Question Large Ping Spikes to Cable Modem at :58 and :28 every hour

[ducktalk]

I have a Deco mesh with the main node wired into my Spectrum cable modem.

My main computer and laptop are wired into the main node so no wi-fi involved in this particular observation.

I was getting a lot of dropped packets and switched the DNS from 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 to 8.8.8.8 and 1.1.1.1 and for some reason that cleared up a lot. But that isn't my question.

The only remaining spikes (I'm running Pingplotter Pro targeting the router directly at 192.168.1.1 as well a general ping to www.google.com and a few of the intermediate hops and I can see the ping spike on the router itself for a few days now) seems to be exactly at 28 minutes and 58 minutes after every hour... with some occasional spikes at other times like 13 minutes after the hour or 43 minutes after the hour. Strangely, it is always at these times.

Any ideas of an explanation?

I find it very strange that it is always at these times and also that those times are exactly 2 minutes before the hour, 2 minutes before the half hour (with extreme regularity) and 2 minutes before the 15 minute mark with some variability... but over and over all day long with otherwise spectacular performance.

Edit: The extremely regularity is down to the second... it is actually at HH:58:15 and HH:28:15 every hour.
Edit2: This happens even when there is otherwise very little traffic on the network, but when I'm gaming it is long enough that it causes interruptions and lag... but just evey 15 minutes.
Edit 3: I think I have an old Netgear switch back there somewhere so that I can have more wired connections into the Deco main node, not sure if that is relevant or not.

 

[Ralston18]

The 30 minute cycle suggests something running in the background attempting to update, backup, or just "phone home".

Look in Task Manager, Resource Monitor, and Process Explorer (Microsoft, free).

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer

Especially check Task Manager > Startup for any unexpected or unknown apps being launched at boot up.

Also check Task Scheduler. There may be some rule in place being triggered every 30 minutes.

Use all three tools but only one tool at a time. Start watching a few minutes before the :28 and :58 time marks.

You can also look in Reliability History/Monitor and Event Viewer for any error codes, warnings, or informational events being logged at the times you have noted.

Just be methodical and watch closely.

 

[bill001g]

Since it that regular try to remove the router and plug directly into the modem. You will likely have to reboot the modem every time you change what is plugged into it. You then will likely have to ping the gateway IP that will be your ISP first router.

If there are still issues then I would suspect the pc maybe try a different pc. Otherwise it is some strange issue with the modem or the ISP network.

If all is good without the router I would try to run with just the main node and only your single pc plugged in. I would unplug any other devices and even disable the wifi radios. This will should show you if it is the router causing it.

 

[ducktalk]

The 30 minute cycle suggests something running in the background attempting to update, backup, or just "phone home".

Look in Task Manager, Resource Monitor, and Process Explorer (Microsoft, free).

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer

Especially check Task Manager > Startup for any unexpected or unknown apps being launched at boot up.

Also check Task Scheduler. There may be some rule in place being triggered every 30 minutes.

Use all three tools but only one tool at a time. Start watching a few minutes before the :28 and :58 time marks.

You can also look in Reliability History/Monitor and Event Viewer for any error codes, warnings, or informational events being logged at the times you have noted.

Just be methodical and watch closely.

I hadn't thought about this... but I forgot to mention that my wife compains about getting dropped from work calls on her laptop... so I just assumed that the problem is the router and not the computer running pingplotter. But worth testing on multiple devices I suppose to rule it out.

 

[Ralston18]

Do the dropped work calls follow the time pattern?

Check Task Manager, Resource Monitor, and Process Explorer on your wife's worktop as well.

What other devices, of any sort, are on your network? If possible, turn as many off as you safely can. Be careful about disabling security systems etc.. Even if only temporary.

Go one by one allowing time between shutdowns. Determine if the lags end when one of the devices is turned off.

= = = =

Two other places to look on both computers: Reliability History/Monitor and Event Viewer.

Either one or both tools may be capturing some error code, warning, or informational event just before or at the time of the spikes.

Reliability History/Monitor is end user friendly and the time line format can reveal patterns.

Event Viewer requires more time and effort to navigate and understand.

To help:

How To - How to use Windows 10 Event Viewer | Tom's Hardware Forum (tomshardware.com)

The good news is that the problem is very cyclical and constantly repeats. Take advantage of that.