Extreme lag when working from home

[dryool]

Hi there.

I split my use of NoMachine between accessing my office’s Linux network from an on-site desktop and a home laptop (both Windows). Periodically, my home sessions develop extreme lag (1-10 seconds) that basically persists once it starts until I logout of my Linux session and start again. Lag of even a second is painful, but 10 second lag is absolutely excruciating. In recent days, this lag appears to be particularly associated with starting up Matlab from with my Linux session, although this association is definitely not a regular one and I normally use Matlab with no problems from home. (And I almost never have lag issues with NoMachine when using it from within my building.)

Unfortunately, I’m not particularly tech-savvy, so am relying on my local IT team to resolve this problem. And, double-unfortunately, they don’t appear to have any leads on what causes this or how to fix it (beyond the suggestion to log out and starting again). I’ve also been unable to hit on a combination of search terms that finds me a solution on this forum.

To which end, I was wondering if anyone here could either suggest anything I can check or try to resolve or just diagnose the problem I’m having? The lack of problems when working on-site seems notable to me, but I’ve no good way of ascertaining why this might be – my home network’s connectivity is fibre, so pretty fast. I should also add that, while I’ve used Linux for decades, I’m not especially knowledgeable on rummaging around with it, and don’t have any admin privileges (which is probably for the best!). So, please be gentle with any suggestions. 🙂

Thanks in advance for any assistance anyone can offer.

Cheers,

AXY

P.S. For reference, when accessing my work Linux, I enter via a “landing pad” server before hopping to another Linux machine to do my work. I’m also running through a work VPN connection. I’ve also dialed-down the quality settings on my NoMachine session, but to no avail.

[Britgirl]

Hi, we need to ask a few questions first to understand your set-up better 🙂

– what NoMachine version is on your Windows client (and which version of Windows)?
– do you know what version is on the NoMachine server, your Linux machine where you are working?
– can you tell us if you are running a virtual desktop session?
– what is the desktop environment you are connecting to where Matlab is running (GNOME, KDE, something else)?
– are you starting the session from the NoMachine Player or are you connecting through the browser (perhaps to the landing pad server that you mention)?

[dryool]

Hi Britgirl,

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly!

1. NoMachine is 6.18.2, Windows (11) is 24H2 (OS Build 26100.4652)

2. I had no idea how to do this, but ChatGPT obliged: NoMachine Terminal Server Subscription – Version 6.8.1

3. Yes, I’m running a virtual desktop

4. I think I’m KDE (“ps -e | grep -E -i ‘gnome|kde|cinnamon|xfce|lxde|mate'” returns kdevtmpfs)

5. I believe that I’m using the NoMachine player; I certainly don’t go through a browser

It’s good that you asked for these details because I can already see that my NoMachine is rather long in the tooth! For some reason – probably centralised update control – I’m not getting updates despite the relevant tickbox being ticked. In any case, the version I’m using is not, it would seem, as old as the version that my landing pad is using.

In passing, while my session crawled to a halt yesterday I left it running overnight – and today it’s back to normal speed. Matlab and all. I’ve previously been assured that it’s not a traffic thing, nor does it appear to be a home network thing.

Anyway, thanks in advance for any steer you can offer.

AXY

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