Constant packet loss

[COTW]

If you are a technician can't you already tell? He is most likely with Virgin. Also before going that route we need to fix the LAN issues we can see.

There are tons of variables in troubleshooting internet, you have no idea.

 

Once i know the isp that narrows it down because i will know what type of outside facilities they have.

 

What he seems to complaining about is more than likely a bridge tap on the ISW.

[Wombo]

There are tons of variables in troubleshooting internet, you have no idea.

 

Once i know the isp that narrows it down because i will know what type of outside facilities they have.

 

What he seems to complaining about is more than likely a bridge tap on the ISW.

We can clearly see there is an issue within the LAN. We cannot make any other assumptions about any connectivity issues until we address the packet loss and ping inconsistency on the LAN.

[Hower]

Who is your ISP, i'm very familiar with dealing with these types of issues since i'm a technician for Bell Canada.

 

All i need to know is who your isp is and i can start finding the problem for you.

it's virgin media. A uk based provider

[Hower]

A small amount of packet loss and very sporadic ping responses can be seen on the first device in your network. It looks to me like you are having an issue your computer's connection to your gateway. How are you connecting this computer to your gateway? If you are on WiFi, start by getting off of it or changing the channel to 1, 6 or 11, whichever happens to be the best for your area. A direct wired connection with a cat5e ethernet cable will be the best solution.

yes i am using the wifi. How do i change the channels though? and how do i know which one is best for me

[Hower]

We can clearly see there is an issue within the LAN. We cannot make any other assumptions about any connectivity issues until we address the packet loss and ping inconsistency on the LAN.

 

 

There are tons of variables in troubleshooting internet, you have no idea.

 

Once i know the isp that narrows it down because i will know what type of outside facilities they have.

 

What he seems to complaining about is more than likely a bridge tap on the ISW.

just some information guys that i've forgot to mention. I can only tell there is some sort of lag or packet loss during gaming. When i'm downloading or browsing the internet there is no problem at all. At least nothing i can feel

[Wombo]

yes i am using the wifi. How do i change the channels though? and how do i know which one is best for me

You'll have to log into your device that is providing the WiFi and change the radio settings. Unless you have a program you know of or a spectrum analyzer all you can really do is trial and error. Try 1, see if it's better, if it isn't move on to 6, then 11. Alternatively you can try using a cable as WiFi is notoriously inconsistent.

 

just some information guys that i've forgot to mention. I can only tell there is some sort of lag or packet loss during gaming. When i'm downloading or browsing the internet there is no problem at all. At least nothing i can feel

That makes sense. When gaming packets are not sent reliably and if data is lost is transmission, well it's just lost because there's no way to stop, rewind, put the packet back and continue from there. The game just continues and tries to deal with the loss. This is often why you see stuttering and choppiness as the game server is trying to guess where you will be going, your client is showing you where it thinks it is going, then once the two finally talk again and sync up you see stutters/teleports. With games you are wanting to have as low latency as possible with no packet loss.

 

Video streams and downloads are acknowledged so if packets are lost they can be re ordered and re transmitted. This is why videos like to pre-buffer a bit before starting, it helps with smooth playback in case of packet-loss/poor connectivity.

 

All you can really do here is try to optimize that WiFi network you have. Remove as many walls between you and the wireless AP as you can. Keep metal away from the AP and hope you can find a good open non-overlapping channel (1, 6 or 11). Or as I said earlier, go for wired and all your problems should go away.

[Hower]

You'll have to log into your device that is providing the WiFi and change the radio settings. Unless you have a program you know of or a spectrum analyzer all you can really do is trial and error. Try 1, see if it's better, if it isn't move on to 6, then 11. Alternatively you can try using a cable as WiFi is notoriously inconsistent.

 

That makes sense. When gaming packets are not sent reliably and if data is lost is transmission, well it's just lost because there's no way to stop, rewind, put the packet back and continue from there. The game just continues and tries to deal with the loss. This is often why you see stuttering and choppiness as the game server is trying to guess where you will be going, your client is showing you where it thinks it is going, then once the two finally talk again and sync up you see stutters/teleports. With games you are wanting to have as low latency as possible with no packet loss.

 

Video streams and downloads are acknowledged so if packets are lost, they can be re transmitted. This is why videos like to pre-buffer a bit before starting, it helps with smooth playback in case of packet-loss/poor connectivity.

 

All you can really do here tho is try to optimize that WiFi network you have. Remove as many walls between you and the wireless AP as you can. Keep metal away from the AP and hope you can find a good open non-overlapping channel (1, 6 or 11). Or as I said earlier, go for wired and all your problems should go away.

Firstly how do i log into my device providing the wifi? ANd secondly as i have stated previously, a wired option is not an option because of various reasons we have here in the house. Otherwise i would have done it.

Just a question though. If me or someone else in the house is using the wire to connect to the internet and not count on the wifi, would that affect the rest of us using the wifi in the house?

[Wombo]

Firstly how do i log into my device providing the wifi? ANd secondly as i have stated previously, a wired option is not an option because of various reasons we have here in the house. Otherwise i would have done it.

Just a question though. If me or someone else in the house is using the wire to connect to the internet and not count on the wifi, would that affect the rest of us using the wifi in the house?

I'll assume you are using an ISP provided AIO device for your connectivity in your house. Start by finding the IP address of your gateway so you can log in.

 

Open a command prompt by type CMD in the start menu search field.

Type ipconfig /all

Under wireless LAN adapter note the IP address listed for the default gateway (192.168.0.1 is very common, yours may be different)

Type this address into any web browsers address bar

Log in with the required credentials

 

This is where it's mostly going to be up to you to find the radio settings as I'm not sure how your device's GUI is laid out. You are looking for settings related to your wireless radio. This can be called anything from WLAN, Wireless, Wireless radio and pretty much any combination of wireless and LAN, it really depends on the model. Once you have found the relevant section just change the channel to either 1, 6 or 11. The wireless radio may reload itself when you do this, so don't be alarmed if you drop connectivity if you have connected from wifi, it will come back in a few seconds. Once you have changed the channel try running that test again and see how it does. If you see any amount of loss over 1 or 2% (we always have to expect some from WiFi) go back in and change the channel to one of the others. If none of those channels completely resolves your issue just go with the channel that had the best results for you.

 

Only use channels 1, 6 or 11. These are the only non-overlapping 2.4Ghz WiFi channels available outside of Japan. Using any other channels is not recommended. Other devices that can cause interference on the 2.4Ghz spectrum are... everything wireless pretty much and even poorly caged microwaves.

 

If someone is connecting via a wire they will not affect your wireless performance. They may add to traffic on the line going out to your ISP but as for the wireless itself they would have no effect.

 

While they are not the best for some people power-line adapters are better than WiFi. If you don't have any success you can always try one of those.

[Hower]

I'll assume you are using an ISP provided AIO device for your connectivity in your house. Start by finding the IP address of your gateway so you can log in.

 

Open a command prompt by type CMD in the start menu search field.

Type ipconfig /all

Under wireless LAN adapter note the IP address listed for the default gateway (192.168.0.1 is very common, yours may be different)

Type this address into any web browsers address bar

Log in with the required credentials

 

This is where it's mostly going to be up to you to find the radio settings as I'm not sure how your device's GUI is laid out. You are looking for settings related to your wireless radio. This can be called anything from WLAN, Wireless, Wireless radio and pretty much any combination of wireless and LAN, it really depends on the model. Once you have found the relevant section just change the channel to either 1, 6 or 11. The wireless radio may reload itself when you do this, so don;t be alarmed if you drop connectivity if you have connected from wifi, it will come back in a few seconds. Once you have changed the channel try running that test again and see how it does. If you see any amount of loss over 1 or 2% (we always have to expect some from WiFi) go back in and change the channel to one of the others. If none of those channels completely resolves your issue just go with the channel that had the best results for you.

 

Only use channels 1, 6 or 11. These are the only non-overlapping 2.4Ghz WiFi channels available outside of Japan. Using any other channels is not recommended. Other devices that can cause interference on the 2.4Ghz spectrum are... everything wireless pretty much and even poorly caged microwaves.

 

If someone is connecting via a wire they will not affect your wireless performance. They may add to traffic on the line going out to your ISP but as for the wireless itself they would have no effect.

 

While they are not the best for some people power-line adapters are better than WiFi. If you don't have any success you can always try one of those.

okay i will try all of that but first of all, when i type in the ip address into my browser it asks for a password. Which part out of all of this in cmd is my password exactly? i tried using the one we use to connect to the internet but it didn't work

[baxtmann]

wired is the best option whenever it is possible. also, make sure the wifi is not trying to go through large cement walls or anything like that.

[Wombo]

okay i will try all of that but first of all, when i type in the ip address into my browser it asks for a password. Which part out of all of this in cmd is my password exactly? i tried using the one we use to connect to the internet but it didn't work

The password is what you're supposed to know It's usually given on the box the device came in or printed on the side of the device on a sticker.

[Hower]

The password is what you're supposed to know It's usually given on the box the device came in or printed on the side of the device on a sticker.

well yes, that's what i did but nothing happened... i hope i typed in the correct address in me URL bar.  I typed in the one under "default gateway" in my CMD., which is the only address on there that took me to any page whatsoever so i think i wrote the right thing.

[Wombo]

well yes, that's what i did but nothing happened... i hope i typed in the correct address in me URL bar.  I typed in the one under "default gateway" in my CMD., which is the only address on there that took me to any page whatsoever so i think i wrote the right thing.

Ya that's probably the correct address. You will just need to find the right login information.

[InVis]

- SNIP - 

Wauw you are being very helpful  

I applaud your dedication - I could not have given better advice myself, you totally beat me to it

[Hower]

 

[Wombo]

well i've tried pretty much everything that's displayed on that cmd but nothing works as the passoword.... any other suggestions>

The password isn't listed in the output of ipconfig /all

 

The password would have been given to you by your provider when they gave you the AIO/SoHo device you are using to connect to the internet. The password is often written on either the outside of the device, on the box the device came in, or inside the box on an informational sheet.

[Hower]

The password isn't listed in the output of ipconfig /all

 

The password would have been given to you by your provider when they gave you the AIO/SoHo device you are using to connect to the internet. The password is often written on either the outside of the device, on the box the device came in, or inside the box on an informational sheet.

nevermind, i got in, i'll go through your list right now and see what i can do

[Hower]

The password isn't listed in the output of ipconfig /all

 

The password would have been given to you by your provider when they gave you the AIO/SoHo device you are using to connect to the internet. The password is often written on either the outside of the device, on the box the device came in, or inside the box on an informational sheet.

jsut a question though, will this cause any problems when trying to connect to the network again? because there are others in the house with me using the wifi

[Wombo]

jsut a question though, will this cause any problems when trying to connect to the network again? because there are others in the house with me using the wifi

No changing the channel will not have any effect on anyone else or their ability to access the network. There may be a small interruption in service when you change the channel as the radio needs to restart, but that will be all.

 

Here I just grabbed this from the internet to show you. It's a bit of overkill on information but it might help you understand. Notice the column "CH", this denotes the channel. This information shown is the information flowing in the airwaves that all wireless radios can hear. These are the beacon frames sent by wireless APs letting other clients now enough about the APs to start the authentication (login) process.

 

When you try to connect to a wireless access point your computer checks the beacons sent by the AP and matches the settings provided. When manually connecting to an AP your computer will send out a probe message if it hasn't received a beacon for the specified SSID (name). Your computer will then use the information provided to connect to the AP and authenticate, thus giving you access to the internet.

 

Sorry if this is too much information, but it is pretty cool huh? There's nothing quite as fun as learning how the things we use everyday really work down at their most basic levels.

[Hower]

No changing the channel will not have any effect on anyone else or their ability to access the network. There may be a small interruption in service when you change the channel as the radio needs to restart, but that will be all.

 

Here I just grabbed this from the internet to show you. It's a bit of overkill on information but it might help you understand. Notice the column "CH", this denotes the channel. This information shown is the information flowing in the airwaves that all wireless radios can hear. These are the beacon frames sent by wireless APs letting other clients now enough about the APs to start the authentication (login) process.

 

When you try to connect to a wireless access point your computer checks the beacons sent by the AP and matches the settings provided. When manually connecting to an AP your computer will send out a probe message if it hasn't received a beacon for the specified SSID (name). Your computer will then use the information provided to connect to the AP and authenticate, thus giving you access to the internet.

 

Sorry if this is too much information, but it is pretty cool huh? There's nothing quite as fun as learning how the things we use everyday really work down at their most basic levels.

well it definitely didn't fix it but the lag is a bit less now while gaming. It's still hardly playable  but switching to channel 11 helped a bit.

[Wombo]

well it definitely didn't fix it but the lag is a bit less now while gaming. It's still hardly playable  but switching to channel 11 helped a bit.

looks like wireless just might not work the best for you. It may be worth looking into a powerline adapter if running an ethernet cable isn't doable.

[Hower]

looks like wireless just might not work the best for you. It may be worth looking into a powerline adapter if running an ethernet cable isn't doable.

it's strange because it was fine the first 2 days i came in the new house, but for the next week and a half it's just been shit

[Wombo]

it's strange because it was fine the first 2 days i came in the new house, but for the next week and a half it's just been shit

Is your wirless AP in an open area? are there too many walls between you and the AP? What other wireless devices do you have running?

[Hower]

Is your wirless AP in an open area? are there too many walls between you and the AP? What other wireless devices do you have running?

the only thing between me and the adapter is my room door. It's in the living room on the same floor as me. We have a total of 4 computers running off of the adapter but everyone else's connection is just fine. Even the one furthest away from it.

[Wombo]

the only thing between me and the adapter is my room door. It's in the living room on the same floor as me. We have a total of 4 computers running off of the adapter but everyone else's connection is just fine. Even the one furthest away from it.

Hmm, have you run any tests on any of the other wireless clients?