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#2551 - 09/02/14 12:02 PM Is this my Router/Modem?
SVG Offline


Registered: 09/02/14
Posts: 2
Hi
We have been having trouble off and on for several months with the wifi/internet connection blinking on and off. So I installed Ping Plotter to see if I could pinpoint the issue.

This seems particularly problematic with the cell phones that are linked to the wifi. It eats up the cell phone batteries and causes trouble with calls as it looses the signal and then re-links. The laptops don't have as big an issue with the intermittent service most of the time.
The system will go days without a problem (last week I ran Ping Plotter for 3 days and no issues -).

I have a Zoom 5350 modem/wifi router connected to Comcast cable internet service.

This morning I caught it! It is blinking in and out a lot.

I have 5-15% packet loss in the first 3-4 hops and the last hop.

So ... Is this my router/modem?

Thanks for your help!


Attachments
www.download.com.pp2_214-09-02b.pp2 (656 downloads)


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#2552 - 09/02/14 01:56 PM Re: Is this my Router/Modem? [Re: SVG]
Gary Offline
PingPlotter Staff


Registered: 10/30/13
Posts: 185
Hello,

Thanks for writing in - and thanks for sending over a .pp2 file!

It appears that you're running your trace from a wireless connection; is this correct? Your results show some packet loss occurring at the first hop (which looks to be your router/modem) that's carrying through to your final destination. This would imply that the culprit here is something either between you and hop #1, or the device itself at hop #1. We've got some results similar to yours in our common network problems lineup, have a look here:

http://pingplotter.com/commonnetworkproblems/#wirelessint

There definitely *seems* to be something going on with your wireless connection, but seeing as how your cable modem and wireless router are a single device, you can't say for certain that this is a wireless problem based only on the data you've provided. There are a few steps you can take to help narrow things down from here, through:

* Run a trace in PingPlotter from a machine that is connected via a wire (as opposed to wireless), and see if that solves the problem. If it does - then it's pretty likely you've got an issue with your wireless connection.

* Ping another computer/device on the network. If you're pinging from a wireless to a wired device, the packet loss percentage *should* be similar to what you've been seeing. If this is the case - then you would know it's a wireless problem. If you're pinging from a wireless to another wireless device - then you'd expect to see a higher percentage of packet loss (than you would when only involving one wireless device). If there is no packet loss from pinging from a wireless device, then the issue here probably *isn't* your wireless system. If you do perform this test - it may be helpful to continue to monitor an out of network target (such as www.download.com or similar) at the same time, so any packet loss can be correlated.

We've recently released a guide that goes through some best practices for troubleshooting issues such as this, which may also be helpful here:

http://pingplotter.com/netnirvana/

Hopefully this helps out! If you have any other questions, or find yourself needing any assistance - please don't hesitate to let us know.

Best wishes,

-Gary

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#2553 - 09/02/14 08:02 PM Re: Is this my Router/Modem? [Re: Gary]
SVG Offline


Registered: 09/02/14
Posts: 2
Thanks for your prompt reply!

I think I figured it out. YEAH

I hooked up a 2nd computer with a wired connection and started Ping Plotter on that one and guess what - no red bars. Red bars still appearing on the Wifi connected laptop during the same time period and the cell phone blinking on and off the Wifi.

Then I used the WiFi Analyzer app on my phone and noted that the channel my router was using was close to a couple of other routers. I have adjusted the channel in the past to miss other local routers but I think my router or theirs must change occasionally. I think this must happen a couple of times a month as we have been having this problem off and on for quite a while.

I changed the channel about 2 hours ago and no problems since then!

See the attached data file of the laptop on the Wifi. The gap at about 2:40 is where I changed the Wifi Channel.

Ping Plotter helped me pinpoint the problem and then verify the solution.
Thanks!


Attachments
www.google.com-Wifi-channel Change.png

www.google.com-Wifi-Channel-Changed.pp2 (545 downloads)


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