Network/Internet/Firewall experts?

fyl2u

fyl2u

Striker
Is there such a thing, (for free) as a piece of software that will allow me to view and manually close any open connections to the internet made by software on my computer?

I guess kind of like a bit of monitoring software with a manual firewall built in.

I'm looking for something that would look kind of like the Windows task manager, but for internet activity to/from my own computer.

Basically, I play Counter-Strike 1.6 online (yes, still after all this time) and have been noticing that after rebooting my router, I get a nice clean quick lag-free connection to the server I play on, but after a week or so it gets laggier and laggier until it's pretty much unplayable anymore. I power off my router for 30s-1m then switch it back on and the connection is fine again for a while but then gradually degrades again.

I've come to the conclusion that something on my computer (possibly even the CS server itself, but possibly something to do with p2p video streaming of SAFC matches from dodgy websites) is opening connections to the internet and then not closing them afterwards, so I'd like to monitor the activity to see what's going on.

Any ideas anyone?
 


fyl2u said:
Is there such a thing, (for free) as a piece of software that will allow me to view and manually close any open connections to the internet made by software on my computer?

I guess kind of like a bit of monitoring software with a manual firewall built in.

I'm looking for something that would look kind of like the Windows task manager, but for internet activity to/from my own computer.

Basically, I play Counter-Strike 1.6 online (yes, still after all this time) and have been noticing that after rebooting my router, I get a nice clean quick lag-free connection to the server I play on, but after a week or so it gets laggier and laggier until it's pretty much unplayable anymore. I power off my router for 30s-1m then switch it back on and the connection is fine again for a while but then gradually degrades again.

I've come to the conclusion that something on my computer (possibly even the CS server itself, but possibly something to do with p2p video streaming of SAFC matches from dodgy websites) is opening connections to the internet and then not closing them afterwards, so I'd like to monitor the activity to see what's going on.

Any ideas anyone?
Click to expand...
What you need is an Internet expert, ask this fella @redgauntlet
 
I use Little Snitch on Mac and NetLimiter on Windows which allow you to block the traffic but neither are free. Both good though. My Wireshark suggestion will let you see the traffic but you'd then have to manually deal with it.
 
Jardin said:
I use Little Snitch on Mac and NetLimiter on Windows which allow you to block the traffic but neither are free. Both good though. My Wireshark suggestion will let you see the traffic but you'd then have to manually deal with it.
Click to expand...

Ah, so Wireshark wouldn't let me stop particular bits of traffic, just spot them?
 
fyl2u said:
Ah, so Wireshark wouldn't let me stop particular bits of traffic, just spot them?
Click to expand...

No - it just captures and logs network packets. It will show you a lot of granular detail. It is generally used more as a fact finding tool - seeing what traffic there is and then analysing the logs. It can be complex dependent on the cause.

The other two are much simpler programs with a friendly UI and pop-ups if new untrusted connections are initiated allowing the option to temporarily or permanently block that source/software for each connection.
 
Jardin said:
No - it just captures and logs network packets. It will show you a lot of granular detail. It is generally used more as a fact finding tool - seeing what traffic there is and then analysing the logs. It can be complex dependent on the cause.

The other two are much simpler programs with a friendly UI and pop-ups if new untrusted connections are initiated allowing the option to temporarily or permanently block that source/software for each connection.
Click to expand...

I've installed Wireshark and set it going for 10s or so. 1st impression: "Ooh 131 entries? Hmm, I have no idea what any of this means other than recognising which numbers are IP addresses."
 
fyl2u said:
I've installed Wireshark and set it going for 10s or so. 1st impression: "Ooh 131 entries? Hmm, I have no idea what any of this means other than recognising which numbers are IP addresses."
Click to expand...

The source or destination in each case should be your PC IP address (may show as localhost address 127.0.0.1). If the PC is source it is outbound traffic and the destination should give the IP address or name of the external site. If your IP is the destination it is inbound traffic.

IP addresses can be looked up to see who they relate to with a whois query (https://whoer.net/checkwhois). That normally narrows down what the traffic is likely from. The type of traffic and port let you know whether it is opening a web connection, SMTP, FTP etc connection type and give the clues to identify the traffic. Once all normal traffic is removed the remainder is likely where any issues occur. It has a learning curve.

NetLimiter has a 28 day fully functional trial if you just have the one issue to find ;)
 
Jardin said:
The source or destination in each case should be your PC IP address (may show as localhost address 127.0.0.1). If the PC is source it is outbound traffic and the destination should give the IP address or name of the external site. If your IP is the destination it is inbound traffic.

IP addresses can be looked up to see who they relate to with a whois query (https://whoer.net/checkwhois). That normally narrows down what the traffic is likely from. The type of traffic and port let you know whether it is opening a web connection, SMTP, FTP etc connection type and give the clues to identify the traffic. Once all normal traffic is removed the remainder is likely where any issues occur. It has a learning curve.

NetLimiter has a 28 day fully functional trial if you just have the one issue to find ;)
Click to expand...

Cheers mate. Sounds good. I'll take a proper look at it when I've got more time for looking into the IP addresses.

In the meantime I've installed ZoneAlarm. :lol:
 
Could also be a memory leak in your router. Router firmware is notoriously buggy. Try rebooting your PC instead of your router next time. If it doesn't make any difference, I'd be looking for a better router (borrow one to try out first, if you can).

Or see if you can replace your bespoke router firmware with an open source one like DD-WRT, OpenWrt or Tomato. If you do this, you'll probably find there are several releases (of each) with different featuresets. Choose the simplest/smallest.

Always keep the router settings as simple as you can.
 
Last edited:
Netstat is built in.

Turn upnp off on your router if you want to prevent windows opening ports on it, and set the ones you need up manually

I am with @Billy Rocket though, sounds like a router issue.
 
Roger said:
Netstat is built in.

Turn upnp off on your router if you want to prevent windows opening ports on it, and set the ones you need up manually

I am with @Billy Rocket though, sounds like a router issue.
Click to expand...

I used to have a shit one from BT. Would do the same after about a weeks use. Investigated using DD-wrt, and looked at replacing the router, and fine tuning it.

Fixed it with a pound shop mains plug timer switch. Rebooted the router every morning at 3:00am :cool:
 
Billy Rocket said:
Could also be a memory leak in your router. Router firmware is notoriously buggy. Try rebooting your PC instead of your router next time. If it doesn't make any difference, I'd be looking for a better router (borrow one to try out first, if you can).

Or see if you can replace your bespoke router firmware with an open source one like DD-WRT, OpenWrt or Tomato. If you do this, you'll probably find there are several releases (of each) with different featuresets. Choose the simplest/smallest.

Always keep the router settings as simple as you can.
Click to expand...
Just about to post this. Most home routers are shite and will degrade performance over time.

You'll sometimes find that changing the firmware will stop the router connecting to your ISP & you might need to give them a ring to re-enable it. That said if you already have an after market router setup, you'll have had to do this once already.
 

Back
Top