Cable Forum - View Single Post - Connection Dropping

tweetiepooh · 08-09-2005, 10:48

I seem to be suffering a similar problem in SO22 though I connect via Samsung STB on 3Mb service.

Tests from ntl techies show some odd things on the STB including a problem with Popular Values SNMP Poll. Spent long time on support line to India went through the mill trying to explain that the PC is dual boot and I am not always in XP so it's not likely to be a virus/trojan. Also that most service is OK most of the time. These problems only started about 2 weeks ago. That I was advised to tell them .... and can this be passed to 2nd/3rd line please. CS tell me that they can ping things fine, that there is no packet loss and the problem is because games servers squeeze their packets. More likely is that games use UDP (connectionless) and a constant stream of data and so loss in bits of it are noticeable. TCP will retry and other streamed stuff like radio is buffered and maybe you get a click or short pause. Annoying but not critical.

Symptoms:
Games drop out eg Halo.
Downloads can be a tad slow.
Browsing can be a little jerky - delay in starting to receive page.

Setup
= wire - wireless

PC===switch===bridge-----router====STB
wireless is about 6m line of site with a thin partition wall between.

long term ping test to router - 0% loss (various packet sizes).
wireless is Belkin and router is PreN MIMO device. WAP on etc.
also tried with wire from switch to router and dropping switch.

Occassionally when I see internet problems I will also see sync light on STB flashing. Don't seem to totally loose all service though.

Eventually had an engineer out who "turned down power" on STB/network (I wasn't there). This has not helped.

Elwell's BB speed tool shows pings mostly OK, sometimes on some servers slow but not a problem. Download speeds vary from 512k to 2.8M. Packet loss between 0 and 62% depending on servers. Usually between 0 and 4% but any packet loss is a problem.

Nuria shows downloads 1.5-2.8M, upload 240-280k, gaming 0.000 to 0.350, can't remember browsing speed but there is some variation there.

I did a ping to the gateway address, shown in router, and saw some packet loss with larger packets (ping -s 1472).

Also getting help from Belkin as I upped the firmware on both bridge and router but that doesn't seem to be the issue.

Unwilling to bypass router entirely as not want to expose PC to net and I can't see how that would help as it has been fine with it in place so far and nothing has changed. No new phones, microwaves etc.

08-09-2005, 10:48	#41
tweetiepooh Virgin Media Employee Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Winchester Services: Staff MyRates BB: VM 1Gb TV: VM XL Phone : VM XL Posts: 3,390	Re: Connection Dropping - Help Please (long) I seem to be suffering a similar problem in SO22 though I connect via Samsung STB on 3Mb service. Tests from ntl techies show some odd things on the STB including a problem with Popular Values SNMP Poll. Spent long time on support line to India went through the mill trying to explain that the PC is dual boot and I am not always in XP so it's not likely to be a virus/trojan. Also that most service is OK most of the time. These problems only started about 2 weeks ago. That I was advised to tell them .... and can this be passed to 2nd/3rd line please. CS tell me that they can ping things fine, that there is no packet loss and the problem is because games servers squeeze their packets. More likely is that games use UDP (connectionless) and a constant stream of data and so loss in bits of it are noticeable. TCP will retry and other streamed stuff like radio is buffered and maybe you get a click or short pause. Annoying but not critical. Symptoms: Games drop out eg Halo. Downloads can be a tad slow. Browsing can be a little jerky - delay in starting to receive page. Setup = wire - wireless PC===switch===bridge-----router====STB wireless is about 6m line of site with a thin partition wall between. long term ping test to router - 0% loss (various packet sizes). wireless is Belkin and router is PreN MIMO device. WAP on etc. also tried with wire from switch to router and dropping switch. Occassionally when I see internet problems I will also see sync light on STB flashing. Don't seem to totally loose all service though. Eventually had an engineer out who "turned down power" on STB/network (I wasn't there). This has not helped. Elwell's BB speed tool shows pings mostly OK, sometimes on some servers slow but not a problem. Download speeds vary from 512k to 2.8M. Packet loss between 0 and 62% depending on servers. Usually between 0 and 4% but any packet loss is a problem. Nuria shows downloads 1.5-2.8M, upload 240-280k, gaming 0.000 to 0.350, can't remember browsing speed but there is some variation there. I did a ping to the gateway address, shown in router, and saw some packet loss with larger packets (ping -s 1472). Also getting help from Belkin as I upped the firmware on both bridge and router but that doesn't seem to be the issue. Unwilling to bypass router entirely as not want to expose PC to net and I can't see how that would help as it has been fine with it in place so far and nothing has changed. No new phones, microwaves etc.