# Really annoyed with random ping spikes.



## lwgnlseven (Feb 20, 2013)

Hey guys I'm getting really frustrated with random ping spikes on my network. I've got 10mb download and 1mb upload internet connection. I've got 3 computers hooked up to a DLink DIR-655, all hard wired, 1 laptop using wireless, and 2 IPod touch on wireless as well.

This started happening maybe 2-3 weeks ago. Basically the problem is simple. I'm getting completely random ping spikes, most noticeably in games. In BF3 I'll have my ping at 37 and then randomly it will jump to 360 for a few seconds, causing the game connection to stutter, and then go back to 37. I also play APB Reloaded and my latency will go from 29 up to 350, then back to 29. Again, causing the game to stutter tremendously. Ping on ventrilo will spike from 39 up to 300.

The router was purchased in July of 2012 so is not even 1 year old yet. I have unplugged both the router, and modem for 30 seconds and reset them both. I have the latest firmware for the router. A tech guy from my ISP came out today and gave me a brand new modem, still didn't fix the issues. I tried gaming directly to the old modem a few days ago, and it was still spiking. It spikes on both the router, and the modem, what else could be the problem? Faulty cable? ISP said everything looks good on their end.

I have used pingtest.net and have 0 packet loss, with a 40 ping, and jitter of 0-3 roughly. I ping myself with CMD and have a <1ms. Ping to google.com 20ms. Ping to yahoo.com gives me crazy results. I don't know what else to do/try. I will post below my pinging activity.

*Normal pingtest*







*Abnormal pintest*






_*Pingtest 2 minutes after the above test show back to normal.*_











All 3 tests were done right after each other, yahoo.com gives the most random pings, and they're all high ones at that. I would expect this kind of problem on a wireless connection, but on a wired one? What else can I do here? I can't enjoy gaming at all anymore when my pings are going through the roof....

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated.


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## DiogoCDS19 (Feb 20, 2013)

Use this to ping yourself for some time, something like 1-2 minutes.
Check if that still happens.

```
ping (router address) -t
```


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## Nordic (Feb 20, 2013)

I had a similar problem but mine was just my cheap wireless card acting cheaply. Does this happen on all devices?


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## lwgnlseven (Feb 20, 2013)

DiogoCDS19 said:


> Use this to ping yourself for some time, something like 1-2 minutes.
> Check if that still happens.
> 
> ```
> ...



I have been doing a little bit of testing with that code in CMD. So far I opened up 4 CMD windows, all pinging to 4 different servers to check results while playing APB Reloaded.

I am pinging my router, my modem, APB server, ISP default gateway. Over the course of 30 minutes, my router pinged <1ms, modem <1ms, APB 20-25ms, ISP 8-14ms. I didn't have a case of ping spike during that time, but when I do get a ping spike, hopefully I'll get my answer. If the APB server spikes, along with the ISP server, but the router/modem stay at 1ms, does that mean an ISP issue? Faulty cable perhaps? In other words, if the router/modem stay at 1ms during the ping spike, does that mean that they are both working correctly?

I tried downloading a game while at the same time see how it affected my ping in APB. When the download started, my ISP ping spiked obviously, and the APB ping spiked as well, since the bandwidth is being sucked up by the download, the router and modem both stayed at 1ms. I'm hoping to catch a screenshot of when APB ping spikes to see if the ISP ping spikes also. If the ISP ping spikes, it would almost have to be an issue with them. Keep in mind I currently play 3 different games, and in all 3 games, I have seen high ping spikes over the past 3 weeks. It can't be coincidence that the game servers are lagging. Something must be causing them to ping up so often. Gotta keep an eye on that ISP default gateway ping and see how it reacts....



james888 said:


> I had a similar problem but mine was just my cheap wireless card acting cheaply. Does this happen on all devices?



I can only check on my computer out of the 4. It is the only one good enough to play any kind of game on lol.


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## remixedcat (Feb 20, 2013)

Please specify the router used. Thank you.


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## Nordic (Feb 20, 2013)

lwgnlseven said:


> DLink DIR-655



There you go remixxed cat. First or second sentence.


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## 95Viper (Feb 20, 2013)

Are you on cable or DSL?

Have you tried a traceroute (tracert) to see which hop is causing the problems?
How to use the Tracert command-line utility to troubleshoot TCP/IP problems in Windows

If you try it a few times and it is the same ip address then that is probably your culprit.

Also, are any of these tickets affecting your area?

You may want to try some of the quality tests at Visualware... they put the info in a nice format, once you get the hang of playing around with the test and information.
And, they have a nice bit of information.

ISPgeeks, also, has some good quality/capacity tests (as well as speed/ping tests) and they have some good info, too.


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## Frick (Feb 20, 2013)

At this point I would also go with tracert. As you've used yahoo.com in the past, use that again. tracert yahoo.com.

BTW, the actual term is latency. Ping is a tool you use to measure it.


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## jagd (Feb 20, 2013)

Yes traceert is best tool to see where is the problem is generally . I have another question when this spikes happenes ? Weekends (from friday to monday ) or everyday spesific time like 19.00-24.00 pm ?


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## lwgnlseven (Feb 20, 2013)

Okay I am on a cable modem, not dsl. I will try a tracert when I get home. I did one before but don't understand what any if the results actually represent, so I will post my results here. How do I know which IP to tracert to? My router? Modem? ISP default gateway? Yahoo.com? 

I work until 5 on most days so most of the high latency comes from 6pm-midnight from what I've noticed.


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## Geofrancis (Feb 20, 2013)

i had problems with the dlink cable routers doing wierd things like that. to check if its the router or your isp open 3 command boxes and do


1st one 
ping ***.***.***.***.*** -t  

** being the ip of your isp's gateway you can get it from the WAN info on your router

second one 
ping google.com -t 

the -t will keep them pinging continually untill you stop it 

third one

ping 192.168.1.1 -t or whatever your routers local ip is


if just google lags then its your isp's connection to the net
if google and the gateway ip lags then its either your connection to the isp
if all 3 lag then its the router


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## brandonwh64 (Feb 20, 2013)

Did the cable guy check the signal strength of the coax cable? Also I would have him run a new coax from the box specifically for the modem.


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## lwgnlseven (Feb 20, 2013)

I will ping the 3 while gaming later and report back. Also I wasn't home when the cable guy installed the new modem. As far as I know he just hooked up the new modem and did a few speed tests to confirm the correct speeds. I doubt it's the router or modem, probably a bad cable somewhere?

To put into comparison. Try playing an online game and download a game in the background. That is the same exact result that happens when my latency spikes. The Internet latency pings up really high but the router/modem do not ping up with it.


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## brandonwh64 (Feb 20, 2013)

Seems like either something on your PC is doing it or something beyond the modem is the issue. Have you tried this on another machine hooked directly into the modem.


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## lwgnlseven (Feb 20, 2013)

I have only tried with my computer. The other computers in the house aren't capable of running any games and the latency spikes happen more so while gaming. While gaming I might spike up 2-3 times per hour. I think the results I'm likely to find will be ISP and google ping both to spike up at the same time. That would mean a problem with the connection to the ISP? Bad cable somewhere?


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## brandonwh64 (Feb 20, 2013)

Could be someone in the house on their PC at the same time you are gaming?


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## lwgnlseven (Feb 20, 2013)

I don't know what on my pc could be causing it. It's hard wired to the router. I run avg/spyware/malware scans often always coming back clean.


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## lwgnlseven (Feb 20, 2013)

brandonwh64 said:


> Could be someone in the house on their PC at the same time you are gaming?



My mother might be checking Facebook at times or my dad on imdb or something but that shouldn't be hogging the connection that bad. I had a dir-655 for 2 years before it crapped out. Then replaced it with another in July and am just noticing this issue now. My sister sometimes streams music from pandora using the wireless but I don't know that even that could lag the connection like that. If it was anything like that, it would lag the connection for a period of time right? My problem is bursts of latency spikes. 10 seconds here. 10 seconds there. Completely random times. Sometimes within 15 minutes of each other. Other times maybe 1 hour in between.


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## lwgnlseven (Feb 20, 2013)

Also if a tech guy comes out to check the signal strength, what are the odds that be checks it while the strength is strong? I can't replicate or force the ping to spike. If he checks it and its all looking good, he won't even see it spiking at all...


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## 95Viper (Feb 20, 2013)

lwgnlseven said:


> Also if a tech guy comes out to check the signal strength, what are the odds that be checks it while the strength is strong? I can't replicate or force the ping to spike. If he checks it and its all looking good, he won't even see it spiking at all...



No, but, you can look at my post above... run some of the tests and print out the results or take screen shots of the results and have them to show them.

Did you look at the tickets to see if any of them are or would affect your connection?

Have you run Tracert, yet?
Ping is sort of useless now, as, you already know that your latency is all over the place.
Is it you isp, another server on your path, drivers, your connection, or other influences?
You need to now find the cause by testing and trial & error.

Post some info of your testing result; not ifs, ands, or maybes.  
Can't help without data/info/test results.

I am assuming you are using a ethernet connection to the router, so you are using the latest updated driver for your NIC (network interface card).
Have you looked at the cable modem to see what the signal status is?
Are there any un-terminated connections in your place?

Once you get one thing eliminated as a cause, you can move on to the next...  be methodical.

Have you tested going to different areas? Dulles/DC/northern VA areas have some of the worst latency at times.
And, you may be going through some servers in those area to get to Ashburn.
Try testing, using various methods, to NY, Chicago, and/or West VA, as examples.


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## lwgnlseven (Feb 20, 2013)

Okay just home from work now, I ran a tracert to yahoo.com twice, the 3rd test is tracert to my ISP default gateway. Can you explain what it is I'm looking at? I see line 11 for yahoo.com goes crazy.






I will look into the other tests now.

Here are 2 tests from the first link you sent me.











The first test is showing some big spikes in there with high latency, the 2nd shows what seems to be ideal connection. Are these 2 good images to show as they vary in results?


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## Geofrancis (Feb 20, 2013)

are you 100% sure its no one else using the connection at the same time? 
how long is the cable from your testing computer to the router?

this gadget ping monitor is what i use to monitor my connection. http://www.myfavoritegadgets.info/indexs.html#PingMonitor

i run 3 screens and one is almost covered with them so i know when one of my servers or routers starts acting up.


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## lwgnlseven (Feb 21, 2013)

Geofrancis said:


> are you 100% sure its no one else using the connection at the same time?
> how long is the cable from your testing computer to the router?
> 
> this gadget ping monitor is what i use to monitor my connection. http://www.myfavoritegadgets.info/indexs.html#PingMonitor
> ...



Like I said, others from my family are using the internet to browse at random times, but its little things, checking facebook, email, etc. They are not downloading games or streaming movies. I have had this internet company for 12 years and this is the first time I'm having latency issues like this. I did what you said earlier about running CMD and pinging while playing. I caught everything I think I wanted to see. I will post the image below for you to review.

I ran 5 CMD while playing APB Reloaded. I ping'd to ISP gateway, Router, Modem, APB server I was playing on, google.com. I also have ventrilo connected to a server to show ping as well. When the ISP spiked, APB server spiked, google.com spiked, ventrilo spiked, router/modem did NOT spike. At the time of this occurrence, my sister was on her computer checking facebook. My computer is on the 2nd floor (same floor as the modem/router) and is maybe 40-50 feet away.


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## Frick (Feb 21, 2013)

Did you run tracert? That measures the latency between routers on the path to a server. In cmd write tracert google.com when your latency is high.


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## lwgnlseven (Feb 21, 2013)

Frick said:


> Did you run tracert? That measures the latency between routers on the path to a server. In cmd write tracert google.com when your latency is high.



Tracert to google.com reports everything just fine. MS of around 20 for mostly all of it. My tracert to yahoo.com is all messed up. Anytime I ping to yahoo.com, I usually get ms of around 800.






Also keep in mind that the latency spikes happen at random times. If I were to run a tracert to google.com during a latency spike, I'm sure it would show around 400ms. Refer to the following image of when my net spikes and what it affects.


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## Aquinus (Feb 21, 2013)

Sounds like it is your ISP's issue. You're pinging 192.168.100.1, so you must be using a cable modem, right? Have you logged into it with a browser to see what your power level and SNR for your up and downstream is when your latency spikes?


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## lwgnlseven (Feb 21, 2013)

Aquinus said:


> Sounds like it is your ISP's issue. You're pinging 192.168.100.1, so you must be using a cable modem, right? Have you logged into it with a browser to see what your power level and SNR for your up and downstream is when your latency spikes?



Yes I have a cable modem. SNR is Signal to Noise Ratio correct? With a normal, low latency, my SNR is 34-35 dB and power level is -9 dBmV. When latency went up in game, I refreshed the modem page and the numbers remained the same during latency spike. Since my router and modem did not spike up with latency, does that mean they are both working properly?

I did 2 tracert to yahoo.com just now. The first one is with my computer directly to the modem. The second one is my computer through the router. Does something look wrong ? The latency is higher on the router then the modem...







And here is another tracert to yahoo.com with the router showing everything fine again....

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.

C:\Users\Anthony>tracert yahoo.com

Tracing route to yahoo.com [98.139.183.24]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  dlinkrouter [192.168.0.1]
  2     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  3     8 ms    25 ms     9 ms  gateway-g1-050-lbhblocal1.lbh.ptd.net [204.186.1
8.150]
  4    20 ms    22 ms    40 ms  gateway2-t4-3-abn22blo2.abn.ptd.net [207.44.126.
1]
  5    18 ms    19 ms    19 ms  gateway2-t4-3-abn22blo2.abn.ptd.net [207.44.126.
1]
  6    21 ms    22 ms    22 ms  exchange-cust1.dc2.equinix.net [206.126.236.16]

  7    35 ms    23 ms    38 ms  ae-6.pat1.che.yahoo.com [216.115.96.81]
  8    44 ms    42 ms    51 ms  ae-5.pat2.bfz.yahoo.com [216.115.96.67]
  9    35 ms    34 ms    47 ms  ge-1-0-0.pat2.bfz.yahoo.com [216.115.97.207]
 10    38 ms    58 ms    35 ms  xe-10-0-0.clr1-a-gdc.bf1.yahoo.com [98.139.232.1
03]
 11    32 ms    33 ms    35 ms  et-17-1.fab8-1-gdc.bf1.yahoo.com [98.139.128.51]

 12    42 ms    33 ms    36 ms  po-16.bas1-7-prd.bf1.yahoo.com [98.139.130.1]
 13     *       43 ms   101 ms  ir2.fp.vip.bf1.yahoo.com [98.139.183.24]

Trace complete.

C:\Users\Anthony>


I'm getting so frustrated....Is it the router? I thought for sure it was the ISP.....I'm getting mixed results. The router shows yahoo.com ping up at 800ms while the modem showed much lower, but then the modem showed google.com at 100ms on modem while only 20ms on router in another test. Can't decide if its the ISP doing it, the modem? The router? Ugh!......


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## 95Viper (Feb 21, 2013)

Your router and modem seem fine.
I would ignore any high latency spikes from yahoo.com or google.com, as that is their servers responding and are busy and there is not much you or your isp can do about them, except inform them of it somehow.

I only noticed one hop on your isp's network, during one of your trace routes, that was high; however, that could be an anomaly, unless you see it often during tests.

Did you test with your AV/Firewall(software) disabled?  Don't forget to turn back on when finished.
And, make sure you have no apps doing any background connections.

Also, you may want to try disconnecting everyone from the router(un-plug them from the ports and disable your wireless) and test.

I don't know if you have seen these APB Reloaded sites, or not; so, I will post you some links that may be of assistance.

Confirmed Latency fixes Having lag? check out these fixes.
Report Latency Spikes Learn how here!
And, some reading from the dev's blog:  Optimization Magic


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## lwgnlseven (Feb 21, 2013)

I appreciate you looking into the problem for me. Apb is not the only thing that I see latency spikes though. I also get high latency spikes in Battlefield 3 also. I once also saw my ventrilo ping spike when just surfing the net and no games running in the background. That never happens. 

I tried testing last night on just directly to the modem and had no spiking. I then went back to the router and had no spiking either. Maybe I didn't test long enough, maybe I don't get many spikes after 11pm, idk. I will try again on the modem today to see if I can get the spikes while directly to the modem.


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## lwgnlseven (Feb 21, 2013)

95Viper said:


> Your router and modem seem fine.
> I would ignore any high latency spikes from yahoo.com or google.com, as that is their servers responding and are busy and there is not much you or your isp can do about them, except inform them of it somehow.
> 
> I only noticed one hop on your isp's network, during one of your trace routes, that was high; however, that could be an anomaly, unless you see it often during tests.
> ...



Which hop did you see? If you let me know I can keep an eye on that and do multiple tests to see if it was an anomaly or not. I'm assuming #5 gateway 2?

It is very common for apb servers to have latency spikes. The game has problems. When I experience the servers spiking, my ISP latency does not spike. That I strictly game problem. But occasionally apb and ISP/websites/ventrilo/anything connected to the Internet spikes with it, is not normal. And battlefield 3 ping spikes on occasion now, vent ping spikes on occasion when surfing the net....

At first I thought it was just an apb problem because I have seen those apb topics before. But after a while I started realizing there is more to it then that.

I did a quality test at that visualware website you sent me. I can only test to chicago, london, san jose california, as they are the only ones available at this time, but are these results alarming at all? Can anyone else run the test to chicago and compare results so I can see if maybe its just a common thing for everyone?

http://myspeed.visualware.com/serve...Visualware&provlink=http://www.visualware.com

Here are my results using my router....






Here are my results using my modem....






Do these results show a problem with the router? Or is the router blocking certain ports that send specific packets? I'm not sure what to take from these results and IF they are related to my random latency spikes or not.... What do you guys think?


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## lwgnlseven (Feb 22, 2013)

I would also like to add, is it normal for ms latency to increase when loading a youtube video? I notice if I try loading any kind of youtube video, my ms to my ISP goes from 8ms to 200ms for maybe 5-10 seconds, then back to normal again. This normal? I have never noticed loading a video before making my latency spike up so much, perhaps I never took notice or maybe its not normal? I played some games mostly all of today and had 0 spikes on the router, now at 9pm I got my first one. I notice most spikes from 6pm - 11pm.

More problems tonight. My fathers computer can't even get online connected to the modem. My computer works just fine though. If I connect his to the modem, he gets Internet then, but not with the router. Getting really tired of this. His doesn't work but mine does? I updated the firmware the other day and this is the first time he's tried it since. Might have to roll back the firmware. Might also just buy a new router. Getting tired of this one. Any suggestions? How important is an N router? I have 2 iPods and laptop that will connect to it. I also want something reliable for handling gaming connections. 

Really starting to hate computers.... Way too many things always going wrong.....


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## Aquinus (Feb 22, 2013)

95Viper said:


> Your router and modem seem fine.



You're joking, right?



lwgnlseven said:


> Yes I have a cable modem. SNR is Signal to Noise Ratio correct? With a normal, low latency, my SNR is 34-35 dB and power level is -9 dBmV.



All of your cable levels are a bit low. -9dBmV is really low for downstream which could explain what is going on. The SNR is okay, but any lower than 30 and you'll start having problems. Honestly the combination of the two might be causing issues. Does the modem go through any splitters before it gets to the street? It sounds like you might be splitting the Coax too many times. Also will games still lag if you plug the computer directly into the modem?


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## 95Viper (Feb 22, 2013)

Aquinus said:


> You're joking, right?



No, and, if you make a comment please explain your reason.



Aquinus said:


> All of your cable levels are a bit low. -9dBmV is really low for downstream which could explain what is going on. The SNR is okay, but any lower than 30 and you'll start having problems. Honestly the combination of the two might be causing issues. Does the modem go through any splitters before it gets to the street? It sounds like you might be splitting the Coax too many times. Also will games still lag if you plug the computer directly into the modem?



Those numbers may not be perfect and may be able to be improved; however, they are in the acceptable range.

What kind of signal levels do I want on my cable modem?


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## Aquinus (Feb 22, 2013)

lwgnlseven said:


> Do these results show a problem with the router? Or is the router blocking certain ports that send specific packets? I'm not sure what to take from these results and IF they are related to my random latency spikes or not.... What do you guys think?



I think that those numbers are bogus. It's given me the same warnings and my internet is running plenty fine.


95Viper said:


> No, and, if you make a comment please explain your reason.


Let's start with there is clearly a problem and you said there isn't. I shouldn't have to explain myself much beyond that because you didn't either. 



95Viper said:


> Those numbers may not be perfect and may be able to be improved; however, they are in the acceptable range.
> 
> What kind of signal levels do I want on my cable modem?



Hah! Yeah, if he is running DOCSIS 1.0. 1.0 likes power levels within +-15dBmV, 2.0 likes it within +-12, and 3.0 likes it within +-8. As far as SNR, he's borderline, if it drops below 30dB he will most likely start dropping packets. Granted this depends on hardware. Some modems are more resilient and other are less.

So they may be barely acceptable, which could be signs of a problem. Like I said, how many splitters are between the modem and the cable tap to the pole outside?

What is considered good is something like this:


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## 95Viper (Feb 22, 2013)

Aquinus said:


> Let's start with there is clearly a problem and you said there isn't. I shouldn't have to explain myself much beyond that because you didn't either.




I said the router and modem are fine... and, I believe that to be true.
Please, explain how you come to the conclusion they are not?
Are they defective?
How did you come to this conclusion?
I did not say the cabling, settings, or other factors may not be the cause.
And, please... give yourself the V8 moment.:shadedshu




Aquinus said:


> So they may be barely acceptable, which could be signs of a problem.



But, they are in an acceptable range, even if barely.


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## Aquinus (Feb 22, 2013)

95Viper said:


> I said the router and modem are fine... and, I believe that to be true.



I know, I get that. I'm asking for you to prove it.



95Viper said:


> Please, explain how you come to the conclusion they are not?



Because the numbers are low and we don't know what spec of DOCSIS he is running. If its 3.0 than his numbers are out of spec, if its 2.0 his numbers are barely in spec. Both of which can cause problems. If a LAN had just enough crosstalk to not cause problems doesn't mean that crosstalk isn't slowing the network down. Cable internet and QAM is the same exact way.



95Viper said:


> Are they defective?


No? Did I say anything about them being defective? I don't think I did.



95Viper said:


> How did you come to this conclusion?


Read my last post, or this one because I'm re-iterating myself because you don't see to be reading what I'm saying. Let me just quote myself...



Aquinus said:


> Yeah, if he is running DOCSIS 1.0. 1.0 likes power levels within  -15dBmV, 2.0 likes it within  -12, and 3.0 likes it within  -8. As far as SNR, he's borderline, if it drops below 30dB he will most likely start dropping packets. Granted this depends on hardware. Some modems are more resilient and other are less.





95Viper said:


> I did not say the cabling, settings, or other factors may be the cause.


I know, and the numbers are cause for concern with the cabling and other factors so you should be considering everything until you've ruled them out and if you have ruled them out then that just goes to show that you're not good at diagnosing cable modems, no offense, but what your ruling out is possibly the problem.



95Viper said:


> And, please... give yourself the V8 moment.


Not a fan of V8. I'll grab an orange juice instead.



95Viper said:


> But, they are in an acceptable range, even if barely.


Electronics being "barely in spec" never okay. Don't rule it out until you can prove that it isn't the problem. Just because a power supply provides the upper or lower bound of allowable ATX power does not mean that it is good or that it won't cause problems. A lot of electronics with spec requirements on signaling will work like this because devices are very sensitive.

Think about two people. The SNR is the noise in the background and the power level is how loud a person is shouting. If you're next to the person you can talk normally and regardless of what is going on around you, you probably hear him or her pretty clearly. As you move further away that noise becomes much louder and the other person has to yell to get you to hear them. Now assuming that DOCSIS spec is like this situation. Just because it is "barely in spec" doesn't mean that the other person (or modem in our case,) can hear you, but it's so distorted you can't make out what the person is saying, but then night time comes around, everyone goes home, the noise goes away and the same person yelling just as loud can now be heard and understood instead of just being heard without being comprehensible.

So yes, the numbers have a lot to do with the quality of the internet he is getting off the street even if they're "barely within spec" and the combination of a low power level and poor SNR suggests a physical problem.


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## lwgnlseven (Feb 23, 2013)

What is a normal latency when loading YouTube videos at 1080p? I've been noticing when loading some videos in HD, that my ping on ventrilo spikes up thus delaying any VoIP messages by 15-20 seconds. I've never had a problem with that before. So I started to look into it. I ran a cmd and pinged to my default gateway and have a latency of 7-11ms which is great. I'll load a YouTube video in 1080p and latency goes to 50-70ms. I'm sure that's normal, I am after all loading a 1080p video. But if I reload that same video in 1080p, it might load this time at 600ms. Reload again, might be back to 50-70ms. Sometimes it goes to 1200ms. Once 3000ms. One time the request to ping timed out multiple times and my ping on ventrilo went from 38-10000. 

It is completely random. I can't sit and watch the cmd numbers run off 24/7 to make sure I'm not lagging the connection for anyone else. When it hit 3000ms, my dad couldn't load any web pages on his computer at all. This happens on BOTH the router AND the modem. I have a 10mb connection through cable. 10mb not good enough to load 1 video and surf the web at the same time?   I have been using clothes cable connection for 8-9 years and have never had a lag problem that I've ever noticed like this before. The cable tech guy insisted that its the router going bad, even though it does the same thing on the modem. -.-

Am I paranoid? Is it perfectly normal for ms to spike to over 1000 loading an HD video and no one else in the house be able to surf the net until the video is finished?.....


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## lwgnlseven (Feb 25, 2013)

Got a new netgear WNDR3700 hooked up today and still pinging up unusually in games tonight. New modem and new router and still same problems.


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## Aquinus (Feb 25, 2013)

lwgnlseven said:


> What is a normal latency when loading YouTube videos at 1080p? I've been noticing when loading some videos in HD, that my ping on ventrilo spikes up thus delaying any VoIP messages by 15-20 seconds. I've never had a problem with that before. So I started to look into it. I ran a cmd and pinged to my default gateway and have a latency of 7-11ms which is great. I'll load a YouTube video in 1080p and latency goes to 50-70ms. I'm sure that's normal, I am after all loading a 1080p video. But if I reload that same video in 1080p, it might load this time at 600ms. Reload again, might be back to 50-70ms. Sometimes it goes to 1200ms. Once 3000ms. One time the request to ping timed out multiple times and my ping on ventrilo went from 38-10000.
> 
> It is completely random. I can't sit and watch the cmd numbers run off 24/7 to make sure I'm not lagging the connection for anyone else. When it hit 3000ms, my dad couldn't load any web pages on his computer at all. This happens on BOTH the router AND the modem. I have a 10mb connection through cable. 10mb not good enough to load 1 video and surf the web at the same time?   I have been using clothes cable connection for 8-9 years and have never had a lag problem that I've ever noticed like this before. The cable tech guy insisted that its the router going bad, even though it does the same thing on the modem. -.-
> 
> Am I paranoid? Is it perfectly normal for ms to spike to over 1000 loading an HD video and no one else in the house be able to surf the net until the video is finished?.....





lwgnlseven said:


> Got a new netgear WNDR3700 hooked up today and still pinging up unusually in games tonight. New modem and new router and still same problems.



You know, I've already said that it's probably your power levels and your ISP. It's worth asking them and having them check it out.

Do you use any splitters before the Coax gets to the cable modem?


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## lwgnlseven (Feb 25, 2013)

I want familiar with splitters but I do not see anything like that attached to the modem. Just a single cable from the modem to the wall. I'll have to ask about the power levels. You suggest it should be closer to -2db I think?


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## Aquinus (Feb 25, 2013)

lwgnlseven said:


> I want familiar with splitters but I do not see anything like that attached to the modem. Just a single cable from the modem to the wall. I'll have to ask about the power levels. You suggest it should be closer to -2db I think?



If you have multiple jacks for TV around your place of residence, the more ports the more the signal is split. So it may not be split coming off the wall (which is a good start,) but it might be split right off the pole (which you might have trouble changing.)

Ideally your downstream power level should be 0dBmV, but depending on the spec your cable modem uses, it could be okay to be between +-15dBmB, 12dBmV, or 8dBmV. Issues with SNR and power levels most likely won't make the ping jump up alone, but rather causes packet loss so the modem has to re-try which gives the apparance of higher latency.

Considering the ping looks like it jumps once it hits the first router outside of your network would describe an issue with your connection to your ISP, so I would give them a call and let them know what is happening. Your ISP is the most qualified to diagnose issues from your modem to the node.


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## brandonwh64 (Feb 25, 2013)

This goes with what I said earlier in the thread. Have the ISP run a dedicated coax to the modem from the cable box or pole outside. This will rule out degradation due to multiple splitters.



brandonwh64 said:


> Did the cable guy check the signal strength of the coax cable? Also I would have him run a new coax from the box specifically for the modem.





lwgnlseven said:


> I want familiar with splitters but I do not see anything like that attached to the modem. Just a single cable from the modem to the wall. I'll have to ask about the power levels. You suggest it should be closer to -2db I think?





Aquinus said:


> If you have multiple jacks for TV around your place of residence, the more ports the more the signal is split. So it may not be split coming off the wall (which is a good start,) but it might be split right off the pole (which you might have trouble changing.)
> 
> Ideally your downstream power level should be 0dBmV, but depending on the spec your cable modem uses, it could be okay to be between +-15dBmB, 12dBmV, or 8dBmV. Issues with SNR and power levels most likely won't make the ping jump up alone, but rather causes packet loss so the modem has to re-try which gives the apparance of higher latency.
> 
> Considering the ping looks like it jumps once it hits the first router outside of your network would describe an issue with your connection to your ISP, so I would give them a call and let them know what is happening. Your ISP is the most qualified to diagnose issues from your modem to the node.


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## Solaris17 (Feb 25, 2013)

I personally dont think its his modem or his router. From my experience anyway any time their is an issue with my home network equipment most if not all of my pings from my equipment drop or have very high latency. IMO the first thing I would look at is your signal quality. your tests from inside your network seem fine. A little high maybe but your loading your network. Your outside tests are too high and quality degrades bad. This has happened to me.

first and formost

98.139.130.1

is bad for me too. i run on a 60/25 line on fios and I get around 230ms from that address.

second. 

Like above this has happened to me before. You need to tell your ISP to run a condition test to the nearest switch/hub. My problem was noise on my port (line to my neighborhood) and they had to switch me to a diffirent line on the switch to my block because my TTL would skyrocket and I would time out. You need to explain to them you have run a trace and everything goes wrong when it leaves your home network. If they say thay cant fix it explain to them you will leave their service. The problem is on their end from what I see. getting a tech to switch your box will do nothing.

Also switching your DNS servers on your router might help (make sure your box is in bridged mode)


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## lwgnlseven (Feb 25, 2013)

Appreciate the responses guys. I will see about getting a tech guy back out here and test those damn lines lol. I'll keep you posted.


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## 95Viper (Feb 26, 2013)

Aquinus said:


> I know, I get that. I'm asking for you to prove it.



I have no need or desire to prove anything to you.



Aquinus said:


> Because the numbers are low and we don't know what spec of DOCSIS he is running. If its 3.0 than his numbers are out of spec, if its 2.0 his numbers are barely in spec. Both of which can cause problems. If a LAN had just enough crosstalk to not cause problems doesn't mean that crosstalk isn't slowing the network down. Cable internet and QAM is the same exact way.



This has nothing to do with my statement of his router or modem seeming to be fine.
I did not mention his settings, connection, splitters, cabling, etc. in that sentence you quoted.



Aquinus said:


> No? Did I say anything about them being defective? I don't think I did.



Agreed, but you made the insinuation I was wrong with your comment that follows:


Aquinus said:


> You're joking, right?





Aquinus said:


> I know, and the numbers are cause for concern with the cabling and other factors so you should be considering everything until you've ruled them out and if you have ruled them out then that just goes to show that you're not good at diagnosing cable modems, no offense, but what your ruling out is possibly the problem.



I am glad you added "if" there... as, I never ruled out other causes, seems you assumed I did.
I just stated the router and modem seemed fine.

As for my diagnostic capability of modems (any type) and routers (which you did not address)... they are more than adequate.

Just to let you know I came to this opinion by reading the whole thread and interpreting the facts posted.
You may need to take time to read the thread and piece together the info;and, if you have read the complete thread... then,  you may wish to improve comprehending what you read, no offense.

Back to the topic:

I hope that the Cable company and/or the tech can sort out your worries.

If not, then, here is another opinion, based on your posts:



lwgnlseven said:


> This started happening maybe 2-3 weeks ago





lwgnlseven said:


> I played some games mostly all of today and had 0 spikes on the router, now at 9pm I got my first one. I notice most spikes from 6pm - 11pm.



These statements are making my opinion lean to the natural way of the net lately and/or the overselling of your cable pipe.
They (the local resellers of PenTeleData),possibly, oversell to maximize the use of their pipe for cost/profit.

If you have any neighbors, you know or can speak with, that have the same provider... see if they are have the same or similar issues.  If they have the same problem, get them to contact your provider and, maybe, they will upgrade your neighborhood's facilities.


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## lwgnlseven (Mar 7, 2013)

Okay a tech guy from the cable provider was out today and checked the quality of the line outside and said everything looked fine. He is going to bring out a team on another day and try to check them more thorough but not sure where else to go with this. Also he said that we are the only house in the neighborhood that is complaining about this issue. Perhaps others in the neighborhood do not game and wouldn't notice this issue either way.

New modem, new router, cable quality appears fine. Not sure what else to do....Still random pinging up in games and ventrilo server without warning and at random times...


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## lwgnlseven (Mar 18, 2013)

Cable guy was out today and replaced the cable running from the box outside, to the house. Both ends of the cable were fried and 1 was crushed. I've been getting only half the speed I've been paying for, for a week now. The new cable fixed the speeds back to normal, however I'm still, having latency spikes in games while playing...

He said there is 1 more wire he could try replacing if this didn't work...

So thats a new modem, a new router, new cable, what the hell else could be the problem here?....


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## lwgnlseven (Apr 4, 2013)

Cable guy came back today. He replaced the 2nd wire now, still getting latency spikes. So brand new modem, router, and all brand new cabling and its still happening. He said next step is to call my ISP provider which is PennTeleData. He also said perhaps its my network card failing. I do not have a network card, I'm using the ethernet from my motherboard. Perhaps I should get a NIC card? Not sure where else to go with this at this point.


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## AsRock (Apr 5, 2013)

If it's on aoll systems it might be your isp..  When i think my ISP is having issue's i like using 3Dtraceeroute ( http://www.d3tr.de/download.html ).  I proved to Comcast by using this app that were the current issue is.


Simple to use too just add website\IP to connect too and select list as and you see were your higher ms is coming from.

Example picture


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## Aquinus (Apr 5, 2013)

AsRock said:


> If it's on aoll systems it might be your isp..  When i think my ISP is having issue's i like using 3Dtraceeroute ( http://www.d3tr.de/download.html ).  I proved to Comcast by using this app that were the current issue is.
> 
> 
> Simple to use too just add website\IP to connect too and select list as and you see were your higher ms is coming from.
> ...



A regular traceroute in Linux or Windows would work just as well.

On Linux/*nix

```
gateway:~$ traceroute techpowerup.com
traceroute to techpowerup.com (173.249.152.206), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets
 1  73.160.192.1 (73.160.192.1)  5.997 ms  9.896 ms  14.402 ms
 2  te-5-2-ur01.dover.nh.boston.comcast.net (68.85.185.93)  15.021 ms  15.103 ms  15.114 ms
 3  be-81-ar01.needham.ma.boston.comcast.net (69.139.220.77)  18.710 ms  18.790 ms  18.800 ms
 4  he-2-8-0-0-cr01.newyork.ny.ibone.comcast.net (68.86.93.185)  47.234 ms  47.281 ms  47.294 ms
 5  he-0-3-0-0-cr01.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net (68.86.88.142)  52.951 ms  52.998 ms  53.013 ms
 6  be-14-pe03.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net (68.86.82.210)  44.677 ms  37.374 ms  37.491 ms
 7  as4436.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net (173.167.57.126)  42.345 ms  46.674 ms  47.832 ms
 8  ae1-60g.cr2.ord1.us.nlayer.net (69.31.111.137)  45.239 ms  45.097 ms  45.277 ms
 9  as32748.ae1-133.cr2.ord1.us.nlayer.net (69.31.110.30)  45.157 ms  51.705 ms  51.760 ms
10  ip74.208-100-32.static.steadfastdns.net (208.100.32.74)  44.870 ms  44.913 ms  38.295 ms
11  ip4.67-202-87.static.steadfastdns.net (67.202.87.4)  43.197 ms  47.345 ms  47.165 ms
```

Or Windows:

```
>tracert techpowerup.com

Tracing route to techpowerup.com [173.249.152.206]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1    <1 ms     1 ms    <1 ms  GATEWAY [10.0.0.254]
  2     7 ms     7 ms     7 ms  73.160.192.1
  3    13 ms     9 ms     7 ms  te-5-2-ur01.dover.nh.boston.comcast.net [68.85.1
85.93]
  4    12 ms    15 ms    15 ms  be-81-ar01.needham.ma.boston.comcast.net [69.139
.220.77]
  5    39 ms    47 ms    47 ms  he-2-8-0-0-cr01.newyork.ny.ibone.comcast.net [68
.86.93.185]
  6    48 ms    47 ms    47 ms  he-0-3-0-0-cr01.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net
[68.86.88.142]
  7    39 ms    39 ms    39 ms  be-14-pe03.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net [68.8
6.82.210]
  8    41 ms    39 ms    41 ms  as4436.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net [173.167.
57.126]
  9    39 ms    40 ms    38 ms  ae1-60g.cr2.ord1.us.nlayer.net [69.31.111.137]
 10    38 ms    47 ms    49 ms  as32748.ae1-133.cr2.ord1.us.nlayer.net [69.31.11
0.30]
 11    40 ms    39 ms    39 ms  ip74.208-100-32.static.steadfastdns.net [208.100
.32.74]
 12    39 ms    39 ms    42 ms  ip4.67-202-87.static.steadfastdns.net [67.202.87
.4]
 13    39 ms    39 ms    39 ms  www.techpowerup.com [173.249.152.206]

Trace complete.
```


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## AsRock (Apr 5, 2013)

Aquinus said:


> A regular traceroute in Linux or Windows would work just as well.
> 
> On Linux/*nix
> 
> ...


Indeed, but i like 3dtraceroute


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## Aquinus (Apr 5, 2013)

AsRock said:


> Indeed, but i like 3dtraceroute



I'm sure. I just recommend tools that are available already. I don't tell a user to install something unless they really have to.


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## AsRock (Apr 12, 2013)

Aquinus said:


> I'm sure. I just recommend tools that are available already. I don't tell a user to install something unless they really have to.



Sure, but there is no install to it either. But yes your right but it's a nice app to use.


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## bim (Jul 20, 2013)

I have the same problem where ping randomly goes up then back down suddenly. Of course it makes my gaming experience hell and I haven't found the cause. But I found a temporary solution. I don't know how it works but when I download something ( torrent, etc.) my ping is constant  . I believe this has nothing to do with any internet related, because I have 2 laptops and only mine has that problem. I use another network connection and nothing change. It might be a software related but I put my laptop back to factory default and the problem is still.

At this point I have no idea what is wrong with it. I'm also not techically good with computer. But I hope someone can catch on with the torrent thing as a hint and come up with a solution. 

Bump


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## Mussels (Jul 20, 2013)

bim said:


> I have the same problem where ping randomly goes up then back down suddenly. Of course it makes my gaming experience hell and I haven't found the cause. But I found a temporary solution. I don't know how it works but when I download something ( torrent, etc.) my ping is constant  . I believe this has nothing to do with any internet related, because I have 2 laptops and only mine has that problem. I use another network connection and nothing change. It might be a software related but I put my laptop back to factory default and the problem is still.
> 
> At this point I have no idea what is wrong with it. I'm also not techically good with computer. But I hope someone can catch on with the torrent thing as a hint and come up with a solution.
> 
> Bump



this does not belong in this thread, and you wont get help for it here. make your own thread.


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## Mussels (Jul 20, 2013)

just as some general advice:

ping the router
ping your ISP's website or DNS server
ping google

leave them running with -t


if you see packet loss or ping spikes to the router, you know its a hardware fault.

if everything screws up from the ISP onwards, its a problem between your modem and then (for example, a faulty DSL router at their end, or your upload is choked*)

if its fine to the ISP but bad to google/anything else, then the problem is further upstream and you cant fix it.



* if a single person uploads a photo from an iphone, your internet upload will get maxed out briefly. this is a very big cause of ping spikes - try getting a router (i reccomend TP link) with bandwidth management, and lock each device/IP to <40% max upload to prevent any two concurrent users from causing ping spikes.


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