Ping spikes

[#1]

Hi, everyone. Experiencing some problems with our 76 Mbit fibre line.

I'm getting constant ping spikes -- roughly every 5-10 seconds my ping will spike up to anywhere from 250-750 ms, although it seems consistent (for example, if it's spiking to 250, it'll stay spiking to around 250 -- the spikes won't suddenly jump from 250 to 500 or something). Browsing and watching Netflix and the like aren't too bad, because, at worst, it adds a slight delay to page loading times, but online gaming is impossible.

I'm not the one whose name is on the account, so I can't contact customer support myself, although they have. Customer support claimed that, because we're getting our advertised speeds (true), they can't submit a ticket because it'll just get rejected. Speeds aren't a problem. I can download through Steam, BitTorrent, etc. just fine. I can watch Netflix in HD just fine. But ping is an issue.

I've replaced the provided modem/router with an all-in-one TP-Link unit. I've tried different devices with different wireless adaptors and OSs. The issue is consistent throughout. Whether it's the ping in a game, or just pinging Google, it's always the same.

I can see I'm not the only one on the forums experiencing this, but from what I've been told, they won't forward the issue and I'm stuck with this till it fixes itself or our contract ends.

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

Edit: I should clarify that this issue has been ongoing for about two weeks now.

[#2]

I can't offer any advice. I just wanted to let you know that you are not alone with this issue as I am experiencing the exact same problem.

I've started seeing problems since Saturday and while I can download through steam etc like you with speed not being an issue, ping is like a see saw with small amounts of packet loss which makes online games rather frustrating to play.

 All I can suggest is switching channels through your router control panel and restarting your router to see if you change gateway but those haven't worked for me so far, but seeing as there are multiple people on the forums with the exact same issue. I am assuming this is a problem on plusnet's end.

You can monitor your connection if you like with WinMTR or doing trace routes through the control panel. command prompt. Here is an example of WinMTR pinging plusnet with 500 packets of data.

WinMTR Statistics

WinMTR statistics

Host	%	Sent	Recv	Best	Avrg	Wrst	Last
dsldevice.lan	2	468	460	0	40	936	2
No response from host	100	100	0	0	0	0	0
No response from host	100	100	0	0	0	0	0
be3-3104.psb-ir01.plus.net	0	500	500	6	56	1186	7
sup.pih-gw3.plus.net	0	500	500	6	57	1186	7
ae2.ptw-cr01.plus.net	0	500	500	7	56	1095	8
te9-4.ptn-gw01.plus.net	0	500	500	7	57	1183	8
gi5-1.peh-cr02.plus.net	1	496	495	17	74	1185	18
reth1.peh-elbfw.plus.net	0	500	500	17	68	1188	19
10.104.0.53	0	500	500	17	71	1188	18
portal.plus.net	0	500	500	17	67	1189	22

 I hope that you can get your problems fixed soon. If you are able to find a fix, please let me know and have a great day

[#3]

Thanks for the reply. In the past, whenever we've had problems (many, of course), Plusnet have insisted it's our hardware. When this issue started I actually tried replacing the provided modem and router with a TP-Link Archer VR200. Set it up today. Fiddled with the settings. Same problem. I'm not a very technical person, and I don't know how to diagnose this problem, but I've done enough that I'm convinced it's not my fault. From what I've been told (as I said, it wasn't me that spoke on the phone), they kept talking about how being too far away from the router would cause it, but even with a wired connection it persists. I'm positive it isn't a problem with my equipment. Also, they said something about Ofcom, and that they couldn't submit a ticket? I'm not sure what was said exactly but it makes sense. We are getting the advertised speeds, just not a stable ping.

Thank you for your advice. I hope this gets fixed for you, too!

Edit: Okay, I did a traceroute, and here are the results:

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.

C:\Users\David>tracert www.google.co.uk

Tracing route to www.google.co.uk [216.58.204.35]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1     1 ms     1 ms     1 ms  192.168.1.1
  2     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  3     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  4     9 ms     9 ms     9 ms  be3-3106.psb-ir02.plus.net [195.166.143.140]
  5     9 ms     9 ms    12 ms  195.99.125.142
  6    11 ms    10 ms    11 ms  62.172.103.27
  7    13 ms    10 ms    13 ms  109.159.253.67
  8   735 ms    10 ms    11 ms  216.239.54.251
  9     9 ms     9 ms     9 ms  108.170.238.119
 10     9 ms    11 ms     9 ms  lhr25s12-in-f3.1e100.net [216.58.204.35]

Trace complete.

C:\Users\David>