Frustrating lag bursts
Resonate
Enthusiast - Level 2

My wife and I play an MMO and have become frustrated by increasingly common lag bursts. We have a Northern Virginia MDU fios internet installation.

The observables:

-6months+ ago our connection to this same server (Chicago datacenter) was smooth as silk. No issues.

-Typical latency is good (~50ms ping), but roughly every 30 seconds or so there is a lag burst that lasts 1-3 seconds.

-Other people on the server currently report no similar issues, leading me to believe that it's not a server problem.

-My wife is on a Mac, I'm on a PC, and our lag bursts are synchronized, leading me to believe it's not a problem at the OS/software level.

-Swapping out the Actiontech router for a different (linksys) router did not affect the behavior of the lag bursts, leading me to believe it's not a router configuration problem.

All these things seem to point to there being a problem the ISP service level.

Any ideas? Why has apparent performance degraded in recent months? What can I do to improve the experience?

Edit: forgot to add, this is a wired-only scenario, no wireless involved.

Re: Frustrating lag bursts
Hubrisnxs
Legend

do you have the zyxel modem in there?  or just the westell 9100VM?  

Edit: After re-reading that, it sounds like you have the zyxel and the actiontec.  right? 

Try cross posting this in the verizon direct forum »Verizon Direct

OR
open this up at the www.twitter.com/verizonsupport as well. 

They may need to look at your DSL stats.  you're like a hybrid VDSL and FiOS set up right? 

Also have any of your other neighbors complained about the same issue?  are you running any torrents or video streaming while gaming?  

Re: Frustrating lag bursts
Resonate
Enthusiast - Level 2

Yes to the Zyxel modem & Actiontec. And I was told by Anti-Phish in the other thread "You have a Multiple Dwelling Unit (MDU) installation with VDSL from the ONT to the Zyxel VDSL modem"

I've posted to both of the links that you mentioned, thanks for the tip.

No high-bandwidth stuff in background while gaming that I'm aware of. No torrents, no video.

Not sure about the neighbors. Some of them may be using Cox as their ISP.

Re: Frustrating lag bursts
Resonate
Enthusiast - Level 2

Just discovered by looking at my router logs that the WAN port on my router is routinely going down then up a few secs later. Sounds like this would cause what I'm experiencing. What could cause this, and what are possible solutions?

Mar 14 22:28:26 2011 System Log WAN ETH WAN Ethernet Link Up
Mar 14 22:28:24 2011 System Log WAN ETH WAN Ethernet Link Down
Mar 14 22:28:08 2011 System Log WAN ETH WAN Ethernet Link Up
Mar 14 22:28:06 2011 System Log WAN ETH WAN Ethernet Link Down
Mar 14 22:28:03 2011 System Log WAN ETH WAN Ethernet Link Up
Mar 14 22:28:02 2011 System Log WAN ETH WAN Ethernet Link Down
Mar 14 22:27:44 2011 System Log WAN ETH WAN Ethernet Link Up
Mar 14 22:27:42 2011 System Log WAN ETH WAN Ethernet Link Down
Mar 14 22:27:38 2011 System Log WAN ETH WAN Ethernet Link Up
Mar 14 22:27:36 2011 System Log WAN ETH WAN Ethernet Link Down
Mar 14 22:27:25 2011 System Log WAN ETH WAN Ethernet Link Up
Mar 14 22:27:23 2011 System Log WAN ETH WAN Ethernet Link Down
Mar 14 22:27:16 2011 System Log WAN ETH WAN Ethernet Link Up
Mar 14 22:27:14 2011 System Log WAN ETH WAN Ethernet Link Down
Mar 14 22:27:08 2011 System Log WAN ETH WAN Ethernet Link Up

...etc, over and over.

Re: Frustrating lag bursts
prisaz
Legend

Disconnect the COAX entering your unit. This would be the first coax connection entering your dwelling. See if it stops. If it does stop, it is a possibility that the installer failed to make sure there is a low pass filter on your coax line before or after it enters your unit. This would cause interference with other routers if they too are not filtered so the MOCA stays within the dwelling only. If disconnecting the coax stops the connection issues, you will need to contact support and have the filter installed.

If you do not have coax, or this is not the issue, Verizon would need to do a line test on the VDSL circuit, and make required corrections. Possible noise on the phone line circuit, bad or loose connection, or bad VDSL modem. Regardless it looks like a call to Verison is needed. You may be able to get them to look using the online chat.

http://www22.verizon.com/content/contactus/

OK if you swapped out the Actiontec for a Linksys I guess this is an Internet only setup. My bad. I had to reread the first post.

Are you running any peer to peer and or gaming software? It could be a NAT table issue, even if you are running your own router. I believe the VDSL modems also have a NAT table but not 100% sure.

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Re: Frustrating lag bursts
spacedebris
Master - Level 2

@prisaz wrote:

Disconnect the COAX entering your unit. This would be the first coax connection entering your dwelling. See if it stops. If it does stop, it is a possibility that the installer failed to make sure there is a low pass filter on your coax line before or after it enters your unit. This would cause interference with other routers if they too are not filtered so the MOCA stays within the dwelling only. If disconnecting the coax stops the connection issues, you will need to contact support and have the filter installed.

If you do not have coax, or this is not the issue, Verizon would need to do a line test on the VDSL circuit, and make required corrections. Possible noise on the phone line circuit, bad or loose connection, or bad VDSL modem. Regardless it looks like a call to Verison is needed. You may be able to get them to look using the online chat.

http://www22.verizon.com/content/contactus/

OK if you swapped out the Actiontec for a Linksys I guess this is an Internet only setup. My bad. I had to reread the first post.

Are you running any peer to peer and or gaming software? It could be a NAT table issue, even if you are running your own router. I believe the VDSL modems also have a NAT table but not 100% sure.


OP is a VDSL system. So coax is not the issue.

However the last post saying that the router is connecting and disconnecting the Wan Ethernet connection. At first blush, that sounds like the Zyxel modem is having issues. I would probably contact Verizon Tech support and see if I could get them to replace the modem.

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Re: Frustrating lag bursts
dslr595148
Community Leader
Community Leader

@prisaz wrote:
I believe the VDSL modems also have a NAT table but not 100% sure.

#1 All routers in router mode, including modem combos ( modem and router all-in-one ) have a NAT table.

#2 But if a router is in bridge mode, the NAT table gets disabled.

For example if the user is on FIOS, I point to

http://www.dslreports.com/faq/16077

Option # 4.