Latency Variation (Ping Spikes) during online gaming.

[h3x1e]

 aaaaaaaaaand we're back online.

ps. Ping issues still the same 😄

[h3x1e]

Since the net issues have now settled down, no drop outs, stable sync speed at 35Mbps with a throughput of around 4MB/s I thought i'd post some pings again.

Below shows maximum network usage of ~15Mbps (thats with 2 twitch streams running) accompanied by a ping to google. Ping issues still persists as you can see with zero change to route.

[h3x1e]

Got an Engineer coming Thursday to do a co-op callout with the BT Engineers that are looking at the core network. Mainly to rule out that any sort of errors on my line are causing the ping issues under load.

From my knowledge they'll be checking the local copper in my street all the way up to the street cabinet to make sure that there is no corrosion / wonkey copper jointing. 

Reason for the above is that the core engineers are seeing errors on my line, and there was a weird error issue that happened one day where they went from bad to pretty damn good. (or the other way around I don't remember) so they want to check this wont be interfering with anything else and possibly exacerbating the situation.

Hopefully when all this is done, and they find that the copper between the house and the cabinet is either fine, or gets fixed.. we can rule it out as a cause or something that's making things worse.

Will post when engineers have been on Thursday morning.

[HobbitCraft]

I hope this fixes what is happening for you and you are able to explain what was happening, because I am encountering the same thing during Path of Exile gameplay.

 

Happens without anything else running on the entire network, but worsens when even a 2mb/s load is placed on the network.

[h3x1e]

Update:

OR Engineer has been once again, found nothing wrong in any of the join boxes and all tests came back perfectly.

He switched me to a different fiber port at the DSLAM (previous one was tightly routed).

He asked if he could see the issue which I ofc showed him, did a ping test when not streaming / no load on the connection and one showing the ping spikes as soon as a stream is opened.

After being switched to the new fiber port though it does seem like i've had a huge jump in Upload speed from ~5Mbps to 7.5Mbps, Download sync is unchanged at ~35Mbps with about 4MB/s throughput.

Stats :

> v s
  -------------- ATU-R Info (hw: annex A, f/w: annex A/B/C) --------------
   Running Mode          :      17A       State                : SHOWTIME
   DS Actual Rate        : 35359000 bps   US Actual Rate       :  7542000 bps
   DS Attainable Rate    : 41077944 bps   US Attainable Rate   :  7574798 bps
   DS Path Mode          : Interleave     US Path Mode         :  Fast
   DS Interleave Depth   : 516            US Interleave Depth  : 1
   NE Current Attenuation: 24 dB          Cur SNR Margin       : 3  dB
   DS actual PSD         : 6. 2 dB        US actual PSD        : 13. 0  dB
   NE CRC Count          : 0              FE CRC Count         : 0
   NE ES Count           : 0              FE  ES Count         : 0
   Xdsl Reset Times      : 0              Xdsl Link  Times     : 5
   ITU Version[0]        : fe004452       ITU Version[1]       : 41590000
   VDSL Firmware Version : 05-07-09-0F-01-07   [with Vectoring support]
   Power Management Mode : DSL_G997_PMS_L0
   Test Mode             : DISABLE
  -------------------------------- ATU-C Info -------------------------------
   Far Current Attenuation : 42 dB          Far SNR Margin     : 6  dB
   CO ITU Version[0]       : b5004946       CO ITU Version[1]  : 544ed086
   DSLAM CHIPSET VENDOR    : < IFTN >

[HobbitCraft]

I managed to temporarily fix the latency variation issue by using Windscribe VPN's UK server for both my Twitch and Path of Exile traffic. It sucks compared to no VPN and it increases my latency from 7ms to 37ms, but its a temporary fix.

Unfortunately it requires a monthly subscription if I want to stream any more than 15gb a month, which isnt really an option when watching Twitch streams. BT please figure out what you have done with streaming services.

Its still quite noticeable that as soon as I open a youtube video or twitch stream, my Path of Exile latency jumps around.

[spazicus]

Guess when a family member started using YouTube:

I am moving to AAISP...

[h3x1e]

Update:

Just had a call from the MOD working with me on this, asking if I could change back to the BT Hub as the OR Engineer did put in his report that I wasnt using the standard BT kit, so that I have done.

Now running on standard BT Smart Hub, Ping issues are still present, will be posting ping potters and other results over the weekend to show this.

Below shows nothing has changed except Sync Speed.3

Don't look at the bottom graph it really doesnt show an amazing amount (only ther destination ping) Check the first 7 hops which is BT's network and take note of the max ping.

Previous Setup:

Street Cabinet > DreyTek > EdgeRouterLite > Unmanaged Switch > WiFi Solution + Wired Devices.

BT Setup:

Street Cabinet > BT HUB > Wired Devices + WiFi Solution

(Note: WiFi is OFF on BT HUB)

Sync Speed:

[h3x1e]

Net dropped around Midnight Last night, nothing much changed, other than Downstream SNR changing to 7.3dB etails below.

Ping issues unchanged, still spiking during streaming.

As with before, showing destination IP ping in the graph and there's nothing much BT can do about ping after their netowkr, but note the "Max" ping on hops 3-7 which is BT's network, it would spike to close this level every 10 seconds or so.

[h3x1e]

Evening ping test while watching a stream, also while not watching a stream.

Thing to note here is average ping while streaming from Twitch (red line with red circle) compared to current ping (blue x) Then compare that to the below ping when not watching a stream via twitch.

Ping does spike a bit in the "idle" state but im not the only one using the network, someone else is web browsing so I put the small spikes down to that. ON the whole though average ping is in line with current ping.