Hey guys,
first off thanks for providing support even for free users!

So I have already heard that pretty much only the last hop is important which is, according to pingplotter, almost never subject of packetloss for me. But since I've been experiencing some bad performance while playing online shooters I just wanted to make sure I'm not missing something here.
I've attached 4 screenshots which show different amounts of loss on intermediate hops. They have been taken within ~20 minutes just to give you an idea of how much fluctuation is going on. In-game net graphs of different games also show some amounts of loss.
All these performance issues only occur between 6 to 11 pm and they match pingplotters intermediate hop loss displays. Late at night there is never even the smallest amount of loss on intermediate hops and gaming becomes way more enjoyable.

Hope there is something I can do (or tell my ISP to do)

Hey Fooram,

Thanks for writing in!

You're dead on here - the most important hop is your final destination. Often times when you see packet loss at an intermediate hop, it's because the device at that location doesn't prioritize timed out ICMP request very high (or doesn't respond to them at all). As long as the packet loss at these hops doesn't carry through to your final target - then you don't need to worry about factoring it into your troubleshooting efforts. We cover this topic in a bit more detail here:

http://www.pingman.com/kb/5

That being said - the four screenshots you've attached here don't specifically point to any sort of a problem (around 30ms round trip latency with no packet loss to a final destination is *usually* a pretty good result). That isn't to say that you aren't experiencing any issues, though. At this point - the best course of action is likely to continue your monitoring. Ideally, you want to keep PingPlotter running continuously (even in the background while you're playing your game).

The timeline graphs that are found in PingPlotter Standard and Pro can also be a *huge* help in spotting any problem patterns as well. Each version of the program does come with a 30-day free trial (which is usually a good amount of time to narrow down any issues) - so I'd definitely recommend downloading and installing one of those versions to give yourself a "leg up" here.

We've also got a guide that goes over some additional strategies for troubleshooting an issue such as this - which may prove helpful to you here:

http://www.pingplotter.com/netnirvana/

Hopefully this helps get you headed in the right direction! If you should find yourself with any other questions, or needing any assistance - please be sure to let us know.

Best wishes,

-Gary

Thanks for your reply!
I will expand on my monitoring with a trial version.

Do you by chance happen to know how these games (counter-strike etc) detect packet loss? They show me a bit of loss which was definately not the case with my former isp. Since I don't think they would detect packet loss on intermediate hops that could be helpful I guess.

Hey Fooram,

We're honestly not familiar with how these games are detecting packet loss (sorry!). Even if they're not detecting packet loss on intermediate hops - that shouldn't make too much of a difference (as long as the packet loss occurring at intermediate hops isn't affecting your final destination, it's nothing to worry about).

Please let us know if you have any other questions!

Best wishes,

-Gary

Hi Gary,
using the trial version has helped me get more data. However the loss basically only happens on the last hop if I'm not mistaken.
It would be great if you could take another look at my log. THanks again

Hi Fooram,

Thanks for sending over this .pp2 file - we appreciate it!

It does indeed look like you've got some packet loss occurring at your final destination here - but, it *also* looks like you've got some loss occurring at earlier hops as well. There was an event at 10:40pm where it looks like there was loss across the board (did you by chance reset your router here?) - but past that, you've got some intermittent loss occurring on hops #3-12. You can see this in a bit more detail by opening up some timeline graphs for your earlier hops (you can either double click on a hop, or right click and select "Show this timeline graph").

Your goal at this point should be to eliminate any variables (that you have control of) to see if you can narrow down what may be causing this issue. Are you by chance on a wireless connection here? If so - try plugging your machine directly in to see if that has any effect on your results. Past that - monitoring this target continuously (24/7 for a few days) may prove helpful here as well. It *looks* like the packet loss that's occurring at your final destination lets up just a bit after 11pm - so it may be worth checking to see if this could be a time based problem (where "high traffic" hours could result in poor performance).

Our guide on how to troubleshoot and solve your network problem (http://www.pingplotter.com/netnirvana/) provides some good strategies for your situation here. It also includes a worksheet that you can fill out (which can be a *great* help if you have to reach out to a provider for assistance at any point).

Hopefully this helps get you headed in the right direction! If you have any other questions - please let us know.

Best wishes,

-Gary