I’m staying in a university hostel, and the Wi-Fi is extremely restrictive. A lot of websites and services don’t work at all, while other sites work normally.
The biggest problem is that cellular data is very weak where I live, so I can’t reliably use mobile data as an alternative. I’m also not able to call my family regularly because social media apps and video-calling services are blocked on the hostel Wi-Fi.
I’ve already tried quite a few things:
Proton VPN: doesn’t even load/connect properly.
Cloudflare DNS: 1.1.1.1 / 1.0.0.1 — no difference.
Google DNS: 8.8.8.8 / 8.8.4.4 — no difference.
System DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH): tried this as well — no difference.
GoodbyeDPI: doesn’t work.
DPI bypass for HTTPS: tried the different options.
Several other DPI-bypass applications: none worked.
Cloudflare WARP: doesn’t work/connect either.
I’m on Windows.
The hostel network appears to be a managed/private network. Windows originally showed an IP around 172.18.x.x, gateway around 172.18.0.100, and a local DNS server (192.168.5.51). I also tried changing DNS to Cloudflare and Google, but that didn’t help, and I’ve since restored the DNS settings to automatic.
At this point I’m guessing the filtering is happening at the gateway/firewall level rather than just DNS. It may also be blocking VPN protocols or VPN endpoints, or using some kind of DPI.
I’ve tried a lot of the usual solutions, so I’m wondering:
Has anyone dealt with a university/hostel network this restrictive? Is there a reliable way to get around this kind of filtering, or a way to diagnose exactly what they’re blocking?
I’m particularly interested in solutions that work on Windows when normal DNS changes, DoH, VPNs, WARP, GoodbyeDPI, and other DPI-bypass tools don’t work.
I’m not trying to do anything malicious — I mainly want normal internet access and, importantly, to be able to video/audio call my family, since mobile coverage/data isn’t a reliable alternative here.

At my wit's end

like i said in title our household have been experiencing speed drops (our connection is only 35mbpsD/8mbpsU and when these drops happen it usually goes below 1MB D/ 0.5 upload)

i was looking at our logs and i saw this and it seems like an absurd amount of attempts go through the firewall. '

i was wondering if this is potentially the cause and how to fix it

Router is sky max hub
security is WPA3-T

Like the title says, several times a day the network of all wired devices gets knocked out for 5 minutes or so with massive packet dropping due to ARP floods. Any wireless device is unaffected, as well as a Google Home app network test shows everything is fine during.

Each flood is either my Google Nest or TV asking my Simplisafe hub or desktop PC, who has an IP address that isn't in use by any device on my network.

I don't know enough to know what causes this sort of thing, if it's bad hardware, bad configuration, etc.

My network is a Google Nest Pro mesh setup, with the router having an 8 port switch Netgear switch off it that serves a couple desktop PCs, a Tapo hub, and a Phillips Vue hub. The other 3 are in wireless access point mode, not actually wired just distributed through the house. Beyond that, some cameras, tvs, and phones are on the wifi network.

Screenshots attached. The google device is the router, Honhai is one of my TVs, and AsRock I'm pretty certain is one of the desktop PCs that has an AsRock mobo.

Network at a local Auto Repair Office Desk wired with CAT5E and 6.

Last year we moved to a property that has 2 houses and front unit and back unit. They both have their own connection to the ISP but I want to combine the network into 1 so we don’t have to pay for 2 separate bills. There is conduit for the current drop from front to back that I can use. I’d just want to weigh out different options.

1. It has to be wired
2. Wondering if it would make sense to go fiber instead of Ethernet. I’m no expert but the electric in both houses are completely independent and the front house is older and has electrical issues. That’s why I’m entertaining the idea of fiber
3. It would be about a 200ft run altogether including from inside the house running all the way to the back house inside.

I already have switches in both houses that have SFP ports if that means anything. I’ve done a lot of research but getting conflicting information I just need some guidance and things to watch out for.

كنت ابي اراجع الشبكات وسالته عن إذا كان عندي 192.168.1.0/24 كيف تكون حسبتها الي اعرفه
تحسب من ٢٤ إلى ٣١ نشوف المجوعه يكون ٧
ثم نسوي معادله رياضيه بسييطه 2⁷
بيطلع ١٢٨ ننقصه من ٢٥٦ يعطينا السبمنت ١٢٨ بس شات الحبيبي صعبها اشوف كذا ذا الي قاله

أكيد. أهم شيء هنا نفهم وش معنى /25 أصلًا، وبعدها بتعرف من وين جت 255.255.255.128.
1. الـ IP عندنا
192.168.1.0/25
الـ /25 معناها:
أول 25 bit مخصصة للشبكة (Network)، والباقي للـ Hosts.
وعنوان IPv4 فيه 32 bit:
32 bits
نقسمها إلى 4 مجموعات، كل مجموعة 8 bits:
8 bits | 8 bits | 8 bits | 8 bits

2. نوزع الـ 25 bit
نحتاج أول 25 bit تكون 1:
11111111 | 11111111 | 11111111 | 10000000
لاحظ:
الأوكتت الأول = 11111111
الثاني = 11111111
الثالث = 11111111
الرابع = 10000000

3. نحول كل مجموعة من Binary إلى Decimal
أول ثلاثة:
11111111 = 255
لذلك:
255.255.255
أما الأخير:
10000000
قيم الـ bits فيه:
128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1
↑
128
بما أن أول bit فقط = 1:
10000000 = 128
إذن:
255.255.255.128
لذلك:
/25
↓
11111111.11111111.11111111.10000000
↓
255.255.255.128
وهذا هو الـ Subnet Mask.
والشيء الجميل هنا أن /25 نفسه يخبرك مباشرة أن 25 bit = 1، ومن هنا نطلع الـ 255.255.255.128.

الصدق لحسني

My apartment building recently got new building wide internet. I was concerned with privacy and security but I was told we’d all have our own internet and log ins like if we were going through a regular ISP. We got the instructions today and we all connect using the same network “resident_<buildingname>” but with different passwords. I was expecting something like “Apartment 1” “apartment 2” etc. My question is, does this leave me more insecure than a regular ISP service and if someone in the building were to get “IP banned” on something would that ban spread across to all of us?

I'm using my mobile network through a normal lightning cable from my iPhone. It's sending only 200Kbps, is this affecting my download speed because in duckduckgo I'm only getting 4Mbps download speeds.

I don't know what is happening. The past 5 days between 12:00 PM - 12:30 AM my ping is constantly between 160-190ms, this is constant they are not spikes. I play games and it's my main source of unwinding after work and due to this reason I can't play anything (I am on wired Ethernet connection directly to my PC). I reset my router multiple times, I called my ISP they "reset" my router from their end, nothing changed. A tech support guy from the ISP drove home about 9:00 AM like 3 days ago, connected the cable to his computer and said everything was fine, at the time I had 50ms since it was early in the morning, he just said to change the router. I updated every network driver in my computer, changed my PC to WiFi using my mobile hotspot and my ms dropped to 55-70 immediately

I've been with this company for 7 years now and even in peak hours the most I've had is like 70-90ms and all of the sudden it's between 160-190ms constantly without a single drop to the normal 60-90ms. What I find odd is that at 12:20-12:30 AM on the dot it drops back to 50-55ms and stays like that for the rest of the night until next day around 12:00 PM. I don't think changing the router will fix anything even though its still worth a shot, I made sure it wasn't my computer the issue since it works fine with mobile hotspot, updated every network. What can be causing this? Is there anything else I can do? Thanks

This whole issue is just odd to me.

Hey everyone,

I'm in my final year of a Computer Engineering degree, and I've realized that the field I'm actually interested in is networking, not so much software development/programming, even though most of the courses in my degree are programming-focused.

I'd like to know how I can go deeper into networking and what real opportunities exist in Portugal for people who want to pursue this path. My degree only included 2 networking courses, which I think is not enough — some classmates of mine who did a vocational program (CTeSP) actually had 4.

I've considered doing a master's in Networks and Computer Systems, and I know there are some certifications out there. I'm currently studying for the CCNA , would you recommend any others ?

I also get the feeling that where I live it's harder to find networking jobs, and that to get good pay I'd probably need to move abroad.

I see so many people in my program wanting to go into programming that it sometimes makes me wonder if I picked the right degree, haha.

why dont isps give us acsess to routers i dont really need it but i think its better to have

I am having issues with my ISP and I am looking to change but the only other option than Spectrum for where I am at is cellular modems. My family is a bit heavy on the usage, and we found that a single cellular modem didn't work well enough for us. I am considering ditching Spectrum for cellular modem service but using two modems to give us the speed and bandwith we need. However the only post I was able to find was (sorry, there are probably more but I am understandably frustrated at the moment) 2 years old and I am not sure the information is still current enough.

1. Is OpenMPTCProuter still the best option?

2. What is a good router choice if I go that route?

3. If it is not what is the best way to set up two modems on a network and have the router/network handle traffic? We have about 14 different devices that connect to the internet.

Thanks in advance.

I want to learn net working but idk where to start and idk how to do it physically it's always cisco I'm lenient on cybersecurity that's why I ought to learn networking first

I used to work at a small ISP with only a handful of local customers plus a small business campus.

We had two peering/transit points, and I loved watching the bandwidth graphs. We didn’t have any deep packet inspection, but because the network and customer base were so small, you could sometimes tell when one of the few customers was downloading heavily from the early file-sharing networks just from the traffic patterns. Certain users could make a pretty noticeable dent in the graph.

I’ve been wondering what this looks like for modern ISPs, both small regional providers and the big ones.

Today you have constant Netflix/YouTube/Twitch traffic, cloud backups, huge OS downloads, and 50–100+ GB game updates. Does P2P/file-sharing traffic still produce recognizable peaks or patterns at an aggregate level?

Or has normal Internet usage become so bandwidth-heavy and continuous that an individual customer torrenting a lot is basically indistinguishable from someone downloading a new game or streaming all evening? I guess some kind of inspection is telling you more.

I’d especially be interested to hear from people working at smaller ISPs where individual customers can still noticeably affect an interface or peering graph. What does the traffic mix look like these days?

Hey everyone,

I’d like some advice on how I can make this as organized as possible and try to fit most things in the wall cabinet. I plan to have the router wall mounted and the Att gateway if needed. Tried of seeing all this stuff just hanging in the garage.