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Inconsistent ping - 5 months and counting

Surfer_CRX
Hooked
Posts: 8
Registered: ‎01-04-2021

Inconsistent ping - 5 months and counting

I don't really know what to do, since December last year I have had issues with latency when gaming. If I'm just gaming there is no problem, as soon as you try to use the internet for anything else as the same time, the ping goes up and down and doesn't stay consistent. This has only been a problem since December, since registering it as a fault with Plusnet they have done numerous tests and told me there isn't a fault, they then sent Openreach round who also said there isn't a fault, when pressed further I was told there was a fault at the local cabinet which would be fixed on 18th May and would definitely fix my problem. I got a call at the weekend to tell me that the fix had been implemented and that my issue was resolved.

 

Guess what, it isn't and I'm back to square one with line tests etc. I am now being told that a new router will solve the issue and that will be here next week.

 

I see quite a few people with similar problems on the forum and they either leave Plusnet or have something done with the VLAN because of congestion (I have no idea what this is by the way).

 

I'm pretty fed up with having to go over the same thing again and again with technical support and don't really know what to do, any advice would be welcome.

 

 

10 REPLIES 10
Gandalf
Community Gaffer
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Registered: ‎21-04-2017

Re: Inconsistent ping - 5 months and counting

Thanks for your post @Surfer_CRX 

I'm sorry to see you're having issues with your ping. Latency issues are tricky as there's a wide range of causes and Openreach generally wouldn't specifically investigate latency unless there's an underlying fault detected.

The fault we said would be fixed by the 18th May was a major service problem showing on the infrastructure but that's since been cleared by our suppliers as resolved. A VLAN is BT's equipment at the exchange which can get overutilised or congested but that doesn't seem to be the issue here as there's no congestion showing up.

Which games specifically do you see latency spikes with? Is your computer plugged into the router directly using an ethernet cable without any network switches or powerline adapters in place?

Can you try running a traceroute to pingbox1.thinkbroadband.com? To run a traceroute, open up the command prompt (click on the start menu and type cmd then press enter. Once a black box has opened type tracert pingbox1.thinkbroadband.com After the trace has ended/completed, post up the 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
Surfer_CRX
Hooked
Posts: 8
Registered: ‎01-04-2021

Re: Inconsistent ping - 5 months and counting

Thank you for the reply.

 

The latency increases and becomes unstable as bandwidth it consumed and is not strictly only when gaming, however it is more noticeable when gaming as it makes online games unplayable -  currently Fortnite is the game that we play the most. Also I'm only ever really using a max of 10Mbps at any one time on a 24-30Mbps connection.

 

My PC is plugged directly into the router, the rest of my networked items were also plugged directly in to the router as well up until a few weeks ago when I ran everything through an unmanaged switch. I have no issues with my WiFi as we only use that for mobile phones and tablets and we don't use powerline adapters.

 

One thing that has remained consistent is, if I'm playing games and I turn any of the smart TVs on in the house ping will immediately go into the 100s and will then fluctuate between 7 and 90 making the game unplayable. I have recently started using netmeter at the same time to confirm that the ping is not consistent, this not only confirms that the latency is all over the place it also confirms that it is not a game server issue. I can game perfectly well when we are not downloading anything on another device or streaming video, as soon as we start to do that at the same time this is when the issues start.

 

Something else to note, if I run an internet speed test at the same time that I'm gaming it will send the ping all over the place until the speed test is complete whether I run the speed test on the gaming PC or on my laptop it doesn't matter it still affects the ping.

 

If I run a traceroute when nothing is using internet bandwidth it will come back fine, if I do it when there is a demand it probably won't. When the fault initially started I used to trace route test Epic games servers as I thought the problem was with them, I am now convinced it isn't.

 

I will get some trace routes done later and post up. Thanks again for the assistance.

Gandalf
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Re: Inconsistent ping - 5 months and counting

Thanks for the detail @Surfer_CRX 

Really odd issue. I think given the router's a good few years old it's definitely worth trying another to rule out an issue with it. 

If you haven't already you could try a factory reset by pushing something pointy into the pinhole at the back for 20 seconds.

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
Surfer_CRX
Hooked
Posts: 8
Registered: ‎01-04-2021

Re: Inconsistent ping - 5 months and counting

I plugged in the new router a few hours ago and did a little load test and I still have the same problem, I have done two trace route tests. The first one is when the only thing that is using my internet is the game, and I'm just sat in the lobby so it's not really doing anything. The second test is when I am streaming a film to my TV whilst trying to game the in game ping monitor pretty much confirms what netmeter is saying

As Netflix was running and I couldn't game I decide to perform some ping tests, the results of those are also below and I threw in a internet speed test as well for good measure, I understand this will show lower speeds that what I actually have as Netflix is running in the background but it also shows that I am only using approximately a quarter of my bandwidth.

 

trace route.JPGping 08-05-21.JPGspeed test.JPG

Surfer_CRX
Hooked
Posts: 8
Registered: ‎01-04-2021

Re: Inconsistent ping - 5 months and counting

So things have gone from bad to worse, I've been setting up a 'new' computer today which required downloading the latest version of a Windows update as well as installing all the programs on the machine that I use. My internet has been almost unusable! Whilst I am downloading this windows update and my Epic games account and library I cannot even stream twitch to my phone as it keeps lagging out.

 

I paused the Windows update because 3 hours on it is still not complete, my game is downloading at between 1 and 3 Mbps and internet speed test is again giving crazy figures. After nearly two hours I have still not downloaded a 30 Gb game, I don't even believe that there is an argument that it could be the game servers given the results of the internet speed test, the ping monitor and the fact that I cannot even stream Twitch to my phone ( I'm sitting in the same room as the router, it is 2 metres away!)

 

To say I'm pretty annoyed is an understatement, I'd been promised that the major outage that Openreach had reported would clear my fault once fixed - it hasn't. I was then promised that a new router would solve the problem - it hasn't. I've had a problem for over 5 months that has had a significant impact on how I use the internet and it is still no closer to being resolved. All the while I have been paying £30+ per month for the privilege!

 

Fortnite download speedFortnite download speedping whilst downloadingping whilst downloadingspeed test whilst downloading Fortnitespeed test whilst downloading FortniteRandom test during the afternoonRandom test during the afternoon

Surfer_CRX
Hooked
Posts: 8
Registered: ‎01-04-2021

Re: Inconsistent ping - 5 months and counting

A quick Monday morning update, all I am trying to use the internet for this morning is catching up on e-mails using a laptop on WiFi and continuing my download of Fortnite through the Epic games store. Everything is running super slow, if I pause my download and re-run my speed test it will show 28-30 Mbps but if I try and download anything it will do it at a ridiculously low rate.

 

Speed test on the Monday.JPGPing test on the Monday.JPG

Surfer_CRX
Hooked
Posts: 8
Registered: ‎01-04-2021

Re: Inconsistent ping - 5 months and counting

Forgot to add the pic showing how slowly my download is progressing just to confirm it's not downloading at 23Mbps which would account for my 7Mbps download speed when running the speed test.

 

Fortnite download on Monday.JPG 

Surfer_CRX
Hooked
Posts: 8
Registered: ‎01-04-2021

Re: Inconsistent ping - 5 months and counting

Goodbye Plusnet and your awful customer service and faults department.

 

To anyone that reads this Plusnet have been terrible with this complaint, refusing to look at the information that I posted above, their faults team do not know what a trace route is, their managers fail to escalate the problem and after days and days of being promised a call back I decided to leave and go elsewhere.

 

I guess if they can't solve your problem with a new router, a static IP or an engineer visit then they can't do much, I think they prefer people to leave when they experience problems because they do not have the expertise to resolve issues.

adam945
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 2,319
Fixes: 113
Registered: ‎01-12-2020

Re: Inconsistent ping - 5 months and counting

Hi @Surfer_CRX

 

Thanks for reaching out again, and I'm extremely sorry that we've been unable to resolve your ongoing issues with your ping speeds. I've looked through the account and can confirm that all of the support and advice that can be offered, has now been provided. I've run further line tests and the line does appear to be stable, with download speeds of around 35Mbps which is within range as per your contract.

 

As ping speeds are also dependant on external factors such as the game server itself, there is little more that we can do on our end to assist, other than possibly looking at a gesture of goodwill to partially cover the cost of a third party router.

 

Saying that, it appears that another provider is set to take over the line on 25/05/2021 we wish you all the best in having this matter resolved going forward.

 

-Adam - Plusnet Leeds

 

 Adam
 Plusnet Help Team - Leeds
Surfer_CRX
Hooked
Posts: 8
Registered: ‎01-04-2021

Re: Inconsistent ping - 5 months and counting

Hi Adam

 

My download speeds are only stable when there is no load on the line - this is my problem, why can nobody at Plusnet understand this!

 

As soon as you start using the internet the speeds drop significantly and the ping goes through the roof. The fact that I keep being referred to my contract speeds just goes to show that nobody is looking at my complaint with any level of scrutiny. My download speeds have never in practice been as high as 35Mbps and even if they were, as soon as I go to use the internet those speeds quickly diminish and my latency makes the apps on my smart TV unstable and gaming not possible. (I will state again that this has only been a problem since December 2020 because everyone on the Plusnet team seems to miss this!)

 

The fact that I have never had any problems with my line, speed or ping until December of last year would tell me that there is a fault somewhere that has yet to be found. I have been with Plusnet for several problem free years and am massively disappointed with having to change provider because I have a problem that not only can't be fixed by Plusnet but isn't being looked at with any level of urgency, given the fault duration.

 

I'm sure a third party router would help mitigate the fault especially if it has the ability to control bandwidth to each port but this would effectively be a 'plaster' for a fault on Plusnet's side and I shouldn't have to go to that level so I can use the internet especially given, and I'm sure I have mentioned this once or twice, that I've not had to do anything like this until December 2020.

The fact that the company would rather see people change provider than fix a fault speaks volumes - whether my move to BT will resolve this issue or not is secondary to me, I'm not leaving because of the fault, I'm leaving because of the poor customer service and Plusnet representatives not taking my issue seriously or resolving it. Given the poor performance by Plusnet of rectifying this fault and the fact that I have been having to try and diagnose this issue myself a move to a different provider is the only thing left that I can do. It does seem that several others who have posted to the forum in the past have had similar issues to me that have been resolved by a change of provider too.

In case you have a few spare days to read stuff here is one of the threads https://community.plus.net/t5/Fibre-Broadband/My-Ping-and-I/td-p/1619224