Basic Internet Connectivity And Modem Help

[Taito]

I am getting spikes of choke in my favorite online game Team Fortress 2. Some servers are also giving me a lost packet every few seconds. These choke spikes cause the game to freeze for a half second, then come back to objects and players teleporting small distances to their actual locations. Things that I have already tried:

- A different router.
- Bypassing the router.
- New cat5.
- Uninstalled and installed latest LAN and GPU drivers.
- Many different servers.
- Defragged hard drive and checked for errors.
- Verified and defragged the game.

- Reinstalled the game.

- Moved the modem to bypass a couple splitters but it didn't help or cure the choke spikes.

A video that I recorded showing the net graph when these spikes happen at the 2, 12, 15 and 24 second marks.: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXgtaEuIlJY&feature=youtu.be

I have already tried contacting Steam support but they haven't been successful in finding the problem and now they're just repeating the same troubleshooting steps over and over so I don't think they care.

Since multiple computers in my house show the same behavior I wanted to ask if my connection was to blame. I previously made a post here about low upload speed and I completely forgot about following up on it (sorry i-am-nerdburg that was rude of me) but that seems to have fixed itself.

Now for the requested information:

Modem information:

Model Name: SB6121
Vendor Name: Motorola
Firmware Name: SB612X-1.0.3.3-SCM00-NOSH
Boot Version: PSPU-Boot(25CLK) 1.0.12.
Hardware Version: 5.0

I have not contacted Comcast yet in fears of their fees.

Shaper probe results:

Estimating capacity:
Upstream: 3835 Kbps.
Downstream: 24846 Kbps.

The measurement will take upto 2.5 minutes. Please wait.

Checking for traffic shapers:

Upstream: Burst size: 5086-5129 KB;
Shaping rate: 2168 Kbps.

Downstream: Burst size: 4841-5195 KB;
Shaping rate: 20160 Kbps.

Signals with the modem in its normal location:

Signals with the modem downstairs bypassing splitters: (didn't fix my problem)

Error log:

WInMTR results to one of the team fortress 2 servers:

I apologize for the huge post, I just wanted to provide as much information as possible.

[Taito]

Unfortunate 24hr bump.

[Taito]

Here's another MTR result to google.

[kraze1994]

A good first step is to raise your maxrate, in game such as TF2 when you see choke that means that the server is holding back information from you.

type this in to console;

rate 100000

This will set your rate high and accomdate it for just about any server you play in. 

From the video you posted you are not seeing any loss to that specific server which is good. Set your rate and see if that helps. 

Go ahead and give Comcast a call, in some cases there techs can do basic trouble shooting support over the phone which may help. 

[Slippery]

I think they have rate capped at 60000.

You could try these settings in your autoexec.cfg:

rate 60000

cl_cmdrate "67"

cl_updaterate "67"

cl_interp 0

cl_interp_ratio 0

They represent the highest settings the game will allow. The cl_interp settings can be overridden by the server, but if the server doesn't override these, then you'll have the closest to real time settings the game allows. With the connection bandwidthy you have, if your machine can keep up with these, you'll enjoy some really nice hit detection. Enjoy, YMMV.

[Taito]

Thank you both for the suggestions but I have already been down that road with steam support (sorry for not listing it!). My normal rates are:

cl_cmdrate 66

cl_updaterate 66

rate 100000

But changing them to the default rates and in between doesn't help the situation. I have played this game for a couple years now and it never did this before. Doesn't that google MTR log show packet loss problems?

[EG]

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Taito wrote:

Doesn't that google MTR log show packet loss problems?

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FWIW, WinMTR uses ICMP based probe packets. Some / many network routers use ICMP rate limiting / de-prioritation these days. This basically reduces the effectiveness of tools that use these packets for troubleshooting so definite conclusions can't be drawn.

[taintedbloop]

Im having the same exact issue for the past few weeks, it happened after my internet went down for a few hours and they said they did maintainence. Where do you live? I live in south florida.

[degamad]

This is happening to be too, also in south Florida. It will happen on weekends, the online status will usually eventually say, we are experienceing problems, etc, then by Monday sometime it 'fixes' itself, I suspect overselling, or some firmware issue, as it seems to have started when upsteam bonding and a firmware update for my arris took place.

And it has nothing to do with routers ignoring icmps, as nothing works while there is no replies going on, all internet activity is dead, as of right now it's happening, 21% packet loss, spiking to as high as 75% packet loss, smokeping verifies it seems to be their gateway. So far this has meant my internet has been down every weekend for almost 2 months, which means 12 out of 30 days I essentially have no internet, yet am paying for a full month of internet.

It's getting a little old.

[Slippery]

It may benefit you all to try going to : http://www.dslreports.com/forum/comcast

They have a more technical approach to connection problems. There also, are Comcast Employees frequenting the forum who may help you work thru the problems and help escalate your problems with the proper people at comcast.

I have been a member for years and their support is genuine and helpful and free.

[degamad]

Yeah, been a member of that forum for 12 years, spoke with a CSR and opened a ticket using their chat (kept disconnecting btw), they verified they see packet loss, and that my modem signals are fine on their end as well as mine. It's looking like a oversaturated link somewhere in pompano/hallandale area.

I will give them a chance to fix it, then will post to Comcast Direct if it looks like it's not getting done.

Here is the latest line test:

http://www.dslreports.com/pingtest/895256c6a7a2/2917532

And my smokeping:

http://www.dslreports.com/r3/smokeping.cgi?target=network.33faa778c124de3090dc3826b5f85dcf

Thanks.

EDIT: Ok went to my account page and clicked "Check for Service Interruptions" and it now says, "NOT CONNECTED" when I hover over it it says, "Comcast is currently experiencing a service interruption in your area. Technicians are aware of the issue and are working towards a resolution."...this is what happens each weekend, and it will get fixed by Monday, then Friday or Saturday, it starts all over again. I just wish they'd fix it permanently, I'm getting tired of doing without internet on the weekends. I think they are just rebooting or resetting something as a temp fix.

EDIT2: At the risk of jinxing it, it seems to be fixed over here(at least till next weekend). Thanks to whomever played a role in getting it fixed or tried to help.

[EG]

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Slippery wrote:

It may benefit you all to try going to : http://www.dslreports.com/forum/comcast

They have a more technical approach to connection problems.

FWIW, I help out there as well and we try to keep the same level of technical help here as it is there...

There also, are Comcast Employees frequenting the forum who may help you work thru the problems and help escalate your problems with the proper people at comcast.

I have been a member for years and their support is genuine and helpful and free.

You must be referring to the CC Direct Help board there. It's just as "genuine", "helpful", and "free" here.

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[Taito]

Who the heck decided to set my thread to solved? My problem is still here and has not been solved or helped in the slightest.

I was really hoping to get some comcast support here but I guess ill have to fork over money for a visit from them?