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Slow performance, dropping connections

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Nijel Terry, User (Posts: 55)

Nov 17, 2017 12:04:00 am EST

I'm experiencing erratic performance, connections dropping or becoming unresponsive. It's very erratic; sometimes it's quick other times it's unresponsive. Disconnecting and reconnecting seems to help in the short term but after being inactive for a short while the remote computer is unresponsive and needs to be reconnected to.

I've observed this behavior using the default server and a self hosted RU server.

Is there any path I can take for improving performance?

Thanks, Nijel

Conrad, Support (Posts: 2979)

Nov 17, 2017 3:18:22 am EST

Hello Nijel,

Thank you for your post.

A few questions:

1. Which version is used on both ends (Viewer and Host)? Is it 6.8.0.1? If not, please update and see if it helps resolve the problem.

2. If you have the latest version, but the problem persists, could you tell if this happens with just one Host or many?

From what you described it may seem that there are network connectivity issues either on the Host side or Viewer side. Note that just the fact that there is a broadband and high-speed connection on both sides doesn't necessarily mean that it's stable. Brief network interruptions may still occur and go unnoticed during web surfing or email use but get immediately noticed when Remote Utilities is used.

Nijel Terry, User (Posts: 55)

Nov 17, 2017 5:13:27 pm EST

Support level: Pro

The server and all hosts, and the viewer are using the latest version of the software. I experience slow performance on most sessions, so much so that it becomes unusable.

I can connect to the same clients using a different method and the performance is very good, almost real time. What sort of connection problems could affect only this program?

I have RU on over 30 machines and it's fairly predictable that I will need to reconnect several times to get anything done. Extremely delayed responses opening programs. I've run two remote programs simultaneously and observed double clicking a program on RU, switching over to watch the program open on remote desktop, and switching back to RU to see nothing happening for several seconds to several minutes or not at all.

Reconnecting sometimes makes it work faster but it often hangs. I haven't configured callback settings, is that supposed to help performance?

Conrad, Support (Posts: 2979)

Nov 19, 2017 3:50:28 am EST

Hello Nijel,

Here is a troubleshooting article that may help fix performance issues.

However, if the speed/performance is really so slow as you describe even when you use the self-hosted server, then it's very unusual and the problem can be external. What comes to mind first is antivirus software activity . Is it the same antivirus program that installed on remote Hosts? You may also want to add Viewer installed path to antivirus software exceptions list on the Viewer computer.

If nothing of the above helps, please let me know and we may schedule a remote session to figure this out.

Thanks.

Nijel Terry, User (Posts: 55)

Nov 20, 2017 9:12:42 pm EST

Support level: Pro

I ran a network cable to my laptop's workstation and that seems to have improved performance. Also setting color to 8bit and processor usage to FPS or High seems to help. I think the main problem may be WiFi interference. There are several hotspots in proximity to me here and although I never have issues with normal web browsing on WiFi, I noticed a substantial increase in performance with my remote work when I switched to wired.

Conrad, Support (Posts: 2979)

Nov 21, 2017 5:18:19 am EST

Hello Nijel,

You are absolutely right. When surfing the web small network disruptions go unnoticed because of the way the web browsers work - they download the content from the web server to your RAM and you in fact are viewing the pages offline until the next server request.

On the contrary, with Remote Utilities you need to keep a stable connection all the time so that keep alive packets can reach their destination. That's why the program is sensitive to the quality of the network connection.

If we can help you with anything else, don't hesitate to send us a message or post on the forum.

Thank you!

Nijel Terry, User (Posts: 55)

May 22, 2018 5:21:15 pm EDT

Support level: Pro

I just wanted to update everyone that I made a change to my network which seemed to clear up all of my issues that I was having before, the network cable wasn't it, I can now work wireless or wired with no noticeable difference.

I reconfigured my network to have only one DHCP server and one NAT enabled router (both the same device). Since making this change many things improved including faster more reliable Xbox live connections, and, more importantly, the strange unreliability and stuttering issues while working remotely through my self hosted server abruptly ended as soon as I made this change.

The connection to my RU server used to travel through an unmanaged switch, to a Netgear router 192.168.1.1 with DHCP enabled, NAT "Open", to the cable modem/router combo 192.168.0.1 (DHCP, NAT'd). I have two other routers and they are connected to the Netgear router which was previously 192.168.1.1 and their LAN IP's were ending in .3.1 and .4.1 respectively, both were DHCP enabled. Now everything is on the same 192.168.0.1 IP table and it's running great.

It's been a few months since I made this change, sorry for the late update. I hope this helps others who may be experiencing the same stuttering/dropping/unreliable connections on a self hosted server. Make sure your network isn't too "smart".

Conrad, Support (Posts: 2979)

May 23, 2018 4:59:14 am EDT

Hello Nijel,

Thank you very much for your post! It will definitely help other users with similar issues.

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