Inexplicable high packet loss on new computer

[jmit]

Hi!

 

I've recently upgraded to a new computer, with a fresh install of windows, and I have severe packet loss on the new system for no reason that I can find or fix. I am using a WiFi connection, however this is due to living at university and not having the option to plug into Ethernet in my student accommodation. It also mean's I don't have the ability to change any of the settings for the router. I've tried running through every recommended change to help alleviate packet loss that I can find online, no to avail. This includes changing the default packet size in windows to the max packet size of my router so there are no packets lost due to size cap, which is rarely a problem anyway, but I wanted to try everything I could find. Interestingly enough, my old computer, which I have switched back to for now while I try to get this resolved, works perfectly and has zero packet loss. Latency and up/down speed aren't an issue on either machine, both perform perfectly in that regard.

 

The specifications of the two machines are as follows (If it's relevant):

Old:

CPU - Core i7 4770

GPU - MSI Ventus RTX 2070 8GB OC

RAM - 4x 4GB DDR3 1600MHz

MB - Gigabyte H87-D3H

NIC - Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260

Windows 10 Pro 64 Bit

 

New:

CPU - Ryzen 5 3600X

GPU - MSI Duke RTX 2080 8GB OC

RAM - 2x 16GB DDR4 3200MHz

MB - MSI B540I Gaming Plus AC

NIC - Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3168

Windows 10 Pro 64 Bit

 

Let me know if anything else is relevant...

 

I am almost totally sure that the fact that it is WiFi isn't the problem, as both computers are within 5m of the router, and both are utilizing the 5GHz band which according to a WiFi analyzer I used, is clear and uncongested. The only difference in performance network wise is the packet loss. I can't gauge exactly the severity of it, however I do know that it is consistent and doesn't falter. It is bad enough to the point where any video game that requires an online connection is unplayable. Also, running the ping command via the command prompt for a long period of time shows about 20% of the packets are lost.

 

Massive thanks in advance for any help or advice. :)

 

[BloodKnight7]

have you tried plugging a usb wifi card to your new computer? just to see if it might be a hardware issue with your mobo? 

[jmit]

On 8/14/2019 at 2:34 AM, BloodKnight7 said:

have you tried plugging a usb wifi card to your new computer? just to see if it might be a hardware issue with your mobo? 

No, unfortunately I don't have one lying around and if I were to buy one specifically for the purpose of testing I'd probably just return the motherboard at the same time and get a different ITX, for the sake of disliking USB Wifi cards anyway. I am strongly suspicious at this point that it is a problem with the MB. Tomorrow I will try running the windows install from the old and working machine on the new hardware and see if the issue persists. If so then its a hardware issue and case closed...

 

Thanks for the reply though!

[BloodKnight7]

11 hours ago, jjohnn91 said:

No, unfortunately I don't have one lying around and if I were to buy one specifically for the purpose of testing I'd probably just return the motherboard at the same time and get a different ITX, for the sake of disliking USB Wifi cards anyway. I am strongly suspicious at this point that it is a problem with the MB. Tomorrow I will try running the windows install from the old and working machine on the new hardware and see if the issue persists. If so then its a hardware issue and case closed...

  

Thanks for the reply though!

Hey no problem, best of lucks. It has been long time when I was in university, but you could try asking someone to lend you a wifi usb for a day... might have been easier for me cause my major was IT and I was surrounded by geeks, hehe. Wish you the best.

[Alex Atkin UK]

Well the new WiFi is only 1x1 when the old one was 2x2 MIMO, so it definitely could be due to the inferior WiFi card.

Is it a physical card you can remove or built-in to the motherboard?  If its an M.2 card I'd suggest replacing it with something like the Intel AX200.  Or if they are both cards can you swap it for the card from the old motherboard, even temporarily to test?

[jmit]

On 8/17/2019 at 12:32 AM, Alex Atkin UK said:

Well the new WiFi is only 1x1 when the old one was 2x2 MIMO, so it definitely could be due to the inferior WiFi card.

Is it a physical card you can remove or built-in to the motherboard?  If its an M.2 card I'd suggest replacing it with something like the Intel AX200.  Or if they are both cards can you swap it for the card from the old motherboard, even temporarily to test?

Hi, Sorry for the wait. I ordered an entirely new motherboard that arrived today which I installed, and the issue persists. It is an Asus ROG Strix B450-I Gaming Motherboard and should have a better NIC, however the behaviour is identical. For both motherboards, the NIC is inbuilt and cannot be swapped. The fact that changing to a better board had no effect has got me stumped. I think I may just have to live with it and give up some games :/ 

 

I am considering getting a USB card for the purposes of testing however I don't have one right now.

 

If there are any further ideas that come to mind I'm open to suggestions!

[Alex Atkin UK]

5 hours ago, jjohnn91 said:

Hi, Sorry for the wait. I ordered an entirely new motherboard that arrived today which I installed, and the issue persists. It is an Asus ROG Strix B450-I Gaming Motherboard and should have a better NIC, however the behaviour is identical. For both motherboards, the NIC is inbuilt and cannot be swapped. The fact that changing to a better board had no effect has got me stumped. I think I may just have to live with it and give up some games

 

I am considering getting a USB card for the purposes of testing however I don't have one right now.

 

If there are any further ideas that come to mind I'm open to suggestions!

Have you tried repositioning the computer to see if it changes?  As you've tried a different motherboard it seems unlikely a USB NIC is going to make much difference, unless its a problem with antenna positioning and then you can get different antenna for the PC rather than going to USB. (as the on-board is likely to perform better than USB)