SUPER HIGH Pings, whats the deal?

Operaghost

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jun 4, 2004
Messages
1,315
So I was playing TF2 today, then outa the blue my ping spikes up.

It hasn't gone back down since, I can't find any servers that I have less than like a 400 ping to.

I don't know shit about networking, so I've no idea what might be causing this.

I'm pretty sure I don't have any tasks or programs or anything running that would cause any network problems. Had Utorrent closed, etc.

Browsing the internet seems to be fine, although perhaps a tad slower than normal, but not bad.

Anyone know what I could try? I tried to check other games to see if my pings were horrible in a different game, but I don't really have any games to test with.
 
try opening a command prompt and pinging some websites? i.e ping www.comcast.net and see what the pings come back as. Otherwise try powercycling your networking hardware.
 
Thanks, I did powercycle everything.

Pinged comcast.net, lowest was 32, highest was 44ms.
I'm going to try pinging some of the TF2 servers and see what I get.

*edit* Pinged a server and got an average of about 150, topped at like 240ms.

I'm doing a tracert on it now, I will try to post the results cause I don't really know how to troubleshoot them.
 
Last edited:
Tracing route to 77-215-245-216.reverse.lstn.net [216.245.215.77]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 37 ms 15 ms 96 ms 192.168.1.1
2 * 21 ms 11 ms 76.100.208.1
3 92 ms 573 ms 347 ms te-1-4-ur02.frederick.md.bad.comcast.net [68.85.112.249]
4 46 ms 12 ms 33 ms po-75-ur01.newmarket.md.bad.comcast.net [68.85.67.98]
5 130 ms 19 ms 49 ms po-45-ur01.mtairy.md.bad.comcast.net [68.85.67.94]
6 31 ms 19 ms 135 ms po-75-ur01.westminster.md.bad.comcast.net [68.85.67.90]
7 10 ms 22 ms 51 ms po-45-ur02.westminster.md.bad.comcast.net [68.85.67.86]
8 705 ms 40 ms 119 ms be-75-ar03.whitemarsh.md.bad.comcast.net [68.85.67.81]
9 36 ms 134 ms 83 ms be-99-ar03.whitemarsh.md.bad.comcast.net [68.85.61.86]
10 202 ms 70 ms 69 ms pos-1-7-0-0-cr01.newyork.ny.ibone.comcast.net [68.86.90.21]
11 77 ms 109 ms 28 ms pos-0-0-0-0-pe01.111eighthave.ny.ibone.comcast.net [68.86.87.122]
12 43 ms 29 ms 128 ms er2-tengig3-3.newyork.savvis.net [208.173.138.13]
13 * 44 ms * cr2-tengig-0-15-4-0.NewYork.savvis.net [204.70.198.17]
14 70 ms 80 ms 96 ms cr1-tengig0-7-0-0.dallas.savvis.net [204.70.196.213]
15 154 ms 91 ms 73 ms pr2-ge-4-0-0.DallasEquinix.savvis.net [204.70.200.169]
16 107 ms 59 ms 124 ms er1-te-3-1.dallasequinix.savvis.net [204.70.204.149]
17 71 ms 120 ms 66 ms 208.175.175.102
18 88 ms 138 ms 76 ms te5-1.bdr1.core2.dllstx3.dallas-idc.com [208.115.252.22]
19 62 ms 67 ms 71 ms ge0-2.vl139.cr02-76.dllstx3.dallas-idc.com [208.115.251.150]
20 123 ms 92 ms 68 ms 77-215-245-216.reverse.lstn.net [216.245.215.77]


Trace complete.
 
Go to www.speedtest.net and run a speed test and copy the url for your results like so:



P.S. I apologize if my ISP makes you drool.

If there is a problem with your speeds either upload or download, this could be causing the problem.

Also, go to www.pingtest.net and do that test too like so:



Anything less than an A and your ISP is not up to par for playing a game such as TF2, which I must say I thoroughly enjoy too and would be rather upset if I was lagging.


Also If anyone wants a tracert to compare to here:

Tracing route to 77-215-245-216.reverse.lstn.net [216.245.215.77]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 192.168.1.1
2 7 ms 5 ms 5 ms 10.240.170.49
3 6 ms 5 ms 5 ms ool-4353e6c1.dyn.optonline.net [67.83.230.193]
4 * * * Request timed out.
5 10 ms 9 ms 9 ms rtr4-tg10-2.wan.whplny.cv.net [64.15.8.29]
6 9 ms 12 ms 8 ms 64.15.0.230
7 * * * Request timed out.
8 8 ms 9 ms 9 ms nyk-bb2-link.telia.net [80.91.253.105]
9 36 ms 39 ms 35 ms chi-bb1-link.telia.net [80.91.246.164]
10 53 ms 52 ms 52 ms dls-bb1-link.telia.net [80.91.248.209]
11 54 ms 53 ms 53 ms limestone-ic-135964-dls-bb1.c.telia.net [213.248.74.222]
12 51 ms 51 ms 56 ms te5-1.bdr1.core1.dllstx3.dallas-idc.com [208.115.252.18]
13 53 ms 54 ms 54 ms ge0-1.vl138.cr02-76.dllstx3.dallas-idc.com [208.115.251.146]
14 52 ms 52 ms 53 ms 77-215-245-216.reverse.lstn.net [216.245.215.77]


Trace complete.
 
Funny you posted that. I just got off the phone with comcast and ran the speedtest.

I'm getting barely .60 download and I usually get like 6.



The dude said there is construction in my area, but somehow I doubt that's the problem. We did have a power outage in the house today. I wonder if the cable modem got damaged?
 
If you can plug directly into the modem and run the speed test that would be a surefire way to tell if the issue is with your network or your ISP.

By the looks of it, since you say you typically get 6Mbps down and your only getting 1/10 of that, I would say its your ISP.

Usually when this happens to me (since its never my network) I call up my ISP. Talk to tech support. Shortly after they ask me what the problem is. I say, are there any reported outages in my area? To which they always reply, Yes.

Now it is a possibility your modem or wiring leading to the modem in your house is causing the problem. Some modems let you look at the signal strengths. In my case if I type in 192.168.100.1 into my browser I get to look at technical info such as:

Receive Power Level
0.1 dBmV

Transmit Power Level
40.9 dBmV
Typically in a cable modem you want your receive level as close as possible to 0dBmv and your transmit power level above 30dBmV.

If the signal is poor generally you have too many splits in the cable line before it hits your modem.
 
Thanks for the input guys.
I will try to see if I can find that info in my router settings.
Comcast is coming out in a couple days to take a look at things.
 
This is from the modem info as you suggested:

RF Parameters
Downstream
Freq/Power: 549.000 MHz -11 dBmV
Signal to Noise Ratio: 34 dB
Modulation: QAM256
Upstream
Freq/Power: 37.000 MHz 54 dBmV
Channel Type: DOCSIS 2.0 (ATDMA)
Symbol Rate: 5120 kSym/sec
Modulation: QAM64

So by the looks of this the downstream or receiving signal is weak?
 
Taken from this article here is your results:

Downstream : Acceptable but not Recommended
-10 to 10dBvm is Recommended
-15 to 15dBvm is the maximum.

Upstream: Your at the max (which is not a good thing)
8 to 54dBvM is the maximum

I would say the problem is the signal leading to your modem, now this does not always mean it is your fault. This can be caused by your ISP.

Best way to rule yourself out is by checking the number of splits in the cable line.

Example: In my house there are 2 splits total. On the first split 1 wire goes to the Modem and the other leads to the second split. On the second split both wires go to cable boxes.

Each time it splits the signal gets degraded, which is why it is recommended you have your modem on the very first split, although very few people I know have it done this way. Your ISP will squawk at you if your modem is not on the first split and usually charge you to remedy the problem. So do yourself a favor and eliminate this first if possible.
 
Ya I don't know if there are any splits in the house prior to it.

But I know it's split between the modem and the cable box. I rent my home, and I'm moving in like 3 weeks, so if they try to tell me that I need to pay them to fix it, I'm gonna tell em to take a hike.

Thank you all for the help and advice. As always, the Hardforum comes through!
 
Tracing route to 77-215-245-216.reverse.lstn.net [216.245.215.77]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 37 ms 15 ms 96 ms 192.168.1.1
2 * 21 ms 11 ms 76.100.208.1
3 92 ms 573 ms 347 ms te-1-4-ur02.frederick.md.bad.comcast.net [68.85.112.249]
4 46 ms 12 ms 33 ms po-75-ur01.newmarket.md.bad.comcast.net [68.85.67.98]
5 130 ms 19 ms 49 ms po-45-ur01.mtairy.md.bad.comcast.net [68.85.67.94]
6 31 ms 19 ms 135 ms po-75-ur01.westminster.md.bad.comcast.net [68.85.67.90]
7 10 ms 22 ms 51 ms po-45-ur02.westminster.md.bad.comcast.net [68.85.67.86]
8 705 ms 40 ms 119 ms be-75-ar03.whitemarsh.md.bad.comcast.net [68.85.67.81]
9 36 ms 134 ms 83 ms be-99-ar03.whitemarsh.md.bad.comcast.net [68.85.61.86]
10 202 ms 70 ms 69 ms pos-1-7-0-0-cr01.newyork.ny.ibone.comcast.net [68.86.90.21]
11 77 ms 109 ms 28 ms pos-0-0-0-0-pe01.111eighthave.ny.ibone.comcast.net [68.86.87.122]
12 43 ms 29 ms 128 ms er2-tengig3-3.newyork.savvis.net [208.173.138.13]
13 * 44 ms * cr2-tengig-0-15-4-0.NewYork.savvis.net [204.70.198.17]
14 70 ms 80 ms 96 ms cr1-tengig0-7-0-0.dallas.savvis.net [204.70.196.213]
15 154 ms 91 ms 73 ms pr2-ge-4-0-0.DallasEquinix.savvis.net [204.70.200.169]
16 107 ms 59 ms 124 ms er1-te-3-1.dallasequinix.savvis.net [204.70.204.149]
17 71 ms 120 ms 66 ms 208.175.175.102
18 88 ms 138 ms 76 ms te5-1.bdr1.core2.dllstx3.dallas-idc.com [208.115.252.22]
19 62 ms 67 ms 71 ms ge0-2.vl139.cr02-76.dllstx3.dallas-idc.com [208.115.251.150]
20 123 ms 92 ms 68 ms 77-215-245-216.reverse.lstn.net [216.245.215.77]


Trace complete.

that ping to your router actually looks a bit high.
are you wired or wireless to your router? If wired, you should be getting a consistent <1ms ping reply from your router.
 
Tracing route to 77-215-245-216.reverse.lstn.net [216.245.215.77]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 37 ms 15 ms 96 ms 192.168.1.1
2 * 21 ms 11 ms 76.100.208.1
3 92 ms 573 ms 347 ms te-1-4-ur02.frederick.md.bad.comcast.net [68.85.112.249]
4 46 ms 12 ms 33 ms po-75-ur01.newmarket.md.bad.comcast.net [68.85.67.98]
5 130 ms 19 ms 49 ms po-45-ur01.mtairy.md.bad.comcast.net [68.85.67.94]
6 31 ms 19 ms 135 ms po-75-ur01.westminster.md.bad.comcast.net [68.85.67.90]
7 10 ms 22 ms 51 ms po-45-ur02.westminster.md.bad.comcast.net [68.85.67.86]
8 705 ms 40 ms 119 ms be-75-ar03.whitemarsh.md.bad.comcast.net [68.85.67.81]
9 36 ms 134 ms 83 ms be-99-ar03.whitemarsh.md.bad.comcast.net [68.85.61.86]
10 202 ms 70 ms 69 ms pos-1-7-0-0-cr01.newyork.ny.ibone.comcast.net [68.86.90.21]
11 77 ms 109 ms 28 ms pos-0-0-0-0-pe01.111eighthave.ny.ibone.comcast.net [68.86.87.122]
12 43 ms 29 ms 128 ms er2-tengig3-3.newyork.savvis.net [208.173.138.13]
13 * 44 ms * cr2-tengig-0-15-4-0.NewYork.savvis.net [204.70.198.17]
14 70 ms 80 ms 96 ms cr1-tengig0-7-0-0.dallas.savvis.net [204.70.196.213]
15 154 ms 91 ms 73 ms pr2-ge-4-0-0.DallasEquinix.savvis.net [204.70.200.169]
16 107 ms 59 ms 124 ms er1-te-3-1.dallasequinix.savvis.net [204.70.204.149]
17 71 ms 120 ms 66 ms 208.175.175.102
18 88 ms 138 ms 76 ms te5-1.bdr1.core2.dllstx3.dallas-idc.com [208.115.252.22]
19 62 ms 67 ms 71 ms ge0-2.vl139.cr02-76.dllstx3.dallas-idc.com [208.115.251.150]
20 123 ms 92 ms 68 ms 77-215-245-216.reverse.lstn.net [216.245.215.77]

Trace complete.

Look at all those comcast bounces! :eek:
 
I'm wireless.

What's that mean that it's "bouncing" at comcast a lot?

Trying to find a way out of thier network?
 
I think he is referring to the obvious jitter in the Comcast results. Look at the ones he highlighted where the three pings timing varies by several hundred ms at the same site. Line 3 is a good example: 97ms, 573ms and 347ms.

Have you checked to see if you are over Comcast's 250GB monthly cap? Your results - and the crazy jitter inside Comcast's network - suggest that you might be seeing some "network management" being applied to your traffic.
 
Look at all those comcast bounces! :eek:

I think he is referring to the obvious jitter in the Comcast results. Look at the ones he highlighted where the three pings timing varies by several hundred ms at the same site. Line 3 is a good example: 97ms, 573ms and 347ms.

which could also be an issue with the wireless.

Do a constant ping to your router for a couple minutes to see how much jitter is there, and if there are any timeouts.
 
which could also be an issue with the wireless.

Do a constant ping to your router for a couple minutes to see how much jitter is there, and if there are any timeouts.

The jitter data was from a traceroute and was specific to certain hops inside the Comcast network. His wireless did jitter a bit, as expected, but the later hops inside a carrier core are normally rock solid.
 
The jitter data was from a traceroute and was specific to certain hops inside the Comcast network. His wireless did jitter a bit, as expected, but the later hops inside a carrier core are normally rock solid.

all ping replies still come through the wireless. If the packet is being dropped/lagged due to wireless interference, it will get a timeout or high ping time.

it's really no different than doing a constant to ping to the hop. Dropped packets and high latency could still be due to issues with the wireless.
 
I think he is referring to the obvious jitter in the Comcast results. Look at the ones he highlighted where the three pings timing varies by several hundred ms at the same site. Line 3 is a good example: 97ms, 573ms and 347ms.

Have you checked to see if you are over Comcast's 250GB monthly cap? Your results - and the crazy jitter inside Comcast's network - suggest that you might be seeing some "network management" being applied to your traffic.

Yup, I was also referring to the number of times it jumps through Comcast servers.
 
I doubt I'm over 250GB in a month.

My fiance and I don't download much. Videos here and there some music, but not very frequently.
 
Interesting...

I tested again today and here's what I got:





So my download bandwidth is back to where it used to be, but look at the outrageous ping/jitter.....

Anyone have suggestions on how to diagnose the problem?
 
This is so odd.

Just two mins later, another speed test and...



Why the hell is this so inconsistent?
 
Ok, so I did some investigating and it looks as though my router or my wireless is having issues.

Here are the results of 100 pings to the router at 1500 kb each:

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7600]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

>ping -n 100 -l 1500 192.168.1.1

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.1:
Packets: Sent = 100, Received = 95, Lost = 5 (5% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 4ms, Maximum = 516ms, Average = 106ms

Where should I go from here? Try it wired to the router to determine if it's the wireless connection or the router itself?
 
Ok well it's definately the wireless...

Here's the same pingtest from the same machine, but directly wired this time:

0% packet loss
2ms average ping response, 13ms max (when I opened a couple webpages)

So where do I go from here? How do I figure out why my wireless is all whacked out?
 
Wired speed and ping test:





So these results confirm that it is indeed my wireless that is causing my woes.
I just don't know why.
 
use inSSIDer and see what channels are in use by other APs.

any 2.4GHz phones?

how far away from the router?
 
I also play tf2 and have found similar problems. My regular server averages a 20 ping and last week/weekend I was averaging 180. Several people on the server ran tracerts and it appeared to be one of the last hops giving us fits. Our server admin said they indicated an issue with softlayer.

While having the problems, I noticed all servers were running higher than normal (nothing under a 90ping). My ping has dropped back to normal and it sounds like most of the others have too but now there seems to be a problem with dropped packets.
 
If i had to guess, i would say it's your wireless connection. Maybe a neighbor put up a new AP that's running on the same channel causing interference/packet loss.
 
Hi,i would like to share my ping test results
Reply from 74.125.221.83: bytes=32 time=45ms TTL=53
Reply from 74.125.221.83: bytes=32 time=45ms TTL=53
Reply from 74.125.221.83: bytes=32 time=45ms TTL=53
Reply from 74.125.221.83: bytes=32 time=45ms TTL=53
Ping statistics for 74.125.221.83: Packets: Sent = 4,
Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 45ms,Maximum = 45ms,Average = 45ms
and check my ping from here whoisxy
 
You could always try something like MTR. It will show response / loss at each device along the way to your destination.
 
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