banning files

[jbh]

Hi folks.

 

Our CG manager is more than willing to ban streaming video from our CG wifi, mainly because she can't get online either.

 

She knows nothing and I know just enough to break things.

 

We have a network based on Mikrotik hardware with four APs. I could see on her screen that LOR4 carried a huge bandwidth spike that to quote her ****blocked the whole thing. The offending client might have been downloading rather than streaming since it continued three hours.

 

In any event, I think it would be helpful to block subdomains and file types associated with streaming, so rather than reinventing the wheel I'm asking assistance from our resident wizards for any help you can give. Thanks!

[pugsly]

Rather than outright banning of content, QOS filtering and prioritization can be a much more robust approach. Sure, you don't want someone downloading the latest TV show if folks are trying to check their email.... but if nobody else is there, why not?

 

QOS does a good job of prioritizing important traffic so that it functions well, and then letting the low-priority stuff make use of what is left.

[skp51443]

With the Microtik hardware contacting them for support may be your best bet. http://www.mikrotik.com/support.html

 

I don't see anything on their site as useful and helpful as I find for Ubiquity routers, I was really hoping to turn up a support forum where someone could step-by-step you through knocking out the problem users but I don't see one.

 

Blocking unwanted destinations and ports can help but that is kind of like the old "Whack a mole" game, QOS will help some but if you get several users trying to stream that can still let your connection get clogged up.

[whj469]

I have been told that streaming movies will use lots of data and if several do it

at the same time it will slow down the internet for all users. I can fully understand

why an RV park wouldn't let you do it and I don't see anything wrong with them having that rule.

[budeneighe]

Get real for a moment. Not all large content is media. Think major updates for windows and cell phones with UPDATE FROM WIFI ONLY flag set. Even some Linux packages are as large as movies.

 

As every product one can buy gets updates and releases automatically over the Internet, a growing mountain of downloading bandwidth broadsides wifi networks and trunks speed for email and surfing.

 

AS the cyber threats grow dramatically across all platforms every day, the importance of keeping well connected and up to date with the various protection update sources is the only hope of staying safe. One cannot safely filter those updates to just the smallest ones so it takes what it takes for all the RVers in the park at a given moment.

 

For fulltimers, this is a particularly hard nut because their main systems are in their RVs with them. Unlike movies, most updates don't have to be a real time process. They can be throttled back and just take longer except when one is trying to fix a problem.

 

YouTube is the best resource for how do I do ???? If that is throttled too much the resolution drops below minimum legibility needed to follow the content. Not all media is about entertainment.

[Jack Mayer]

Probably the easiest way to ban broad categories of content is to use OPENDNS. That will block categories.

 

QOS is far more complex, but can be more effective.

[jbh]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm thinking that media is definitely only part of the problem and it's really just lack of bandwidth, and it's upstream from us. We're about 30 miles from anything that could be considered civilization in east-central Texas at one end of the string so to speak.

[skp51443]

OpenDNS is good at keeping folks that aren't skilled at the net from connecting to undesirable sites but unless you have the skills to set up your router properly (blocking access to all buy your DNS server) it is easy to bypass the OpenDNS system and get what you need. Even if you completely block external DNS access someone who knows networking can still bypass that obstacle and get to external sites. Still it is a simple to implement first step, I'd also sign up for DNS-O-Matic to make configuration easier.

 

Does the microtik give you a decent bandwidth monitor? If it does then you should be able to find both problem users and problem destinations. Identifying the users is harder, you can see their net information but it doesn't point to which rig the problem is in. Blocking destinations is harder but if you go in and block any that are causing a problem you'll eventually get enough blocked to reduce the problem.

[whj469]

With my Hughesnet in my S & B I download all updates in the very early morning hours

because the don't count against my daily data limit. This may be the case for other providers?