Hi tor-relays@ mailing list,
I run the following Tor middle relay on a 300 Mbps symmetrical Verizon FiOS connection:
https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#details/2A65713649C1FD68764DBF43C4636...
My setup is as follows:
* HPE MicroServer Gen10 (AMD X3421) running FreeBSD 12.0
* Tor relay in FreeBSD 12.0 jail, with "RelayBandwidthRate 0"
* Linksys WRT1900AC running OpenWrt
The Linksys is connected directly to Verizon's ONT (which converts fiber/GPON to Ethernet) and no Verizon-branded router is used in my setup.
The problem is that after setting up my relay, I had my Tor Advertised Bandwidth and Consensus Weight values trend downwards for the past week. Sometimes, I have occasional spikes in consensus weight.
This relay has a new fingerprint, but used this server with another fingerprint as well. On the previous fingerprint, I reached a peak of 19.5 MB/s (~160 Mbps) for the Advertised Bandwidth but has dropped to ~10 MB/s (~80 Mbps). The previous fingerprint also had the same server and router.
I am thinking the issue is one of the two:
1. Tor bandwidth authority nodes are overloaded or have bad connectivity to Verizon
2. Verizon is intentionally throttling Tor on FiOS
3. The relay ramp-up phase is still in action for my relay and I need to wait
I am suspecting reason 2, as I had seen my bandwidth values drop, and unable to reach higher values.
For some reason, other relays on AS701 (Verizon's AS Number) have higher Advertised Bandwidth/Consensus Weight values than me (around ~18.7MB/s on the fastest relay): https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#search/as:AS701
Sometimes, the other FiOS relays can go up to ~23 MB/s (~184 Mbps).
Is Verizon throttling Tor or are Tor bandwidth authority nodes just overloaded (or have bad peering with Verizon)? Or is it just the relay ramp-up phase in action?
Thank You,
Neel Chauhan