[SOLVED] Packet loss with new modem and speed package upgrade

[moobean]

Just switched to a new plan from my wifes old plan. We had no issues with her plan and it was 100mbs with the old black xfinity modem. Today I installed the new plan which is 400mbs and with the new xb7 modem and have been experiencing packet loss on every device. I have ran tracert and pings, as well as testing on packetlosstest, all of which has confirmed there is about 3-6% packet loss multiple times a minute.

I have noticed a skipping while playing games about once a minute that I didnt notice before. Like it takes a second or two to catch up. I am using a wired connect and have noticed it in two games. Both games I have being on a U.S. server. They both seem to have the skip at the same time. I only started after installing the new modem. I have also notice the delayed response time from websites on wifi phone connection. The speed test shows the new speeds, so I am at a loss on where to go next.

https://imgur.com/lgDaBrA

View: https://i.imgur.com/lgDaBrA.png

https://imgur.com/fL4Zmda

View: https://i.imgur.com/fL4Zmda.png

 

[bill001g]

The only IP you even somewhat worry about posting is the IP assigned to your router wan port.

What you want to ping is the first ISP router generally hop 2 in a tracert.

Since all that is new is the ISP connection it is likely that. Your modem likely has a screen that shows the power levels. You can check those but what many have that is more interesting show how may correctable and uncorrectable errors you get. Uncorrectable errors will cause packet loss. This is almost always caused by some kind of cabling issue....most times outside your house. I would plug the modem in as close as possible to where the cable comes in with no splitters etc. This will prevent the ISP from blaming the wire inside your house.
The log in the modem may also help if you are getting other kinds of errors. Things like sync errors will cause a drop and are again a ISP problem. The ISP can see all these messages and signal level values from their equipment.

 

[moobean]

The only IP you even somewhat worry about posting is the IP assigned to your router wan port.

What you want to ping is the first ISP router generally hop 2 in a tracert.

Since all that is new is the ISP connection it is likely that. Your modem likely has a screen that shows the power levels. You can check those but what many have that is more interesting show how may correctable and uncorrectable errors you get. Uncorrectable errors will cause packet loss. This is almost always caused by some kind of cabling issue....most times outside your house. I would plug the modem in as close as possible to where the cable comes in with no splitters etc. This will prevent the ISP from blaming the wire inside your house.
The log in the modem may also help if you are getting other kinds of errors. Things like sync errors will cause a drop and are again a ISP problem. The ISP can see all these messages and signal level values from their equipment.

Does this picture help at all? It is straight from the modem and the errors. The last one are the only ones whos errors were not zero.

https://imgur.com/h62BGaD

View: https://i.imgur.com/h62BGaD.png


The modem is directly next the cable coming into the house.

 

[SamirD]

I would swap to your old modem and see what happens. If you get the same packet loss, it's definitely an isp issue, but if it's perfect (even if slower), it could be just an issue with the new modem.

 

[Wacabletech06]

Just switched to a new plan from my wifes old plan. We had no issues with her plan and it was 100mbs with the old black xfinity modem. Today I installed the new plan which is 400mbs and with the new xb7 modem and have been experiencing packet loss on every device. I have ran tracert and pings, as well as testing on packetlosstest, all of which has confirmed there is about 3-6% packet loss multiple times a minute.

I have noticed a skipping while playing games about once a minute that I didnt notice before. Like it takes a second or two to catch up. I am using a wired connect and have noticed it in two games. Both games I have being on a U.S. server. They both seem to have the skip at the same time. I only started after installing the new modem. I have also notice the delayed response time from websites on wifi phone connection. The speed test shows the new speeds, so I am at a loss on where to go next.

Ping 10.0.0.1 and see if you are losing the packets to the modem , if so the problem is between the device and the new gateway, if not you may have not tightened the fittings correctly. I tell my customers to use a pair of pliers, hold then at 3'oclock and let them fall to 6 o clock, and repeat until they do not make it to 6'o clock.
Do not put pressure on them with your shoulder, fittings are cheap pot metal/aluminum and will break.

 

[moobean]

Ping 10.0.0.1 and see if you are losing the packets to the modem , if so the problem is between the device and the new gateway, if not you may have not tightened the fittings correctly. I tell my customers to use a pair of pliers, hold then at 3'oclock and let them fall to 6 o clock, and repeat until they do not make it to 6'o clock.
Do not put pressure on them with your shoulder, fittings are cheap pot metal/aluminum and will break.

No packet loss when pinging 10.0.0.1, could jumps in the ms response time from 1ms to about 20ms

 

[SamirD]

No packet loss when pinging 10.0.0.1, could jumps in the ms response time from 1ms to about 20ms

I'd swap the modems and check. Pings shouldn't jump like that.

 

[moobean]

I'd swap the modems and check. Pings shouldn't jump like that.

Prior to installing the new one I have never experienced a packet loss or ping drop.

I will check the old one if they haven't disconnected the account yet.

I also get packet loss when ping testing the IPV4 and IPV6 DNS servers but not the WAN, does this shed any light onto it?

 

[bill001g]

Ping the wan address can be very strange in some routers depending how it works. In general it is not much different than ping the lan IP.

Your loss is likely in the connection to your house if you get no loss to the router but you get loss to the DNS server. Problem is the ISP is going say that it must be the DNS server causing the fault.

So to out smart them run a tracert to the dns server. What you now do is open 2 cmd windows and ping the ip in hop 1 (this should be your router) and hop 2 (this should be the first ISP router someplace between your house and the ISP office). What you hope to see is hop 1 has no loss at all but you see problems in hop 2. If you get a ISP tech that knows even slightly more than to read their script they will see this is a problem. Most ISP have other methods to run tests against your modem from the central office.

 

[moobean]

Ping the wan address can be very strange in some routers depending how it works. In general it is not much different than ping the lan IP.

Your loss is likely in the connection to your house if you get no loss to the router but you get loss to the DNS server. Problem is the ISP is going say that it must be the DNS server causing the fault.

So to out smart them run a tracert to the dns server. What you now do is open 2 cmd windows and ping the ip in hop 1 (this should be your router) and hop 2 (this should be the first ISP router someplace between your house and the ISP office). What you hope to see is hop 1 has no loss at all but you see problems in hop 2. If you get a ISP tech that knows even slightly more than to read their script they will see this is a problem. Most ISP have other methods to run tests against your modem from the central office.

Is this what you mean?

https://imgur.com/VfR4dXI

View: https://i.imgur.com/VfR4dXI.png

 

[SamirD]

Prior to installing the new one I have never experienced a packet loss or ping drop.

I will check the old one if they haven't disconnected the account yet.

I also get packet loss when ping testing the IPV4 and IPV6 DNS servers but not the WAN, does this shed any light onto it?

Wait, what do you mean by disconnect the account? Do you have 2x physical lines?

 

[moobean]

Wait, what do you mean by disconnect the account? Do you have 2x physical lines?

Close the old account in my wife's name.

 

[SamirD]

Close the old account in my wife's name.

Did they simply change the name on your account or did they do a full disconnect and reinstall?

 

[SamirD]

Even if your wife's account doesn't exist anymore, you should be able to release the IP from the current modem and turn it off and remove it and then connect your old modem. You should hit a 'walled garden' page where you enter in your xfinity credentials and then it will download firmware/flash to the modem and it will reboot a few times and then be up. Once it's up, I would check for the packet loss again. If you still have it, it's definitely a line issue, and may even be an issue in the data center as your service when it was on the previous account was fine, so all the lines should be fine in theory.

 

[bill001g]

Is this what you mean?

https://imgur.com/VfR4dXI

View:

https://imgur.com/VfR4dXI

View: https://i.imgur.com/VfR4dXI.png

Tracert does not run long enough to see random loss. You only use it to find the IP addresses. You want to use the ping command with the -t option. You want to ping 96.120.72.217 in your case. You will hopefully see packet loss, if not the problem is much more complex.

 

[moobean]

Tracert does not run long enough to see random loss. You only use it to find the IP addresses. You want to use the ping command with the -t option. You want to ping 96.120.72.217 in your case. You will hopefully see packet loss, if not the problem is much more complex.

When running the ping, i got packet loss with 96.120.72.217 and not 10.0.0.1. I saw more packet loss on 96.108.49.93.

https://imgur.com/oPkslfM

View: https://i.imgur.com/oPkslfM.png

 

[bill001g]

This is going to be hard the loss is very small. It does show that the problem is in the connection to your house but you need to collect more data because you can always get a random packet loss here and there.

I would be careful about showing the ISP any other ping loss. The first tier guys can only fix the connection going to your house. If the problem is farther into their network it get much tougher to actually get to talk to the people that can fix it. Now if hop 2 would get say 1 packet loss out say 1000 packets then it likely is not the cause of your problem.

 

[SamirD]

One of the tests that the comcast/xfinity cust reps can do is run an 'internal ping' to the modem on their management IP/network. You will usually also have packet loss there when there is an issue, and when they see it, they'll get the ball rolling for a fix.

The way to get them to do this is say that 'you want them to run a ping to your modem because you're seeing packet loss and want to confirm they're seeing the same thing'. It will take them a few seconds to set up the test and then a minute or so to run it. If they have no packet loss, check if you are getting any loss at packetlosstest.com. If you still are and they are not, ask them to run the test again as you're still seeing loss.

If the loss is happening further in their network, you'll need to tell them that and see what happens. Having the exact hop/gateway where you are seeing loss will help them as well. But who knows how long the fix can be for something like this--I've seen weeks go by. You can always get credits though as it is a documented issue at that point.