WinGate Throttling basics

[JetGater]

I am trying to use bandwidth throttling. My configuration is standard. The WinGate host is the machine I personally use as my workstation and connects via dialup to internet. The clients all get their local addresses via WinGate's dhcp, and are all using nat access via ethernet. The host's local address is the standard 192.168.0.1. So far, throttling seems to have no effect on traffic at all. I've read the help section on bandwidth throttling and all the forum entries on throttling. I wish there were a more thorough description of how to set up throttling, but mostly what the specific function of the various parameters are and how they interact. I'll just start with a few basic questions.

1. How is "available bandwidth" determined? Is it observed bandwidth usage based on actual traffic on the host's internet connection, in this case, my workstation's dialed link? Or is it based on modem connect speed?

2. When restrictions and rules are created for client traffic, how does host generated traffic figure in to this? Is host generated traffic accounted for in determining "available bandwidth?" Am I able to make a rule that would prioritize traffic for the WinGate host, i.e., for my workstation?

3. I curious what the "[x] Apply to traffic to/from local Machine" setting does. Why wouldn't any given rule apply to a local machine? It wouldn't apply to the host? Could it apply to a machine on the internet?

My throttling setup:

Scheduling: All default settings

Restrictions:
1. Pri:3 %Avail:25
2. Pri:3 %Avail:50
3. Pri:3 %Avail:25

Rules:
1. Protocol:All Rule:1 [x]Apply to Induced [x]Apply to/from
[x]Bidirectional 192.168.0.3/255.255.255.255 [x]AnyPort [ ]All DifRestrict

2. Protocol:All Rule:2 [x]Apply to Induced [x]Apply to/from
[x]Bidirectional 192.168.0.4/255.255.255.255 [x]AnyPort [ ]All DifRestrict

3. Protocol:All Rule:3 [x]Apply to Induced [x]Apply to/from
[x]Bidirectional 192.168.0.6/255.255.255.255 [x]AnyPort [ ]All DifRestrict

TimeFrames for all rules above are default, all enabled.

Many thanks, -James Timmerman

[genie]

Hi,

- Available bandwidth allows you to restrict traffic with regards to the currently unallocated bandwidth. Say, you have the number of important clients, with the certain bandwidth allocated to them. The rest of the bandwidth you allow to be used by others. This is "available" chunk. It's actual width is dynamic and depends on other clients who have precise bandwidth set for them.
- Since Wingate provides not only NAT support, but proxy as well, there should be something that says that traffic, generated by a proxy server is to be throttled, too. Since proxies generate traffic, originated from the local machine, this setting gives you an option to throttle not only NATing traffic, but the proxying one as well.

[JetGater]

Hi, Thanks for the reply. I hope you or someone else will humor a couple follow up questions:

Available bandwidth:
1. If "available bandwidth" is that left over from unallocated bandwidth, how is the unallocated determined or computed? Is it simply the internet connection line speed? For a dial-up connection, the actual throughput is often significantly less than line speed that the modem negotiates, depending on isp. Or is the unallocated (or total) throughput a smarter parameter computed by WinGate by observing maximum bit rate on the modem connection to the internet? This is important for me to understand because my main interest is to give my workstation higher throughput priority. The important thing to consider here is that my workstation is the WinGate host machine. In all previous versions of WinGate, traffic generated by my machine was invisible to WinGate and had to squeeze into the ip pipe along side the rather busy client traffic handled by the WinGate host on my machine.

2. Could I create a rule for my workstation (which is also the WinGate host) to directly prioritize traffic generated by my internet applications? If so, I assume that I'd have to specify my local ip address, i.e., 192.168.0.1 in the rule. Wouldn't this create a closed loop, or be otherwise impossible to do since the traffic generate by my internet applications would bypass WinGate completely and simply queue up on the ip stack, and thus contend with all other client traffic being handled by WinGate?

Nat & Proxy Traffic:
3. I'm assuming the 2nd part of your answer is a response to my question about the "[x] Apply to traffic to/from local Machine." If I understand correctly, this setting, when selected, causes the WinGate host proxy modules to be throttled in addition to nat traffic (for clients). When this setting is not ticked, then only nat traffic is throttled (for clients), but not their proxy traffic. Is this correct?

Many Thanks, -James Timmerman

[genie]

Hi,

1. The bandwidth Wingate driver deals with is reported per adapter by the adapters themselves (or, rather, by the miniport drivers servicing these adapters). Therefore, if you say "I want to allow 1.5Mb through the dialup" (indirectly) it would be pretty much the same as setting an unlimited bandwidth. The same applies to an unallocated bandwidth - whatever's left from the higher-priority users (if anyhting) will be considered unallocated and can be used by those poor clients not enjoying the hard-set limits.

2. Yes, you sure can - that's what the "local host" checkbox is for if you do not specify your source IP address directly.

3. Yes, you are absolutely right here.

[JetGater]

Hi, and again thanks for the reply.

Sorry for being such a pain in the butt. I hope you'll indulge me in tieing up some loose ends (or make me start all over). Maybe I'll write an in depth explanation of throttling if I ever get to the end of this.

I hope your reference to "local host" in your 2. reply refers to the "Apply to traffic to/from local Machine" parameter. I couldn't find "local host" in any throttling settings. This is all still so new to me that I need to be precise in refering to parameters.

[ ] In the "Apply to traffic to/from local Machine" parameter, does "local Machine" refer specifically to the client?

If I understand things correctly now:

A1. WinGate Clients that use the WinGate client software must have the "Apply to traffic to/from local Machine" parameter ticked in the respective rule so that proxy traffic is throttled in addition to any nat traffic they such a client might generate.

A2. WinGate Clients that are not using the WinGate client software access the internet through nat only. A throttling rule for such a client does not have to have the "Apply to traffic to/from local Machine" parameter ticked since this type of client generates no proxy traffic. If this parameter were ticked, it would have no effect (and no adverse impact).

B. Any & all traffic generated by my internet applications on my workstation (also the WinGate host) is invisible to WinGate (as was the case with all previous versions of WinGate). Therefore, I do not (can not?) create any rule for my workstation, but all my traffic is prioritized because all WinGate clients are throttled, and are allocated any bandwidth not used by my workstation *IF* their rules specify restrictions that provide "n% of available."

C. In the above environment (assuming all restrictions set to priority 3), any client rule assigned a restriction specifying "n Kilobits" of traffic will be given this bandwidth before the other clients which have rules specifying "n% of available." But all clients would still be contending for "available" bandwidth from what is left over from my workstation's (WinGate host) bandwidth consumption. I.e., my workstation would always have access to the full line speed of the internet connection.

[ ] Realizing that some of the assumptions above might not be accurate, is there a way for me to throttle my own bandwidth consumption so that a download that I perform on my workstation wouldn't pinch off all the bandwidth from the clients?

Many thanks, -James Timmerman

[genie]

:) Ok, point by point:

A. That's correct - sorry for not stating the wording on the checkbox correctly.

B. This is not tru for v6 Wingate. From this version on Wingate takes care of all traffic, including the local one. Therefore, any rule which has "Apply to .. local..." or has an IP address of the local machine will be applied to the locally originated or destined traffic as well.

C. That's true. If a restriction specifies "% of available traffic" then all traffic which conforms to the rule having the said above restriction will compete within the same group for the "leftovers" from other clients.

Well, what you can do, you can specify bandwidth for your download in the form of hard limit, i.e. , say, X kbit. Then only X kbit of the available bandwidth will be used by your downloading client and the rest will be dedicated to other clients.

[JetGater]

Hi,

Klank! The coin has dropped. Your response really clears things up. It really makes all the difference to know that WinGate V6 'sees' WinGate Host traffic, and can be configured for throttling along with WinGate clients.

Many Thanks, -James Timmerman