Would changing to BT make a difference

newbieclocker · 2 Sep 2021 at 09:57

I have very slow internet where I live, about 15 down and 1 up on a good day. I get packet loss in valorant and some other games and was wondering if moving from NowTV to BT will fix the packet drop issues? Both companies offer the same speed, but BT costs quite a bit more. But since BT owns the line, surely they would route my traffic more efficiently.

ChrisD. · 2 Sep 2021 at 10:08

Depends if it's caused by a line fault of a poor ISP. BT, NowTV, PlusNet, Sky etc will all use the same line.

bremen1874 · 2 Sep 2021 at 12:19

Odds are it's 100% the bit of old copper between you and the street cabinet. Changing ISPs isn't going to help with that.

How fast is the connection supposed to be? Is it significantly higher than what you're seeing?

Is there noise on the line (quiet line test 17070 option 2)?

newbieclocker · 2 Sep 2021 at 14:20

bremen1874 said:
Odds are it's 100% the bit of old copper between you and the street cabinet. Changing ISPs isn't going to help with that.

How fast is the connection supposed to be? Is it significantly higher than what you're seeing?

Is there noise on the line (quiet line test 17070 option 2)?

The speed is as advertised, but the problem is packet drops in valorant and general flakiness. When it’s running is fine but it seems to lose connection. This is all running through Ethernet so not an issue with Wi-Fi.

bremen1874 · 2 Sep 2021 at 14:23

Have you checked for line noise as suggested? There could be a line fault causing the problems which could be addressed even if the speed is as expected.

newbieclocker · 2 Sep 2021 at 14:29

bremen1874 said:
Have you checked for line noise as suggested? There could be a line fault causing the problems which could be addressed even if the speed is as expected.

I called the number but option 2 was to record and play back a message. Option 5 was a broadband test, I did that and it played ascending tones and all sounded ok.

newbieclocker · 2 Sep 2021 at 14:31

I've been told to run this pingplotter test and to give it to my ISP to resolve the issue, but I can only call my ISP, they don't have email support.

bremen1874 · 2 Sep 2021 at 14:37

Who is your ISP?

If they don't use the standard quiet line test options see if they have an alternative.

For Imgur use the BBCode they provide

newbieclocker · 2 Sep 2021 at 14:40

bremen1874 said:
Who is your ISP?

If they don't use the standard quiet line test options see if they have an alternative.

For Imgur use the BBCode they provide

Ah thanks, NowTV is my provider.

bremen1874 · 2 Sep 2021 at 14:51

Hopefully, you've already fixed it, but that tool isn't going to tell you anything until you select a working target.

newbieclocker · 2 Sep 2021 at 15:14

bremen1874 said:
Hopefully, you've already fixed it, but that tool isn't going to tell you anything until you select a working target.

But it is working, you can see the hops to the riot servers. That is the ip they gave me to put in the target box.

bremen1874 · 2 Sep 2021 at 15:20

Fair enough, you can see the PL at the hops.

Providing you with a target IP that's dropping all ICMP packets is a bit odd.

newbieclocker · 2 Sep 2021 at 16:02

bremen1874 said:
Fair enough, you can see the PL at the hops.

Providing you with a target IP that's dropping all ICMP packets is a bit odd.

Ah I was wondering what that 30% packet loss was.

Caged · 2 Sep 2021 at 16:05

It's 0.3%. Packet loss from pinging hops on a path can be a red herring, the only number that matters is the observed latency and packet loss to the end target.

bremen1874 · 2 Sep 2021 at 16:05

You haven't got 30% packet loss in the bottom graph, you have 100% packet loss (that final hop is not replying to the ping).