[RndTbl] double-natted ssh weirdness

[Trevor Cordes]

I have a double-natted setup on one side (don't ask).  I have
port-forwarding working all the way through into a linux box behind the
double-nat.  Can connect great.

But certain things seem to make the ssh connection "pause", for like 2-3
mins.  It usually recovers and I can continue like nothing ever happened.

What triggers it seems to be sudden medium-large output, like if I run an
ll or start top.  Commands with little output don't seem to affect it, but
sometimes they do, especially if the connection has been idle.  It'll show
me typing the command and then pause when I hit enter.

Rang bells, so I look at mss/mtu in past firewall setups and get the
iptables magic to clamp the mss.  If I install the rule on the box then it
seems to make the pause problem go away, mostly.  But often after idling
the problem will return.

As always, I'm hazy on the mss/mtu, and usually solve these with trial and
error -- if indeed this is another mss/mtu problem.  (The gear involved is
all very old.)

Instead of just shooting random clamp mss rules in the dark, I thought I'd
hit up MUUG for ideas.  I'd love to know how you can tell what the mss/mtu
has been chosen on a given connection.  Also, do I need to run a clamper
on both sides?  Or maybe other ideas that have nothing to do with mss/mtu?

What I've tried so far:
iptables -A INPUT -i eth1 -m tcpmss --mss 1397: -p tcp --dport ssh --tcp-flags SYN,RST SYN -j TCPMSS --set-mss 1396