Internet Connection dropping - Packet loss

[#1]

Hello.. I decided to give a try to this forum since it seems to have very technical people willing to help..

Since a few months ago I've been experiencing packet loss in games (hosted in AWS) and results in heavy ghosting and warping from enemies along with the game closing the match due "no network connectivity". I was only able to get evidence today after loosing my patience .. This doesn't happen on a particular time of the day, I had it at noon workday, evening workdays and afternoon weekends (so very random at 1st glance). No other devices on the network streaming etc.. 

I've attached RouterStats pictures that clearly show the connection going down.. is this enough to open a fault ? The bandwidth is also reducing (see OpenWRT picture from October 2021 vs Plusnet Hub today). 

I don't really care about the reduction from 77 to 68mbps (please ignore the two entries on top from thinkbroadband with 0.xx upload) but I do care about the packet loss / latency.

Is there anything else I need to gather to open a fault ?

Many thanks

Moderator's note by Mike (Mav): Personal information removed from a public forum (to an area that staff can see).

[#2]

Hello @zearthlink2

Thanks a lot for getting in touch and I'm sorry to hear that you're having issues with your service. Packet loss isn't always attributed to the ISP, and can be caused by other factors such as thirds party routers, and servers that you're connecting to.

Are you able to upload your router logs from your Hub One at all?

BTW, I've had to report one of your images to one of our moderators as it contained your account username.

[#3]

Hi Adam, 

thanks for your reply. I-ve reuploaded my hub page without username and uploaded a .pdf with the WAN logs (which from that we can see there was a disconnect (01:02:30, 02 Feb. (31899.390000) PPPoE is down after 529 minutes uptime [Disconnected] 01:02:28, 02 Feb. (31896.700000) PPP LCP Send Termination Request [Peer not responding]). Do you want to see any other logs ?

I'm aware lag can be caused by third party routers and so on, hence me plugin back the Hub One and run the routerstats (attached in 1st post that depicts the signal failture). The servers which I connect would affect all players and not only me but I understand where you are coming from.

Is there anything else you would like me to provide ?

[#4]

Hi @zearthlink2

I'm really sorry to see you're having connection issues while trying to game.

I've tested your line today and the tests aren't showing any issues. 

The drops in the logs you've given match up with what I can see our side and I've attached a picture below. I wouldn't say these particular drops are much of a concern as they're relatively few. 

When you have problems gaming, is your computer plugged into your router directly using an ethernet cable not using a switch or powerline adapters, or is it connecting wirelessly?

Also, if you setup a ThinkBroadband Quality Monitor and let it run while you're gaming & not gaming, posting a link to it, this may provide more insight: https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality

To set it up though you'll need to use your own router again, because the Hub One doesn't accept ICMP/ping requests.

Let me know how it goes. 

[#5]

Hello, thanks for the follow up.

I always use cable direclty connected to router, so not a wifi issue or powerlines (and no phones attached to the socket).

I had Thinkbroadband setup before, the picture attached show packetloss before I disconnect the router (1st Feb).. I'm now using Openwrt router again (sadly only after I had major lag while playing :S:S:S)

root@OpenWrt:~# /etc/init.d/dsl_control status
ATU-C Vendor ID: Broadcom 193.144
ATU-C System Vendor ID: Broadcom
Chipset: Lantiq-VRX200
Firmware Version: 5.8.1.8.1.6
API Version: 4.17.18.6
XTSE Capabilities: 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x2
Annex: B
Line Mode: G.993.2 (VDSL2)
Profile: 17a
Line State: UP [0x801: showtime_tc_sync]
Forward Error Correction Seconds (FECS): Near: 0 / Far: 318417
Errored seconds (ES): Near: 0 / Far: 139816
Severely Errored Seconds (SES): Near: 0 / Far: 523
Loss of Signal Seconds (LOSS): Near: 0 / Far: 0
Unavailable Seconds (UAS): Near: 63 / Far: 63
Header Error Code Errors (HEC): Near: 0 / Far: 0
Non Pre-emtive CRC errors (CRC_P): Near: 0 / Far: 0
Pre-emtive CRC errors (CRCP_P): Near: 0 / Far: 0
Power Management Mode: L0 - Synchronized
Latency [Interleave Delay]: 0.13 ms [Fast] 0.0 ms [Fast]
Data Rate: Down: 74.529 Mb/s / Up: 19.999 Mb/s
Line Attenuation (LATN): Down: 10.8 dB / Up: 9.4 dB
Signal Attenuation (SATN): Down: 10.8 dB / Up: 9.3 dB
Noise Margin (SNR): Down: 4.0 dB / Up: 7.8 dB
Aggregate Transmit Power (ACTATP): Down: -4.7 dB / Up: 13.4 dB
Max. Attainable Data Rate (ATTNDR): Down: 78.068 Mb/s / Up: 23.511 Mb/s
Line Uptime Seconds: 320
Line Uptime: 5m 20s
root@OpenWrt:~#

I will game until the 13th February (Sunday) and will be away for 2 weeks, so that will give a good indication of the line when nothing is in us for proper comparison.

If you don't seen an issue for the time being, I will update this ticket upon my return

Many thanks

[#6]

Thanks for getting back to me @zearthlink2

No problem, makes sense. Have a good time away and let me know how it goes when you're back. 

[#7]

Just a quick question please, shoudnt the Noise Margin be Above 10db ?

Noise Margin (SNR):                       Down: 3.4 dB / Up: 7.9 dB

The value of 'Noise margin' [dB]:

• up to 6 dB — a low-quality line, there are synchronization problems;
• 7 dB to 10 dB — failures may occur;
• 11 dB to 20 dB — good line, no synchronization problems;
• 21 dB to 28 dB — a very good line;
• 29 dB and above — an excellent line.

[#8]

@zearthlink2  The answer to your question is NO. Have you got that information from some US website which bears no relation to how Broadband works in the UK it is a complete load of nonsense.

In the UK 6dB is a typical target SNR margin, on some FTTC lines depending on the cabinet you are connected to it can be reduced to 3db to give higher speed.  So the figures you have are perfectly normal.  For a known reason my line runs perfectly well at about 1.7 dB margin with no problems whatsoever. Currently up for over 49 days at full 80/20 sync  with 2 downstream errors in that period, according to your info it is a bad line with synchronisation problems, I don't think so.😊