Logging in using an ADSL Connection

Hi,

I am not very technically inclined, but I can usually get settings and preferences set so that things work as they should.

I am having a real problem using an ADSL connection to log in. I can connect, but the sim never really finishes loading, and usually crashes.

If I log on to another router which is NOT ADSL (next door..lol) everything is fine. So the sim works and my regular AV setup is ok. (This issue applies to any sim I try...not just my home.) I know the download speed on the ADSL is about 1.8megabits...and the upload about 300kb.

I assume other citizens are able to connect using ADSL, so my question is: How do you have to change the setup to be able to work?

(And no, the next door router isn't an option, I just begged them to let me try it long enough to see if it would work. )

Thanks,

Tsiosan Ruby

First off, all digital subscriber lines are asymmetrical, so just calling it DSL is sufficient.

Most likely your issue is a port issue. Second Life uses certain TCP and UDP ports that are most likely blocked by your phone company. Phone companies like to believe that all people do is browse the web and send/receive email. So any ports not typically used by the meat of internet users gets blocked (for what reason, I dont know), by phone companies.

You have two choices, call the phone company and beg them to unblock the ports you need opened, or get cable if it's available. I recommend the latter.

Last I heard, SL uses ports 443/TCP, 12035/UDP, 12036/UDP, 12043/TCP, and 13000-13050/UDP. However this may have changed, you might want to look up more recent info on that.

Owing to our forum's crippled search function, it might actually be more useful to call DSL ADSL even if it's not needed. One can do a forum search for ADSL, but can't for DSL.

OK...where should I even start looking for that kind of information?..Is THIS the right place? Is it published, or "secret" Linden stuff?

I am willing, but I think this is going to get really technical...really fast.

A question occurs to me. Did you use your own computer with next door's connection?

i was gonna say ..sounds like graphics problem..but also..1.8 megs..thats like dialup modem connection...it's not dial up speed but it's pretty slow connection but you can get on sl with dialup is kind of what i am saying hehehe..turn your bandwith way down to like 500..
my dsl is like 6 to 9megs on the download..i forget my upload..
but i had been on dialup before and you can't load hardly anything but can still stay connected enough to chat..but that was also sitting 3k meters in the air with nothing rezzing around me but a few prims..

maybe the OP has an intel graphics card or something..

One good way to find out stuff about second life is to use a search engine like Google.

Search terms such as;

second life wiki router

or

second life wiki ports

will produce links to router settings instructions near the top of the search results.

Sometimes you might get better results by enclosing "second life" in quotes, like this:

"second life" wiki router

If you include wiki as a search term you will be more likely to find stuff in the second life wiki; if not, there will be results from the rest of the secondlife.com domain and the rest of the web.

The Second Life wiki is at wiki.secondlife.com.

The wiki has it's own search field.

This forum has a search function, the short form of which appears when you click on the word Search at the top middle of the forum display, and the more advance form, which has a tiny link appear when you click on the Search button, is at /invalid_link.html .

The url for the port settings is at:
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/How_do_I_configure_my_hardware_firewall_%28such_as_a_router%29

The precise methods of how to set your particular modem and router settings depends on the particular model of modem and router one has, so if you are hoping to get precise instructions on such things you need to supply the exact brand and model number of those devices.

Folks here are just other SL users, so one should not assume they will be familiar with the details of every make and model of every device in the world. Sometimes one just has to read the manual themselves.

A good site for how to set up routers is portforward.com. It does have detailed instructions for great many makes and models of routers. SL is unfortunately not one of the programs it provides detailed instructions for, but it can still be useful. I've answered questions from people here on occasion by doing a site specific search for

"secondlife" siteortforward.com

That will produce links to all mentions of Second Life in the portforward forums, which can be useful.

There is another user based question and answer part of the secondlife.com site called Second Life Answers. One can probably increase the chances of getting a rapid answer to a question by posting both here and at Second Life Answers. Copy and Paste from one place to the other would be the efficient way to do that. Second Life Answers is at

https://blogs.secondlife.com/community/answers

and the url for asking questions there should be

https://blogs.secondlife.com/post!input.jspa?containerType=14&container=2144

If you are a premium customer, you should of course use the support options available to premiums.

I would be looking at the connection speed. At 1.8 download speed, SL would be a tortuous experience.

Hi,

Thanks for all the info. I will try to answer some of the questions that came back.

MY computer is a Dell M6400 Precision Notebook...Dual T9800 @ 2.93Ghz...8gigs mem..running Win 7 64 bit...Cisco Wirless Router communicating at 54 mb (it says). The internal Dell wireless seems to be a 1510, according to the System applet. The video card says Nvidia 3700 with 1 gig of mem.

The next door neighbor let me connect with my computer to their router as a guest.

I think the early comment about the ports is probably on the right track. I can connect without any problems in other locations (this problem is where I am spending Christmas). My "home" has a cable connection too, so no probs there. I usually run at 270m draw distance, so the computer is doing fine.

I will just have to spend Christmas without SL.

Thank you again, for all the replies. You guys are the best!!!

Love to all.

Tsiosan

could be that the wireless is not giving you very much at all.. wireless (works I use it 50% of the time ) but it can sure cause issues with a slower already connection and 1.8 wow thats slow

/me points at the problem. Try directly hooking up as much as you can, TsioSan.. I would bet that that helps a lot. If it does, you can experiment with moving the various bits around and trying to improve the signal.

As for the bandwidth, 1.8mbps isn't really that bad if that's what you're actually getting. If you run into problems, try *lowering* your bandwidth settings in SL a bit and avoid streaming video/music while in SL.

ANd I'm also 100% sure that we had an SDSL line for years.

I think people are way off track looking at the bandwidth. I have a slower DSL than that and it's just fine.

The wireless link might be a problem. The specific settings of the firewall router may be the problem. I would recommend NOT using port filtering on the firewall unless you're sufficiently technical to debug port filtering problems using a sniffer... NAT by itself provides a significant level of security, and most home routers port filtering rules are so wide open they don't really have any benefit beyond that.

ya the bandwidth is ok, using a cable instead of wlan may help and NOT using emerald (if you are using it) may help too =) good luck

The A, as it looks like you know but maybe others don't, just means asymmetric. With symmetric DSL, SDSL, upload and download rates at the same. With ADSL, they're not.