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BlackWat3r's avatar
BlackWat3r
New Contributor III
5 years ago
Solved

High Ping & Packet Loss - Confirmed Cox is Throttling

I have had cox for 6 months now, have the 150 down plan. The first 4 months I have zero connectivity problems, zero ping problems, and zero packet loss issues.

Starting exactly two months ago on a Saturday morning I started getting extreme pings while playing games. Every time I had a ping spike in game, my discord would also go red and showed extreme ping and my friends could no longer hear me. These ping spikes affect every application at the same time, so I have already ruled out a specific game server issue. I am also playing on a computer which is connected via Ethernet directly into the router.

Since it first started happening, I have had bad ping spikes every single day and will get significantly worse the later the day goes on. It's gotten so bad that I actually can't play games anymore. 

Before the ping issues started, my in game ping was always a consistent 38-40 ping, never any fluctuations. Now the best my ping gets in game is 75-80 ping. With ping spikes every 15-30 seconds to 100-140 ping. When it's later in the night ping will have really bad spikes to 150-200 ping.

I have now had 4 Cox tech guys out to my house and claim their is no issue (BS). I had been using Cox's panoramic router/modem combo and they even replaced it twice. Still didn't fix the issue, so then I bought my own modem and router (Netgear CM1200 modem, RAX80 router) and still have the same packet loss issue. 

So I downloaded pingplotter and let it run for hours. It shows I constantly have packet loss and at times extreme packet loss. It starts at hop 1 when testing directly through modem and hop 2 when testing Ethernet directly to router. 

  • BlackWat3r's avatar
    BlackWat3r
    5 years ago

    After another day of major packet loss I started doing more research. I have come across hundreds, if not thousands, of other Cox users having my exact problem just within the last year alone, this is a widespread issue.

    I now believe this is a form of traffic throttling by Cox and there is nothing you can do but switch ISP.

    See this explanation below:

    When you connect to the Internet, your traffic travels through your Internet service provider’s network before it leaves your ISP’s network and travels over another provider’s network. ISPs may sometimes degrade performance at these interconnection points unless the other provider pays an additional toll to the ISP.

    The Internet Health Test by Battle for the Net checks your Internet connection to see if there are problems at “interconnection points”. By checking a number of different routes, the tool will detect whether you’re experiencing degraded performance at one or more interconnection points.

    The tool performances a number of different speed tests across different networks. If all of them are fast, you’re not experiencing this problem.

    My results from this test: Speed Test Results

    Average Speed

    13.85 Mbps

    I am supposed to get 150 Mbps

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  • BlackWat3r's avatar
    BlackWat3r
    New Contributor III
    5 years ago

    After another day of major packet loss I started doing more research. I have come across hundreds, if not thousands, of other Cox users having my exact problem just within the last year alone, this is a widespread issue.

    I now believe this is a form of traffic throttling by Cox and there is nothing you can do but switch ISP.

    See this explanation below:

    When you connect to the Internet, your traffic travels through your Internet service provider’s network before it leaves your ISP’s network and travels over another provider’s network. ISPs may sometimes degrade performance at these interconnection points unless the other provider pays an additional toll to the ISP.

    The Internet Health Test by Battle for the Net checks your Internet connection to see if there are problems at “interconnection points”. By checking a number of different routes, the tool will detect whether you’re experiencing degraded performance at one or more interconnection points.

    The tool performances a number of different speed tests across different networks. If all of them are fast, you’re not experiencing this problem.

    My results from this test: Speed Test Results

    Average Speed

    13.85 Mbps

    I am supposed to get 150 Mbps

    • BlackWat3r's avatar
      BlackWat3r
      New Contributor III
      5 years ago

      To further this info, I have had pingplotter running all day in the background.

      When I'm not playing a game or watching video my packet loss is minimal and spread out. As soon as I play a game I can see major packet loss being recorded on pingplotter. When I close out of the game, packet loss becomes minimal again. 

      I've tried 3 different games today, each use different hosts, each have the exact same issue. 

      I'm also always in a discord voice chat, after about 5-10 minutes into a game my discord connection also drops, I can see the connection bar go red and my friends won't be able to hear me as my voice goes robotic.

      This makes sense as outside of Cox's network I have no download speed, so it cant handle playing a game and using discord voice chat.

    • BlackWat3r's avatar
      BlackWat3r
      New Contributor III
      5 years ago

      Boom I now have 100% confirmed this to be true.

      Testing method: Downloaded and enabled Speedify VPN

      Launched a game of PUBG, watched the Ping and Packet Loss number on the screen. I had virtually zero packet loss when speedify is enabled. 

      When I disabled speedify the packet loss number on the screen is 100% constant, fluctuating between 5%-40%

      See screenshot of PUBG without Speedify on:

      https://imgur.com/qMsDRAs

      See screenshot of PUBG with Speedify enabled

      https://imgur.com/zSEMBiQ

      I have lower ping and virtually zero packet loss. In a 25 minute game it only flashed packet loss twice, one was 1% and another at 2% but zero packet loss 99.9% of the game.

      Again, with speedify disabled, my packet loss is NEVER at 0%. It's at least 5% for the entire game.

    • BlackWat3r's avatar
      BlackWat3r
      New Contributor III
      5 years ago

      I will be switching ISP's now, if anyone else is having the same issue, and there is another provider in your area, you should make the switch.

      I have reviewed so many threads on this exact issue relating to high ping/packet loss with cox. Not a single thread has reported the problem ever being fixed. It's because Cox is throttling.

      • KevinM2's avatar
        KevinM2
        Former Moderator
        5 years ago
        Hi Blackwat3r, we wouldn't want you to leave the Cox family, and we are deeply sorry to know that you're experiencing issues with our service. To my understanding, this has now been handed over to our Field Escalation Team. At this time, I am currently detecting intermittent packet loss on the modem, and I have updated the notes in your file to reflect this. When we receive additional information from our Field Team, we will follow up with you on this. -Kevin M. Cox Support Forum Moderator
  • BlackWat3r's avatar
    BlackWat3r
    New Contributor III
    5 years ago
    Thu Jul 25 16:24:16 2019 Critical (3) SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing;;CM-MAC=28:80:88:af:35:78;CMTS-MAC=00:59:dc:79:01:cf;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;
    • BlackWat3r's avatar
      BlackWat3r
      New Contributor III
      5 years ago

      Just got home to check the logs, I did see a bunch of these in the modem logs from yesterday. I will now do further ping tests.

  • BlackWat3r's avatar
    BlackWat3r
    New Contributor III
    5 years ago
    Time Not Established Critical (3) SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing;;CM-MAC=28:80:88:af:35:78;CMTS-MAC=00:00:00:00:00:00;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;
    Thu Jul 25 16:24:17 2019 Critical (3) Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, But no Unicast Maintenance opportunities received - T4 time out;CM-MAC=28:80:88:af:35:78;CMTS-MAC=00:59:dc:79:01:cf;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;
    Thu Jul 25 16:24:16 2019 Critical (3) SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing;;CM-MAC=28:80:88:af:35:78;CMTS-MAC=00:59:dc:79:01:cf;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;
    Thu Jul 25 16:23:57 2019 Critical (3) Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, But no Unicast Maintenance opportunities received - T4 time out;CM-MAC=28:80:88:af:35:78;CMTS-MAC=00:59:dc:79:01:cf;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;
    Thu Jul 25 16:23:56 2019 Critical (3) SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing;;CM-MAC=28:80:88:af:35:78;CMTS-MAC=00:59:dc:79:01:cf;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;
    Thu Jul 25 16:23:37 2019 Critical (3) Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, But no Unicast Maintenance opportunities received - T4 time out;CM-MAC=28:80:88:af:35:78;CMTS-MAC=00:59:dc:79:01:cf;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;
    Thu Jul 25 16:23:37 2019 Critical (3) SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing;;CM-MAC=28:80:88:af:35:78;CMTS-MAC=00:59:dc:79:01:cf;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;
    Thu Jul 25 16:23:17 2019 Critical (3) Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, But no Unicast Maintenance opportunities received - T4 time out;CM-MAC=28:80:88:af:35:78;CMTS-MAC=00:59:dc:79:01:cf;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;
    Thu Jul 25 16:23:16 2019 Critical (3) SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing;;CM-MAC=28:80:88:af:35:78;CMTS-MAC=00:59:dc:79:01:cf;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;
    Thu Jul 25 16:22:34 2019 Critical (3) SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing;;CM-MAC=28:80:88:af:35:78;CMTS-MAC=00:59:dc:79:01:cf;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;
    Thu Jul 25 16:22:28 2019 Critical (3) SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing;;CM-MAC=28:80:88:af:35:78;CMTS-MAC=00:59:dc:79:01:cf;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;
    Thu Jul 25 16:14:13 2019 Critical (3) SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing;;CM-MAC=28:80:88:af:35:78;CMTS-MAC=00:59:dc:79:01:cf;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;
    Thu Jul 25 16:14:08 2019 Critical (3) SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing;;CM-MAC=28:80:88:af:35:78;CMTS-MAC=00:59:dc:79:01:cf;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;
    Time Not Established Critical (3) SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing;;CM-MAC=28:80:88:af:35:78;CMTS-MAC=00:00:00:00:00:00;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;
    Thu Jul 25 16:01:16 2019 Critical (3) Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, But no Unicast Maintenance opportunities received - T4 time out;CM-MAC=28:80:88:af:35:78;CMTS-MAC=00:59:dc:79:01:cf;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;
    Thu Jul 25 16:01:16 2019 Critical (3) SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing;;CM-MAC=28:80:88:af:35:78;CMTS-MAC=00:59:dc:79:01:cf;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;
    Thu Jul 25 16:00:56 2019 Critical (3) Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, But no Unicast Maintenance opportunities received - T4 time out;CM-MAC=28:80:88:af:35:78;CMTS-MAC=00:59:dc:79:01:cf;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;
    Thu Jul 25 16:00:55 2019 Critical (3) SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing;;CM-MAC=28:80:88:af:35:78;CMTS-MAC=00:59:dc:79:01:cf;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;
    Thu Jul 25 16:00:36 2019 Critical (3) Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, But no Unicast Maintenance opportunities received - T4 time out;CM-MAC=28:80:88:af:35:78;CMTS-MAC=00:59:dc:79:01:cf;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;
    Thu Jul 25 16:00:36 2019 Critical (3) SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing;;CM-MAC=28:80:88:af:35:78;CMTS-MAC=00:59:dc:79:01:cf;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;
    Thu Jul 25 16:00:16 2019 Critical (3) Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, But no Unicast Maintenance opportunities received - T4 time out;CM-MAC=28:80:88:af:35:78;CMTS-MAC=00:59:dc:79:01:cf;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;
    Thu Jul 25 16:00:16 2019 Critical (3) SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing;;CM-MAC=28:80:88:af:35:78;CMTS-MAC=00:59:dc:79:01:cf;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;
    Thu Jul 25 15:59:36 2019 Critical (3) SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing;;CM-MAC=28:80:88:af:35:78;CMTS-MAC=00:59:dc:79:01:cf;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;
    Thu Jul 25 15:59:29 2019 Critical (3) SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing;;CM-MAC=28:80:88:af:35:78;CMTS-MAC=00:59:dc:79:01:cf;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;
    Time Not Established Critical (3) SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing;;CM-MAC=28:80:88:af:35:78;CMTS-MAC=00:00:00:00:00:00;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;
    Time Not Established Critical (3) SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing;;CM-MAC=28:80:88:af:35:78;CMTS-MAC=00:00:00:00:00:00;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;
    Time Not Established Critical (3) SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing;;CM-MAC=28:80:88:af:35:78;CMTS-MAC=00:00:00:00:00:00;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;
    Thu Jul 25 15:42:44 2019 Critical (3) Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, But no Unicast Maintenance opportunities received - T4 time out;CM-MAC=28:80:88:af:35:78;CMTS-MAC=00:59:dc:79:01:cf;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;
    Thu Jul 25 15:42:43 2019 Critical (3) SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing;;CM-MAC=28:80:88:af:35:78;CMTS-MAC=00:59:dc:79:01:cf;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;
    Thu Jul 25 15:42:24 2019 Critical (3) Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, But no Unicast Maintenance opportunities received - T4 time out;CM-MAC=28:80:88:af:35:78;CMTS-MAC=00:59:dc:79:01:cf;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;
    Thu Jul 25 15:42:24 2019 Critical (3) SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing;;CM-MAC=28:80:88:af:35:78;CMTS-MAC=00:59:dc:79:01:cf;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;
    Thu Jul 25 15:42:04 2019 Critical (3) Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, But no Unicast Maintenance opportunities received - T4 time out;CM-MAC=28:80:88:af:35:78;CMTS-MAC=00:59:dc:79:01:cf;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;
    Thu Jul 25 15:42:04 2019 Critical (3) SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing;;CM-MAC=28:80:88:af:35:78;CMTS-MAC=00:59:dc:79:01:cf;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;
    Thu Jul 25 15:41:44 2019 Critical (3) Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, But no Unicast Maintenance opportunities received - T4 time out;CM-MAC=28:80:88:af:35:78;CMTS-MAC=00:59:dc:79:01:cf;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;
    • Emicho's avatar
      Emicho
      New Contributor
      5 years ago

      I'm in the same exact boat. I've had multiple techs out and honestly i feel like most of them are trying but they aren't trained to deal with the issues I'm experiencing. From my testing it looks like a ton of jitter just outside of my modem at the node then after it leaves the "cox" network i get insane packet loss. sometimes up to 15 packets in a row. The issue is that no one wants to escalate, they just plug in their tool and see that the line isnt getting jitter. When i first had this internet installed it did the same thing within a week, a tech came out, saw no issue and elevated the ticket to the node anyway. Some dude came out, never said hi or bye and suddenly my internet was good for five months. now for the past two months my internet has gotten so bad i have had to stop streaming. at this point I'm paying cox AND losing money from not being able to stream. needless to say I'm pretty pissed.

      • KevinM2's avatar
        KevinM2
        Former Moderator
        5 years ago
        Hi Emicho, at this time, we are not detecting any signal issues or packet loss with the modem. I do see that a technician ran a temporary cable line to your home. If you have any questions or concerns about this escalation, please feel free to email us at cox.help@cox.com. We want to help you in any way we can. -Kevin M. Cox Support Forum Moderator
  • BlackWat3r's avatar
    BlackWat3r
    New Contributor III
    5 years ago

    Cox was supposed to call me this week updating me if they fixed the node that was at 100% usage, never got a follow up. Another week of super high ping and not able to play any games. Cox is just trying to sting everyone a long, but they will never fix it. 

    Century link switch is going to happen next week if I get no update

    • ekhawaii's avatar
      ekhawaii
      Contributor
      5 years ago

      BlackWat3r.....say, I tried your link "Internet Health Test" link that you posted 6days ago.  I did get 43+Mbps and 6+Mbps on 2 of the 5steps to LA.  I have trouble getting more the 4steps to list, and at times it's stuck with no movement.  The "Start Test" blue button is faded out and I needed to re-pick the whole link to restart.  I contacted the vendor to see if an account login is necessary, nothing back yet.

      What is strange is that I run the COX Speed test and it reads for me around 220Mbps to Orange County....These 2 test must be measuring some different, or I don't get what the vastly different numbers mean.  COX test is to one server, Health Test is going to different LA sites?  Confused.

      I've gone to the CMD window to type "ping -n 20 IPaddress" to various sites to look for packet lost and %.  Mine is pretty good, so I feel for those that have a high %, like in LVegas.

    • ekhawaii's avatar
      ekhawaii
      Contributor
      5 years ago

      Also, BlackWat3r....I notice that your posted display of the Health Test looks a bit different from my running of the test.  I do not see Run your own Test, average speed, or Share links and Advanced.  You must have a premium version or something.  Still, you only got a max of 21.43Mbps  I don't remember your comments of the CoX Speedtest or ping packet lost numbers either.

    • KevinM2's avatar
      KevinM2
      Former Moderator
      5 years ago
      Hi blackwat3r, this case has been referred to our maintenance team, to come out and perform work outside of your home. Once this case has been handed over to the team, we typically advise of a 72-96 business hour turnaround time for a resolution. -Kevin M. Cox Support Forum Moderator
      • Jameswyatt73521's avatar
        Jameswyatt73521
        New Contributor II
        5 years ago

        I have had the same exact problems there are tons of post on the forums about the upload speeds being dismal some with routers the rest of us with gigablast and non gigablast accounts i have a tech coming out for no reason because of the same reason as every other poster it is on your end cox. stop saying it is on the customer when downdetector.com as well as your own forums are full of the exact same complaint from all across the country it needs to be addressed cox men were out fixing pole lines in my neighborhood all day worked fine for maybe 2 hours then back to the same issue and it isnt just me its the entirety of oklahoma city you should see all the facebook posts look at the posts on your own forums and the posts on downdetector.com with the exact same issue. 

  • Zurq's avatar
    Zurq
    Contributor II
    5 years ago

    was fine yesterday and the day before that, but not it is completely trash again, upgraded to the ultimate 300 plan and everything, and still getting packet loss. fml 

    • BlackWat3r's avatar
      BlackWat3r
      New Contributor III
      5 years ago

      The problem is even though you upgraded your plan, you're still on the same line/node that's probably having the issue. 

      I still have Cox for another day and they still haven't fixed my line. The supervisor was supposed to call me within a week and it never happened. 

      • LisaH's avatar
        LisaH
        Moderator
        5 years ago
        Hi blackwat3r. To get further information regarding this, please email cox.help@cox.com along with this link, your complete address, and name on the account. Thanks, Lisa - Cox Support Forums Moderator.
  • stickboy2's avatar
    stickboy2
    New Contributor
    5 years ago

    Same with me. Ping was low and packet loss was zero before Cox switched me to 150. Now I get higher ping and constant packet loss. Jitter with the first few hops on Cox's network is terrible. I wish I had another choice in ISP around here that offered the same speed/price. You get what you pay for, I guess.

    • Allan's avatar
      Allan
      Moderator
      5 years ago
      Hello Stickboy2. Your modem is reporting a high amount of time out errors and about 10% packet loss at this time. Are there any splitters or signal amps on the cable line going to the modem at this time? -Allan Cox Support Forums Moderator.
      • stickboy2's avatar
        stickboy2
        New Contributor
        5 years ago

        I replaced my modem and router this morning with the all in one Netgear AC1900. Can you tell me if it looks any better on your end? Thanks.

    • BlackWat3r's avatar
      BlackWat3r
      New Contributor III
      5 years ago

      Is centurylink in your area?

      Your problem sounds identical to mine, they also upgraded my plan from 100 to 150 and I went back to check those dates it happened and it was about the exact time I started getting packet loss.

      It's insane what cox is doing, they are literally over subscribing everywhere, causing the nodes to be at 100% usage even in non peak hours. Why they would make this worse and upgrade people when they can't even handle it.

      Big yikes. But happy to note I am now on centurylink fiber and zero packet loss with zero ping spikes.

  • ImJustAGuest's avatar
    ImJustAGuest
    New Contributor
    5 years ago

    Same issue here in Florida (Gainesville). High packet loss has been an on/off thing for the past few weeks at my APT. I'd go two days with a steady connection and the next few days, constant drops and connection issues.

    Noticed this morning while phone browsing that something seemed off. Performed a quick speed test. Still online, but I could tell packets were being dropped. Started up a ping status app and let it run for a couple hours, and see that my packet loss is steady at 27% (as high as 37%)!!

    Went through the usual reboots, resets, cache clearing. All of that. Same issue.

    I've had this issue before. A tech came out and didn't find anything wrong on his end (of course). But, he did advise me that I should upgrade both my modem and my wireless router (SB6183 & TP-Link AC1900), because they could be the issue. I was charge $79 for this 10 min visit. I upgrade both items the next day (Netgear CM1000 & Netgear Nighthawk 6900P). 

    Contacted online tech support.....lol. Bless their hearts. They tried to up sell me on some type of advanced tech support for $10/month?

    I work from home, so this is a premium issue for me. Thank God this is happening on a weekend.

    Gaming is not even an option. No matter the server. Everything is lagging or the connection just drops and I'm forced back to the main menu.

    Extremely frustrating. Not even sure what to do at this point.

    • KevinM2's avatar
      KevinM2
      Former Moderator
      5 years ago
      Hello, I'm sorry to hear that you're having a frustrating experience with our service. I am not detecting any packet loss on your modem at this time. Would you be able to hard-wire a PC or laptop directly to the modem and perform a speed test for us, using the Cox Internet Speed Test tool, http://bit.ly/2VsdGbX? I'd like to see what your download and uploads speed are. -Kevin M. Cox Support Forum Moderator