS/IPv6 resolution fallback, DHCP or PPPoE negotiation (dial-on-demand), the modem/router entering idle and needing a wake packet, or NIC/autonegotiation/driver timeouts.

Diagnosis checklist (capture what the host actually sends when the pause happens). Useful commands (replace eth0 if the interface name differs):

sudo tcpdump -n -i eth0 -c 200
sudo tail -F /var/log/syslog
sudo ethtool eth0
ping -c 4 192.168.1.1
arp -n
  • tcpdump will show ARP / DHCP / PPP / DNS packets that occur at click time.
  • syslog reveals dhclient/pppd/NetworkManager activity and timestamps.
  • ethtool shows link status and autonegotiation.
  • ping/arp checks whether the router responds before the delay.

Targeted remedies that are safe to test: IPv6-related DNS fallback frequently causes a visible stall; disabling IPv6 at runtime via sysctl is a reversible test (and can be made persistent in /etc/sysctl.conf if it solves the issue). A local DNS cache (dnsmasq or nscd) eliminates repeated remote lookups. If PPPoE is in use, check for dial-on-demand and for pppd logs; if the router is sleeping, change its keepalive/power settings.

Notes and caveats: disabling IPv6 will break native IPv6 connectivity where present, so it should be a diagnostic step or a carefully applied fix. Given the age of Debian 4.0, kernel/driver bugs are possible — upgrading to a supported release or at least a newer kernel often removes NIC and link-negotiation delays.

Recommended Answers

All 8 Replies

Member Avatar for jbennet

USB or Ethernet modem?

Member Avatar for houndhen

ethernet

Member Avatar for Sturm

Have you tried disabling ipv6?

Member Avatar for houndhen

Sturm Have you tried disabling ipv6?

Just getting started with Debian and crossing over from windows recently. Not familiar with ipv6. What is it and why should I want to disable it?

Thanks,
houndhen

Member Avatar for Sturm

Ok if you use firefox: type about:config in the address bar, then search ipv6 and you should get some variable called ipv6Disabled or something of that sort. Set it to true.

If your not using firefox than add the lines:

alias net-pf-10 off
alias ipv6 off

to /etc/modprobe.conf

Member Avatar for houndhen

Thanks, In Debian 4.0 the default browser is Iceweasel. I think that it is the same as Firefox. I will try your suggestions both ways. IW looks and feels just like FF so I haven't changed over. I use FF in all the other puters that I use.

Member Avatar for jbennet

yeah debian use iceweasel due to licencing

i think there essentially the same though

Member Avatar for botee

Ok if you use firefox: type about:config in the address bar, then search ipv6 and you should get some variable called ipv6Disabled or something of that sort. Set it to true.

If your not using firefox than add the lines:

alias net-pf-10 off
alias ipv6 off

to /etc/modprobe.conf

Thank you, it worked for me!

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