Ping test shows unstable and high ping spikes all over with request timeouts.

vincelam1998

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Does anyone know why this happens? My ISP is Time Warner Cable. I had like two technicians come over, they didn't fix anything. I went out and got a PCIE Wireless Card and I still get the same results. Plugged my laptop to the modem via Ethernet and still, the same results. Everything from websites to videos loads very slowly.

http://imgur.com/Besj2WB
 
Solution

10 feet should be fine, even through a wall. Are we talking a normal dry-wall? No special metal coated insulation in the wall or anything like that?

If you can use a cable without significant inconvenience then it's always the best way. While wifi tech is getting...

vincelam1998

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This was a brand new router though. I just had it installed a week ago.

Edit: the recent technician already came and replaced the lines and splitters. Didn't fix the problem.
 
The thing to do is ping your router (with the -t switch to just leave it going). Then open a separate command prompt and ping somewhere on the Internet (ideally a dedicated host from your ISP if you know one... because then your ISP can't blame the other host).

If the ping to your router is rock solid, and the ping to the internet host is terrible, then you can state with absolute confidence that the problem is someone in the link between your router and that host.

If you've tried a different router and it's still bad, then you can eliminate the router as the issue.

Try a few different hosts to eliminate the (very, very unlikely) possibility that there's an issue with that particular host. If it's still bad, then you can pretty much 100% guarantee the problem is in the link between your router and the rest of the Internet.

Now that link is the responsibility of your ISP. You are paying for a service and they are not providing it. I don't know what the laws are in your area, but if they're not fixing the problem, I would be starting to talk about refusing to pay my next bill until they provide you the service you're paying for and compensate you for the outage.

Just make 100% that the issue really isn't on your local network, or with the router (if it's router that you've provided... if it's an ISP provided router then it's usually their job to maintain anyway). Once you're there, you might need to start making some noise, lodging a complaint in writing, even potentially looking at consumer protection/gov oversight services there are in your area if you don't feel the ISP is dealing with your complaint properly.

The bottom line is, assuming the ping to router is solid and the router itself is NOT the problem, you're paying for a service which your ISP it NOT delivering to any acceptable standard.
 

vincelam1998

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Okay I'll try this right now, thanks.
 

vincelam1998

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I forgot what Time Warner Cable's host address was so I just pinged google.com again to test. I pinged both my modem and google.com like you said and here are the results.

http://imgur.com/CW5LJPE

It seems like the ping spikes are happening at the same times between the modem and google.com. What exactly does this mean?

Also what do the request timeouts mean? And how come they don't appear on the modem ping test?
 
OK, that means you have problems on your LOCAL network... which, in all likelihood, is your responsibility.

"Request timed out" means pretty much what is says, a reply wasn't received within the timeout period. Each "ping" is a very simple request which gets sent to a remote host. When a ping packet is received a host will respond with a simple reply packet (assuming it's configured to reply... some devices are configured to ignore pings for security reasons). The windows ping command by default will wait 4 seconds for a response. If no response is received within that timeframe, you get a request timed out. You can change the timeout period using the "-w" switch, but there's really no point. In your case it's indicative of an unreliable connection to the host, with occasional dropped packets and sporadic high latency.

The pings to your router look to me like a dodgy wireless connection. Can you use an Ethernet cable, disable your wireless and try again?
 
I didn't really answer your last question. The pings to the google.com have further to travel so we would expect higher latency. It is interesting that there are a couple of dropped packets to google but none to your router. It could indicate an unreliable internet connection. But for sure, you need to sort your local network out first... then see whether you still get dropped packets to google.
 


So that looks absolutely rock solid to me. If you leave it for a minute or so, do you get nice consistent pings to google?

Assuming you do, you've identified your problem, the wireless link. It could be a range issue, it could be congestion. It's always ideal to use a cable if you can, do you have to use wifi?

If so, what's the distance and obstructions like? Could be packet loss due to that.
Also, does your router offer a 5Ghz band? Are you connected to that (much, much less chance of congestion in the 5Ghz band... though you sometimes sacrifice some range and signal strength through walls/obstructions).
 

vincelam1998

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The pings to google are very consistent and it does look like a wireless problem. For the distance and obstructions, I'm literally like 10 feet away from the router but there is a wall between my computer and the router. Using a cable is a viable option but I would just have to move the modem to a better location. And the router does have a 5GHz band. How would I connect to the 5GHz band with an ethernet cable? It only shows that I'm connected to the 2.4 GHz on Windows.

The pings to google are consistent, but is it normal for them to be around 30-50 ms? Usually they're at 12-15 ms on the wireless connection. I pinged facebook.com and it was at around 12-13 ms.
 

10 feet should be fine, even through a wall. Are we talking a normal dry-wall? No special metal coated insulation in the wall or anything like that?

If you can use a cable without significant inconvenience then it's always the best way. While wifi tech is getting better and better, there is just no substitute for a dedicated piece of copper which is (in a normal residential environment) totally immune to interference, congestion, etc. Usually, you plug it in and it just works for ever and ever.

If you'd prefer to stick with wireless, the 5Ghz is a wireless band is definitely the best choice for a 10ft 1 wall connection (assuming a standard dry wall). You just connect to it using your wireless adapter (not an ethernet cable). "Dual band" routers broadcast two separate wifi networks, with their own SSIDs (that's the name that you see when you look at the available wifi networks). One will be on the 2.4Ghz band and one on the 5Ghz. The 5Ghz band has far more available channels which means in a densely populated area, there's much less chance of congestion.
If you can get into your Router via the web based admin, look at the two wifi networks and figure out what your 5Ghz band is called.

Then go to your PC and see if you can find it in the available wifi networks. Some very cheap or old wireless adapters will only support the 2.4Ghz band, in which case when you browse the available wifi networks in your area, you'll only see the 2.4Ghz network as an option. If that's the case you're probably best served reverting a cable (best option anyway!) or upgrading to a better wifi adapter with dual band support. Once you can find and connect to the 5Ghz network, run your pings again and see what it's like. Just bear in the mind that congestion only happens when people around are actively using their wifi. So if all your neighbours work 9-5 jobs, testing at 1pm on a week day is NOT a good way to see whether your wifi is going to be reliable.
 
Solution

vincelam1998

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It's normal drywall. I think from now on, I'll be going wired. Goodbye wireless! I'm pretty sure the problem is the router right? All of my wireless devices have the same lag across. It's only on wired connections that it's stable. I might have the router switched out if that's the case.

Truuuuly appreciate your help rhysiam! Thank you very much!! You've been more help to me than 3 technicians from Time Warner Cable. Thanks again :)
 

Glad I could help. It could be the router, but it's far from certain. Are there loads of wifi networks in your area? Can you follow the directions above to move to 5Ghz?

Wifi isn't the best, but with decent gear (not even premium, just mid-range) and small distances, it should usually be fine.

Still, if it's convenient to use cable, there's no reason not to.
 

vincelam1998

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There's a decent amount of wifi networks, yeah. And I'm on the 5 GHz network currently.