I have a Mandrake 10 system and generally use Mozilla to access the internet. Recently I have noticed that data transfer over my internet connection is always really slow. I would guess that it used to be around 10 times faster to access and download web pages than it is now.
I use a quality ISP (Telstra Bigpond in Australia) and the problem is not with them.
When I view the KPPP statistics window while trying to access a web page there are huge periods of inactivity, interspersed with pathetic little flurries of data transfer.
How can I diagnose and solve this problem?

Hi,

I don't know of a permanent solution for your problem. but a good workaround would be to edit your resolv.conf file to point to a different dns server that your ISP supports. Alternatively, you can also point to public root dns servers from either ICANN or OSRC. I personally run my own dns server on my laptop and I've noticed far fewer slowdowns compared to using my ISP's dns server. I don't know of a good troubleshooting method for getting good rates on the internet other than to ping several dns servers for the fastest response times, and then put the 2 fastest in the resolv.conf file.

Durand

Thanks. The weird thing is that moving between web pages can take 10 minutes. However once a file download from a web page is commenced the data transfer rate returns to normal.

As he said, it's probably a DNS problem.

This question gets posed quite a lot.

Look for another recent thread wherein I described debugging your DNS...

The last similiar poster discovered that his ISP's PRIMARY DNS server was not functioning, but the secondary was working fine...

He would have a good wait for the timeout off the first before his xfers would begin, causing seemingly sluggish response.

Once he switched servers the problems disappeared.