Maximum PC

Here are the symptoms.

For the last 10 days or so....
Twice a day, everyday, at 10:38am and 10:38pm, my internet connection gets slow
Slow meaning ping results are showing between 2000ms and 3000ms.
This happens for about 2-3 minutes, then returns to normal.
Normal meaning ping results are consistently <50 ms.

What I'm trying to figure out is if this is an ISP thing, or a local hardware thing.

I can tell when it starts to happen, so I open a DOS box and do a "ping -t www.google.com" and just wait until I see the response time return to normal; then resume my normal day-to-day work.


1) Modem = Motorola SBG6580 DOCSIS 3.0 (About 3 months old)
2) ISP = Roadrunner (20Mbps down / 2Mbps up)


Thanks in advance for any tips, suggestions, or advice.

Run "tracert www.google.com". It essentially pings each hop along the way.

I unplugged all my network equip for 30 min.
plugged it all back in, and it seemed fine for about 3-4 days... them BOOM, right on schedule at 10:40am ET, I got the poor network performance again.

What confuses me, is that it's the same exact time every day. I could set my watch to it.
And it's not just 1 PC, it's all connected devices. (PC, PS3, iPADs, etc....)



-#-#-#-# Trace during network slowdown

Tracing route to www.l.google.com [74.125.131.103]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 512 ms 802 ms 888 ms 10.240.192.1
2 464 ms 781 ms 140 ms gig9-21.rochnyeq-rtr002.wny.northeast.rr.com [24.93.12.5]
3 421 ms 867 ms 1564 ms rdc-72-230-153-29.wny.northeast.rr.com [72.230.153.29]
4 800 ms 79 ms 88 ms rdc-72-230-153-245.wny.northeast.rr.com [72.230.153.245]
5 426 ms 1551 ms 1666 ms ae1-0.albynyyf-rtr000.nyroc.rr.com [24.24.21.208]
6 176 ms 148 ms 76 ms ae-5-0.cr0.nyc30.tbone.rr.com [66.109.6.74]
7 916 ms 883 ms 803 ms ae-0-0.cr0.nyc30.tbone.rr.com [66.109.6.26]
8 669 ms 51 ms 147 ms ae-4-0.cr0.dca20.tbone.rr.com [66.109.6.28]
9 36 ms 36 ms 36 ms 107.14.19.135
10 1241 ms 164 ms 116 ms 66.109.9.66
11 139 ms 127 ms 71 ms 209.85.252.46
12 99 ms 150 ms 54 ms 209.85.241.222
13 49 ms 48 ms 49 ms 209.85.251.228
14 * * * Request timed out.
15 1189 ms 126 ms 92 ms vc-in-f103.1e100.net [74.125.131.103]

Trace complete.



-#-#-#-# Trace during normal network performance


Tracing route to www.l.google.com [173.194.75.106]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 59 ms 10 ms 11 ms 10.240.192.1
2 8 ms 8 ms 8 ms gig9-24.rochnyeq-rtr002.wny.northeast.rr.com [24.93.12.7]
3 11 ms 11 ms 10 ms rdc-72-230-153-29.wny.northeast.rr.com [72.230.153.29]
4 17 ms 15 ms 22 ms rdc-72-230-153-245.wny.northeast.rr.com [72.230.153.245]
5 19 ms 18 ms 19 ms ae1-0.albynyyf-rtr000.nyroc.rr.com [24.24.21.208]
6 28 ms 31 ms 31 ms ae-5-0.cr0.nyc30.tbone.rr.com [66.109.6.74]
7 37 ms 39 ms 40 ms 107.14.17.172
8 40 ms 40 ms 39 ms 66.109.9.30
9 37 ms 36 ms 33 ms 107.14.19.135
10 34 ms 34 ms 89 ms 74.125.49.181
11 35 ms 34 ms 33 ms 209.85.252.46
12 46 ms 47 ms 47 ms 209.85.241.222
13 46 ms 46 ms 45 ms 216.239.48.59
14 * * * Request timed out.
15 46 ms 45 ms 45 ms ve-in-f106.1e100.net [173.194.75.106]



Also.. If you think I've posted bad private IP info that could harm me, let me know so I can edit the post and know for the future.

It looks like it could be your router and/or your ISP. When you did the first tracert, was it on the tail end of the slowdown? When the slowdown occurs, are you or someone on your network doing something unusual, such as downloading/uploading large amounts of data? You may want to look at your router settings and see if there is anything in there that may hint at a cause.

As far as posting your IP address, it isn't a big risk, but you can delete it if you want (don't really need it, so why give it out).

Here's another symptom.
If I actually let it go for a about 5-7 days without rebooting the cable modem, then the slowness happens twice as much (every 6 hours, instead of every 12).
I'd like to see what happens if I let it go 5-7 extra days, but it's too unbearable to lose internet that much.

What's amazing to me, is that I can set my watch to it.. I mean it's always the exact same time.. Start at 10:38am ET and 10:38pm ET. If I let it go for a few days, then it's right on at 10:38am, 4:38pm, 10:38pm, (and I assume 4:38am.. but I'm sleeping).

Or... it's simply a compatability thing where the different manufacturered components are trying to sync with each other.
I have my network components chained.
"Motorola" Cable modem to a "D-Link" 4port router, then to an 8 port "Linksys" router.

Would it be possible to test with just one router, or if you have a test computer, directly to the modem? If it still happens, I would call the ISP, because I've seen those Motorola modems every where and they never really give me problems. It's especially odd if it happens predictably.

I say a test computer because a direct connection to the modem is kind of risky unless you're certain you have a firewall that's up to snuff.

Wow.. can't believe it's been this long. But I came looking for this post to see if there were any other updates I may have missed.
It's amazing what you get used to, and learn to live with.

Status Update :
I'm still using the Motorola SBG6580 DOCSIS 3.0. However, everything works fine 24/7 for about 5-7 days. After which, the lag is too great and I just unplug the power for 10 seconds and then plug it back in. It's a weekly Sunday evening routine now I've just gotten used to doing. (didn't realize it's been almost a year now)

I don't have lag at specific times anymore... everything is fine 24/7 for about 6 days (40-50ms, then the overall lag just gets yucky (75-85 ms) with periodic blips of 200 ms. This is when I unplug all networking equip for about 10 seconds, then plug it all back in.

I have to wonder if there is a cache flush routine I could do instead of unplugging things all the time.

Usually my son will notice this too, when playing XBOX - Call Of Duty on the weekend. I have an icon setup on my desktop that he can run to check the ping -t google command to prove it's our home network, and not XBOX Live service.

Question:
is that your router? Or, Time Warner's?

Have you complained to your cableco yet? Most TW/RR offices are pretty good about fixing connection issues (and, most don't charge for service calls, either. It's a big reason that I stick with them.)


One other bit of info that might be interesting:
when you're hitting a slowdown (verified with the crappy tracert), log in to the modem, and see what the signal levels are at (great if you could screenshot it and post that.)

No idea if this would truly help or not. But are you using your ISP-provided DNS server addresses? I would try using GoogleDNS or OpenDNS. If the DNS info comes from your router to your clients, just change it there.

Otherwise, it's past time to talk with your ISP!

Good luck!

The modem is one that I personally bought at BB. Motorola SBG6580
I use Time Warner Cable (Roadrunner Turbo -- 25 down 2 up)

Thanks for the tips....
I'll have to check into the GoogleDNS option, that sounds interesting.