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Intermittent High Pings

thejudge
Rising Star
Posts: 624
Thanks: 10
Registered: ‎01-08-2007

Intermittent High Pings

Since yesterday (or, at least, that's where it became noticeable) at various random times my connection will slow to very nearly a halt. Trying to run a TBB speed test takes ages and comes up with a ludicrously slow d/l speed (e.g. 0.4 Mbps). Instead of seeing pings like this (although it's usually 32ms):

Pinging 212.159.9.2 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=42ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=41ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=40ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=41ms TTL=246
Ping statistics for 212.159.9.2:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 40ms, Maximum = 42ms, Average = 41ms
I'm getting this sort of response (edited - it'll give you the idea):
Pinging portal.plus.net [212.159.9.2] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=854ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=619ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=693ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=553ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=585ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=611ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=604ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=621ms TTL=246
(edit)
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=790ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=689ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=407ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=623ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=837ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=1049ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=1017ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=535ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=290ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=499ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=532ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=706ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=733ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=744ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=750ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=775ms TTL=246
Request timed out.
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=657ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=656ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=679ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=689ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=716ms TTL=246
Request timed out.
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=335ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=355ms TTL=246
(edit)
Ping statistics for 212.159.9.2:
    Packets: Sent = 207, Received = 204, Lost = 3 (1% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 76ms, Maximum = 1049ms, Average = 592ms
Doing a tracert to www.plus.com gives similar slow responses between nodes - even between the router and the gateway.
It'll tend to right itself after a few minutes, but it's maddening while it's doing it.
Here are the things I've done, but to no effect:
Gateway hop
Reboot the router
Disconnect the upstairs phone extension
Make sure all connections are seated properly.
My connection speed is stable at 4510kbps, with an SNR of 9 (as of 21:27), which is very good for this time of the evening.
My DNS servers are OpenDNS (primary) and Google (secondary).
Any thoughts as to:
a) what's causing this?
b) where the problem might lie?
c) how to fix it?
TIA
22 REPLIES 22
deathtrap
Grafter
Posts: 1,064
Thanks: 4
Registered: ‎23-04-2013

Re: Intermittent High Pings

May sound silly but did try plugging in to the test jack and replacing the filter and performing the tracert ping ect  on the wire ,(Ethernet cat5-6 cable from pc to router) ?  if so and still got the same results,
as to what it could be ,your  router the adsl cable from master socket to router,  failing those a line fault of some description, or plain old congestion, which may be on the VP , (exchange) have you checked your exchange status? what results do you get to google.co.uk or bbc.co.uk ?
Maybe if you could post your stats from your router  it may reveal a possible cause, , also check your BT IP profile speed matches plusnet's version
thejudge
Rising Star
Posts: 624
Thanks: 10
Registered: ‎01-08-2007

Re: Intermittent High Pings

And here's what a tracert to Plusnet looks like when it's playing up:
Tracing route to portal.plus.net [212.159.8.2]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
  1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  192.168.0.1
  2  788 ms  910 ms  839 ms  lo0-central10.ptw-ag03.plus.net [195.166.128.197
]
  3  659 ms  285 ms  342 ms  link-a-central10.ptw-gw01.plus.net [212.159.2.15
2]
  4  557 ms  672 ms  718 ms  244.core.access.plus.net [212.159.0.244]
  5  745 ms  763 ms  793 ms  te9-4.ptn-gw01.plus.net [195.166.129.33]
  6    *      357 ms  436 ms  gi5-1.peh-cr02.plus.net [84.93.232.61]
  7  427 ms  258 ms  309 ms  po5.peh-cr01.plus.net [84.93.232.16]
  8  491 ms  465 ms  480 ms  vlan2657.peh-elb01.plus.net [84.93.232.44]
  9  502 ms  442 ms  520 ms  portal.plus.net [212.159.8.2]
Huh
thejudge
Rising Star
Posts: 624
Thanks: 10
Registered: ‎01-08-2007

Re: Intermittent High Pings

deathtrap:
When you say 'stats from the router', do you mean like this:

System Up Time 23:10:53
Port Status TxPkts RxPkts Collisions Tx B/s Rx B/s Up Time
WAN PPPoA 374806 595058 0 321 10128 22:43:05
LAN 10M/100M 914299 603475 0 15663 654 23:10:49
ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 4510 kbps 446 kbps
Line Attenuation 43 db 12 db
Noise Margin 9 db 17 db
As for the test socket, I don't have one, and there's no exchange/VP problem showing. The problem is the same irrespective of which site(s) I ping/tracert to.
Current line speed per Plusnet is 5Mb, BTW Performance Test says profile is 3.98 (which seems a bit low).
Yaroze
Grafter
Posts: 25
Registered: ‎01-09-2013

Re: Intermittent High Pings

HI thejudge,
I just posted exactly the same thing, that I am currently facing intermittent ping times.
Nice to rule out it's not just me Smiley
http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,118272.0.html
deathtrap
Grafter
Posts: 1,064
Thanks: 4
Registered: ‎23-04-2013

Re: Intermittent High Pings

Sounds like could a BT wholesale or plusnet issue if the cause is the same  for both of you, I know that you both are probably  on dynamic IP addresses , but you could set up a ping monitor over at think broadband , you would have to create a new monitor every time your IP changes in order to visually see this latency problem, and also delete the previous monitor each time as well or you could stop who ever gets allocated your old ip from using the monitor , Also you would need to enable incoming  ICMP requests within your routers gui for the monitor to work, http://www.thinkbroadband.com/ping
Oh course there is the other possibility  that being DLM is the cause , a line fault could trigger it to do what it normally does over react, but i do doubt that a ping of over 100ms  would be normal even for that
thejudge
Rising Star
Posts: 624
Thanks: 10
Registered: ‎01-08-2007

Re: Intermittent High Pings

I'm on a static IP. Are you, Yaroze?
[Edit: further data point - I'm on Ethernet not wireless]
thejudge
Rising Star
Posts: 624
Thanks: 10
Registered: ‎01-08-2007

Re: Intermittent High Pings

OK, anyone at Plusnet Towers able to see what happened to my connection at approximately 17:11 today (Friday) for this to start happening again?

Pinging portal.plus.net [212.159.9.2] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=754ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=827ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=863ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=743ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=783ms TTL=246
Request timed out.
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=725ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=656ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=780ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=888ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=822ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=704ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.159.9.2: bytes=32 time=651ms TTL=246
etc.
Ping statistics for 212.159.9.2:
    Packets: Sent = 277, Received = 268, Lost = 9 (3% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 464ms, Maximum = 1017ms, Average = 752ms
Angry
chrispurvey
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 5,369
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎13-07-2012

Re: Intermittent High Pings

Hi there,
There's no issues when checking your line. Is it still like that.
I've noticed that you've had a few drops this week on Wednesday:
<img src="http://community.plus.net/visualradius/generated/image13790896658210.png"/>
Was this caused by you, I notice you stated that you experienced issues since yesterday.
thejudge
Rising Star
Posts: 624
Thanks: 10
Registered: ‎01-08-2007

Re: Intermittent High Pings

Chris,
Those drops were initiated by me either because I thought there was a gateway issue or because I'd re-synched at too high a rate and my SNR went too low to use the connection.
I'm still seeing the high pings both to Plusnet and to other sites.
[Update @ 1737: it's now suddenly much better, although I'm still getting repsonses at about 40ms instead of around 32~33ms]
thejudge
Rising Star
Posts: 624
Thanks: 10
Registered: ‎01-08-2007

Re: Intermittent High Pings

18:02 and it's gone again:
Tracing route to portal.plus.net [212.159.9.2]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
  1    1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  192.168.0.1
  2  843 ms  490 ms  552 ms  lo0-central10.ptw-ag03.plus.net [195.166.128.197
]
  3  515 ms  550 ms  565 ms  link-a-central10.ptw-gw01.plus.net [212.159.2.15
2]
  4  598 ms  597 ms  616 ms  244.core.access.plus.net [212.159.0.244]
  5  684 ms  754 ms  808 ms  ae1.pcl-cr01.plus.net [195.166.129.1]
  6  820 ms  579 ms  670 ms  po2.pcl-gw01.plus.net [195.166.129.41]
  7  567 ms  468 ms  542 ms  gi5-8.ptp-cr01.plus.net [84.93.224.48]
  8  493 ms  450 ms  479 ms  vlan2658.ptp-elb02.plus.net [84.93.224.45]
  9  514 ms  510 ms  591 ms  portal.plus.net [212.159.9.2]
Trace complete.
thejudge
Rising Star
Posts: 624
Thanks: 10
Registered: ‎01-08-2007

Re: Intermittent High Pings

Now back to near-normal (that is to say, 40ms pings)
Yaroze
Grafter
Posts: 25
Registered: ‎01-09-2013

Re: Intermittent High Pings

Quote from: thejudge
I'm on a static IP. Are you, Yaroze?
[Edit: further data point - I'm on Ethernet not wireless]

Dynamic here and ethernet too.
While I am not receiving high pings just yet,
I have now receiving time out of hops
racing route to bbc.co.uk [212.58.251.195]
ver a maximum of 30 hops:
1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  home.gateway.home.gateway [192.168.1.254]
2    18 ms    20 ms    17 ms  lo0-central10.ptn-ag03.plus.net [195.166.128.192
3    19 ms    17 ms    15 ms  link-a-central10.ptn-gw01.plus.net [212.159.2.13
]
4    17 ms    18 ms    17 ms  108.core.access.plus.net [212.159.0.108]
5    17 ms    17 ms    18 ms  kingston-gw.thdo.bbc.co.uk [212.58.239.6]
6     *        *        *     Request timed out.
7     *        *        *     Request timed out.
8    13 ms    14 ms    13 ms  ae0.er01.telhc.bbc.co.uk [132.185.254.109]
9    13 ms    13 ms    13 ms  132.185.255.140
10    17 ms    19 ms    19 ms  www-vip.telhc.bbc.co.uk [212.58.251.195]


Tracing route to google.com [173.194.34.130]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
 1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  home.gateway.home.gateway [192.168.1.254]
 2    14 ms    13 ms    13 ms  lo0-central10.ptn-ag03.plus.net [195.166.128.19
]
 3    13 ms    14 ms    13 ms  link-b-central10.ptn-gw02.plus.net [212.159.2.1
8]
 4    37 ms    12 ms    12 ms  110.core.access.plus.net [212.159.0.110]
6     *        *        *     Request timed out.
7     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 8    16 ms    18 ms    17 ms  lhr14s21-in-f2.1e100.net [173.194.34.130]
Trace complete.

Ping appears to be fine though, Received the same intermittent problem as thejudge at around the same time too.
spraxyt
Resting Legend
Posts: 10,063
Thanks: 674
Fixes: 75
Registered: ‎06-04-2007

Re: Intermittent High Pings

Time outs on intermediate hops can happen because they are set not to respond to pings, or they might be giving priority to routing. As long as they route efficiently such ping (or timeout) behaviour is of no consequence. The ping from both those end-points is good so no need to worry.
David
Yaroze
Grafter
Posts: 25
Registered: ‎01-09-2013

Re: Intermittent High Pings

10:42pm, Receiving high pings yet again.

Pinging plus.net [212.159.8.2] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 212.159.8.2: bytes=32 time=77ms TTL=248
Reply from 212.159.8.2: bytes=32 time=1327ms TTL=248
Reply from 212.159.8.2: bytes=32 time=80ms TTL=248
Reply from 212.159.8.2: bytes=32 time=1118ms TTL=248
Ping statistics for 212.159.8.2:
   Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
   Minimum = 77ms, Maximum = 127ms, Average = 100ms

Tracing route to plus.net [212.159.8.2]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
 1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  home.gateway.home.gateway [192.168.1.254]
 2    74 ms    13 ms    13 ms  lo0-central10.ptn-ag03.plus.net [195.166.128.192
]
 3   224 ms   124 ms   181 ms  link-a-central10.ptn-gw01.plus.net [212.159.2.13
6]
 4   1107 ms   1139 ms   104 ms  108.core.access.plus.net [212.159.0.108]
 5    19 ms    76 ms    32 ms  te9-4.ptn-gw01.plus.net [195.166.129.33]
 6    48 ms    30 ms    81 ms  gi5-1.peh-cr02.plus.net [84.93.232.61]
 7    54 ms    68 ms    46 ms  po5.peh-cr01.plus.net [84.93.232.16]
 8    27 ms    28 ms    29 ms  vlan2657.peh-elb01.plus.net [84.93.232.44]
 9    76 ms    51 ms    37 ms  portal.plus.net [212.159.8.2]
Trace complete.


Can confirm, that no downloads, no other usage apart from me on my network (And my computer is my own router)
This is now seriously getting annoying, is there any other way I can escalate this?
Could I also get a fancy connectivity graph too? Pretty please.