Dropped Packets on LAN. Anything to worry about?

Firegod · 14 Jul 2024 at 17:18

I use WiFi calling so I like to try and make sure there are no issues on the network to help with realtime data. My brother called today and there were some drops in audio during the conversation.

I noticed when checking things over this afternoon that WAN traffic was OK but LAN had 610 dropped packets (sent traffic only). Any advice, or safe to ignore? The up time of the Router is ~24 hours.

WAN:

LAN:

I don't think it is congestion, there was nothing else happening at the time of the call on the network. Why only sent, and not received, what does that indicate? I use a 5-port unmanaged 2.5Gb switch. Neither that, or the 5G Router, have QoS. Would a QoS capable managed switch help here? Mobile phones are modern (Pixel 7a and Samsung A54 5G) running latest OS and updates.

Just curious really if anything can be done or if small drops are "normal" in a network?

Cheers!

ChrisD. · 14 Jul 2024 at 17:39

Dropped packets can be considered normal if not excessive. Who is your ISP?

Firegod · 14 Jul 2024 at 18:22

ChrisD. said:
Dropped packets can be considered normal if not excessive. Who is your ISP?

OK good to know, thanks!

- The ISP is EE.

ChrisD. · 14 Jul 2024 at 18:34

The drops in audio could be a number of things, wifi congestion, ISP congestion, an issue on your device itself, your brothers device/connection etc.

Rainmaker · 14 Jul 2024 at 19:04

ChrisD. said:
Dropped packets can be considered normal if not excessive. Who is your ISP?

Just to add, if you check dmesg/journal/logs they're usually multicast, martian or similar packets that your NIC or kernel settings are set to ignore.

Caged · 14 Jul 2024 at 19:35

Look at that number as a percentage of the total, it's barely anything. Could be clients sending data to devices that have gone to sleep or left the Wi-Fi coverage for all we know.