UDP packets loss at Israeli ISPs during peak hours

[geoffrey mendelson]

On Jul 3, 2011, at 6:11 AM, Arie Skliarouk wrote:

> Hi,
>
> The company I work at uses openvpn extensively. We settled on UDP- 
> based protocol as it is more effective than TCP based.
>
> Inter-Israeli VPN connection works perfectly all of the time,  
> whereas international VPN has erratic behavior on at least one ISP.  
> I suspect the ISP (XFone 018) dropping UDP packets occasionally  
> during peak hours for following reasons:
> 	• ICMP ping to the internet-facing IP number of the VPN router  
> works properly all of the time
> 	• over-VPN ping to some server has about 50% packet loss during  
> peak hour (tested at 23:00)
> 	• on different ISP at the same time there was no packet loss
> 	• over-VPN ping on the same ISP worked perfectly in the morning hours

You are complaining because UDP packets get lost, arrive late, or out  
of sequence?

That's the definintion of UDP and the reason for the existance of TCP.

> Have anyone else noticed the same behavior?

That UDP does exactly what it is supposed to do? That this happens in  
the afternoons and evening when the network gets congested? Or more  
accutately it does not happen in the mornings when the network is  
under utilized?


> What is legal status of such network traffic policing?


Perfectly legal. I think your choice of UDP over TCP is ill-advised,  
and requires more research into the differences between the protocols,  
their uses and goals.

Geoff.


-- 
Geoffrey S. Mendelson,  N3OWJ/4X1GM
Making your enemy reliant on software you support is the best revenge.