> 
> Yes, the connection is asymmetric.  Cable modem.  Fast download, slower
> upload.  The problem happens all the time, not just if I try to upload
> while I'm downloading though.

If you were seeing down-loads hanging with concurrent upstream traffic,
I would suspect that your upstream connection is getting saturated and
the ACKs for the download are being choked-off.  That would cause the
remote host to re-send packets your way, and could accout for the hang.
You could remedy that by using 'altq' to prioritize the ACKs.  But
since you see the problem regardless of upstream traffic ...

> 
> It's sort of like something breaks the connection, and it has to
> reestablish.  What would I look at to see if something like that is
> happening?

It would probably be worth your while to sniff the interface during
one of these episodes, to see if the packet traces reveal anything.

David S.


>