Netherlands sometimes VERY slow

[yepper 4]

I use the general Netherlands profile, which I guess assigns the particular exit server based on least traffic or something. Often my connection is very, VERY slow. When it is, I disconnect and reconnect, but it's always very slow again, so I give up and punt: connect to Romania, which has never been slow for me. On days it happens, I don't know whether the algorithm keeps putting me back on the same slow Netherlands exit server when I reconnect, but it's been like this intermittently for over a year. If the algorithm were really choosing the least-traffic server to assign, I'd think that reconnecting would solve the sluggishness, but it doesn't. What's going on with the Netherlands servers?

[Shiver Me Whiskers 15]

Whitelist Romania if that works for you as a country

In Eddie, click "Countries" tab, select Romania, hit Whitelist)

 

You could also Blacklist X the Netherlands to deny Eddie from ever connecting to it.

[yepper 4]

I don't want to blacklist all of Netherlands. I want to get to the actual cause of the problem and have it addressed by AirVPN. And as I said, it's intermittent, so I don't know whether it's just one or two rogue servers in the Netherlands always slow that I happen to land on, or whether there's some periodic problem with all of the servers simultaneously, or whether something's going on at AirVPN's end, or what.

[Shiver Me Whiskers 15]

You could trace route from your computer to the various AirVPN servers you want to try.

 

https://github.com/White-Tiger/WinMTR - This program makes it easy

 

If you see your route is strange on some of the servers (or all !?), that's probably the cause.

There should be very few hops after you escape your ISP, as Alblasserdam is linked directly to the main AMS Exchange.

 

I noticed problems as well on occasion, I was connecting from the Netherlands to one of the Netherlands servers by going all around the world through some US and Canada servers.

Internet is occasionally bugged...

[yepper 4]

Is there a known problem with at least some of the Netherlands servers intermittently, or with the AirVPN selection algorithm not properly picking the one within the Netherlands with the lowest traffic, or with AirVPN's overall gateway (or whatever it might be called) into the Netherlands in particular?

 

Would I be better off opening a support ticket on this? (Do the AirVPN tech people monitor threads such as this?)

[Shiver Me Whiskers 15]

(Do the AirVPN tech people monitor threads such as this?)

 

They certainly do.

I'm a new user, look at my post numbers, and they've already responded to one of my posts...

 

However, I have a feeling it's a small group of people managing this, meaning they have their hands full.

So, patience is probably advised.

[yepper 4]

Can no one confirm? Am I the only one this is happening to? It's been going on intermittently for a  couple of years.

[LZ1 672]

I use the general Netherlands profile, which I guess assigns the particular exit server based on least traffic or something. Often my connection is very, VERY slow. When it is, I disconnect and reconnect, but it's always very slow again, so I give up and punt: connect to Romania, which has never been slow for me. On days it happens, I don't know whether the algorithm keeps putting me back on the same slow Netherlands exit server when I reconnect, but it's been like this intermittently for over a year. If the algorithm were really choosing the least-traffic server to assign, I'd think that reconnecting would solve the sluggishness, but it doesn't. What's going on with the Netherlands servers?

Hello!

 

It would be great if we had more information to go on. What platform are you on? You speak of profiles and that makes me wonder if you're on mobile. In which case there's ways to make it randomize which locations are connected to.

 

While if you were using Eddie, it would be helpful to see your logs, in case something is going on in that regard. Did you for example try different Eddie Protocols?

 

If you suspect your ISP may be to blame, then try SSL or SSH please. TCP can also fix issues that UDP can't handle.

 

Is there a known problem with at least some of the Netherlands servers intermittently, or with the AirVPN selection algorithm not properly picking the one within the Netherlands with the lowest traffic, or with AirVPN's overall gateway (or whatever it might be called) into the Netherlands in particular?

 

Would I be better off opening a support ticket on this? (Do the AirVPN tech people monitor threads such as this?)

You can see Airs infrastructure with the Ping Matrix and other tabs. In most cases, it's an error on the users side. Likewise you can read about how Eddie chooses where to connect.

 

You're most welcome to open a support ticket. Just remember that support staff follow an Italian timezone, if you feel you don't get an instant reply. But they're competent, certainly. .

 

Otherwise you'll frequently see the Staff account posting on the forums and that qualifies for "tech people", so yes. But they don't post in all threads, naturally.

 

Can no one confirm? Am I the only one this is happening to? It's been going on intermittently for a  couple of years.

It's certainly possible you're a minority . As I said initially, more information on your setup could be useful. For example, we don't know if you mean "slow" in a torrenting context, web-browsing context or whatnot.

[yepper 4]

I'm on Mac OS X.

 

I'm not using Eddie; I've been using the Viscosity VPN client for years.

 

I used the word, "profile," because I thought that was AirVPN's word for the OpenVPN configuration files I've been making in the AirVPN Config Generator and loading into Viscosity.

 

You said that with mobile, there's a way to randomize connection locations. Is my memory incorrect, or doesn't a connection with a third-party Mac computer VPN client using your OpenVPN configuration files connect to the server within a country profile (OpenVPN configuration file) with the least traffic? (At least AirVPN was talking about that becoming a feature several years ago in these forums—I never have been clear if that's what it does now.)

 

No, I don't suspect that my ISP is to blame, for if it were, things would be just as slow when I promptly re-connect with the Romania OpenVPN configuration file, and it isn't. But I guess this means that this intermittent Netherlands sluggishness is not a known problem.

 

I just took my first look at the Ping Matrix, but I'm not sure how that's supposed to help me: it seems to look at latency between AirVPN servers, but I'm not serially connecting multiple VPNs; I'm just experiencing sluggishness intermittently when connecting to a single Netherlands exit server. (I'm probably missing the point.)

 

By "slow," I mean the network connection coming through the Netherlands VPN server is slow: web page loading, YouTube videos, download speeds—everything!

[LZ1 672]

Alright that allows us something to work with.

 

I'm not using Eddie; I've been using the Viscosity VPN client for years.

I would be interested in seeing if it still happened while using Eddie, honestly. But I doubt you would want to try that.

 

You said that with mobile, there's a way to randomize connection locations. Is my memory incorrect, or doesn't a connection with a third-party Mac computer VPN client using your OpenVPN configuration files connect to the server within a country profile (OpenVPN configuration file) with the least traffic? (At least AirVPN was talking about that becoming a feature several years ago in these forums—I never have been clear if that's what it does now.)

 

It's just that some people keep connecting to the same one automatically. So they add the randomize option to stop that. I don't think it's necessarily based on least traffic only, but I'm not 100% sure regarding the config files. (For Eddie it's explained here.)

 

But I guess this means that this intermittent Netherlands sluggishness is not a known problem.

 

Which usually indicates it's a problem from the individual user. I'm not familiar with the client you're using, so it's a little tricky to help you. As before, my first inclination would be to suggest trying Eddie, to see if it can be isolated to a specific client. If it could, that would help explain why you may be the only one experiencing this issue at the moment. You said this issue had been going on for years, as well as that you had been using that client for years. So to me, there's something to look into there.

 

I just took my first look at the Ping Matrix, but I'm not sure how that's supposed to help me: it seems to look at latency between AirVPN servers, but I'm not serially connecting multiple VPNs; I'm just experiencing sluggishness intermittently when connecting to a single Netherlands exit server. (I'm probably missing the point.)

 

It was just so you could check for yourself how different servers are keeping up.

 

Any technical logs may also be of use.

[yepper 4]

I would love to try Eddie, but the powers-that-be presumably decided it is too hard to support Mac OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard. I recognize that Apple makes it very hard for developers to provide back support, but if you look on MacUpdate.com or Softpedia.com, there are new wares released every day that still do. And they do for a reason: the hidden, dirty little secret of the computer industry is that Apple has lost it's way, and Snow Leopard isn't merely yet another "legacy" OS, but remains a milestone, the best, state-of-the-art, most trouble-free OS Apple ever released, and the programmers at AirVPN probably aren't Mac users, who fail to grasp the significance of the decline in macOS ever since, in terms of usability, functionality, ease-of-use, dependability, intuitiveness, and user-friendliness. As a Mac user since 1984 with expectations of a level of serviceability to which I've become accustomed, Snow Leopard is the last Mac that's a Mac. It's been downgrades ever since. I'm this close to migrating to Linux Mint.

 

Well, that could explain it: I'm hitting a pokey Netherlands server, and no matter how many times I reconnect, I keep hitting the same one again automatically. But I tell ya, I saw on the forums years ago that there was supposed to be a then-upcoming feature on your end that connects us to the least-traffic server. There was this: https://airvpn.org/topic/12144-auto-optimal-server-selection-operational/

 

If it were a problem on my end, then on the days it happens, wouldn't I keep having the same problem when I workaround the Netherlands sluggishness by reconnecting with the Romania country config?

 

Again, I'm not following the purpose of the ping matrix. You say it checks for how different servers are keeping up, but it looks to me — with its abscissa & ordinate construction — to be saying how well the servers are connecting with each other, not how well a single server is connecting with me. (I still could be missing the point.)

[canyon1991 0]

Hi,

 

I have also experienced slow speeds on Netherlands servers. To solve the issue I need to swap to a UK server.

 

Thanks

[Staff 9972]

Hello,

 

Netherlands servers are connected to AMS-IX with enough redundancy, that's why several of them enter so often (if not always) the top 10 Users speed. You should first check for bottlenecks in your local network, congestion in your ISP network (especially since you experience intermittent problem), bad peering.

 

Kind regards

[yepper 4]

I had to look up what "AMS-IX" means:

Established in the early 1990s, AMS-IX (Amsterdam Internet Exchange) is a neutral, non-profit and independent Internet Exchange based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Internet traffic at AMS-IX has a peak of 5 Terabits per second (Tbps) and it interconnects more than 800 IP networks, making it one of the largest internet exchanges in the world.

 

If any of this Netherlands sluggishness were a problem on my end (bottlenecks in my local network, congestion in my ISP network, bad peering), then wouldn't the sluggishness persist when I promptly disconnect Netherlands and reconnect with a different AirVPN country config? Which it doesn't—the reconnection elsewhere is fast again. (And sometimes, usually not when it occurs, reconnecting to Netherlands becomes fast again.)

 

All right, the next day it happens, I'm going to check my AirVPN Client Area page and list here which Netherlands server I landed on. Then maybe you guys can look into it.

 

While I've got a staff member here, can we get a definitive statement: When we connect with a country config, do you connect us to the server with the least traffic?

[Shiver Me Whiskers 15]

Did you trace route from your computer to the NL servers as I suggested in my second post ?

 

Maybe your ISP is routing you in the wrong direction, and you're going all around the world through very slow nodes instead of a direct, fast link.

 

Mistakes can be done in BGP settings, directing your packets on an very bad route. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_Gateway_Protocol )

I've seen it before many times, wouldn't be surprised if that is the case.

[Staff 9972]

If any of this Netherlands sluggishness were a problem on my end (bottlenecks in my local network, congestion in my ISP network, bad peering), then wouldn't the sluggishness persist when I promptly disconnect Netherlands and reconnect with a different AirVPN country config?

It might or it might not. It's unrelated.

 

(And sometimes, usually not when it occurs, reconnecting to Netherlands becomes fast again.

 

This is more significant and suggests selective traffic shaping enforced by your ISP, local network problems (QoS tools) or other system or line related problems.

 

While I've got a staff member here, can we get a definitive statement: When we connect with a country config, do you connect us to the server with the least traffic?

It's all written in the answers to the FAQ. By the way: In that case you generate a configuration file in which the "remote" directive is filled with a domain name which is updated every 5 minutes (TTL 1 hour) to resolve into the entry-IP address of the best rated server in that country. Each server has a score according to a formula. This is how Eddie computes the score:

https://airvpn.org/topic/11208-in-what-order-does-the-client-choose-recommended-servers/

 

The score to update the DNS record of an aforementioned name is similarly computed, but of course without taking into account the round trip time between your node and the server.

 

Kind regards

[imrobosapien 0]

Wow man, i just lost my mind fir the last 3 hours trying to figure out why my torrent speeds were so horribly slow, i thought it was my new router which is the 3rd,. its ridiculous what i just did for nothing just now after even changing my netherlands servers, but not  to a different country until i came here, tried spain and BEWM! THIS SHIT IS LIGHTING MAN WTF?

I tried 3 different servers all same speed, im in usa. INSPPOLOGICE FOR THE CAPPSANE MAN MY 3RD ROUTEWR IS 196FT FROM THE HOUSE IN THE GARAGE MAN,iM BACK AND FORTH, UNPLUG THIS, CHANGE THAT SETTING, PLUG THAT BACK IN, TRY THIS, RESET THAT, IPCONFIG, BLAH BLAH BLAH JESUS H CHRISTMAS

I apllogize for capps, im not retyping that, hahaha, thank you guys.`

[canyon1991 0]

I know 3 people is not a massive number, but I think with at least 3 people already in a few days you guys could look into it. My sub is about to expire, maybe I am going to look elsewhere for the meantime and come back after a while. I do like AirVPN more than I like the others companies, but I don't to have a slow internet because of it.

[Staff 9972]

I know 3 people is not a massive number, but I think with at least 3 people already in a few days you guys could look into it. My sub is about to expire, maybe I am going to look elsewhere for the meantime and come back after a while. I do like AirVPN more than I like the others companies, but I don't to have a slow internet because of it.

 

 

 

Yes, 3 out of 30000 (the amount of accounts connecting in a 72 hours period) is nothing, but we do take care of these cases too. However, in this specific case we have nothing to look into from this thread. Apart from yepper, who has been having a tormented history with intermittent problems for years even when we had in the Netherlands different machines and different datacenters, nobody posted any significant log, not even after multiple recommendations and requests from the community. At the same time, Netherlands servers continue to provide excellent bandwidth and high performance just as usual.

 

At this very moment: 3 NL servers in the top 4 performance, with a significant 215 Mbit/s for a single connection slot of a user (i.e. 430 Mbit/s on the server only for that user). And this is just the common rule with NL servers, you always find them in the Top 10 and providing more than 12000 Mbit/s at all times.

 

Please open a ticket for a proper support and make sure to reply to the support team requests, only in this way you can let us help you effectively. Above all, please do not start with this obsessive fixation that the problem must be necessarily on our side, keep an open mind and try to consider that there's the chance that the problem maybe, just maybe, could be on your side.

 

Kind regards

[aws1971 0]

I did open a ticket and provided all the info requested and did testing myself,

And gave feedback but the ticket got ignored and marked as resolved without any further help.

[go558a83nk 362]

I did open a ticket and provided all the info requested and did testing myself,

And gave feedback but the ticket got ignored and marked as resolved without any further help.

 

Maybe a silly question but have you looked in the ticket to see if Staff replied?  My experience is that with every reply the ticket is marked as resolved, even if it's not resolved.  But, just keep the communication flowing.

[aws1971 0]

Yes I checked it several times and also the last 3 replies are from me asking why the support abandoned my ticket.

[Staff 9972]

Yes I checked it several times and also the last 3 replies are from me asking why the support abandoned my ticket.

 

The ticket is correctly resolved, it has been ascertained that the problem is in your ISP or system. Unfortunately, as you surely understand, the support team can do nothing more about it. At least we could make sure that the problem is not on our side.

 

Kind regards

[aws1971 0]

LoL,

Let's see the last response from support.

 

---

Hello!

 

Yes, that's the right connection mode. Please feel free to keep us posted after you have tested.

 

Kind regards

AirVPN Support Team

---

 

Then I reported back and got 0 response or advise what it could be or what to-do to resolve it.

So I think there's a missing response from support to me ?

[yepper 4]

Sorry, I've been away for a while.... Today I connected with the Netherlands country config, landed on Alphecca, and downloads were extremely slow. I promptly disconnected/reconnected, landed on Edasich, and I was back up to my usual speed. This intermittent sluggishness is how it's been for years. I may go days before it happens again. I don't understand. I had checked the Alphecca server page, and the graphs and numbers looked fine. I ran a my little Mac WhatRoute utility, which puts a traceroute on a geographical map, but when using a VPN tunnel, it only starts at the exit server, so I can't tell if I'm on a badly circuitous route on the way to the VPN server. I believe the AirVPN staff saying that it's some kind of problem between me and the AirVPN server, but what else can I do to get to the bottom of this?