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Intermittent Ridiculous Packet Loss
Hi, over the past couple of days, especially in the evening (yesterday it started around 8:30 PM and today around 10:00 PM,) I am getting a ton of packet loss.
The results are similar to other servers nearby. This issue is incredibly sporadic, making it extra annoying because every time I try to play an online game or use a VoIP program, it works for a while before taking a total nosedive and I'm nearly unable to load a website or even run a speed/ping test. My speeds are quite a bit less than what I'm supposed to be getting, but it's close enough that it doesn't really bother me.
I have had this problem before, but previously I was left with the impression that the packet loss was due to maintenance associated with a massive increase in bandwidth (given that they double speeds a couple of times over the last couple of years in my area.) This time, I'm seriously doubting that this is the case. I also would like to note that the techs that were sent out last time had no idea about the upgrade, and proceeded to blame my PC (nope), my modem (nope,) and then me (nope.) I used to work for an ISP. I know enough about what I'm talking about. Definitely more than 90% of techs that have been sent out to my place over the last couple of years.
My signal-to-noise ratios during the insane packet loss spouts are no different, and the issue persists over multiple devices and when I bypass my router. Unfortunately for me, I live in a small area where I have no other choice but Cox for internet service. I would happily pay 2x as much for 1/2 the speeds if it meant I had steady, reliable internet instead of this ** that renders my service all but useless at random. This is unacceptable. What can I do?
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Tecknowhelp
Valued Contributor II
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Is this your post here? If not, may want to copy this thread over there. I also used to work for a ISP, may I ask who you worked for? I had friends in Comcast, Cox, and Verizon. Hopefully your not effected by the latest Verizon strike. Saw them picketing on my way home today.
Anyway, working at a ISP taught me to follow a strict troubleshooting regime of isolation and elimination. I know you have probably already been through all the scripts with phone/chat support but can you give the basics? Model modem? Signal levels? Tracert/path ping to show where latency is occurring? Also do you QoS your VOIP traffic to cap at your upload speed?
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Sean_M
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I appreciate the response, and apologize for the delay. I worked for Frontier a while back, and then Comcast. I no longer work for an ISP. I have done most everything I can:
-Replaced my coax cable, Ethernet cable, same problems (no corrosion or anything, and the connections are not loose)
-Checked my ethernet port, no pins are bent or anything weird.
-Modem is a Cisco DPC 3010 modem, same as the post you linked.
-My SNRs are as follows:
Downstream:
Upstream:
42.2 dBmV
These haven't changed much in years. I cannot recall a time where there was more than 1 dBmV of variation.
Here is what the problem looks like. This usually goes on for a few hours before disappearing for ~24 hours. It has very regularly been an issue around 8-10 PM, and basically no other time. The graphs are almost entirely blank, minus a few hiccups that aren't abnormal (maybe only a couple of lost packets over a 6 hour span.) But then, from 8-10 PM to as late as 1 AM it looks like this:
My VOIP traffic is very low. I typically only use Teamspeak 3 or Skype (I have not used Skype since this problem began.) Teamspeak 3 only uses 50 kbps down and 8 kbps up at most. The packet loss is always read as outbound packet loss, though. I never have any trouble receiving packets, just sending them.
As you can see in the image (hopefully,) I am experiencing packet loss at these times across all locations, including the default gateway, which would lead me to believe the problem was modem related, but this always correlates to a specific time period, which leads me to believe it's traffic related. There are absolutely zero issues through out the rest of the day. Unfortunately, I do not have a spare modem that would work to test the modem theory.
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Tecknowhelp
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Darn, no logs.
Can you run pingplotter to the TS3 server you are using when the problem is happening? Basically I want to see where that crazy 400+ms jitter is.
Do you mean 10.10.0.1? If so, that isn't the IP of the modem, but the CMTS. When the problem happens, do you see any latency or or packet loss to 192.168.100.1?
I wouldn't equate time with just traffic. Other things can happen at certain times like temperature changes, HAM/cellular/CB, etc. IE something can be breaking as much as it can be congested. Usually congestion would effect download traffic as well. If your seeing the latency upstream to the 10.10.0.1 IP my guess would be something on the upstream SNR. Upstream should be in the 100-300Mhz range, which may also manifest as tiling on cable stations. Notice any issues there?
Have phone service?
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Gimmedaspeed
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He isn't alone in this, traffic times are usually in late hours when everyone and their kids are online looking stuff up or downloading info, playing games etc. The kick in the pants is that most of our ISPs out here don't have the equipment that compares to China's or Japan's set up for country wide connection. In fact, there are still areas in the US that still need to be updated and the process costs millions to do for each district. Overall, it's a trillion dollar project just to get us the speeds we should be guaranteed instead of the "up to" speed and that usually requires almost half the US from not being on. From checking Outage.com's info, I'm seeing very little internet related issues with satellite based internet connections compared to ground based internet companies all around the US. Definitely gotta be the equipment that needs to be replaced in our neighborhoods and not the ones in our houses. I provided my own modem, Motorola docsis 3.0, and I still run into issues with my internet. When it first started it was running at max capacity but for some reason decided to trail off to lower numbers. I even formatted my computer with a brand spankin' new hard drive with minimal programs and ran a check on my speeds and it's still the same issue every day. Slow internet speeds during the evenings. I'm reluctant to try and increase my bandwidth speeds to see if it will drown out and hog more away from local neighbors or just switch to DirecTV and be done with it.
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Tecknowhelp
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Why would it only effect upload then?
That isn't what OP is reporting. If you would like to make your own thread, the forum would be happy to troubleshoot it. Otherwise it feels like your post is off topic.
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Tecknowhelp
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Not a modem hardware issue then. 10.0.0.1/8 is IANA-reserved so looks like private gateway IP if your not used to looking at Cox tracerts. Have you contact anyone at Cox to look at your modem? They should be able to look specifically at the 8-10PM block and see what your signal levels were and if your modem was reporting errors. I would also be interested how the US SNR looks on your street.
PS. Even though you don't have phone service, do you still happen to have a NIU hooked up near the Cox house box? Even if not used/active, the coaxial signal still routes through the NIU, causing a possible point of entry of ingress. Don't know why I think it might be related to you issue... but I just got a feeling.
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