sudden slow-down for some user

[acls]

We have about 10 users at different off-site locations, some using macs, others using PCs, all use Filemaker 6.0. Our server Filemaker 5.5 is running on a Windows 2000 server behind a firewall at our office (NYC). Offsite users come in using a general IP, and Filemaker requests are then routed to FM server behind firewall. Everything was working fine for 5 months, all of sudden over holidays several offsite users using TCP/IP access started experiencing very slow access, opening files, sorting, changing layouts, etc. Those users have no other slowdowns in browsing, etc.

Slowdown experienced by

1. users using Earthlink from home

2. users on the University of Michigan site

No slowdown for these users

3. Road Runner Cable

4. On-site users behind firewall

5. Off-site at New York University

We can't figure out why it would be so selective and doesn't seem to be an issue of congestion since there's no slowdown in other TCP/IP acces.

Thanks!

Nancy

[Kurt Knippel]

Well, there are only about 1000+ devices in between your user and your server, any of which can be causing the problems. Bandwidth limitations, router/bridge/switch overloads, sunspots, lots of people searching for Britney Spears pictures, etc can all be affecting your users.

If this continues to be a problem, you could opt for VPN which should in theory provide better performance, or getting all your users onto a more consistant IP service provider.