I am getting 100% packet loss very early but I am generally still able to play MMOs. However, there are periods from a few minutes to a few hours where I can't maintain a connection to the game server. Anyone know why it would work some times, and not others (the variables of internet speed, laptop location relative to router, number of users on router, etc. have not changed). This problem began a few weeks ago. Prior to that I could play without any problems. Thanks.

The packet loss you're seeing at hops 3-5 isn't "real" - it's just a router that doesn't return ICMP TTL Expired packets. That's pretty normal - and doesn't indicate that there's any problem there. We talk about that here: http://www.nessoft.com/kb/24

Pinging to a final destination that doesn't respond obscures things a bit, too. You might check with NCSoft (or on the forums) and see if there's a pingable target near this server (seems like it's probably in Dallas, TX). Often, game servers are not pingable but there's sometimes another server on the same network that *is* pinging, specifically to allow troubleshooting. I'm not sure what game you're having problems with.

If you're having problems with more than one game - by more than one company, then it might not matter if you ping the game server or not. You may be able to ping another server (like google.com) and try and troubleshoot *your* side of the connection. More often than not, network problems are close to home and every server is slow - because it's a problem on your own network, or maybe your connection between you and the outside world in general (your ISP).

I'd recommend finding a pingable target, then pinging while your MMO-ing. When you lose connection, make a note in PingPlotter and look for latency or packet loss that's not there when the connection is fine. Have a look here for general theory:

http://www.nessoft.com/kb/47

Best wishes,
Pete