Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!decwrl!ucbvax!JESSICA.STANFORD.EDU!almquist
From: almquist@JESSICA.STANFORD.EDU ("Philip Almquist")
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip
Subject: Re: How to limit broadcasts between expensively connected networks?
Message-ID: <9007111705.AA06252@jessica.stanford.edu>
Date: 11 Jul 90 17:05:26 GMT
References: <3715@altos86.Altos.COM>
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 21

Michael,
> My question is: is there any way to (at the gateways) limit broadcast traffic
> over expensive connections?

	In general, broadcasts on one of your nets will not be forwarded
across the SLIP line to the other net.  The only exception that I know
of is that cisco routers can be configured (using "helper-address" or
whatever they call it now).

	If you are using a routing protocol, it can (depending upon the
protocol and the rest of your topology) generate a fair amount of
traffic across the SLIP link.  By clever configuration or by using
static routing you can minimize eliminate this traffic.

	If I were you, I would try to diagnose the problem more fully.
I don't know what kind of routers you are using, but most include the
facility to trace packets going through them.  Although that is hardly
recommended for regular use (since it slows the routers to a crawl),
such a facility is very useful for diagnosing the sort of problem you
are seeing.
							Philip