Packet loss - 2 weeks now - is it just BT?

Hi,

Spent two weeks trying to get BT to fix a massive packet loss
situation. I can log-on to BT Yahoo BB 2Mb/s and very occasionally get
a great logon with zero packet loss to sites such as

www.btinternet.co.uk

www.claranet.co.uk

But, normally over several days and 30-40 logon's, I get between %20
and %50 packet loss continually during that logon session. When I get
zero packet loss, that is how it stays - from first logon to a day
afterwards. With the %20-50 packet loss the connection is terrible -
pages do not laod properly, news connections drop - file xfer's are
awful.

BT have run tests and the exchange confirms that my line has very low
loss and with my firewall down, tests from the exchange to my PC
proved to the BT engineer that there were no problems from the
exchange to my PC and vice-verse - zero loss and everything fine,
During this time, whilst talking to the BT engineer, I had %45 packet
loss to the above addresses. Two days on and late Wednesday evening I
logged on for the umpteenth time and got zero loss - everything has
been fine for best part of 24 hours - still zero loss and brilliant
connection and speeds - just like it used to be everytime two weeks
ago.

I have them looking into this. If they cannot sort this - will moving
to the likes of Zen be better, or do they use some of the kit in the
exchange that may be the cause of the problme?

The sites above and similar, show the amount of loss I get during that
logon - and that reflects into how good or poor or plain awful that
session will stay.

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Spent two weeks trying to get BT to fix a massive packet loss
> situation. I can log-on to BT Yahoo BB 2Mb/s and very occasionally get
> a great logon with zero packet loss to sites such as
>
> www.btinternet.co.uk
>
> www.claranet.co.uk
>
> But, normally over several days and 30-40 logon's, I get between %20
> and %50 packet loss continually during that logon session. When I get
> zero packet loss, that is how it stays - from first logon to a day
> afterwards. With the %20-50 packet loss the connection is terrible -
> pages do not laod properly, news connections drop - file xfer's are
> awful.
>
> BT have run tests and the exchange confirms that my line has very low
> loss and with my firewall down, tests from the exchange to my PC
> proved to the BT engineer that there were no problems from the
> exchange to my PC and vice-verse - zero loss and everything fine,
> During this time, whilst talking to the BT engineer, I had %45 packet
> loss to the above addresses. Two days on and late Wednesday evening I
> logged on for the umpteenth time and got zero loss - everything has
> been fine for best part of 24 hours - still zero loss and brilliant
> connection and speeds - just like it used to be everytime two weeks
> ago.
>
> I have them looking into this. If they cannot sort this - will moving
> to the likes of Zen be better, or do they use some of the kit in the
> exchange that may be the cause of the problme?
>
> The sites above and similar, show the amount of loss I get during that
> logon - and that reflects into how good or poor or plain awful that
> session will stay.

Hve you tried any tracerts to see where the packet loss is being caused.
Personally I use a little program called Neotrace as you can traceroute
& ping at the same time. It could be a little embarrassing if it's down
to your own equipment....

On Thu, 29 Sep 2005 19:57:04 +0100, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:

>
>Hi,
>
>Spent two weeks trying to get BT to fix a massive packet loss
>situation. I can log-on to BT Yahoo BB 2Mb/s and very occasionally get
>a great logon with zero packet loss to sites such as
>
>www.btinternet.co.uk
>
>www.claranet.co.uk
>
>But, normally over several days and 30-40 logon's, I get between %20
>and %50 packet loss continually during that logon session. When I get
>zero packet loss, that is how it stays - from first logon to a day
>afterwards. With the %20-50 packet loss the connection is terrible -
>pages do not laod properly, news connections drop - file xfer's are
>awful.
>
>BT have run tests and the exchange confirms that my line has very low
>loss and with my firewall down, tests from the exchange to my PC
>proved to the BT engineer that there were no problems from the
>exchange to my PC and vice-verse - zero loss and everything fine,
>During this time, whilst talking to the BT engineer, I had %45 packet
>loss to the above addresses. Two days on and late Wednesday evening I
>logged on for the umpteenth time and got zero loss - everything has
>been fine for best part of 24 hours - still zero loss and brilliant
>connection and speeds - just like it used to be everytime two weeks
>ago.
>
>I have them looking into this. If they cannot sort this - will moving
>to the likes of Zen be better, or do they use some of the kit in the
>exchange that may be the cause of the problme?
>
>The sites above and similar, show the amount of loss I get during that
>logon - and that reflects into how good or poor or plain awful that
>session will stay.

Have you borrowed another router/modem to rule out your own hardware
being at fault?

If you run a traceroute (to any host) when you get packet loss do you
see any fundamental differences in the route compared to periods of
zero packet loss? You only need to look for differences in the first
few hops.

Jake

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> The sites above and similar, show the amount of loss I get during that
> logon - and that reflects into how good or poor or plain awful that
> session will stay.

Sounds like either your router is broken or you have a firewall that's
misbehaving. I have had 3 instances of packet loss - one that BT said
was their fault, one that was the poor quality generic router I bought,
and one that was Zonealarm blocking packets because I hadn't told it to
trust the local network, and it was consequently blocking dns requests
to the router.

--
Phil

http://www.usefilm.com/photographer/31307.html

On Thu, 29 Sep 2005 20:47:10 +0100, Phil Newnham <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>> The sites above and similar, show the amount of loss I get during that
>> logon - and that reflects into how good or poor or plain awful that
>> session will stay.
>
>Sounds like either your router is broken or you have a firewall that's
>misbehaving. I have had 3 instances of packet loss - one that BT said
>was their fault, one that was the poor quality generic router I bought,
>and one that was Zonealarm blocking packets because I hadn't told it to
>trust the local network, and it was consequently blocking dns requests
>to the router.

I have a USB modem - with the firewall disabled I get bad results just
the same (if I try long enough over several days I may get a good
connection).- with it enabled (as usual) I get bad or good results, I
have done a tracert (with 24hr zero packet loss when I check several
times and great connections - zero problems of any sort) - I will do
one when I next logon - soon.

On Thu, 29 Sep 2005 21:36:59 +0100, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:

>On Thu, 29 Sep 2005 20:47:10 +0100, Phil Newnham <(E-Mail Removed)>
>wrote:
>
>>(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>>> The sites above and similar, show the amount of loss I get during that
>>> logon - and that reflects into how good or poor or plain awful that
>>> session will stay.
>>
>>Sounds like either your router is broken or you have a firewall that's
>>misbehaving. I have had 3 instances of packet loss - one that BT said
>>was their fault, one that was the poor quality generic router I bought,
>>and one that was Zonealarm blocking packets because I hadn't told it to
>>trust the local network, and it was consequently blocking dns requests
>>to the router.
>
>I have a USB modem - with the firewall disabled I get bad results just
>the same (if I try long enough over several days I may get a good
>connection).- with it enabled (as usual) I get bad or good results, I
>have done a tracert (with 24hr zero packet loss when I check several
>times and great connections - zero problems of any sort) - I will do
>one when I next logon - soon.

Here we go
Zero packet loss repeatedly over 24 hours (this at end of that period)

Tracing route to www.btinternet.co.uk [194.73.73.113]

1 14 ms 15 ms 15 ms 217.47.202.58
2 15 ms 14 ms 14 ms 217.47.70.161
3 14 ms 14 ms 14 ms 217.41.168.13
4 12 ms 16 ms 19 ms 217.41.168.126
5 14 ms 57 ms 17 ms 213.1.121.142
6 15 ms 14 ms 14 ms 213.1.121.106
7 15 ms 14 ms 14 ms 213.1.120.222
8 15 ms 14 ms 14 ms 10.0.2.7
9 * * * Request timed out
10 14 ms 16 ms 13 ms www.btinternet.co.uk [194.73.73.113]
Trace complete

logged off, straight back on again - get losts of loss
remember, been perfect for 24 hours! - this to www.btinternet.co.uk

Host - loss| Sent | Recv | Best
----------------------|------|------|-----
217.47.202.58 - 34 | 6 | 4 | 0
217.47.70.161 - 20 | 5 | 4 | 0
217.41.168.13 - 20 | 5 | 4 | 0
217.41.168.126 - 0 | 5 | 5 | 0
213.1.121.142 - 20 | 5 | 4 | 0
213.1.121.106 - 40 | 5 | 3 | 0
213.1.120.218 - 0 | 5 | 5 | 0
10.0.2.3 - 20 | 5 | 4 | 0
No response - 100 | 5 | 0 | 0
194.73.73.113 - 20 | 5 | 4 | 0

Tracing route to www.btinternet.co.uk [194.73.73.113]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 16 ms 13 ms 14 ms 217.47.202.58
2 14 ms * 14 ms 217.47.70.161
3 15 ms * 54 ms 217.41.168.13
4 * 14 ms 14 ms 217.41.168.126
5 14 ms * 26 ms 213.1.121.142
6 208 ms * 14 ms 213.1.121.106
7 14 ms 14 ms 14 ms 213.1.120.214
8 14 ms * * 10.0.2.3
9 * * * Request timed out
10 14 ms * 14 ms www.btinternet.co.uk [194.73.73.113]
Trace complete

winmtr table adjusted to get rid of some data (to fit it on)

When it is buggering about log in as "speedtest@speedtest_domain" password
"testing" then go to http://speedtester.bt.com/
You can also try running traceroutes and pings to see if that works. If you
have no problems logging in as above then it is an ISP problem. If you
still have problems then it could be your computer or BT wholesale. Most
often when a customer complains of a problem like this it ends up being
that the computer is riddled with spyware/viruses.

--
Colin
*Drop DEAD from the email address to reply*

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> I have a USB modem - with the firewall disabled I get bad results just
> the same (if I try long enough over several days I may get a good
> connection).- with it enabled (as usual) I get bad or good results, I
> have done a tracert (with 24hr zero packet loss when I check several
> times and great connections - zero problems of any sort) - I will do
> one when I next logon - soon.

I'm not an expert on analysing tracert output so I'll leave that for
someone else... I think it might be a good idea to try a different
modem. Did you get the usb one from BTYahoo? If they claim it's not the
line or the connection at their end, then they'll almost have to accept
that either the modem's broken, or the PC is. So, try a different PC -
got any mates with laptops? - and if you get the same problem, tell BT
you want a new usb modem.

--
Phil

http://www.usefilm.com/photographer/31307.html

On 29 Sep 2005 21:36:09 GMT, cw <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>When it is buggering about log in as "speedtest@speedtest_domain" password
>"testing" then go to http://speedtester.bt.com/
>You can also try running traceroutes and pings to see if that works. If you
>have no problems logging in as above then it is an ISP problem. If you
>still have problems then it could be your computer or BT wholesale. Most
>often when a customer complains of a problem like this it ends up being
>that the computer is riddled with spyware/viruses.

That's what BT said - they even got me to install spybot then said
they could not speak to me anymore at that time as spybot is not there
software. Modem/PC/firewall/trojan - had that for hours and over many
days to get this far - a BT engineer is calling Monday. The Exchange
engineer passed it on to BT IP.

It found nothing - there is no virus, trojan, or anything lurking on
my system. I check it every now and then - I do not use p2p, run dodgy
exe's, etc. I even have a known good ghost that I place on if needed -
as I had done early on. If it was my modem / system, why would it be
perfect for days when I logon - and get a good logon?

On Thu, 29 Sep 2005 22:47:28 +0100, Phil Newnham <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>> I have a USB modem - with the firewall disabled I get bad results just
>> the same (if I try long enough over several days I may get a good
>> connection).- with it enabled (as usual) I get bad or good results, I
>> have done a tracert (with 24hr zero packet loss when I check several
>> times and great connections - zero problems of any sort) - I will do
>> one when I next logon - soon.
>
>I'm not an expert on analysing tracert output so I'll leave that for
>someone else... I think it might be a good idea to try a different
>modem. Did you get the usb one from BTYahoo? If they claim it's not the
>line or the connection at their end, then they'll almost have to accept
>that either the modem's broken, or the PC is. So, try a different PC -
>got any mates with laptops? - and if you get the same problem, tell BT
>you want a new usb modem.

The Modem is mine - BT Openworld gave them away when they changed to
BT Yahoo. Why would it be fine with a good logon until I log-off and
on? An engineer is calling Monday.

I wondered if BT cannot fix it (and it is not my end) will moving to
Zen or otherwise be a good move. How much of the phone-line
termination, exchange racks, DSlams, etc, are shared?