How do I....

[paul97]

Check the quality of my DSL connection? I think I am experiencing packet loss and or excessive latency and want to check it out. anyone know how I can check this? Also how do i find out what might be causing the problem?

cheers
paul

[xspeedyx]

check packet loss by clicking start > run then type cmd then at the command screen type ping www.bbc.co.uk and check your results

[paul97]

Thanks for the reply, below are the results, how do i pin down the cause?

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\Paul>ping www.bbc.co.uk

Pinging www.bbc.net.uk [212.58.251.195] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 212.58.251.195: bytes=32 time=23ms TTL=118
Reply from 212.58.251.195: bytes=32 time=25ms TTL=118
Request timed out.
Reply from 212.58.251.195: bytes=32 time=23ms TTL=118

Ping statistics for 212.58.251.195:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 3, Lost = 1 (25% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 23ms, Maximum = 25ms, Average = 23ms

C:\Documents and Settings\Paul>

[Druchii]

Try running a ping bbc.co.uk -n 1000
to get a clearer picture.

[AntiSilence]

BBC Webmaster: "Crikey, we're getting a lot of ICMP ping messages from Virgin Media users"

Must account for half of their traffic :rolleyes: :D LOL

[Graham M]

4 32 byte packets are hardly going to overload their data centre :p:

[Andrewcrawford23]

Try running a ping bbc.co.uk -n 1000
to get a clearer picture.

that a bit over the top

if y9u are goign to do it do it 30-50 times if more than 5 drop then there packet lose some where

[AntiSilence]

4 32 byte packets are hardly going to overload their data centre :p:

Depends if their servers were run by I-Web! ;) LOL

[xspeedyx]

Depends if their servers were run by I-Web! ;) LOL

Virgin must use that lol

[paul97]

Try running a ping bbc.co.uk -n 1000
to get a clearer picture.

Just to clarify before i run this, what am i telling my pc to do? ping the bbc 1000 times? Isn't that a bit much? would 100 do?

thanks for you help
paul

[Raistlin]

Yep, that's exactly what you're telling it to do.

100 will do the job, 1000 would give a better diagnostic.

[paul97]

ok, running it now. i'm gussing that you guys don't want to see all 1000 results just the total % loss?

[Jonathan90]

pretty much done it tbh someone said above if u get more than 5 lost theres packet loss

[paul97]

45 (4%)lost, mintrip time = 26ms, maximum 855ms, average = 64ms

not looking good is it? lol

so what do i do next?

---------- Post added at 20:49 ---------- Previous post was at 19:36 ----------

repeated the 1000 ping with the router disconnected and going in direct to the modem. the results are as follows:

total lost=22 (2%) min trip time=19ms, max = 915 average = 26

so it looks like there is a problem somewhere, how do i resolve it?

[paul97]

So can nobody tell me what I am to do about my packet loss?

[D.Casey]

This speedtest also measures packet loss:

http://www.irishisptest.com/runmyspeed.php

Has always been very accurate for me and should give you a % after a fair test.

Do a tracert when your having the problems - it often sheds light on the problem.

[paul97]

tracert?

[Druchii]

Go to start, then Run, then type in cmd and press ok.

Now, in the black windows that appears type in tracert bbc.co.uk and press enter.
The results show what route to the server you are taking.

[paul97]

Thanks for that i will run the tracert next time i am having the trouble

is there a free programme i can run to monitor my connection/packet loss and log it so that i can call the engineers with some solid data?

[paul97]

i thought i might ask if my modem power levels are ok?
the modem is a DOCSIS 1.0/1.1/2.0 Compliant

Downsteam power level seems to fluctuate between 11 and 3 averaging at about 8 dBmV
Upstream power level is 33.5 dBmV or there about

I tried the tracert, it says "unable to resolve target system name www.bbc.co.uk"
immediatly after i got this result i checked that i cold still log on to both my router = fine and the modem = fine.

Then the problem clears and all is ok once more until next time. It's not such a big problem for surfing cus you can just wait a couple of min for the problem to clear but it makes PS3 gaming almost impossible with huge episodes of lag and frequent DCs!

[Tarantella]

Im not up on ps3 and routers but I do know that xbox360s dont work at all well with some routers causing all sorts of weird lag/loss/disconnects. They have a list of recommended routers for use with them. Does Sony?

[paul97]

I thought that at first myself but the packet loss is occuring on my pc while the ps3 is off, and the ps3 dcs etc when the pc is on or off so i think it must be a network problem. also i have tested the packet loss while connected directly pc - modem and still had 22 out of 1000 lost.

[Ignitionnet]

Can you please post those power levels and stuff again.

Also when does it fluctuate, across the course of the day or at a rapid rate all the time?

Downstream SNR would be useful too.

[paul97]

Cable Modem : DOCSIS 1.0/1.1/2.0 Compliant
MAC Address :
Serial Number :
Boot Code Version : 1.1.2c
Software Version : 2.111.1000
Hardware Version : 1.9

Upstream Lock : Locked
Upstream Channel ID : 2
Upstream Frequency : 29200000 Hz
Upstream Modulation : QAM16
Upstream Symbol Rate : 2560 Ksym/sec
Upstream transmit Power Level : 36.5 dBmV
Upstream Mini-Slot Size : 2

Downstream Lock : Locked
Downstream Channel Id : 1
Downstream Frequency : 339000000 Hz
Downstream Modulation : QAM256
Downstream Symbol Rate : 5360.537 Ksym/sec
Downstream Interleave Depth : taps32Increment4
Downstream Receive Power Level : 8.7 dBmV
Downstream SNR : 39.2 dB

Just spent the last 5 min clicking the refresh button o my modems downstream page and the power level has steadily dropped from the above 8.7 to 5.6 then back up to 6.3 then down to 5.7. The numbers change by 0.1 or 0.2 dBmV per refresh. Yesterday it was fluctuating by larger amounts.

[Ignitionnet]

You're in a pretty busy area on the ex-Telewest network.

I'm a bit concerned about your Upstream transmit Power Level : 36.5 dBmV being a bit on the low side, and Downstream Receive Power Level : 8.7 dBmV being a bit on the high side.

Do you know how to get to the newsgroups?

news.virginmedia.com

Group virginmedia.support.broadband

[paul97]

how do i get them and what purpose would it serve?

[Ignitionnet]

Virgin Media staff in the UK monitor the groups and can have a look at the stats on the line that you can't see.

Download Mozilla Thunderbird and follow its' destructions to connect to the above server and group and post there, they can check on it for you.

[paul97]

ok nice one i'll give that a go.

[paul97]

Thanks for the help Broadbandings, got on to the news group and they are sending an engineer out tomorrow. I will post the upshot tomorrow night!

[Ignitionnet]

Cool beans!

[paul97]

they said my modem had rebooted about 10 times a day for the past 2 and a half months lol

and they were concerned by the low downstream and fluctuation

[paul97]

The engineer has been and siad my signal strength was too high. he has adjusted it and so far so good! thanks to all who posted
paul