cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Poor latency at peak times

patrickf
Hooked
Posts: 9
Registered: ‎26-11-2018

Poor latency at peak times

My eldest child has been ranting about his poor online gaming experience - lagging and freezing in games like Fifa and Fortnite.  I ran a ping test (1 per second) over ~1 week and analysed the latency times to see if there was a pattern.  There certainly was!

 

Plusnet_Latency.jpg

The attached graph shows the number of pings (in 1 hour) within certain latency bands:

  • 25 - 50ms
  • 50 - 100ms
  • 100 - 200ms
  • >200ms

 

The graph shows a big variation in latency during the day, with the peaks coinciding with the poor online gaming experience.

 

Is this typical for Plusnet broadband???  If so, I think we'll need to switch.

18 REPLIES 18
Gandalf
Community Gaffer
Community Gaffer
Posts: 26,563
Thanks: 10,265
Fixes: 1,599
Registered: ‎21-04-2017

Re: Poor latency at peak times

Hi there.

Our tests are showing a potential line fault on the Openreach network, so I'd recommend contacting whoever provides your phone line to investigate this further as it's likely to be the underlying cause of any broadband problems.

Let us know if you continue to have issues following that being fixed and we'll be happy to investigate further.

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
patrickf
Hooked
Posts: 9
Registered: ‎26-11-2018

Re: Poor latency at peak times

Hi - thanks for the response.  Plusnet provides both our phone and broadband.  The latency has been bad for some time now (several months).

Gandalf
Community Gaffer
Community Gaffer
Posts: 26,563
Thanks: 10,265
Fixes: 1,599
Registered: ‎21-04-2017

Re: Poor latency at peak times

From what I can see we're only providing your broadband service unless I'm looking at the wrong account.

Can you confirm your account username to me via PM? 

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
Gandalf
Community Gaffer
Community Gaffer
Posts: 26,563
Thanks: 10,265
Fixes: 1,599
Registered: ‎21-04-2017

Re: Poor latency at peak times

Thanks for the private message.

I've tested your line this time, and the tests aren't showing any issues.

Is the device your child is gaming on connecting over WiFi or using a wired connection?

If they're wired can you run a traceroute to pingbox1.thinkbroadband.com posting up the results please?

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
patrickf
Hooked
Posts: 9
Registered: ‎26-11-2018

Re: Poor latency at peak times

Please find attached the output from traceroute taken at 16:29 today when the latency was particularly bad (my son was practically in tears trying to play Fortnite).

 

The latency over 10 consecutive traceroutes is pretty bad...

9 pingbox1.thinkbroadband.com (80.249.99.164) 167.974 ms 167.900 ms 167.830 ms
9 pingbox1.thinkbroadband.com (80.249.99.164) 31.521 ms 52.194 ms 20.503 ms
9 pingbox1.thinkbroadband.com (80.249.99.164) 18.250 ms 19.310 ms 11.538 ms
9 pingbox1.thinkbroadband.com (80.249.99.164) 17.522 ms 18.229 ms 10.606 ms
9 pingbox1.thinkbroadband.com (80.249.99.164) 110.706 ms 160.933 ms 105.650 ms
9 pingbox1.thinkbroadband.com (80.249.99.164) 95.679 ms 95.619 ms 158.234 ms
9 pingbox1.thinkbroadband.com (80.249.99.164) 63.987 ms 63.867 ms 63.796 ms
9 pingbox1.thinkbroadband.com (80.249.99.164) 26.570 ms 74.582 ms 49.159 ms
9 pingbox1.thinkbroadband.com (80.249.99.164) 22.876 ms 22.815 ms 16.068 ms
9 pingbox1.thinkbroadband.com (80.249.99.164) 121.464 ms 121.381 ms 75.792 ms

 

Interestingly, it looks like the Plusnet router itself is struggling:

1 dsldevice.lan (192.168.1.254) 15.562 ms 14.466 ms 14.266 ms
1 dsldevice.lan (192.168.1.254) 26.300 ms 52.069 ms 10.511 ms
1 dsldevice.lan (192.168.1.254) 1.318 ms 12.107 ms 12.027 ms
1 dsldevice.lan (192.168.1.254) 2.111 ms 12.316 ms 12.230 ms
1 dsldevice.lan (192.168.1.254) 101.655 ms 101.569 ms 101.496 ms
1 dsldevice.lan (192.168.1.254) 1.100 ms 153.533 ms 153.457 ms
1 dsldevice.lan (192.168.1.254) 5.600 ms 2.112 ms 88.513 ms
1 dsldevice.lan (192.168.1.254) 21.128 ms 20.993 ms 20.914 ms
1 dsldevice.lan (192.168.1.254) 2.512 ms 11.085 ms 11.024 ms
1 dsldevice.lan (192.168.1.254) 180.715 ms 180.607 ms 180.510 ms

 

I'm running a script to collect and analyse the latency over ~1 week.  It's only 2 days in, but the latency was so bad I had to send something.  Will follow up with an analysis of latency wrt time of day for the full capture.

 

 

adamwalker
Plusnet Help Team
Plusnet Help Team
Posts: 16,871
Thanks: 882
Fixes: 221
Registered: ‎27-04-2007

Re: Poor latency at peak times

Cheers is that over a wired or a wireless connection to the router? - Adam 

If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Adam Walker
 Plusnet Help Team
patrickf
Hooked
Posts: 9
Registered: ‎26-11-2018

Re: Poor latency at peak times

Hi - wired connection directly into the back of the Plusnet router.

Gandalf
Community Gaffer
Community Gaffer
Posts: 26,563
Thanks: 10,265
Fixes: 1,599
Registered: ‎21-04-2017

Re: Poor latency at peak times

Thanks. Are you able to replicate the issue across multiple devices?

Could you also run 1 traceroute, posting up the full results?

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
patrickf
Hooked
Posts: 9
Registered: ‎26-11-2018

Re: Poor latency at peak times

Yes, easily replicated across multiple devices.

 

Full traceroute output attached to earlier post.

patrickf
Hooked
Posts: 9
Registered: ‎26-11-2018

Re: Poor latency at peak times

Here's some further analysis which highlights the problem of high latency at peak times.

 

 

Just to explain my setup - the data was collected by running traceroute continuously from a PC connected directly into the Plusnet router via a wired connection.  The Plusnet router is connected to the wall socket to minimise any internal cabling.

 

The four graphs below show a rolling average of the number of times latency is > 50ms.  The four graphs represent points along the connection:

my PC -> dsldevice.lan (Plusnet router) -> sheff.dial.plus.net.uk -> telehouse.ukcore.bt.net -> pingbox1.thinkbroadband.com

 

The graphs show that the Plusnet router has the occasional wobble.  Generally, I would just use the Plusnet router for the broadband connection and have another device behind it as the WiFi AP, due to performance limitations with the Plusnet router.  However, in this case, I wanted to keep the setup as simple as possible.

 

The sheff.dial.plus.net.uk, telehouse.ukcore.bt.net and pingbox1.thinkbroadband.com plots clearly indicate a significant spike in latency between ~4pm and ~9pm, and also in the morning, ~7am to 9am.  The correlation between the graphs suggest the main problem is between the Plusnet router and the sheff.dial.plus.net.uk, i.e. in the Plusnet broadband access network.

 

COME ON PLUSNET, PLEASE SORT THIS OUT.

 

dsldevice.lan.jpg

sheff.dial.plus.net.uk.png

telehouse.ukcore.bt.net.png
telehouse.ukcore.bt.net.png

 

 

ejs
Aspiring Hero
Posts: 5,442
Thanks: 631
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎10-06-2010

Re: Poor latency at peak times

What router do you have? Do the times of poor latency correspond to higher usage of the Internet on your line?

The Hub Zero (Sagemcom 2704N) had a problem with very bad latency while uploading. I don't know if it ever got fixed in a firmware update, although I've not seen anyone complain about it recently.

patrickf
Hooked
Posts: 9
Registered: ‎26-11-2018

Re: Poor latency at peak times

We have a Plusnet Hub One, Software version 4.7.5.1.83.8.237.2.2.

 

We (or the children) only notice the latency when gaming online.  I would say the overall internet usage is no higher at these times than others.

 

Throughput is generally good (~30Mbps down) most of the time, although we have had occasional problems in the evenings with buffering when streaming video.

MatthewWheeler
Plusnet Help Team
Plusnet Help Team
Posts: 8,896
Thanks: 1,506
Fixes: 480
Registered: ‎01-01-2012

Re: Poor latency at peak times

Thanks for the provided graphs.

From checking them against your usage logs there's more usage at these times than others which will cause any latency tests to show a higher response time as your router will be focusing on processing your traffic rather than responding to any tests.

 

If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Matthew Wheeler
 Plusnet Help Team
patrickf
Hooked
Posts: 9
Registered: ‎26-11-2018

Re: Poor latency at peak times

REALLY???

 

 

I'm unclear what your response is trying to say.  That the Plusnet router cannot cope with online gaming and moderate internet usage???  What was our average throughput during these times?

 

The traceroute traffic will be transparent to the Plusnet router (apart from the initial round with TTL=1).  Therefore, the latency experienced will be representative of that experienced by all our internet traffic.

 

The graphs above suggest the problem is more likely to be between the Plusnet router and sheff.dial.plus.net.uk, i.e. in the local loop, or between the DSLAM and edge of Plusnet's core IP network.

 

 

We tried watching an Amazon Prime film yesterday evening but had to give up because the buffering was so bad.

 

I'm really disappointed by your response.  I have provided you with detailed stats over the last 5 days, highlighting the latency issue and you have done nothing.

 

 

Basically, is your service fit for purpose for online gaming or not?

 

My next test will be to setup port mirroring on the switch behind the Plusnet router to measure the internet usage myself, and to compare this with the latency.