Random Packet Loss When Gaming

Nov 11, 2018
4
0
10
Hi all,

I've been online gaming consistently over the past 2 years in my current location without encountering this issue until the past week (TP link AC1750 router). Now when I am playing online games, over the course of an hour, I will "time-out" in-game over 10-15 times, and freeze. The game shows that my download speed drops to 0.0 mpbs, with high packet loss over 75-100%, and then it reconnects me within 5-10 seconds, and I will wake up dead. This occurs both with a wired connection, and over wifi. I have tried resetting my router (factory settings), and the issue persists. All other forms of internet usage appear to work normally (web browsing, streaming video, etc.). This issue really only can be seen when playing online games. I have tried multiple games to identify that it is not the game itself, and that the issue recurs (and it does). I have contacted the ISP, and will likely have a tech coming out soon. I have bought a new ethernet cable which should be coming in the mail tomorrow. Does anyone know how to fix my issue? Here is a traceroute report.

Internet speed is 40 mpbs down/up and always tests positively.

Tracing route to 8.8.8.8 over a maximum of 20 hops

1 1ms 1ms 1ms 65.50.74.1
2 1ms 1ms 1ms 172.19.69.254
3 8ms 7ms 10ms 172.24.0.224
4 5ms 5ms 5ms 172.24.1.34
5 5ms 5ms 5ms 172.24.0.6
6 5ms 5ms 5ms 65.50.23.105
7 5ms 5ms 5ms 108.170.249.65
8 5ms 5ms 5ms 216.239.54.235
9 5ms 5ms 5ms 8.8.8.8

Trace complete.

EDIT: Since plugging in my new ethernet cable, the problem has gone away. Interesting.
 
Nov 11, 2018
4
0
10
About a week into this occurring now. ISP tech is coming out tomorrow. Is there anything specifically I can ask him to do/check? It's a hard issue to explain. I will test again with new ethernet cable tonight, and I might try a different gaming device (Nintendo Switch) to see if it occurs on the other device.
 

Urumiko

Distinguished
Dec 28, 2013
505
0
19,160
I would suggest running a continual ping... and when this occurs check the ping window to see if your connection itself went bad.

ping -t -l 1000 65.50.74.1

If your router shows any error stats anywhere this may be useful.
 
Nov 11, 2018
4
0
10


Will do. Should I be running the continuous ping to my router, or something outside the network (e.g., 8.8.8.8)?
 
Nov 11, 2018
4
0
10
I tested the new ethernet cable for two hours tonight. I did not timeout/disconnect once. This has me feeling optimistic. I was also running continuous ping to the first two hops in my traceroute (my router, and my ISP, is my understanding). I will continue to monitor it closely and keep everyone updated. ISP comes out tomorrow, as I have something else I need to discuss with them anyways.