Packet Loss on Plusnet Servers

[#1]

I am noticing some packet loss on some Plusnet servers and not sure if this is normal or not?

Noticed it when having some lag on some games etc so did Ping Plotter and found 137 and 141.hiper04 receiving packet loss of like 70%. Attached a screenshot to show.

[#2]

Also had a friend on Plusnet try it too and got the same. Screenshot attached.

[#3]

Hi @FortKnox101 

Welcome to the forums. 

Was it the same game that both of you were playing? 

Are you noticing packet loss on a wired or wireless connection? Could you also let us know if you are only noticing this when gaming / constantly uploading (as happens when gaming), for example, if you were to do a normal ping test what does the packets sent vs received data look like? 

Thanks, 

MoR

[#4]

Well it was noticed on Overwatch mainly but we have noticed issues on discord screenshare too. Usually me and my friend are able to do 720p60 without issues but lately whenever we try it the bitrate just drops and resolution goes down to 240p. If we host to other people it's fine but as soon as one of us joins the other it just goes bad.

Our pings seem fine though and our setups are both on wired connections. Live in the same area on different cabinets.

[#5]

A couple more questions if you don't mind, @FortKnox101

Are you on Discord SS at the same time as gaming? 

Are you live streaming your gaming? 

Do you have anything else (software etc) open in the background whilst playing? 

So the ping/packet loss is ONLY high when you are playing, normal web browsing returns a normal set of results? 

Thanks,

MoR

[#6]

The pingplotter results were done while idle..nothing open etc. So had all the bandwidth that our connections allow us.

And screenshare issues are happening regardless of having a game open or not..it could happen of we were just playing a video or something. We have done a tests along with trying to change the server discord is hosted on and it still gives us issues.

But up until a week ago this never happened. We've both even tried reseting our modems to put us on a new gateway without results too.

[#7]

Thanks @FortKnox101 

I've tested your circuit and I'm not finding any fault - to be honest, I'm ever seeing any interference detected at all, and we normally see this even on fault free lines, so the circuit is running perfectly from our end.

Is this happening during "peak times"? Is it possible that the issue could just be down to your FTTC cab having a high volume of traffic during peak hours do you think? 

Thanks, 

MoR

[#8]

Well we're on different cabinets and we have been doing it around between 11.30pm to what could be 3am.

[#9]

@FortKnox101

I managed to find your new username via your email address - I'd suggest editing that reply to remove the usernames for security reaosns. 

Thanks, 

MoR

[#10]

Removed

[#11]

Hi @FortKnox101 

Some hops will reject ping requests which may look like packet loss but they'll be prioritising traffic over responding back. Could you setup what's called a ThinkBroadband Quality Monitor from Here please?

Once you've got it setup and it's run for a bit, post up the link here or embed it into a post and we'll be happy to take a look. It's a really useful diagnostic tool which could help us identify any issues and where they may lie.

[#12]

137 and 141.hiper04 receiving packet loss of like 70%

@MasterOfReality Can you please speak to @Kelly about this.

I've lost count how many times I've raised 137 hiper and 141 hiper

Kelly did post that he'd been heard chatter on 141 hiper around 3 weeks ago now, he was going to check, but never came back.

What was said about 141 hiper - it'll solve my issues too

(he posted on an xbox topic)

@Gandalf So why oh why do I sometimes see this?

3 * * 54 ms 141.hiper04.sheff.dial.plus.net.uk [195.166.143.141]
4 12 ms 10 ms 10 ms 140.hiper04.sheff.dial.plus.net.uk [195.166.143.140]

(hop 3 either times out completely, shows like this, or is there - Kelly was going to check as he wasn't sure why it's either there in full, part there, or missing completely)

[#13]

Those screenshots don't show packet loss, just that server not prioritising responding to your ICMP packets.  Those pingplots look like decent performance to me.  (55ms latency is ok!).

There are a couple of slow results in there which you can see with the grey bars expanding outwards, but they look very infrequent as your averages look ok.

[#14]

So @Kelly, does that mean that my connection sometimes seeing:

48ms 54ms 52 ms 141.hiper04.sheff.dial.plus.net.uk

or

* 35ms  56 ms 141.hiper04.sheff.dial.plus.net.uk

or

* * * Request timed out.

(with 141. hiper substituted with 137. hiper)

Is normal?

Why is it sometimes there, yet other times, even quick repeated tracerts, it isn't?

Why would they (141 and 137 hiper) sometimes responds, but then does not?

Should it not be all or nothing?

TIA

[#15]

@Gandalf Have attempted thinkbroadband monitor but my friend had issues as the Plusnet Router doesn't accept ICMP requests. After some more testing we both tried signing up to a VPN - Private Internet Access and this resolved all issues. No Lag in games and Discord Screenshare all working again which suggests there are issues somewhere on the plusnet network. Even PingPlotter testing came back steady with a ping of 12ms.

@Kelly Regardless of ping or not, Our pings and speed are perfect for our lines. It's the quality of service however that is being affected somewhere along plusnets network it seems. As asked by DS why would 141 and 137 hiper sometimes responds? If as you say it's not accepting ICMP Packets wouldn't the packet loss be 100% constantly? not fluctuate around 70% packet loss.