Experiencing extremely high latency / packet loss for the last 2 weeks. (Florissant, MO)

Options
Jacobwitt
Jacobwitt Posts: 2 Spectator
edited February 24 in Gaming & Gaming Related

Hi there,

I've been experiencing rather high latency spikes in a "sawtooth pattern" where it "seems normal" and then spikes to 300-1000ms+ ping.

This has been accompanied w/5-15% packet loss (with moments as high as 25%) as reported by my OPNSense router.

image.png

(For background, I run and operate a "homelab" out of my home, using enterprise gear, and have a 10GB fiber backbone, with 1GB copper ethernet running to every room, router is capable of routing up to 10Gbps. I also work in the IT sector.)

I called in last week, and mentioned the experience I've been having to a CSR w/Spectrum, and they suggested replacing my modem. They noticed that it wasn't reporting as active, and setup the replacement for the following day.

I replaced the modem, and activated it with a CSR over the phone, and saw no change in latency, and or packet loss. Very frustrating.

image.png

At this point, I thought I was going crazy, so I started testing links between my switches for errors, or possible failure, but everything checks out. I switched networking interfaces on my computer, no change. I changed devices, and yet, no change. a consistent 5-10% packet loss.

image.png

Heck, I plugged a device DIRECTLY into the modem, and still experienced packet loss, and inconsistent ping.

image.png

I called in again, and requested a technician to come out. He came out same day, and tested my coax hookups by my modem, and noticed an abnormal rx>tx rate on the line. He said he'd try and tune it and got it a little more level, but still pretty off.

He and I went outside, and on the side of my house, we noticed there was a "single-tap" directly connected to my residence. I'm in the back of my neighborhood, but there are houses all around me, so it didn't make much sense to be there, it should be a multi-tap, or somewhere else.

He suggested replacing my tap, as it was WAY OVERSPEC for my house, at a whopping +23db attenuation he said that was most likely the source of my problems.

image.png

After having a chat with his boss, he said he'd setup a T2 to come out and replace it for something in-spec for my home, but I never received a call back, nor see anyone come onto my property to replace the tap.

I'm still experiencing issues with my connection, I can't play anything online, and video / voice calls through Discord, or Teams are pretty much unusable, so now I can't work from home.

Please advise,

Thank you.

Tagged:

Answers

  • Wojtkowski
    Wojtkowski Posts: 1 Newcomer
    Options

    Saw your post after searching for high latency / packet loss with Spectrum in the St. Louis area. I live in Hazelwood and am having the same issues you are seeing for about 3 weeks. Just curious if things have been worked out or if you are still having problems. I am seeing about 7% - 12% packet loss consistently. I am paying for 1 GB service / 35 up and prior to 3 weeks ago was getting 940 down (GB ethernet ports) and between 35 to 40 up with little to no packet loss. Lines are extremely noisy now with a crazy amount of error corrections reported on the modem.

  • Jacobwitt
    Jacobwitt Posts: 2 Spectator
    Options
    https://community.spectrum.net/discussion/comment/187292#Comment_187292

    Sadly, No, I haven't seen any improvement.

    I've been through 4 techs now, and 4 modems, and they all report the same issue "high noise on the line" and say it needs to be referred to maintenance.

    The last tech personally sat on the phone with me on call with his supervisor, and maintenance, and "ensured" that I'd see something soon, but that was on Tuesday (03/05/24) but I haven't heard anything since that.

    It's gotten pretty bad lately, I can't even join calls anymore for work, and I can't play anything with my friends online. I just get booted out because my latency is too high.

    I'd say it's gotten worse, I guess they're "working on it" if I had to guess.

    image.png

    I've filed an FCC report against Spectrum due to a lack of resolution and communication past tech visits. They aren't really helping their own cause. Just sending guys out to somebody's house over and over isn't going to fix the problem.

    The last tech communicated to me that some node along the path to my home, or rather my neighborhood is being "problematic" and causing issues downstream.

    Hopefully they can get their crap together and this'll be done and over with soon, or I'm going to start considering alternative connectivity options.

    I saw Starlink was available, speeds aren't great, but at least I won't have to deal with insane packet loss and lackluster customer service.

Categories