Packet Loss...

[Nitecom]

Good morning peeps!

Starting last Saturday I have been experiencing alot of packet loss, more noticeably when im playing online games, the connection has been fine for the last 8 months.

I have run tracert's and ping tests, both show packet loss, unfortunately I havent got any examples on me as I am in work, but I notice that the packet loss occurs randomly on the tracert, no specific hop where it appears to be worse.

I have tried two seperate router's as to rule out the possibility of it being that, I haven't yet tried swapping the filter or tested it from the BT test socket (things I will try tonight)

Other info, I live about 1km away from the local exchange, below are the noise margins taken from my router.

Just to add, I am connecting via ethernet to the router.

ADSL
Type Interleave
Status No Defect
Downstream Upstream

Data Rate(Kbps) 4320 352

Noise margin (dB) 16.4 6.0

Output power (dBm) 19.8 11.4

Attenuation (dB) 31.0 17.0

[James67]

I'm confused - your profile says you're on a 2Mbit connection (i.e., Sky Broadband Base) but you're syncing at over 4Mbit. It'd help if you got your profile set up correctly.

You've been very heavily capped. With 31dB downstream attenuation, you should be able to get 8Mbit comfortably (if you're on Broadband Mid) or close to 16Mbit (if you're on Broadband Max). That suggests that you've got serious amounts of interference on your phone line. You really need to get that sorted out - have a look at the Cabling and faceplate help section for hints and tips on what to do.

[Nitecom]

Yeh sorry about that. When I registered the account I wasnt sure what package I was on (still dont) I live in a shared house so its the landlord's Sky account.

[Nitecom]

Just to clarify, if I do try it from the test socket tonight and the connection reverts back to normal, would this be an internal wiring issue with one of the extension sockets or the master BT socket? If so who would I contact to resolve the problem, BT?

[richone54]

post the results back from the test socket
if it does turn out to be internal wiring problem you could have a look in the cabling and faceplate forum for tips on how to improve it (but you may have to get permision from the landlord before you do anything, dont want to upset them )

[Nitecom]

Test socket results :-

Data Rate(Kbps) 5820 456

Noise margin (dB) 16.6 21.0

Output power (dBm) 20.0 11.6

Attenuation (dB) 31.0 18.1

Packet loss continued from the test socket, although my connection speed improved. Results pretty much look the same as before. Landlord gets back today so I have the impossible task of explaining to him what the problem is, what he needs to do (He is a complete technophobe) Maybe I'll ring BT on his behalf

[Nitecom]

Ok so the landlord has still yet to get back from his "trip" so I have been unable to report the fault to BT.

One thing I did notice this Sunday was that the connection was fine through the day, no packet loss or disconnections, however later on in the night (around 8-9pm onwards) the connection once again deteriorated..... So would this still point to an issue with noise on the line or a Sky problem?

[PaulSky]

Line, there is more contention at peak times, this can help drive the SNR down to the point where the connection collapses or slows to a crawl.

[Saturday]

I think you mean line noise - as in there's more line noise in the evenings (which generally coincides with peak times) which will drive down the . . . .

Contention is how many physical connections are sharing the same exchange equipment/bandwidth. That won't vary through the day or directly affect the noise margin.

It is fair to say however that contention may indirectly affect the noise margin due to crosstalk which will be higher at peak times.

[Nitecom]

Thought i'd give an update on this.

Still getting packet loss at random times of the day, sometimes the connection is ok, but then suddenly will revert back to loads of packet loss.

Have contacted Sky who reported a fault to BT for me, BT initially did not find a fault, Sky sent me a new router (V1) and this was tested (still same problems) The fault was then reported back to BT and for a period of about 5 days the connection was fine, no dropped connections at all.

The dropped connections have started again, I phoned SKY and apparantely BT had resolved the fault (around the time my line was fine) they did not say what BT had done.

Not sure what they would of done, but it was only a quick fix as the problem is back again, I have once again contacted SKY who raised a new fault.

Im pretty much at the end of my tether here, I phoned SKY back for an update and was asked to go through all the standard trouble shooting again, which has really ****** me off.

Any ideas what I should do? Im gonna try and phone them back again tonight to see if I can get through to a helpfull agent, although chances of that are very slim indeed