Question No packet loss but intermittent extremely high ping ?

[Jmystery7]

Hi all,

Recently, I've had an issue where while playing games online I intermittently have lag spikes, typically lasting 5-6 seconds. After doing some WinMTR testing, I've come to find that that it is not packet loss, but rather extreme latency. I managed to be staring at WinMTR during one of these events, and I watched in horror as my worst latency per hop went from 50-150ms all the way up to 3000+! In my provided pic, I was pinging an IP for a game I often play, but this issue is consistent across all games I play.

Info
Router: ASUS RT-AX55 (personally bought)
Modem: Arris TM-822G (provided by ISP)
MoBo: MSI Z270 Gaming M5, bios updated with most recent LAN driver via MSI.com
ISP: Armstrong (local provider, only option in my area), wired connection via Cat 6a

My PC is the only device connceted to this modem/router for internet, I've verified this through my router's login. This issue has been consistent with more than one ethernet cable, and is still present when connected wirelessly. I've had WinMTR running on both my PC and on a separate laptop simultaneously, with both having the high latency spike at the same time. I've also tested this with another router, with the same issue present. I've also tried connecting directly to the modem, with the problem actually worsening and becoming more frequent than when using my router.

My house has two modems, one that handles cable/internet, and the Arris that I'm connected to for phone/internet. Due to the location of my PC relative to the position of the modems, the Arris is my only option. Interestingly, this issue disappeared a few months ago and it was smooth sailing for a while, but recently it is back in full force. In that time I have not made any major changes to hardware or drivers. My ISP has a very short list of supported modems, and basically no options for alternative modems that also have phone lines. Should I inquire about getting a replacement of (likely) the same modem through my ISP?

I'm at wit's end, any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[bill001g]

It is strange that you can get 2 modem in the same house...even if you want to pay for 2 accounts most ISP will not do it.

So is there anyway you can connect to the other modem temporarily or can you run tests on another machine hooked to the other modem. Could you temporarily swap the modems just to test. This is purely to see if it is a issue with the modem.

I assume the test you posted was when you where directly connected to the ISP modem since the second hop has a minimum of 10ms of latency.

I have not used that exact modem/gateway but most arris devices have a series of screens that will show you the power levels on the different upload and download channels. There also should be a log page. You can find the recommended levels with a simple search, it is to much to cut and past here.

Although it could be some bug in the modem firmware or some very strange cable issue these generally show packet loss and not latency increase.

From your trace the problem is definitely in hop 2 which should be the connection between you and the ISP. You see the delays start there and go all the way to the end.

Delays are much harder to find and get fixed than packet loss. Generally this means something in the path is being overloaded and data is being held in a buffer. The most common one would be if you were exceeding the bandwidth you purchased. This tends to be less common now days with the fast internet but you can still do it if a large download occurs on another machine or in the background of your machine. You can also overload the upload rates.

Your case is a little messy since I don't know how bandwidth is done when you have 2 modem on the same account. Do they somehow share one bandwidth pool. The normal test would be to only plug 1 machine into the modem and then verify watch how much traffic the machine is using.

It can also be a overload in the ISP network. The cable between your house and the ISP is shared by many neighbors. This is much less common that years ago when the ISP network had less bandwidth but I guess you could have some teens living near you still brave enough to steal stuff using torrent.

 

[Jmystery7]

It is strange that you can get 2 modem in the same house...even if you want to pay for 2 accounts most ISP will not do it.

So is there anyway you can connect to the other modem temporarily or can you run tests on another machine hooked to the other modem. Could you temporarily swap the modems just to test. This is purely to see if it is a issue with the modem.

I assume the test you posted was when you where directly connected to the ISP modem since the second hop has a minimum of 10ms of latency.

I have not used that exact modem/gateway but most arris devices have a series of screens that will show you the power levels on the different upload and download channels. There also should be a log page. You can find the recommended levels with a simple search, it is to much to cut and past here.

Although it could be some bug in the modem firmware or some very strange cable issue these generally show packet loss and not latency increase.

From your trace the problem is definitely in hop 2 which should be the connection between you and the ISP. You see the delays start there and go all the way to the end.

Delays are much harder to find and get fixed than packet loss. Generally this means something in the path is being overloaded and data is being held in a buffer. The most common one would be if you were exceeding the bandwidth you purchased. This tends to be less common now days with the fast internet but you can still do it if a large download occurs on another machine or in the background of your machine. You can also overload the upload rates.

Your case is a little messy since I don't know how bandwidth is done when you have 2 modem on the same account. Do they somehow share one bandwidth pool. The normal test would be to only plug 1 machine into the modem and then verify watch how much traffic the machine is using.

It can also be a overload in the ISP network. The cable between your house and the ISP is shared by many neighbors. This is much less common that years ago when the ISP network had less bandwidth but I guess you could have some teens living near you still brave enough to steal stuff using torrent.

Appreciate the response, I was able to run a test on the other modem (not the Arris) and was much better off. There were still some hiccups but it wasn't disrupting my performance enough to really matter. Unfortunately I can't stay connected to the better modem so I still have to find the root of my cause. I managed to get ahold of my ISP and surprisingly they said they could see what I'm talking about, the issue is present on both modems but is significantly worse on the Arris I am connected to. They're sending someone out in a few days, I'll update when I hear back from them or if I discover anything else useful.

 

[constantHeadache]

Hi all,

Recently, I've had an issue where while playing games online I intermittently have lag spikes, typically lasting 5-6 seconds. After doing some WinMTR testing, I've come to find that that it is not packet loss, but rather extreme latency. I managed to be staring at WinMTR during one of these events, and I watched in horror as my worst latency per hop went from 50-150ms all the way up to 3000+! In my provided pic, I was pinging an IP for a game I often play, but this issue is consistent across all games I play.

Info
Router: ASUS RT-AX55 (personally bought)
Modem: Arris TM-822G (provided by ISP)
MoBo: MSI Z270 Gaming M5, bios updated with most recent LAN driver via MSI.com
ISP: Armstrong (local provider, only option in my area), wired connection via Cat 6a

My PC is the only device connceted to this modem/router for internet, I've verified this through my router's login. This issue has been consistent with more than one ethernet cable, and is still present when connected wirelessly. I've had WinMTR running on both my PC and on a separate laptop simultaneously, with both having the high latency spike at the same time. I've also tested this with another router, with the same issue present. I've also tried connecting directly to the modem, with the problem actually worsening and becoming more frequent than when using my router.

My house has two modems, one that handles cable/internet, and the Arris that I'm connected to for phone/internet. Due to the location of my PC relative to the position of the modems, the Arris is my only option. Interestingly, this issue disappeared a few months ago and it was smooth sailing for a while, but recently it is back in full force. In that time I have not made any major changes to hardware or drivers. My ISP has a very short list of supported modems, and basically no options for alternative modems that also have phone lines. Should I inquire about getting a replacement of (likely) the same modem through my ISP?

I'm at wit's end, any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Your situation is almost identical to mine (I play OSRS too btw). In the past ~month I've been getting semi-random massive ping spikes like you've described. Although mine tend to happen at specific points in the day, the first being between 1130am ~ 1pm and the second wave being 830pm ~ 1030pm. I get exactly what you describe where there is 5-6 seconds of ~3k ping and then it bounces back to normal. This leads me to believe its related to bandwidth issues as @bill001g has mentioned since it matches the time of high traffic in my area.

Last week I received an email from my ISP (Spectrum internet, California) where they noticed errors from my connection and sent someone out for maintenance. The guy ended up replacing my router and some cables, which have seemingly done nothing for my situation. I am in contact trying to arrange for another visit, but it's very difficult getting someone who understands my problem. The first level tech supports don't see any issues when I speak with them, yet I'm getting emails about errors coming from my connection.

I am greatly interested in your case and hope you post back if there is any resolve. I have no problem bumping my internet up to the next bandwidth level but I'd only do so If it's necessary.

 

[Jmystery7]

Your situation is almost identical to mine (I play OSRS too btw). In the past ~month I've been getting semi-random massive ping spikes like you've described. Although mine tend to happen at specific points in the day, the first being between 1130am ~ 1pm and the second wave being 830pm ~ 1030pm. I get exactly what you describe where there is 5-6 seconds of ~3k ping and then it bounces back to normal. This leads me to believe its related to bandwidth issues as @bill001g has mentioned since it matches the time of high traffic in my area.

Last week I received an email from my ISP (Spectrum internet, California) where they noticed errors from my connection and sent someone out for maintenance. The guy ended up replacing my router and some cables, which have seemingly done nothing for my situation. I am in contact trying to arrange for another visit, but it's very difficult getting someone who understands my problem. The first level tech supports don't see any issues when I speak with them, yet I'm getting emails about errors coming from my connection.

I am greatly interested in your case and hope you post back if there is any resolve. I have no problem bumping my internet up to the next bandwidth level but I'd only do so If it's necessary.

There's some level of comfort knowing I'm not the only person with this niche issue, but I'm also sore to hear that a fellow scaper is suffering as I am, haha. I'm afraid of the same situation you had, where a first level tech comes out and ultimately fails to resolve the issue. While I was on the phone scheduling a visit from my ISP, the representative mentioned he saw the same issues I was calling about so I'm hopeful there's some foresight given to the tech to help the problem. I am aware that my ISP has bandwidth issues in general, but I have two close friends who have the same ISP (one across the street) and neither of them have this same latency issue. Will definitely update tomorrow after the tech comes by.

 

[Jmystery7]

@constantHeadache
So, good news bad news. Good news is it's not an equipment issue (my PC, modem, etc.), it's a service issue. The tech came by and did his due diligence, and immediately elevated the issue to the guys who service the lines running through my neighborhood. Interestingly, the tech came from a house a few doors down and they were having the same issue. So for myself, the issue is solved on my end, now it's time to play the game of waiting (and hoping) my ISP does something about it.

I wish I had better news that would help yourself, but alas it's just an ISP issue and honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if yours was the same. Good luck.