Public Service for People With Bad ISPs

[Mystry]

I have a shitty ISP. They have, for some ungodly reason, hard-wired their modem/router boxes to refresh leases on computers connected to it every 10 minutes, and it isn't changable in its interface. This basically means its impossible for me to download any large files that take over 10 minutes, as the lease expires and refreshes and the download loses connection during this process. That means I can't download any large game or file if it doesn't have a pause/resume function, which makes the tdm_updater exe file useless, as it does not have a resume function. As a public service for both myself and people in my position, here is a link to a zip containing the files in TDM 1.08, on a host that supports resuming: http://www.gamefront.com/files/files/22526103/thedarkmod_v1.08.9.zip

 

As a message to the creators, please put a pause/resume button on the updater.

[Bikerdude]

Thanks for this, will add this to the list link external links.

[SeriousToni]

In which place in the world does an ISP do this to people..?!

[Tels]

If your connection is reset every 10 minutes, it's broken and you should switch ISPs ASAP!

 

Having said that, bloodgate.com does support resume, I'll look why swift-mazes.com does not support it yet and see if I can re-enable it.

 

So you should be able to download the individual files manually with resuming. I guess it might be possible to teach the updater to auto-resume partial downloads (it uses libcurl, which probably supports this), but this needs a code change and we have noone who can do this atm.

[Mystry]

In which place in the world does an ISP do this to people..?!

West Coast USA, apparently.

 

If your connection is reset every 10 minutes, it's broken and you should switch ISPs ASAP!

 

Having said that, bloodgate.com does support resume, I'll look why swift-mazes.com does not support it yet and see if I can re-enable it.

 

So you should be able to download the individual files manually with resuming. I guess it might be possible to teach the updater to auto-resume partial downloads (it uses libcurl, which probably supports this), but this needs a code change and we have noone who can do this atm.

Wish I could switch ISPs, but its not total connection loss - its a lease renew. Online games like MMOs or shooters or whatnot aren't affected - only downloads.

[Tels]

Can't you just replace the router with one of your own? (The USA is even more backward than some European countries like Germany, from what I read on Slashdot etc, and this is quite a feat!)

[Tels]

Range requests (resume download) are now support on swift-mazes.com and tunnels-of-danger.com for PK4 files.

[Mystry]

Can't you just replace the router with one of your own? (The USA is even more backward than some European countries like Germany, from what I read on Slashdot etc, and this is quite a feat!)

No. American ISPs (most of them) issue a modem that USUALLY doubles as a router, which plugs into the wall line that leads outside. You can plug more routers into it though if you want, I have a secondary router and the only differences is that when forwarding ports, you must forward the port on the modem/router to the secondary router, and then from the secondary router to the specific computer. You can also usually connect a computer directly to the modem/router. Each ISP has its own in-house brand of modems they give to clients, and only their modems will work. You can't replace it. They also try to charge you service fees if it breaks, regardless of if its your fault or not.

 

But none of that really matters. The real issue was the lease timeout. Modems and routers set to DHCP mode assign network IPs to computers dynamically, which basically lets it send information to the right computer. This is called a lease. USUALLY leases refresh once every week or so by default, and most modems allow you to change the timeout on them. My problem was that my ISP set their modem to refresh leases every 10 minutes, and didn't add an option to change the lease timeout in their modems configuration.

[Professor Paul1290]

Wouldn't using a reserved or static IP avoid that or am I thinking of something else?

[Tels]

No. American ISPs (most of them) issue a modem that USUALLY doubles as a router, which plugs into the wall line that leads outside. You can plug more routers into it though if you want, I have a secondary router and the only differences is that when forwarding ports, you must forward the port on the modem/router to the secondary router, and then from the secondary router to the specific computer. You can also usually connect a computer directly to the modem/router. Each ISP has its own in-house brand of modems they give to clients, and only their modems will work. You can't replace it. They also try to charge you service fees if it breaks, regardless of if its your fault or not.

 

But none of that really matters. The real issue was the lease timeout. Modems and routers set to DHCP mode assign network IPs to computers dynamically, which basically lets it send information to the right computer. This is called a lease. USUALLY leases refresh once every week or so by default, and most modems allow you to change the timeout on them. My problem was that my ISP set their modem to refresh leases every 10 minutes, and didn't add an option to change the lease timeout in their modems configuration.

 

No, your problem is that your ISP assigns you a modem/router that is not under your control

 

(I know what a lease is, here in Germany we typical have 24h dis-connects, although some ISPs have changed that to no longe automatically disconnect you, but the DHCP lease is still 24h typically. Mostly. Or something)

 

Anyway, the "give the customer a router and do not let him change or replace it and don't even tell them the pwd" has hit Germany, too, and it is just sick. They give your the hardware, but you have to pay it and then don't own it. Unfortunately, a court rules that is ok So I fear we will end up in the same shit than you do shortly... Right now, most customers can just throw the device out and use their own.

[Tels]

Wouldn't using a reserved or static IP avoid that or am I thinking of something else?

 

Yes, but you have to pay through the nose for it on most ISPs. If they even offer it to non-busines customers.

[Mystry]

No, your problem is that your ISP assigns you a modem/router that is not under your control

 

(I know what a lease is, here in Germany we typical have 24h dis-connects, although some ISPs have changed that to no longe automatically disconnect you, but the DHCP lease is still 24h typically. Mostly. Or something)

 

Anyway, the "give the customer a router and do not let him change or replace it and don't even tell them the pwd" has hit Germany, too, and it is just sick. They give your the hardware, but you have to pay it and then don't own it. Unfortunately, a court rules that is ok So I fear we will end up in the same shit than you do shortly... Right now, most customers can just throw the device out and use their own.

 

The modem/router is under my control. US ISP-issued modem/routers are required, by law, to have a factory reset button and a default password/login name printed on the side of the physical device. I can access the things settings and change a plethora of settings, but the interface for doing so (most US modem/routers will use a web GUI) doesn't have the option of changing the lease timeout. And I'm not trying to insinuate that you don't know what a lease is, I was just explaining for anyone else who may be reading this and has a similar problem. It took me forever to identify why youtube videos and downloads randomly cut off.