Strange "droppy" Internet

[CrystalPalace63]

Hey all

This has been driving me crazy for months. I have 40mb broadband connection. Most of the time, it works fine - streaming, browsing etc. I normally get decent bandwidth in the mid 20s. But my connection seem to drop and by that I mean it will stop then suddenly start. I'll be in a video call and it will just drop for ten seconds, then be absolutely fine again. If I'm browsing the web, I'll go to a url then a page will hang before it loads, then suddenly after ten seconds or so, it will load super fast. If I run a ping on bbc.co.uk, I'll get frequent timeout drops in blocks of about 15, then it comes back again fine. This is the summary of the last four pings:

263 packets transmitted, 224 packets received, 14.8% packet loss

round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 7.987/40.764/2663.412/215.096 ms

53 packets transmitted, 44 packets received, 17.0% packet loss

round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 15.238/63.177/304.996/69.175 ms

86 packets transmitted, 70 packets received, 18.6% packet loss

round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 17.654/68.047/815.333/132.437 ms

213 packets transmitted, 187 packets received, 12.2% packet loss

round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 15.394/87.019/2402.539/285.873 ms

I have tested this on three different Macbook Pros,. same results. Same with my Android phone, on apps - a view will hang for ten seconds, then suddenly the app will be fine. 

I now tend to use 4G at home for anything that needs real-time. 

Any ideas? Router stats are below (they mean nothing to me).

Port Status TxPkts RxPkts Collision Pkts Tx b/s Rx b/s Up Time WAN MER 8205469 14092673 0 84226 45761 20:41:31 LAN Up 2058696 194408 0 49384 12507 101:15:59 WLAN (2.4 GHz) Up 9361444 3413555 0 24446 11028 101:14:17 WLAN (5 GHz) Up 64247667 31510157 0 0 0 101:14:15

---

Broadband Link Downstream Upstream Connection Speed 40000 kbps 2544 kbps Line Attenuation D1(17.4 dB) , D2(43.2 dB) , D3(66.5 dB) U0(7.2 dB) , U1(39.7 dB) , U2(52.9 dB) Noise Margin 5.0 dB 5.9 dB

Any help appreciated.

Thanks

[CrystalPalace63]

I should add that I've done the unplugging for ten mins. I've also reset the router. Thanks

[Jynxy]

Can i ask what device you are using?

And are you connecting wired or via wifi ?

[CrystalPalace63]

Hey

As I said in my original post, this happens on three different Macbook Pros. Also (though I can't test) I get a similar experience on my Pixel Pro 7.

This is on Wifi - this is a good point, I will test using an ethernet cable this evening and will report back.

Thanks

[jamesn123]

@CrystalPalace63 

To me that looks like a WiFi stalling issue, lets see what happens when you use ethernet.

[Jynxy]

How are you getting on with ethernet ?

[CrystalPalace63]

I'm in the office today, will have to check tonight! Fingers crossed that works (not sure what I'll do about it though).

[Jynxy]

If that works then we need to look at different wifi channels, signal issues i.e to far away or any interferance.

Could also depend on wifi devices and if you are using 2.4ghz or 5ghz.

[CrystalPalace63]

Hey, sorry for the delay - I had to buy a usbc ethernet adaptor and a longer cable. They're all connected now and well, it's night and day so far. Super fast and reliable in the last 20 minutes. I'll give it a full day of testing tomorrow while working, video calls etc and will report back. Thanks so much for your help so far!

[Jynxy]

No problem @CrystalPalace63 if you are satisifed all has worked, please mark as answered thanks.

[CrystalPalace63]

Thanks @Jynxy @jamesn123 

With your help, my immediate problem is solved - with an ethernet cable running up the stairs from the router to my office. But the wife is already getting annoyed at this and makes me pack it up each evening. I don't really want to properly plum it in. I really want wireless working properly.

I don't mean this in the way it sounds, but is it too much to ask of Sky's router? The only time I get decent, undroppy wifi is being right next to the router. Should I expect more? BTW I have tried a wifi extender, makes it worse... What else can I do?

Thanks again for your assistance.

[jamesn123]

@CrystalPalace63 

You could try using powerline. This just uses your electrical wiring as the ethernet cable, you just plug one adapter in by the router and the other in your office next to your laptop.