Latency issue. All help appreciated.

[Messyworm]

Hello!

For the last few months my latency has been extremely high. Around 200-400 ms is normal for me now. I am on a 512kb connection and go through a router. The latency is high on games and also when i run a trace route to google for example.

Can anyone suggest anything?

If you need anymore information then just ask.

Thankyou

 

[smore9648]

What kind of network card are you using?drivers updated? What type of connection do you have? DSL, ADSL, Cable?

 

[Messyworm]

1. How to i find my network card?

2. What is the difference between DSL and ADSl because its one of them.

My network card is at the highest update

 

[Rick]

pathping may be more useful than tracert in this scenario. Give it a shot and see if the results help you out.

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/.../xp/all/proddocs/en-us/pathping.mspx?mfr=true

 

[Messyworm]

If i could display the pathping results, then would anyone be able to decifer what they mean?

 

[Samstoned]

I'm sure someone will help
dslreports.com is a good place to find tweaks

 

[Rick]

Sure.

To copy the results, right click in the title bar of the command window and click 'Edit'. Click 'Select All' and then right click anywhere on the selected text. Next, paste it here.

 

[Messyworm]

Here is my results: ( i am using a Belkin router)

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\DAVE>pathping www.google.co.uk

Tracing route to www.l.google.com [66.249.85.99]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
0 NEIL.Belkin [192.168.2.3]
1 . [192.168.2.1]
2 pete-bam-1.inet.ntl.com [194.145.148.98]
3 pete-t2core-a-ge-wan62.inet.ntl.com [80.3.129.13]
4 nth-bb-a-so-210-0.inet.ntl.com [62.253.188.225]
5 nth-bb-b-so-200-0.inet.ntl.com [213.105.172.194]
6 tele-ic-1-as0-0.inet.ntl.com [62.253.184.2]
7 212.250.14.66
8 72.14.238.244
9 216.239.43.91
10 72.14.232.209
11 www.l.google.com [66.249.85.99]

Computing statistics for 275 seconds...
Source to Here This Node/Link
Hop RTT Lost/Sent = Pct Lost/Sent = Pct Address
0 NEIL.Belkin [192.168.2.3]
0/ 100 = 0% |
1 0ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% . [192.168.2.1]
0/ 100 = 0% |
2 218ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% pete-bam-1.inet.ntl.com [194.145.1
48.98]
0/ 100 = 0% |
3 212ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% pete-t2core-a-ge-wan62.inet.ntl.co
m [80.3.129.13]
0/ 100 = 0% |
4 209ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% nth-bb-a-so-210-0.inet.ntl.com [62
.253.188.225]
0/ 100 = 0% |
5 221ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% nth-bb-b-so-200-0.inet.ntl.com [21
3.105.172.194]
0/ 100 = 0% |
6 235ms 2/ 100 = 2% 2/ 100 = 2% tele-ic-1-as0-0.inet.ntl.com [62.2
53.184.2]
0/ 100 = 0% |
7 230ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% 212.250.14.66
0/ 100 = 0% |
8 237ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% 72.14.238.244
0/ 100 = 0% |
9 200ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% 216.239.43.91
0/ 100 = 0% |
10 268ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% 72.14.232.209
0/ 100 = 0% |
11 242ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% www.l.google.com [66.249.85.99]

Trace complete.

C:\Documents and Settings\DAVE>

 

[Rick]

There's doesn't really seem to be much loss... In fact, it is almost perfect. Your pings are definitely high for broadband, but the quality of your connection appears to be good. Your configuration is probably okay (MTU size and encapsulation options on your router for example) because you would have received more loss if your config was wrong.

Aside front contacting your ISP for assistance on their end, there are some things on your end which can create high latency. Latency is usually a matter of network congestion, so you should make certain there no P2P/filesharing programs running or worms/viruses/spyware which are sucking the bandwidth out of your connection etc...

First, try turning off your modem and router. Turn them back on and try the ping command again once you get back online. Any improvement? Turning your router off clears its memory, which can be useful because some programs generate tons of network traffic and many home / small office routers can't keep up so they run low on memory. Some routers even continue to run slow well after it first happens, without being reset.

If there was no improvement or if there was improvement only for a short period of time, you should turn off all but one computer connected to your router. Did latency improve? The idea is eliminate the possibility of programs generating network traffic that you do not know about. If latency does not improve, using the computer you left on, try booting into Safe Mode with Networking. Turn your router off again to clear its memory and try the ping google.com command from Safe Mode. Any better? If it seems to be working, then you probably have something using your connection that you don't know about, like a virus, service or other program.

If it still hasn't improved, then it is very possibly your modem or line. Your ISP can hopefully help you out.

 

[Messyworm]

Thanks alot! I will now go and try those things you said and report back. My router is my modem btw and no other computers really eveer connect to it. In addition, i have found that the latency varies with the time of the day. I'm guessing its my ISP. If i changed my ISP could latency improve or would it be the same because its the same line? My friend goes through the same jumps as i do and hes on my ISP but his is fine. :S

 

[Messyworm]

Tried restarting the router but it didnt work, still remained high. It also remained high in safe mode. This is really starting to bug me i cant play any online games anymore because of the ping. It used to be fine.

If i contacted my ISP what would i say to them to try and fix the issue? Do they have a responsibility to offer decent latency?

 

[Rick]

If i contacted my ISP what would i say to them to try and fix the issue? Do they have a responsibility to offer decent latency?

The only thing you can really say is the truth... You cannot play games anymore and pinging sites like google.com produce very high ping results. The final result should be sending a technician out or replacing your modem and if there's an existing problem they know about, they should let you know. They will also be able to tell how high your latency is.

Are they responsible to provide low latency? Not legally (to a certain extent, at least) but out of good customer service they should do what they can. Sometimes you have be a real hard *** with them, but as long as you stress you want your money's worth, they should be helpful. If they are no cooperating, talk to a supervisor. You can usually get your way for things that are absolutely rediculous, let alone something as honest as this complaint.

 

[Messyworm]

Right i definitely know that it is my line and nothing to do with my computer or modem. Here are the results for 8:30 in the morning

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\DAVE>pathping www.google.co.uk

Tracing route to www.l.google.com [64.233.183.147]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
0 NEIL.Belkin [192.168.2.3]
1 . [192.168.2.1]
2 pete-bam-1.inet.ntl.com [194.145.148.98]
3 pete-t2core-b-ge-wan63.inet.ntl.com [80.3.129.145]
4 pop-bb-b-so-630-0.inet.ntl.com [62.253.188.229]
5 pop-bb-a-ge-000-0.inet.ntl.com [213.105.174.229]
6 nth-bb-b-so-010-0.inet.ntl.com [213.105.172.13]
7 tele-ic-1-as0-0.inet.ntl.com [62.253.184.2]
8 212.250.14.66
9 72.14.238.244
10 216.239.43.120
11 72.14.233.83
12 216.239.43.30
13 www.l.google.com [64.233.183.147]

Computing statistics for 325 seconds...
Source to Here This Node/Link
Hop RTT Lost/Sent = Pct Lost/Sent = Pct Address
0 NEIL.Belkin [192.168.2.3]
0/ 100 = 0% |
1 0ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% . [192.168.2.1]
0/ 100 = 0% |
2 23ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% pete-bam-1.inet.ntl.com [194.145.1
48.98]
0/ 100 = 0% |
3 30ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% pete-t2core-b-ge-wan63.inet.ntl.co
m [80.3.129.145]
0/ 100 = 0% |
4 29ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% pop-bb-b-so-630-0.inet.ntl.com [62
.253.188.229]
0/ 100 = 0% |
5 31ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% pop-bb-a-ge-000-0.inet.ntl.com [21
3.105.174.229]
0/ 100 = 0% |
6 32ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% nth-bb-b-so-010-0.inet.ntl.com [21
3.105.172.13]
0/ 100 = 0% |
7 40ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% tele-ic-1-as0-0.inet.ntl.com [62.2
53.184.2]
0/ 100 = 0% |
8 40ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% 212.250.14.66
0/ 100 = 0% |


Would changing ISP offer a solution to the problem or does it not matter because i will still be using the same phone line?