What the optimizer does, and why you should use it. (proxy)

[WB Matt]

There have been some questions here on the forum concerning the WildBlue optimizer and the proxy server, specifically concerning what it does and why we want you to use it. I thought I knew all the answers, but I thought I would verify these with our engineering department to confirm. Good thing that I did -- I learned some stuff.

Here's the deal: the WildBlue Optimizer sets your browser to use our proxy server at the gateway(s). You'll use the proxy server at the gateway that services the beam that your WildBlue connection uses. The Optimizer also may configure some other settings, different for each browser, to speed up your web browsing as much as possible.

The benefit: The whole point of the optimizer is to get you, our customer, the fastest web surfing speed possible. There is no benefit to reducing the data transmission that goes over the satellite or anything else. It's sole purpose is to "optimize" your connection to take advantage of the best possible speeds you can get using WildBlue.

So what does the proxy accomplish? Here's what I learned.

1. The number one purpose is to do all the DNS lookups at the gateway. Essentially, when you request a web page, there is a bunch of setup transactions that take place before the web page can be displayed. This is especially true for web pages that have a lot of objects for which DNS needs to be resolved. At minimum, any commercial website (CNN, MSN, etc.) that displays ads falls into this category, but you'd be surprised to see how many objects are hosted on different domains and/or servers. If the proxy is setup in your browser, either via the optimizer or because you set it up manually, you can get the DNS for all of these objects much more quickly -- you're hitting one server right at the gateway, instead of reaching out to every server for the information. This is the #1 reason for using the proxy, and it should make your web surfing much more responsive.

2. The number two purpose is caching content. If the content is at the gateway, you can receive it more quickly than if you need to reach out to the originating server(s). It should be noted that my engineering expert said that this is far more secondary than the first reason to use the proxy.

There is no benefit to bandwidth usage, neither for customer nor company. The purpose is to make your web surfing experience as fast as possible.

Get the optimizer here.

Class dismissed!

[WB Steph]

Matt, you rock! I've worked here 5 years and have had trouble putting it into words. You deserve a raise!

[WB Matt]

Thanks, boss.

[tlc2260]

i am soo printing this off and giving it to my customers great job....

[art2]

Good information. Is it a good idea to use the proxy server in Thunderbird too, for downloading email from various accounts?

[maximus57]

Ok, NOW tell me why the proxy slows downloads by at least 25% or more.

[BlueDogs]

Thanks for the info!

[Cayal]

Would it not work just as well, or better, to place frequently visited IPs into the hosts file? As for caching content, most modern browsers cache this anyhow locally, no reaching out to proxy servers required. The only advantage I could see is if a computer had so little memory caching a bit of data was impossible. Why not just give out the proxy's IP, so people on an OS other than windows can put the number into their browser's proxy settings?

[greg_tn]

If you will look in the CONNECTIONS/LAN SETTINGS under TOOLS in Internet Explorer, you will see there is an Automatic Configuration Script

It points to http://wpad.wildblue.com/wpad.dat

I've tried a software load with and without the OPTIMIZER program.
I do see a little increase in the way the web pages load, BUT those settings for some reason cause problems with the other computer on my network (Which is a windows server).

someone else on here suggested that using the OPTIMZER **DOES** cause downloads to slow down, and if you were planning in doing alot of downloads at once, that you go into the configuration and "*uncheck** those boxes in
CONNECTIONS/LAN SETTINGS under TOOLS in Internet Explorer.

OF COURSE, I have a lousy connection, period, so I've exhausted by troubleshooting skills. Can't wait for that engineer to show up Monday morning . . . .


//
// wpad.dat script FOR CHEYENNE - Proxy IP: 75.105.128.60
//

var firstrun; // Flag to indicate if the browser was just launched
var unprovisioned = false // Unprovisioned account flag
var proxyhost = "75.105.128.60:80"; // Proxy host
var myip = "";

function FindProxyForURL(url,host) {
if (myip != myIpAddress()) {
firstrun = true;
}
myip = myIpAddress();

// If CPE has a private IP, verify if we are unprovisioned
if (firstrun && isPrivateIp(myip)) {
var ip = dnsResolve("www.wildblue.net");
if (ip == "10.255.10.40") {
// unprovisioned account
unprovisioned = true;
}
}

// If the CPE has a routable IP, the account is in provisioned state
if (!isPrivateIp(myip)) unprovisioned = false;
firstrun = false;

// determine if the proxy should be used
if (dnsDomainIs(host, "backoffice.wildblue.net") || // destination is WildBlue backoffice
isPrivateIp(host) || // destination is in the private IP domain
isPlainHostName(host) || // destination is in the local network
unprovisioned || // unprovisioned account
myip == "127.0.0.1" || // no CPE IP, disable proxy
url.substring(0, 6) == "https:" // destination is an SSL site
) {
return "DIRECT";
} else {
return "PROXY " + proxyhost;
}
}

function isPrivateIp(ip) {
if (!ip.match(/^\d+\.\d+\.\d+\.\d+$/)) return false;

if (isInNet(ip, "192.168.0.0", "255.255.0.0") ||
isInNet(ip, "172.16.0.0", "255.255.0.0") ||
isInNet(ip, "172.17.0.0", "255.255.0.0") ||
isInNet(ip, "10.0.0.0", "255.0.0.0"))
return true;

return false;
}

[m65rundgren]

I'm new here at wb. I was having problems unzipping the optimizer. Each time I took the steps to unzip, window kept flashing had to restart pc. I run windows vista.