Hi all,

I have a quick question. I am on a broadband internet connection. I was just wondering, what is considered an acceptable packet loss to the router located directly in my area. I am talking about a private router, i.e. 10.x.x.x, before even the first major outgoing router. Should it be 0 packets loss no matter what? The reason I ask, is that I have been getting a few packets lost here and there. Lets say, maybe about 3-4 packets lost per hour. I know that is not much at all, but since it is located directly in my area, I thought maybe it might be a sign of a larger problem building. What do you think? Thanks.

Ideally, packet loss is always 0%, but that is especially so if it's actually a local router.

You have to be aware, however, that just because a router has a 10.x.x.x address doesn't mean that the connection between you and it is 100% reliable. In many case, a cable modem connection will report a local address that's actually on the far side of the cable line from you. In that case, the connection between you and that *router* is a cable line, a cable modem, and a whole bunch of electronics that routes IP over a cable line.

The fact that you're getting some packet loss here means that it might be worth looking in to - which might mean determining how that router is connected to you - what the network topology is and who controls it.

3-4 packets per hour doesn't necessary mean there's a problem lurking, but packet loss doesn't usually mean *good* things.

- Pete

Thanks for the reply.

It is a cable modem. The 10.x.x.x router that I am talking about is located in my apt building. But you are right when you say it is going over a cable line. It is my computer -> ethernet cable -> cable modem -> coaxial cable -> 4 way splitter -> coaxial cable -> some cable router (which is the 10.x.x.x). So are you saying that even though the physical distance between my cable modem and the router is only few yards, the cabling and cable router adds problems? What in that setup would cause packet loss? Thanks.

There is nothing intrinsically wrong with cable / cable modem networks. *ANY* network hardware could have similar problems.

Often, however, there is a significant portion of complex hardware and wiring between you and the cable company, and this has a pretty high likelihood of being the suspect if you're having problems.

Anything in your setup could be causing packet loss, including the ethernet cable between you and the cable modem. The most likely culprit is the coaxial cable, however, or possibly the 4 way splitter. Please note that we aren't experts in *solving* networking issues - we specialize in helping you localize them. The company/organization/individual who installed and configured your cable modem setup is much more qualified to comment on the possible problem areas and solutions that we are.

Also, don't be *too* quick to attribute the problem to the hardware / wiring between you and the cable router. In many cases, the cable hardware doesn't report in with traceroute at all, and the *far* side of the cable setup is the one that is actually reporting in with an IP address - which may be miles away from you. Be sure of the cable topology before making too many decisions based on this.

Be careful, as well, that you don't spend *too* much time chasing something that will never be a problem. 4 lost packets an hour probably isn't worth spending too much time on unless it has a number of the following characterstics.

* If it exceeds 1% of the packets you're sending, then it may be worth investigating (ie: if your interval is 10 seconds and you're losing 4 packets, then this is 1% of your packets and it might be worth investigating).
* You're experiencing other network problems.
* The packet loss rate varies depending on time of day (which likely means it depends on network load),
* The packet loss rate varies based on the weather (if you get higher loss rates when it's wet, then it's probably worth checking in to since these types of situations often degrade over time).
* You have a ton of extra time and you want to spend a lot of it troubleshooting something that may have very little affect on your network performance.

- Pete