Strange home network problems, debian router

[mudroprogramer]

Hello,

I have configured home network, where i have debian router that connects to ADSL via ppp and has shorewall and HTB class traffic control.

Everything is configured fine (i think) fixed and checked the configuration many times. The internet works perfect from my home computers but there is one issue. Couple of times a day, internet traffic falls to 0 (i have constant downloads and uploads) with periodic behavior. Full speed-->sudently all 0 for 5 sec-->full speed as before for 5-10 sec--> 0 for 5 sec and so on, 5-6 periods.

Internet connection doesnt disconect, but i lose my skype calls, and online games.

I thought maybe its because my router cpu runs 100% usage or memory is full, but no, its not the problem, cpu is at 4% and 400MB free memory, no special things in syslog.

I`m desperate to find solution, any tip, maybe some diagnosting tool will be very welcome.

Is this behavior can be caused by my ISP, not my router?

Thanks,
Alex.

[countach44]

This is absolutely a problem that could be related to your ISP. If you're sure everything else is okay, give them a call. Since you're using ADSL, ask them for a line test. Also make sure you have all the filters installed on your phone lines to cut down on interference.

Let us know how it turns out!

[mudroprogramer]

Thanks for reply, yesterday i found out what is the problem.

I have another linux box that runs rtorrent and amule, when rtorrent and amule active, i get this problem once in a while, but when i turn amule off, and only rtorrent uploading on the line, then everything is ok.

So amule some how causes these problems, but i dont quite understand, how it may cause them. I cap its upload rate to 10KBps when i have 30 KBps upload, and i cap all the traffic from that linux box to 15/20 of my upload bandwith.

My only guess, is that somehow i get attacks from outside, from people that discover my IP in amule. But my iptables in the router are configured to drop every connection that i dont want... strange.

My next step is to download new version of amule and install it, maybe its some kind of bug...