Constant High Jitter & Packet Loss - No Resolution from TalkTalk Support

[butchy-dutchy]

Hi everyone,

I'm hoping someone here might be able to offer advice or guidance because I'm at my wit's end with this issue.

For a while now, I've been experiencing severe jitter and packet loss at random intervals throughout the day, although it seems worse in the evenings. This makes gaming, voice chatting, or even basic browsing incredibly frustrating as the connection becomes unusable.

Here's what I've tried so far:

• I'm using a Cat5e Ethernet cable (so no, it's not a Wi-Fi issue).
• I've connected directly to the Openreach ONT box on the wall to rule out issues with the router. The problem persists even with this direct connection.
• I've been monitoring my connection with PingPlotter and pointing it at Google's servers (which are reliable). The results clearly show packet loss spikes throughout the day, and I have screenshots to prove it.

Despite all this evidence, every time I contact TalkTalk's customer support for Full Fibre, they seem completely out of their depth. They don't seem to understand terms like "jitter" or "packet loss" and repeatedly suggest things like improving Wi-Fi with boosters—even though I've explained multiple times that I'm using a hardwired connection.

I've asked for an engineer to investigate, but they always claim there's nothing wrong after running their (likely basic) tests on their end. Since this is an intermittent fault, it often doesn’t appear during the times they're running tests, which makes reporting it even harder. To make things worse, when the issue occurs, it's usually after hours when their support lines are closed or their systems are down.

I’m paying full price for the best package they offer, and yet I’m stuck with this unreliable connection. It’s clear the issue lies somewhere before the ONT box on the fiber line, but getting anyone at TalkTalk to understand this feels impossible.

If anyone has been through something similar or knows how to escalate this beyond the usual support channels, I’d really appreciate your help. I’m tired of going around in circles and not getting anywhere.

Thanks in advance!

[Michelle-TalkTalk]

Morning,

We wouldn't know what dates are available until we go ahead to book the engineer visit. Please can you confirm acceptance of possible time related engineer charges and also provide a few days AM (8-1) and PM (1-6) and we can arrange this visit for you.

Thanks

Michelle

[butchy-dutchy]

when is the next available engineer then ?

[Chris-TalkTalk]

Hi butchy-dutchy,

I'm sorry but you would need to accept potential engineer charges before we can arrange an engineer visit

Chris

[butchy-dutchy]

This picture says it all for me.... i was online all saturday night from around 8pm - 5am (degen ino) but anyway the internet was perfect i had no lag at all or packet loss. so i said to me myself ill fire up pingplotter an let it run while i get some sleep. so here is the results 

5AM to - 8AM Perfect connection 8AM > Major packet loss starts again. am asleep at this point an no one else uses my connection. 

This to me shows severe congestion on the line obviously most people wake up 8AM crack on with the day. so talk talk sort it out please am tired of it already now. i feel robbed that am paying for this.

[butchy-dutchy]

Talk Talk says there is no problem with the line.. this been constantly like this for weeks now.

The talk talk team ...

i Seem to be getting no where and the fact they want to charge me for an engineer is discusting. i pay £55 a month for this crappy unstable connection already.

i have requested a copy of there line diagnostic they do there end as i dont believe it even shows stuff like packet loss and yet to receive it. any advise on what to do next ?

[Michelle-TalkTalk]

Morning,

I'm sorry to hear this. Please can you run a wired ping and trace route the next time this happens and send the results to me via a Private Message.

Run a Ping or Traceroute - TalkTalk Help & Support

Thanks

Michelle

[butchy-dutchy]

This is after the ONT was reset left it off for arround 40 mins.  and the direct connection to ONT with cat6e

[butchy-dutchy]

yes tried that mate got an email when i turned it back on saying im now live. but straight back to packet loss central lol i even just went an paid for a cat6e shielded cable an go direct AGAIN to the ONT on the wall an its just diabolicle  how much i lag. i just dont know what am suppose to do anymore. £55 a month an 90% of the day am having packet loss issue. TalkTalk do a speed test see that am getting full speed an a one off ping of 3ms so they autopilot an go everything looks good our end. So fustrating tbh i wish they had a team that could be actually skilled an qualified to understand the problems. i just get put through to an indian who keeps moaning at me because they dont understand the terms im using an they cant go off there script. so again they just auto pilot into suggesting the wifi is the issue then offering boosters etc. honestly its shameless 

[KeithFrench]

Have you tried turning off the ONT for at least 30 mins?

[butchy-dutchy]

sorry i should of said i dont use any security or antivirus. i have tested on 3 devices an the fault is persistent across them them all even bypassing the eero devices direct to ont... the fiber wire is also on a pole going through trees and the line litrally rests on branches it could be simply noise from that i have no idea but am trying to think what it could be other than blaming congestion lol

[KeithFrench]

What security software are you using as this can cause issues like this?