[SOLVED] Need help diagnosing packet loss via Ethernet

Oct 5, 2021
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I have high packet loss for months now an I have no idea what the cause is I’ve swapped modems and router tried different Ethernet cables but nothing solves it. When I tested in pingplotter I think the problem was in hop 2 but I have no idea what that means
 
Solution
You have to be careful with pingplotter. To show a actual problem you would see packet loss in hop 2 and every hop past that point generally getting slightly worse. If you get get loss in hop 2 but say hop 3 is fine then it is a testing issue, routers are designed to favor passing traffic to responding to ping/trace. So the router may just be ignoring your test traffic rather than a actual problem.

If you really have a problem in hop 2 the good news is this is the easiest to get the ISP to fix. This represents the connection between your house and the ISP. Generally it is some kind of wiring issue but be sure to connect your modem/router to a point as close as possible to where it enters your house. The ISP will...
You have to be careful with pingplotter. To show a actual problem you would see packet loss in hop 2 and every hop past that point generally getting slightly worse. If you get get loss in hop 2 but say hop 3 is fine then it is a testing issue, routers are designed to favor passing traffic to responding to ping/trace. So the router may just be ignoring your test traffic rather than a actual problem.

If you really have a problem in hop 2 the good news is this is the easiest to get the ISP to fix. This represents the connection between your house and the ISP. Generally it is some kind of wiring issue but be sure to connect your modem/router to a point as close as possible to where it enters your house. The ISP will attempt to blame the cable inside your house.

You also want to use actual ping commands rather than ping plotter when you talk to the ISP. Show them that you see no loss to your router IP (ie hop 1) but see loss to their router (hop 2). Most level 1 tech are not going to know what pingplotter is but some at least know the normal ping command. Prevents them from trying to blame pingplotter as the cause.
 
Solution
Oct 5, 2021
7
0
10
You have to be careful with pingplotter. To show a actual problem you would see packet loss in hop 2 and every hop past that point generally getting slightly worse. If you get get loss in hop 2 but say hop 3 is fine then it is a testing issue, routers are designed to favor passing traffic to responding to ping/trace. So the router may just be ignoring your test traffic rather than a actual problem.

If you really have a problem in hop 2 the good news is this is the easiest to get the ISP to fix. This represents the connection between your house and the ISP. Generally it is some kind of wiring issue but be sure to connect your modem/router to a point as close as possible to where it enters your house. The ISP will attempt to blame the cable inside your house.

You also want to use actual ping commands rather than ping plotter when you talk to the ISP. Show them that you see no loss to your router IP (ie hop 1) but see loss to their router (hop 2). Most level 1 tech are not going to know what pingplotter is but some at least know the normal ping command. Prevents them from trying to blame pingplotter as the cause.
Also when ever I call the isp they are never able to solve the issue
 
So what does ping plotter show. If it also gets 100% loss in hop 2 that means nothing. Obviously all traffic can not be getting discarded at hop 2 if you can even sometimes access web sites. Key is to find the hop where you start to see loss that continues all the way to the end including the end IP. Testing to 8.8.8.8 tends to be a good ip.
 
Oct 5, 2021
7
0
10
So what does ping plotter show. If it also gets 100% loss in hop 2 that means nothing. Obviously all traffic can not be getting discarded at hop 2 if you can even sometimes access web sites. Key is to find the hop where you start to see loss that continues all the way to the end including the end IP. Testing to 8.8.8.8 tends to be a good ip.
When I ping to hop 1 no packet loss but hop 2 has 93 percent packet loss
 
That generally means you have a large problem. What happens if you ping 8.8.8.8.

If you have a cable modem check the signal levels, the exact number vary so you need to search for the recommended values. Generally the upload channels being too high tends to be the most common issue. Your modem should also show you the number of uncorrectable errors. This will be packet loss, if the number change/increase in a short period of time there is a issue. You always see some small amount but you will not see the numbers change very much say in a hour. There may also be log messages.
 
This pretty much shows there is a problem with the connection to your house. All you can do is talk to the ISP. I means you already tried the only thing you control which is replacing the modem. Everything else is outside your house. Be sure to test connected to where the cable comes into the house, it can actually be the wires in your walls.
 
Oct 5, 2021
7
0
10
This pretty much shows there is a problem with the connection to your house. All you can do is talk to the ISP. I means you already tried the only thing you control which is replacing the modem. Everything else is outside your house. Be sure to test connected to where the cable comes into the house, it can actually be the wires in your walls.
Yea I replaced the modem and I have the same issues so I don’t really know what to do now