Explaining internet connection disco's for the newbie

[W7LPNRICK]

I'm learning and do not tout myself as any kind of expert, but here goes: It's almost all about packets & bandwidth. Internet providers talk in smoke & mirrors about "Up to 3G" etc. Of course if the advertisement says "Up to", then your speed could be near zero and they have not falsely advertised. A few months ago I was getting disco'd all the time, usually right after buying my perky plane etc.. Some providers are inherently slow, but that's not the point I'm getting to. I'd call tech support and my provider would have me run a speed test (http://www.speedtest.net/) over & over until it showed their minimal excepted speed, or they try to say your PC is acting up. Speed doesn't have very much to do with dropping packets. Your speed can be fine, but if the 4th or 5th hop before reaching Aces High is always dropping 60-100% of the packets your PC will attempt to change the connection from TCP to UDP, but you'll get disco'd anyway. OK, so how do you find out what's really happening down line? I'm sure there are several ways, but I was referred to ( http://www.pingplotter.com/ )  This simple program showed me who was dropping the packets. All I have to do is type in the web-address or IP numbers. I was surprised! It wasn't my provider who was dropping the packets. It was usually a very large national communications company you might think of with home phone or cell phones. It was usually the same one or two culprits. So, the next time I called tech support I told them who was dropping the packets. The level 2 tech says "How do you know that?"  I asked for a level three tech. He wanted the packet traces & ping plotter files. I sent them in an e-mail. I told them I was sick of their speed tests and excuses. That if they had over sold their bandwidth or the down line carriers where not keeping up there end of the bargain, then they needed to tighten them up a bit. When I finally got to the head of tech support he was actually grateful for the information about the main culprits who were hourly dropping 60-100% of the packets. I have had a nearly perfect connection since. I run Ping Plotter while I run the game, so if I get bumped, I know who did it and can be specific about my complaints. I hope this helps some new guys out there, & maybe a couple not so new.         

[Chilli]

  Similar experience here.  I ran pingplotter so often and was discoed even more often, that I was almost afraid that someone would discover how many times I had pinged them and think I was a threat (  don't know if this makes the least bit of sense lol )

But all paranoia aside, I also have identified a couple of culprits dropping my packets, (without mentioning any names, they were a large national carrier).  I wonder if this problem with the national carrier is beginning to be addressed by the ISPs who are receiving complaints?  A couple of weeks ago, my ISP made some changes, and service seems to have improved.  I seem to have maybe a bit more lag but I would say  about 75% decrease in disconnects. 

[W7LPNRICK]

It's the same ol' game where they benefit from our ignorance. If you have knowledge, "Knowledge is power". They, even the best BS'ers have difficulties arguing with ping files & proof. I also believe the average provider doesn't care unless people are complaining, and the more specific the complaint, the more likely the are to do something about it. Squeakie wheel.... 

[Chilli]

Actually, I think the guy whose job it is to troubleshoot, probably does care and really does appreciate the ping information with time and date.  My ISP is a local guy now being taken over by larger network.  I don't complain very often, but when I do I get a response.  Until late I thought that my disconnects were just a byproduct of Radio Frequency (air wave) connections.  So, besides trimming the trees and finding the best tower to point my antenna to, I have been quiet.

Now, after reading your post and seeing a significant difference in service, I am considering making a suggestion to my ISP to keep an eye on this particular network and see if there is an alternative hop / service for myself and others with consistent problems.  I don't know if they have any alternative.  Does anyone here know if the do?  I was looking into something called a proxy server to avoid the problematic networks, but should I have to and is it risky?

[W7LPNRICK]

I can't comment authoritatively on proxy servers. I've heard some good things about them. However, telling your provider about the pings/packets loss & disco's, will cause them to put pressure on the down line contracted carriers who are dropping folks. IMO