First, thank you for this amazing tool and outstanding support.

Problem outline:

• Intermittent connectivity loss, usually daily and often multiple times per day resulting in prolonged (>= 1 hour) outage
• Network includes 2 wired computers, 2 wireless computers, 7 other wireless devices, and 2 WPS devices; issue affects all devices equally
• Power cycling modem and router will fix the issue for a short time (usually <5 mins), then it goes right back
• Issue eventually just stops on it's own

Background/troubleshooting outline:

• We work from home and rely heavily on the internet to do our work (ie connectivity issues imapct not just our quality of life but also our checkbook)
• Moved from Arizona (Comcast) to North Carolina (Charter) October 2013; had zero problems in AZ with the same equipment (except for Charter issued modem, they wouldn't let us use ours)
• Issues with Charter from day one (not attacking them, they've been VERY nice but can't seem to help us); service calls several times a week
• Replaced router three times, moved and replaced all cables not in the wall at least twice, finally replaced router with Charter leased model so they would agree to support it...they've replaced it twice now
• Charter also replaced the modem twice
• Problem has occurred with any combination of equipment on the network (just 1 wired, just 1 wireless, one of each, etc.)
• Charter has just told us that "...our engineers have looked at your issue log and tracerts that you sent. They believe the problem is with your equipment."
• Neighbors claim to have intermittent issues as well but nobody else pushes their home network like we do 24/7
• Started PingPlotter just about 24 hours ago (Really wish I would've found you earlier, the functionality is perfect and that worksheet is awesome!)

Anyway, here is what I have so far. This is from a wireless connection and shows the typical issue as well as a long period of smooth sailing. I've been reading your guides and knowledgebase articles but don't yet have more than a baseline understanding of the process. Thanks for any help or insight!
-Sean

Hi, Feeneys. Sorry to hear you're having problems...

Thanks for the nice summary and .pp2 file.

It looks like your internal router is at hop 1, and your cable modem is *also* at hop 1 - is that right? Hop 2 is the first Comcast device on the *other* side of your cable line?

Is the data you're collecting being done with the following layout?

Your computer (running PingPlotter - IP 192.168.1.x?)
^
|
v
Wireless router (192.168.1.1)
^
|
v
Cable modem (not listed in PingPlotter - are you bridging between your router and the modem?)
^
|
v
The world (over a cable line - first visible at hop 2).

Right?

Maybe the wireless router and cable modem are combined into the same device?

Just trying to get an understanding of the lay of the land a bit more.

The packet loss at hop 1 at 11:40 to 12:50 could definitely be something inside your own network. The fact that you've replaced everything says otherwise, but I'm just looking at your data, which is what the Comcast tech would probably be looking at too.

Since you're using the worksheet, you've also already read the Network Nirvana guide, so you know we need to eliminate everything we can. I know you've already replaced everything (and your experience here has more credibility than mine when knowing what devices might be at fault), but we can test most of your equipment with PingPlotter pretty easily...

One interesting test you can do to help eliminate your own network as a possibility is to run PingPlotter twice on your computer - trace to www.google.com like you are on 1, but on the other one trace to another device on your own network. Now, wait for a problem. When a problem occurs, check both instances - if the "internal" PingPlotter works perfectly (0ms all the time, or very low) while the external one fails, you've just eliminated a whole load of possible problems, since you know that everything that doesn't show a problem is good. If you see the same pattern internally, then you've just brought the problem into your house, and you can fix it (however unlikely that may be at this point).

The good thing of doing this is that you can then present this data to Comcast as well.

If you know the internal IP address of your cable modem, you might try and include a third trace that goes to that, too - the internal address of your cable modem. While that includes hardware that you don't own, the *internal* address should be unaffected by problems outside (should...).

Give that a whirl and report back - we'll be happy to help try and interpret.

- Pete

Hi Pete,

Thank you for the fantastic & speedy reply.

Right now it goes:
Computers (wired + wireless) -> ISP provided router (Netgear WNDR3800CH) -> ISP provided modem -> the world

I do have a router downstairs in bridge mode (on a separate SSID and opposite channels) for that area of the home connected via powerline etherenet, but the computer in this test was pointed at the SSID for the main router. Odd that the modem isn't showing up, I didn't even consider that.

I'll run those internal tests this week and report back.

Thank you for the help!