EPTThat computer success ends on when it comes to the internet. I fail at fixing internet issues if updating drivers, restarting the router, and resetting the adapter don't make it go away. I don't intend this blog post to be the typical solicitation of tech help. I want to work in some personal journey along with the rest.
I recently completed a move to a new apartment, and that marked a change from DSL to Cable Internet. I had some familiarity with router control panels (This one's from 2WIRE 3801HGV as part of AT&T U-verse, new from July), and successfully got the firewall configured and changed around the channel for wireless to stop some conflicts I got in the area. A couple of months ago, I started getting terrible download speed problems. I picked up some clues that my aging PCIe Netgear network adapter was the source, and decided to pick up at $12 USB one (TP-Link brand). Zero problems after that, good download speeds for budget internet USA. I could get 11 mbps down, 1.5 mbps up, regular pings 30-150 to LA.
My latest bout of problems happened suddenly two days ago when I returned from a trip. Booted up SC2 to play some ladder games, and was greeted by long gaps of 2 second pauses. A few hours later, same problem. No amount of computer restarts or router reboots would change anything. By that evening, I started hunting around. I had previously used down detector to see if it was just some regional problem affecting customers en masses, and it looked fine.
Even later, Google was loading very slow. I did some pings, match a batch file for tracerts, pathpings outputting to a txt document, and started my digging. Everything was while I was sole internet user with low background and 60-80% wireless signal:
+ Show Spoiler [first steps] +
Router's reported (5 min sample) Traffic Statistics:
Transmit 10329324 bytes, 10430 packets, 32 errors (~0%)
Receive 2431659 bytes, 7710 packets, 0 errors
Ookla's SpeedTest (confirming intermittent)
32 Ping, 220 kbps (low) down fluctuating to 2.7 mbps down (good, and wtf), 0.25 mbps up (normal)![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/2kyTjyx.png)
Transmit 10329324 bytes, 10430 packets, 32 errors (~0%)
Receive 2431659 bytes, 7710 packets, 0 errors
Ookla's SpeedTest (confirming intermittent)
32 Ping, 220 kbps (low) down fluctuating to 2.7 mbps down (good, and wtf), 0.25 mbps up (normal)
Trace Route & Ping Path ran every few minutes for a couple hours, directed at a SC2 IP, some examples
+ Show Spoiler [pingpath] +
Hop RTT SourceToHere Lost/Sent This Node/Link
0 1471ms PC.gateway.2wire.net [192.168.1.72] 53/100 (53%) >wtf<
1 1419ms homeportal [192.168.1.254] 1/100 (1%)
2 1393ms 99-34-184-3.lightspeed.irvnca.sbcglobal.net [99.34.184.3] 2/100 (2%)
0 PC.gateway.2wire.net [192.168.1.72] 26/ 100 = 26%
1 1648ms 28/ 100 = 28% 2/ 100 = 2% homeportal [192.168.1.254]0/ 100 = 0%
2 1609ms 28/ 100 = 28% 2/ 100 = 2% 99-34-184-3.lightspeed.irvnca.sbcglobal.net [99.34.184.3] 0/ 100 = 0%
3 1648ms 26/ 100 = 26% 0/ 100 = 0% 75.20.0.36
0 PC.gateway.2wire.net [192.168.1.72] 26/ 100 = 26%
1 1648ms 28/ 100 = 28% 2/ 100 = 2% homeportal [192.168.1.254] 0/ 100 = 0%
2 1609ms 28/ 100 = 28% 2/ 100 = 2% 99-34-184-3.lightspeed.irvnca.sbcglobal.net [99.34.184.3] 0/ 100 = 0%
3 1648ms 26/ 100 = 26% 0/ 100 = 0% 75.20.0.36
0 PC.gateway.2wire.net [192.168.1.72] 4/ 100 = 4%
1 1507ms 5/ 100 = 5% 1/ 100 = 1% homeportal [192.168.1.254] 0/ 100 = 0%
2 1577ms 4/ 100 = 4% 0/ 100 = 0% 99-34-184-3.lightspeed.irvnca.sbcglobal.net [99.34.184.3]
0 PC.gateway.2wire.net [192.168.1.72] 52/ 100 = 52%
1 1326ms 52/ 100 = 52% 0/ 100 = 0% homeportal [192.168.1.254] 0/ 100 = 0%
2 1248ms 52/ 100 = 52% 0/ 100 = 0% 99-34-184-3.lightspeed.irvnca.sbcglobal.net [99.34.184.3]
0 PC.gateway.2wire.net [192.168.1.72] 0/ 100 = 0%
1 102ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% homeportal [192.168.1.254] 0/ 100 = 0%
2 124ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% 99-34-184-3.lightspeed.irvnca.sbcglobal.net [99.34.184.3]
0 PC.gateway.2wire.net [192.168.1.72] 76/ 100 = 76%
1 1243ms 76/ 100 = 76% 0/ 100 = 0% homeportal [192.168.1.254] 6/ 100 = 6%
2 920ms 82/ 100 = 82% 0/ 100 = 0% 99-34-184-3.lightspeed.irvnca.sbcglobal.net [99.34.184.3]
I pulled these at random. Notice that one looks stellar, but holy cow how much packet loss can happen early on (76% before I'm at the router). If I were smarter this might immediately suggest a response or new investigation
+ Show Spoiler [tracert] +
Tracing route to 12.129.202.154 over a maximum of 9 hops
1 48 ms 88 ms 51 ms homeportal [192.168.1.254]
2 48 ms 86 ms 193 ms 99-34-184-3.lightspeed.irvnca.sbcglobal.net [99.34.184.3]
3 * * * Request timed out.
4 * * * Request timed out.
5 * * * Request timed out.
6 49 ms 139 ms 204 ms 12.83.38.149
7 35 ms 204 ms 108 ms gar29.la2ca.ip.att.net [12.122.129.241]
8 128 ms 125 ms 55 ms 12-122-254-234.attens.net [12.122.254.234]
1 * * * Request timed out.
2 * * * Request timed out.
3 * * * Request timed out.
4 * * 1526 ms 75.20.0.12
5 * * * Request timed out.
6 708 ms 2753 ms * 12.83.38.149
7 1383 ms 1255 ms 483 ms gar29.la2ca.ip.att.net [12.122.129.241]
8 341 ms 107 ms 264 ms 12-122-254-234.attens.net [12.122.254.234]
9 82 ms 408 ms 109 ms 206.16.68.46
1 1 ms 1 ms 1 ms homeportal [192.168.1.254]
2 39 ms 24 ms 25 ms 99-34-184-3.lightspeed.irvnca.sbcglobal.net [99.34.184.3]
3 * * * Request timed out.
4 * * * Request timed out.
5 * * * Request timed out.
6 2721 ms 395 ms 718 ms 12.83.38.149
7 3715 ms 656 ms 3014 ms gar29.la2ca.ip.att.net [12.122.129.241]
8 3420 ms 2871 ms 1524 ms 12-122-254-234.attens.net [12.122.254.234]
9 533 ms 488 ms 235 ms 206.16.68.46
1 * * * Request timed out.
2 2603 ms 1194 ms 476 ms 99-34-184-3.lightspeed.irvnca.sbcglobal.net [99.34.184.3]
3 * * * Request timed out.
4 291 ms * * 75.20.0.12
5 * * * Request timed out.
6 * 81 ms 98 ms 12.83.38.149
7 98 ms 116 ms 520 ms gar29.la2ca.ip.att.net [12.122.129.241]
8 495 ms 2157 ms 449 ms 12-122-254-234.attens.net [12.122.254.234]
9 979 ms 1003 ms 741 ms 206.16.68.46
1 * 508 ms 158 ms homeportal [192.168.1.254]
2 243 ms 190 ms 288 ms 99-34-184-3.lightspeed.irvnca.sbcglobal.net [99.34.184.3]
3 * 62 ms 113 ms 75.20.0.36
4 * * * Request timed out.
5 * * * Request timed out.
6 1806 ms 90 ms 28 ms 12.83.38.149
7 2169 ms 475 ms 242 ms gar29.la2ca.ip.att.net [12.122.129.241]
8 525 ms 902 ms 925 ms 12-122-254-234.attens.net [12.122.254.234]
9 1604 ms 1042 ms 1611 ms 206.16.68.46
My first attempt to explain this is something's happening intermittently before I even get out of my neighborhood, figuratively speaking.
Next Steps:
- Womwomwom's TechSupport tools. I've done memtest86+ successfully a few months ago, but repeat that and others.
- Do additional steps suggested by people with knowhow in this thread
- If problem isn't solved by 3 days, do much longer and larger searches in dslreports etc. If nothing works there, make a real (and smaller) post in TL Tech Support and create an acct + post in two internet-troubleshooting-related forums.
- If internet wakes up in next mornings and pretends nothing ever happened, use advice from this thread and further to be more aware of what to do next time. Half my hesitancy at this moment is a problem existing for only 2 days after a 3-day trip away, but even then I should be less impotent to take solid fixing steps.
- Call ISP and have a blast
- 1/10 boots gets a crash of RAM origin sometime in the next 20 minutes (no bluescreen, music plays on long after screen freezes). Reseating RAM and compressed air everything fixes for a month, then back to 1/10 boots. Problem's nature suggests independent origin, but meh get on to it just in case.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/A1DcVhf.jpg)
