Question Packet loss at random throughout the day

[b0127]

I have been struggling with packet loss for the last year and a half I have had over 30 techs come out to my house most have told me there is no issue some who have actually fixed the issue but every time its fixed it just comes back. I have tried contacting the FCC but the same thing happens every time they send a tech out they fix it and then the issue comes back. I have been trying to figure out myself where the issue is actually occurring so that I can give them the proper information. I ran a pingplotter test and it shows im getting packet loss but im having trouble understanding what the results mean.


here is a picture of everything that shows up when i ping google i noticed that the first hop seemed to have a lot of packet loss so i decided to ping the first 4 individually


here is the gateway ping which doesn't seem to show anything by itself
V
not to sure what im pinging here but it was the second hop below my gateway

this one was interesting and again shows that the gateway has packet loss

same with this one

and this one also

Im probably leaking something I shouldn't but at this point I don't really care I just want help to understand what this all means. If someone can please tell me if this is most likely a problem on my end (in my house) or if this is a problem only my isp can fix. My provider is optimum they are horrible but unfortunately the only company offering service in my area. I have also run tests on some of the packet loss testing websites like packetlosstest.com and the % ranges from 1-20 with lots of late packets. Any help is appreciated thank you in advance.

 

[Ralston18]

DSL - correct?

In the service connection path somewhere is there a small splitter/filter installed somewhere?

FYI:

https://www.easytechjunkie.com/what-is-a-dsl-filter.htm

https://help.sonic.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000379748-Filters-and-Splitters

What fixes etc. have you and/or the technicians tried to date? Any cables replaced? Or bypassing the router and using a direct PC to modem wired connection to test packet losses.

Four things to do:

1) Update your post to include full sytem hardware specs and OS information.

2) Also include make and model information for modem and router (or modem/router if combined).

3) Run "ipconfig /all" (without quotes) via the Command Prompt. Copy and paste the results herein.

4) Run "tracert 8.8.8.8" via the Command Prompt (likewise targeting Google) and post the results.

Do you rent from Optimum or are you using your own modem and/or router? The device logs, if available and enabled, may provide some clues. Who has full admin rights to those devices - you will need help from that person.

 

[bill001g]

So why do you think you have packet loss. Does it cause you a actual issue. Did you confirm the loss with a actual ping command to the end server.

This is where tools like pingplotter need to pass a small training course before they are allowed to download them. Like you many people go "RED BAD".

The problem is the routers in the path are designed to favor passing actual data over responding to test traffic like ping and trace. They will delay response or sometimes not respond at all if they are busy. They also are configured to limit their responses to avoid someone from using ping as a denial of service attack.

This means you have to be very suspect of any results.

The pingplotter you post show no errors everything appears to be testing issues and not a real problem.

A real problem shows a issue say in hop 2 and then shows the same issue in every hop past that point including to the final server. If the .2% loss you see was in every hop including the final one then it would be a actual issue.

So lets say these hops on pingplotter are intersections on your drive to work. If 10% of the cars fell in a big hole in hop 3 they would then never make it to hop 4 or to the final destination of your office. If hop3 reported 10% cars were lost but the office said everyone arrived on time then you know that hop3 data is false.

Now your issue could very well be random and you didn't collect the proper data. This is why even pingplotter is not a good tool it does not run long enough. You really want to build your own in effect. Open a bunch of cmd windows and let ping run in the background to various hops. The only ones that really matter are going to be hop 1 your router, hop 2 the connection between your house and the ISP and the final hop.

You need to find a case where the loss to the final hop happens at the same time as problems in hop 1 and/or hop 2. There could be a problem starting in say hop 10 but this could be in another ISP so you will never get it fixed. You can only really fix things in your house and to a point get the ISP to fix things between your house and the ISP. You can do nothing if there is a failing router someplace in the path between you and the server.

 

[b0127]

So why do you think you have packet loss. Does it cause you a actual issue. Did you confirm the loss with a actual ping command to the end server.

This is where tools like pingplotter need to pass a small training course before they are allowed to download them. Like you many people go "RED BAD".

The problem is the routers in the path are designed to favor passing actual data over responding to test traffic like ping and trace. They will delay response or sometimes not respond at all if they are busy. They also are configured to limit their responses to avoid someone from using ping as a denial of service attack.

This means you have to be very suspect of any results.

The pingplotter you post show no errors everything appears to be testing issues and not a real problem.

A real problem shows a issue say in hop 2 and then shows the same issue in every hop past that point including to the final server. If the .2% loss you see was in every hop including the final one then it would be a actual issue.

So lets say these hops on pingplotter are intersections on your drive to work. If 10% of the cars fell in a big hole in hop 3 they would then never make it to hop 4 or to the final destination of your office. If hop3 reported 10% cars were lost but the office said everyone arrived on time then you know that hop3 data is false.

Now your issue could very well be random and you didn't collect the proper data. This is why even pingplotter is not a good tool it does not run long enough. You really want to build your own in effect. Open a bunch of cmd windows and let ping run in the background to various hops. The only ones that really matter are going to be hop 1 your router, hop 2 the connection between your house and the ISP and the final hop.

You need to find a case where the loss to the final hop happens at the same time as problems in hop 1 and/or hop 2. There could be a problem starting in say hop 10 but this could be in another ISP so you will never get it fixed. You can only really fix things in your house and to a point get the ISP to fix things between your house and the ISP. You can do nothing if there is a failing router someplace in the path between you and the server.

Thank you for the information I had a feeling I probably did the pingplotter incorrectly. The packet loss I’m experiencing is extremely noticeable whenever I’m gaming. My ping will randomly jump to 500-1000 I’ve tested this in multiple games with all the same results. When this does happen I usually just run one of the packet loss tests online (packetloss test.com) and it confirms that I have lots of packet loss and late packets.I’m not sure how reliable these tests are but one thing that I thought was interesting was that even though the tests show I have packet loss they never show my ping or jitter changing. I will try and run the cmd ping test like you mentioned today and I will post the results here.

 

[b0127]

So why do you think you have packet loss. Does it cause you a actual issue. Did you confirm the loss with a actual ping command to the end server.

This is where tools like pingplotter need to pass a small training course before they are allowed to download them. Like you many people go "RED BAD".

The problem is the routers in the path are designed to favor passing actual data over responding to test traffic like ping and trace. They will delay response or sometimes not respond at all if they are busy. They also are configured to limit their responses to avoid someone from using ping as a denial of service attack.

This means you have to be very suspect of any results.

The pingplotter you post show no errors everything appears to be testing issues and not a real problem.

A real problem shows a issue say in hop 2 and then shows the same issue in every hop past that point including to the final server. If the .2% loss you see was in every hop including the final one then it would be a actual issue.

So lets say these hops on pingplotter are intersections on your drive to work. If 10% of the cars fell in a big hole in hop 3 they would then never make it to hop 4 or to the final destination of your office. If hop3 reported 10% cars were lost but the office said everyone arrived on time then you know that hop3 data is false.

Now your issue could very well be random and you didn't collect the proper data. This is why even pingplotter is not a good tool it does not run long enough. You really want to build your own in effect. Open a bunch of cmd windows and let ping run in the background to various hops. The only ones that really matter are going to be hop 1 your router, hop 2 the connection between your house and the ISP and the final hop.

You need to find a case where the loss to the final hop happens at the same time as problems in hop 1 and/or hop 2. There could be a problem starting in say hop 10 but this could be in another ISP so you will never get it fixed. You can only really fix things in your house and to a point get the ISP to fix things between your house and the ISP. You can do nothing if there is a failing router someplace in the path between you and the server.

I also just ran another ping plotter and this one shows every hop getting packet loss but one.

 

[bill001g]

Now you get the hard part you need to convince the ISP to fix the connection to your house.

Pingplotter shows the issue but it is very unlikely the level 1 tech at the ISP will even know the tool exists. This is why you really want to use simple ping commands. You have a better chance the tech will know what those are but many do not.

Again you leave constant ping run to hop 1 and hop 2 and 8.8.8.8.

What you then want to capture are no loss to hop 1 but loss to hop 2 and 8.8.8.8.

This generally is a cabling issue outside your house. You can check that the cable to your modem and in and on your house look ok. You want to look for damaged cables or maybe a connection that is not tight or has dirt or water in it.

It can be a challenge when the problem is random, it needs to happen when you have the tech on the phone and needs to be bad enough that when they come out their cable testing equipment can find it.