[SOLVED] Very odd results from a pingtest

[hammerdust]

So, I'm having this very odd issue that only effects the internet on my PC. I typed "ping -t 8.8.8.8" into command prompt to ping the google servers, and got the following results:

Upon simultaneously running the same pingtest on my laptop, it was perfectly stable with no spikes.

I noticed how the timing of the ~2000ms spikes were oddly spaced out very specifically (exactly 8 seconds?). To me this seems very suspicious and I think someone in the same house as me is targeting me/my PC. However I'm not very knowledgeable with networking and such, so I was hoping someone with expertise could weigh in on this and what they think is going on. Thanks!

 

[LinuxDevice]

Is this wired ethernet? If so, then I'd say you have a wiring defect. If WiFi, then I'd say you have some RF noise or signal strength issue. It isn't likely, but it is also possible your system with the high ping times just happens be under heavy enough loads to slow ethernet at some moments. Assuming this is wired, can you try the same ping over the same cable via the laptop?

I also forgot that perhaps part of "heavy load at those moments" could be network traffic or actual programs running and consuming the CPU for short moments.

 

[hammerdust]

Is this wired ethernet? If so, then I'd say you have a wiring defect. If WiFi, then I'd say you have some RF noise or signal strength issue. It isn't likely, but it is also possible your system with the high ping times just happens be under heavy enough loads to slow ethernet at some moments. Assuming this is wired, can you try the same ping over the same cable via the laptop?

I also forgot that perhaps part of "heavy load at those moments" could be network traffic or actual programs running and consuming the CPU for short moments.

I have a WiFi adapter for my PC, so no ethernet/wired connection.
The issue will randomly resolve itself at some point regardless of how many/few programs are running on my PC, so I don't think it's CPU.
If it were signal strength, does it make sense that I get almost exactly 2000ms spike so consistently at exactly 8 seconds in between?
Network traffic doesn't make sense either as my laptop is unaffected by these spikes while connected to the same WiFi network.

 

[SamirD]

Connect your computer wired and see if you still have the same problem. If it goes away then it is wireless interference.

 

[bill001g]

There is some auto configuration setting in windows wifi that sometime cause this. I forget the details today but you want it disabled.

 

[Ralston18]

On your system open Powershell as Administrator and run the following cmdlet:

Get-NetAdapterAdvancedProperty -Name "*"

You should be able to copy the above line and paste it at the PS> prompt.

Post the results.

 

[hammerdust]

On your system open Powershell as Administrator and run the following cmdlet:

Get-NetAdapterAdvancedProperty -Name "*"

You should be able to copy the above line and paste it at the PS> prompt.

Post the results.

Here it is, not sure if it matters but the issue wasn't occurring at the time that I ran this command

 

[Ralston18]

Not noting anything astray there.

However the output seems incomplete.... I will need to check the cmdlet.

In the meantime, there are still some things you can do:

Try, as suggested by @SamirD, a wired connection to determine if the reply delay continues.

Ping your own router and determine if the delay exists or changes.

Also try pinging Google's other address: 8.8.4.4. using your wired and wireless.

Lastly use Resource Monitor to observe system performance while the ping tests are running. Watch for some "8 second" event or occurrence.

What make and model modem, router or (if combined - modem/router) do you have?

The router's logs (if available and enabled) may be capturing some issue as well.

 

[LinuxDevice]

I have a WiFi adapter for my PC, so no ethernet/wired connection.
The issue will randomly resolve itself at some point regardless of how many/few programs are running on my PC, so I don't think it's CPU.
If it were signal strength, does it make sense that I get almost exactly 2000ms spike so consistently at exactly 8 seconds in between?
Network traffic doesn't make sense either as my laptop is unaffected by these spikes while connected to the same WiFi network.

Noise sources are much more interesting than most people realize. As an example, I was logging some repeating network issues over wired networking, and able to identify which node along the route the problem was at. You might be thinking that wired and wireless are different, but at some fundamental level they are the same. Where I am located there is an Air Force base which performs AWACS training, and the route and timing is something the Air Force reports to large providers such as Comcast. The repeated timing was because this is the time the AWACS was flying over particular cable sections. The increased pings and loss only showed for sources in the sky because of cracks in the top of the cables not fully shielding those cables. This was very useful for Comcast because of how difficult it is to know about problems only on the top direction of the cables. There are vehicles which drive various routes around cables and look for RF leakage/noise, but they never trigger weaknesses which are only from above the cable.

Every 8 seconds is probably due to some equipment running in the area. It might or might not be other WiFi equipment. Just because it is noise to your WiFi does not mean it isn't something engineered by humans. Imagine a factory a mile away using some high power hardware, e.g., an induction furnace...something such as this could easily be a problem. "Synthetic" noise is very very high on the list of the problems.

If the noise is not via the power cable to the WiFi router, then it is possible that some particular band/channel supported by the router could be blacklisted and the problem would go away (depends on the nature of the source). You should test while sitting right next to the router. This would increase signal and thus increase signal-to-noise ratio. Should things improve under those circumstances, then I'd say you've proven it is RF noise as the issue.

 

[hammerdust]

Alright thanks for the comments guys, the issue hasn't happened at all for the last few days (despite me not doing anything different) so I haven't been able to determine the cause, but if it happens again I'll have some things to try out and I'll follow up.