[SOLVED] I need a MikroTik consultant to help with packet-loss & ping-spikes on MikroTik P2P Mesh network ?

TruleyGifted

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Nov 11, 2014
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Good day

I currently work for an isp that uses a P2P mesh network system to deliver internet to the area. I am by no means experienced in this field i have just started this job, however i have installed a panel at my house and i cant help but notice massive amounts of packet loss with the odd Ping spike, sometimes it lasts for some time and it makes gaming extremely difficult. I want to ask if theres anything i can change on the config on my LHG that could improve this. Also note i do not have access to highsite however i think most perimeters are set on the LHG only thing that needs to change is the speeds through the firewall.

A confession: I am connecting to the router wirelessly however today i will install an extender and plug that directly into PC and see if results are better but i doubt it will help that much. Please keep it as simple as possible as this stuff can get complicated quickly for nubs like me.

I have video of BF4 gameplay showing the issue im not sure how to post this if its needed.

Thank you in advance!
 
Solution
Unless you have access to the towers you really can't tell where they packet loss is happening. The connection to the end user is only 1. There are likely many radio hops between the tower and other towers before they get to some location that has a actual physical internet connection. You would have to be able to get into the equipment to see anything. From a end user perspective it appears as if you have a direct connection between your router and the ISP router when in reality there are multiple different connections. This is why networking certification make such a big deal about understanding what is layer 2 and layer 3.

But in the end there is nothing you can do from the user side. You point the antenna in the proper...
This is actually very strange that you have a job for a wireless ISP and do not even have this very basic knowledge. Then again if your job is to climb on roofs and install hardware I guess you don't need to know much.

From the end user side there is not much that can be done. It needs to be pointed at the correct tower and adjusted for maximum signal levels. It is extremely important it is not pointed through say another house since you then take the chance of normal wifi equipment interfering.

The equipment use by a WISP unlike normal wifi has the ability to control when end stations transmit and for how long. The reduces the interference between different users.

Ping spikes are almost always caused by some form of interference. It is very hard to say where because most WISP systems have multiple radio hops between the end stations and the actual internet connection. In most cases you can not see any of this from the end user station side. I do not know about mikrotik system but most have tools that let you see the signal levels and utilizations of all the connections. Sometimes they will show connection they think are taking errors. All these systems are very proprietary so you have to spend time to learn them.......but you need access in the first place.

From the end user side about the best you can hope for is a signal strength led meter on the dish.

You need to test with a ethernet cable all the way from the pc to the router. Any form of wifi connection between adds another layer of stuff. A so called "extender" is not something magically it is just a wifi card connected via ethernet it will get the same crap signal from the router as your current wifi card does.

I know a number of years ago when my only option was a WISP I got ping spikes all the time and it appeared to because they did not have enough bandwidth for all the customers they had.
 

TruleyGifted

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Nov 11, 2014
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I work help desk support not so much on the technical side, still learning that so was not required for me to know much about networking, I just need to handle basic IT queries and clients.

I read an article a while ago stating its a common issue with mikrotiks that they can cause packetloss but the lines of code they posted, I do not understand, I was hoping someone on here might've known about this and could post a "this is what i did to fix the issue" comment but as i feared its not that easy.

Regarding the extender. This is more of a fail safe as the "dongle" i am using to connect is old and could be causing some of the issues so the extender would be the "best" wireless connection i can get which should make that hop alot more stable.

The mikrotik routeros has basic information such as signal strength, signal to noise and CCQ however im not sure which one directly effects the packetloss, i am aware that they all play a roll. Signal is -50/-50 (which is great consdering the area) Signal to noise was 61 (if im not mistaken) and ccqs were faring well. Thing is the connection looks solid and i always get my speeds and the ping spikes i can live with but the packet loss is actively turning me grey i was hoping there would be a way to directly address that.
 
Unless you have access to the towers you really can't tell where they packet loss is happening. The connection to the end user is only 1. There are likely many radio hops between the tower and other towers before they get to some location that has a actual physical internet connection. You would have to be able to get into the equipment to see anything. From a end user perspective it appears as if you have a direct connection between your router and the ISP router when in reality there are multiple different connections. This is why networking certification make such a big deal about understanding what is layer 2 and layer 3.

But in the end there is nothing you can do from the user side. You point the antenna in the proper direction and get as much signal level as you can. Anything else is controlled by the central side.
 
Solution

TruleyGifted

Honorable
Nov 11, 2014
25
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10,530
I see thank you for the information. I am aware of the jumps and that i just find the "flux" abit more erratic than it should be and the network operators obviously couldnt be bothered trying to assist or give me basic knowledge so i was just wanting to hear from someone with abit more knowledge on the subject. Thank you.
 
Feb 22, 2022
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10
This is actually very strange that you have a job for a wireless ISP and do not even have this very basic knowledge. Then again if your job is to climb on roofs and install hardware I guess you don't need to know much.

From the end user side there is not much that can be done. It needs to be pointed at the correct tower and adjusted for maximum signal levels. It is extremely important it is not pointed through say another house since you then take the chance of normal wifi equipment interfering.

The equipment use by a WISP unlike normal wifi has the ability to control when end stations transmit and for how long. The reduces the interference between different users.

Ping spikes are almost always caused by some form of interference. It is very hard to say where because most WISP systems have multiple radio hops between the end stations and the actual internet connection. In most cases you can not see any of this from the end user station side. I do not know about mikrotik system but most have tools that let you see the signal levels and utilizations of all the connections. Sometimes they will show connection they think are taking errors. All these systems are very proprietary so you have to spend time to learn them.......but you need access in the first place.

From the end user side about the best you can hope for is a signal strength led meter on the dish.

You need to test with a ethernet cable all the way from the pc to the router. Any form of wifi connection between adds another layer of stuff. A so called "extender" is not something magically it is just a wifi card connected via ethernet it will get the same crap signal from the router as your current wifi card does.

I know a number of years ago when my only option was a WISP I got ping spikes all the time and it appeared to because they did not have enough bandwidth for all the customers they had.

You don't have to be rude with him for a ( basic thing that you could not solve it your self ) working with ISP is not the end of education. It's not SpaceX though nor a mars rocket.