topic Re: High packet Loss in Broadband

High packet Loss

Sleepy — Mon, 06 Feb 2023 17:51:34 GMT

Been experiencing serious network lag showing continuous packet loss (excess of 30%) using an online system - Second Life (SL).
SL is based around Portland USA and uses Amazon Web Services.
I have the standard 'Talktalk Wi-Fi Hub', 60mbps fibre and speed test show excellent results.

What I've done so far:-
-reset / repower the router (a few times)
-tested with router plugged it into the main network socket
-tried both wifi and wired
-tested on both windows 7 and 11
-tested on both laptop and desktop
-and .. followed all configuration suggestions from SL forums re network issues.

One SL suggestion was to use Network software called WinMTR to trace network activity across to USA. I've checked out many websites over there particularly in Portland.
The WinMTR results are interesting .. most sites show no packet loss .. not surprising as I don't have performance problems with most web sites, however I've found 2 that give me heavy packet loss (30% plus) - and both show the final destination hostname appended with 'amazonaws.com'.

One other suggestion was to try using a VPN .... EUREKA .. . NO NETWORK LAG, NO SL PACKET LOSS .. and this was the case whether I use a VPN region in UK, USA or even New Zealand.

Great result but obviously I shouldn't have to pay for a VPN and shouldn't need to use one to have a network without heavy packet loss. So, apart from VPN or giving up SL, what's the real solution ?

Re: High packet Loss

Anonymous — Tue, 07 Feb 2023 07:03:19 GMT

Hello,

I've run a test on the line now which hasn't detected a fault and the connection stats look ok. Can I just confirm, has this only just started to happen or has this always occurred when using this particular site?

Thanks

Re: High packet Loss

Sleepy — Tue, 07 Feb 2023 09:56:43 GMT

Thanks for the response .. I 've used SL for quite a while and network performance has never been a problem. This has started happening in the past few weeks. Difficult to say exactly when it started because a bit of lag in online games and SL is always possible but recently got very bad .. that's when I started looking at networking stats and saw the horrrendous packet loss. Btw the VPN I use is from Norton and as I said in the blog the problem totally disappears totally when I use it. I've also run Second Life on a system without Norton in order to eliminate any firewall issues but makes no difference.

Re: High packet Loss

Anonymous — Tue, 07 Feb 2023 10:00:47 GMT

Morning,

Thanks for confirming. If you run a speed test at the same time that this happens, are the throughput ok? Did you try powering down the router for a full 30 minutes as this will reset the current session?

Thanks

Re: High packet Loss

Sleepy — Tue, 07 Feb 2023 17:29:17 GMT

HI .. thanks for the response .. I powered down router and desktop as you asked (did it for or one hour.). Problem still the same. Using VPN tried again and totally eliminates problem .. ie zero packet loss. But without VPN .. horrendous lag - packet loss 30%. Done the speed tests you asked for ... Talktalk speed test with Second Life running is same as it not running ie 62mbps . Using ThinkBroadband speed test results were 60.4mbps d/load .. 18.4 u/load .. again same results with or without SL running.

Please also note that the packet loss isn't only Second Life ..I mentioned earlier that I'd run some ping tests over to Portland USA - most error free, but for example, if I ping Oregon Zoo over there, I get similar packet loss ie 30 to 40 % .. (using either the WinMTR app or windows command prompt ping, I get same results). Fyi ... Oregon Zoo URL is " oregonzoo.org "and it's hostname according to WinMTR is . " ec2-52-36-131-229.us-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com " As I mentioned earlier (and I've no idea if it's relevant) but Second Life also uses the Amazon AWS

Re: High packet Loss

Anonymous — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 06:40:51 GMT

Morning,

Thanks for trying this. Does it seem to happen at specific times of the day or at random?

Thanks

Re: High packet Loss

Sleepy — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 10:35:20 GMT

Apart from using a VPN, the packet loss is always there, anytime I use SL.

Re: High packet Loss

Chris-TalkTalk — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 11:18:56 GMT

Hi Sleepy,

Do you experience the packet loss on more than one device?

Chris

Re: High packet Loss

Sleepy — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 12:43:39 GMT

yes .. i've tried 2 different deskop systems and a laptop .. I've tried it on Windows 11 and Windows 7. I've tried it with and without my Norton firewall. I've tried it wifi and cabled. Same problem in every time.

Re: High packet Loss

Chris-TalkTalk — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 14:41:53 GMT

OK thanks. Can you run a set of pings and a set of trace routes to the second life website and PM me the results

Run a Ping or Traceroute - TalkTalk Help & Support

Thanks

Chris

Re: High packet Loss

Sleepy — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 16:21:56 GMT

Pings and Tracerts done and sent in PM

Re: High packet Loss

Sleepy — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 11:54:40 GMT

Problem still as bad as ever. A couple more intersting pics. I mentioned that SL runs out of an AWS service based Oregon,USA. These pics (I was using cloudpingtest.com/aws) are ping testing AWS Oregon using whatever route TalkTalk takes and the second pic with VPN (UK) enabled. Amazing difference. Hope it helps.

Re: High packet Loss

Chris-TalkTalk — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 15:02:21 GMT

Thanks for the information. Could I just ask, does the poor performance depend on time of day at all or is it always the same as far as you are aware?

Chris

Re: High packet Loss

Sleepy — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 15:29:07 GMT

As I said before (messages 7 and 8), apart from using a VPN, the packet loss is always there and always high , anytime I use SL.

Re: High packet Loss

Chris-TalkTalk — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 07:36:02 GMT

OK thanks. I'll pass this over to our network team and ask them to take a look. I'll let you know when I receive an update

Chris

Re: High packet Loss

nic1987 — Sat, 11 Feb 2023 22:46:52 GMT

Have you tried 3rd party dns servers?

Re: High packet Loss

Sleepy — Sun, 12 Feb 2023 12:15:13 GMT

Read up on DNS servers. I changed the DNS to 1.1.1.1 .. didn't make any difference . Then tried 8.8.8.8 - no difference. Tried the VPN again and while it's active, as before, the problem goes away.

Re: High packet Loss

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Feb 2023 07:17:20 GMT

Hello,

As soon as my colleague receives an update from our faults team then we will post back here straight away.

Thanks

Re: High packet Loss

Sleepy — Tue, 14 Feb 2023 16:01:19 GMT

Hi any news from the fault team? Still get the same horendous packet loss every time I try to use SL. Still 100% fine if I use VPN

Re: High packet Loss

Anonymous — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 06:42:37 GMT

Morning,

I'm sorry for the delay. I've requested an update from the faults team now.

Thanks