http timeout - files larger than 5 KB
 

I am using Debian etch, 2.6.18-5-686 and am having problems transfering http files. In a browser like Epiphany I can load only part of any page but it stops loading before completing the page. It is impossible to use wget to download images larger than 5KB - they all stop after 5KB. Transfering files via FTP works fine regardless of the size. If I mess with my MTU the maximium size if the files I can transfer via http changes (increases, decreases accordingly). I have tried disabling ipv6 (from both my browser and in /etc/modprobe.d/aliases). The machine is on a LAN behind a pf based firewall. All of the other machines on the LAN are working fine. I have apache installed and there are no problems loading anything locally.

Does this problem exist only when transferring through the router, or also on the LAN? What happens when 'it stops loading'? Error messages, etc.? On all ports, or only on port 80? (There are web sites out there that use non-standard ports, but I can't think of any off the top of my head; also HTTPS). What happens when you reload a page? Have you tried operating the host in question as a server?
--- rod.

The problem only exists when transferring through the router, not on the LAN. All other machines on my LAN are working fine though.

I have experienced this problem with Debian on other machines. Maybe there is something about the combination of my firewall and Debian.

I don't think that the pages actually stop loading. I think they eventually time out - I really haven't waited long enough < 10 minutes. When using wget I can see the number of bytes transferred - the number transfered always stops at the same amount before reaching the total.

I was not aware of ports other than 80 and 443 (https). Regardless, both port types exhibit the same problem on any website.

The host is running an apache server and functions fine on the LAN. I haven't bothered to configure my firewall to test it from the outside.

It is very difficult to imagine what is causing this. The two obvious points of failure are the host itself, and the router, and yet it seems to be only the combination of these two components that is causing the problem. What is the exact nature of your firewall? It is as if there is some throttling mechanism being applied.
My only suggestion is to look very closely at the firewall rules, and see if there is some obscure rule being applied. I'm guessing, but something such as QoS filtering, perhaps. Does your firewall provide any kind of logging capability? If yes, then you should look closely at what rules are being applied to your Debian host's traffic, and especially compared to other hosts. A network sniffer, such as wireshark may be useful. Compare the traffic for a working transfer from a different host, to a non-working transfer on the Debian host. This will take quite some effort, and may require that you insert a hub somewhere into the LAN, but I cannot conceive any other way to track down such a fault.
Good luck.
--- rod.

Thanks for your help. This is not an issue anymore. I got rid of the debian server. Instead I am running a VM. My ultimate goal was to set up a wiki server on debian using twiki. Instead I found deki wiki which runs debian on a VM. So far it has been running good. Again, thanks for the help.