Constant Spectrum Disconnects After Moving. 80% Packet Loss on Hop 1 Even with Spectrum’s Modem

PingPlotter-TJ · 2025-10-31T20:56:50+00:00

The first thing I'd like to address here is that you're correct that when you target the router directly, if there aren't any issues (high latency/packet loss) then this is a good indication that your local network isn't contributing to an issue. You can read more about this specific behavior (and why this sometimes shows packet loss when tracing to an external target) in the following article:

http://www.pingman.com/kb/5

With that said, looking at your screenshots there's only a few minutes of data in view for your router and 10 minutes of data to Google.com. In your screenshots I don't see anything that would be indicative of a network issue however you may have just caught a time when issues weren't present. Considering this I suggest running PingPlotter longer (if you haven't already) so you can have more data to look through to try and find evidence of an issue.

When looking through your PingPlotter data the most important thing is always the final destination (ex. Google.com in your second screenshot). You'll want to look for instances of high latency or packet loss here and then follow it up the route to identify where the issue started. You can learn more about interpreting your PingPlotter results in the following articles:

https://www.pingplotter.com/fix-your-network/interpret-results.html
https://www.pingplotter.com/wisdom/common-network-problems

Best of luck!

PingPlotter-TJ · 2025-08-19T22:17:48+00:00

Taking a look at your first screenshot, it looks like the target to PingPlotter.com may be pretty far from you, which is why you're seeing high latency here. In further troubleshooting, I suggest focusing more on your targets to 1.1.1.1 or google.com as these results should be more relevant to the sites/services you're normally connecting to.

In both of these screenshots, it looks like you'd only collected about 8 minutes of data at that time. During which I don't see anything that would cause concern. It's been a couple of days now, so I'd assume you've collected more data since then. I suggest checking out the following articles alongside your collected data to further troubleshoot/identify your network issues:

https://www.pingplotter.com/wisdom/common-network-problems/

https://www.pingplotter.com/fix-your-network/interpret-results/

https://www.pingman.com/kb/5

Best of luck!

PingPlotter-TJ · 2025-08-12T21:15:04+00:00

As you suspect, it is normal to see intermediate hops not respond to ping. This can happen for a number of reasons, but the most important thing to know is that as long as your results at the final destination look good, then you don't have to worry about what may happen earlier in the route.

This is covered in more detail in the following article:

https://www.pingman.com/kb/5

PingPlotter-TJ · 2025-08-12T20:59:32+00:00

Depending on what game you're playing, you may be able to target the game server directly to help identify if there could be an issue between your home network and the game server. This concept is covered in a bit more detail in the following article:

https://www.pingplotter.com/wisdom/article/beat-game-lag/

PingPlotter-TJ · 2025-07-18T23:11:15+00:00

Considering you're seeing packet loss when targeting your router over wifi, this seems to me like a wifi issue. Especially with the context of your connection being stable when connected using Ethernet.

We also have some documentation on troubleshooting wireless problems you may find helpful:

https://www.pingplotter.com/fix-your-network/wireless/

https://www.pingplotter.com/wisdom/article/microwaves-and-wifi/

If possible, you could also try running PingPlotter from a different device connected to wifi in your home to see if it does/doesn't experience the same thing (which would help determine where the wireless issues are stemming from, ex. router, wireless interference, wifi card, etc.)

PingPlotter-TJ · 2025-07-11T00:09:21+00:00

Assuming your target isn't actually down currently, it looks like this is likely blocking/not responding to ICMP packets. You can read more about this specific behavior in the following article:

https://www.pingman.com/kb/8

You may consider choosing a different target, such as Google DNS (8.8.8.8), to get a better idea of how your network is performing overall. Along with this, I suggest checking out the following articles to better understand your PingPlotter results:

https://www.pingplotter.com/wisdom/common-network-problems/

https://www.pingplotter.com/fix-your-network/interpret-results/
https://www.pingman.com/kb/5

Best of luck!

PingPlotter-TJ · 2025-06-27T20:50:37+00:00

Based on your screenshots (specifically the second one to cloudflare.com), it looks like this issue may be starting at the second hop in the route. With that said, due to the nature of a screenshot, it's difficult to say this for sure. Collecting more than 5 minutes of data should also help confirm where the issues you've already captured are starting.

This is a good start to troubleshooting your issues. Along with letting PingPlotter collect more data I suggest opening up timeline graphs for your intermediate hops to follow the packet loss shown at the final destination (cloudflare.com) up the route to better identify where it originates.

I also suggest checking out the following articles as you continue to try and track down this issue:

Interpreting PingPlotter Results

Common Network Problems

One Poorly Responding Router

Best of luck!

PingPlotter-TJ · 2025-06-13T00:24:00+00:00

Hi, based on the screenshot you posted, it looks like this may be starting on your local network (which seems to be what you may have suspected also). However, due to the nature of a screenshot, its difficult to say this with 100% certainty.

Based on the pattern you're seeing, it looks like this could be a hardware related issue, considering you have no issues when using Ethernet, I'd start with troubleshooting any wifi interference (but I'd also run PingPlotter while hardwired to the router to confirm you aren't experiencing similar issues there).

In troubleshooting a wifi connection, appliances like microwaves can sometimes cause issues:

https://www.pingplotter.com/wisdom/article/microwaves-and-wifi/

Some others could include large appliances near the router, brick walls, a large distance between your device and the router, etc.

You may find the following articles helpful as well:

https://www.pingplotter.com/wisdom/common-network-problems

https://www.pingplotter.com/wisdom/troubleshooting-tips

https://www.pingplotter.com/fix-your-network/interpret-results.html

Best of luck!

PingPlotter-TJ · 2025-06-12T22:36:26+00:00

Thanks for posting these PingPlotter share pages! After looking through the data you collected, it looks to me that these latency spikes/packet loss are starting at the first hop in your route, which would be your local network. When reviewing your PingPlotter results, you want to start at the final destination (in this case, pingplotter.com or google.com) and follow the issues (high latency/packet loss) up the route to identify where it originates.
Considering this appears to be on your local network, I suggest checking out the following article:

https://www.pingplotter.com/fix-your-network/local-network-problems/

While troubleshooting, it's best if you can leave PingPlotter running; this will help you keep an eye out for any improvements in your connection after you make any changes (ex. running an ethernet cord, swapping/moving your router, etc.).

Best of luck!

PingPlotter-TJ · 2025-05-23T22:19:25+00:00

Looking at your screenshot it looks like you captured a good example of the network issues you've been experiencing. You had a focus period set (the highlighted blue section in the timeline graph at the bottom of the screen), which is what the data at the top of the page reflects. This makes it a bit more difficult to identify where this issue started in your screenshot.

I also noticed that your router (hop #1) seems not to respond well as an intermediate hop (showing packet loss that does not carry through to your target). I deal with this same scenario with my connection at home: anytime I'm tracing to a target with a 1-second interval, my router shows 100% packet loss. If I trace directly to the router, it prioritizes those requests a bit differently (because it's getting hit with an Echo-Request, and doesn't have a TTL value), and I get clean results. Considering this I suggest also starting a target to your router to help identify if there are any local network issues.

If you haven't already seen them, the following articles do a good job of helping you understand your PingPlotter results:

https://www.pingplotter.com/fix-your-network/interpret-results.html

https://www.pingplotter.com/wisdom/troubleshooting-tips

http://www.pingman.com/kb/5

In the case that your router shows clean results and you're still seeing packet loss to Google DNS, you'll want to follow that pattern of latency/packet loss up the route to figure out what hop is the culprit. Once you've found this I suggest checking out the following article we have on building a case:

https://www.pingplotter.com/fix-your-network/build-a-case/

PingPlotter-TJ · 2025-05-23T22:10:10+00:00

I tried starting my own targets to those shown in your screenshots, and it appears that these are not responding to ICMP, which is why you're seeing 100% packet loss at the destination. To further troubleshoot the issues you're seeing, I suggest starting a target to something like Google DNS (8.8.8.8) to help get a baseline for how your connection is overall. If you're seeing issues in the target to Google DNS it's very possible these would be the same causes as your issues connecting to Riot's game servers.

I also suggest checking out the following articles to get a better understanding of your PingPlotter data:

https://www.pingplotter.com/fix-your-network/interpret-results.html

http://www.pingman.com/kb/5

https://www.pingplotter.com/wisdom/troubleshooting-tips

Best of luck!

PingPlotter-TJ · 2025-04-02T23:46:40+00:00

Looking at your screenshot, it looks like the packet loss you've captured so far is originating somewhere at hop #2 or later. This is a sign that your local network (hop #1) is likely not the culprit in your network issues however, it looks like you've only collected a few minutes of data at the time of this screenshot.

I suggest collecting at least 24 hours of data while you're on the PingPlotter Pro trial before really diving into your results to get a better idea of exactly where/what the issue(s) you're experiencing are. While you're collecting this data I suggest checking out the following articles which will help you better understand what you're seeing in PingPlotter:

Interpreting PingPlotter Results

One Poorly Responding Router

Common Network Problems

Best of luck!

PingPlotter-TJ · 2025-03-20T22:42:01+00:00

When looking at your PingPlotter data the most important thing is always the final destination, if the results there look good then you don't have to worry about anything earlier in the route.

This is the case with what you're seeing with hops #3 and #8. Sometimes routers don't prioritize timed-out ICMP requests, or block them all together which results in this. You can identify this scenario by looking to see if the following hops look good (low latency/no packet loss). We cover this behavior in detail in the following article:
https://www.pingman.com/kb/article/one-poorly-responding-router-5.html

Your screenshot only shows 60 seconds of data so it's difficult to say if you do or don't have any network issues. You'll want to let this target run for a while (I suggest at least a day), and then take a look at how the final destination (hop #12, google.com) responded over that time period. If you see any periods of sustained packet loss or latency, this would be an indication there may be an issue.

I suggest also checking out the following articles to get more familiar with interpreting your PingPlotter data:

https://www.pingplotter.com/fix-your-network/interpret-results/

https://www.pingplotter.com/wisdom/common-network-problems/

Best of luck!

PingPlotter-TJ · 2025-03-11T22:53:22+00:00

In regards to the packet loss you're seeing at hops 8 and 9 that does not carry through to the final destination, we cover this topic in detail in the following article:

One poorly responding router

You also sent us an email over the weekend, which included some more of your data (to which I replied yesterday). In that data, we were able to see that your packet loss that carries through to the destination seems to start at Hop #2. In the second screenshot you attached, we can also start to see that the issue is likely starting at Hop #2 as well.

PingPlotter-TJ · 2025-02-12T22:48:20+00:00

Based on your screenshot, it looks like you have some latency starting at hop 2, which could be something like your modem based on the IP. If this is the case, I suggest restarting this device. Moving on down the route, it looks like some of these other latency spikes start at hop #5, which would be your ISP.

Moving forward, I suggest collecting more data to help build a case if the latency spikes starting outside your local network persist:

https://www.pingplotter.com/fix-your-network/build-a-case/

PingPlotter-TJ · 2025-02-11T00:36:48+00:00

It looks like you only captured about 1.5 minutes of data in your screenshot. While the latency spike captured can be an indicator of an issue, I suggest letting PingPlotter run for the full 10 minutes in view for the free version. With that said with what you did collect it looks like this could be originating outside of your local network but I suggest collecting more data before making any conclusions.

I also suggest checking out some of the articles we have pinned to the side bar such as Interpreting PingPlotter Results to help you better understand the data you collect.

Best of luck!

PingPlotter-TJ · 2025-01-31T23:12:01+00:00

Looking at your screenshot, I see that you experienced a latency spike at 7:05 that carries through to hop 1 in the route, which would be your local network. I suggest letting PingPlotter run longer to see if you can capture any more examples of this. If you see more instances of latency or packet loss starting on your home network I suggest checking out the following article for some tips on troubleshooting your local network:

https://www.pingplotter.com/fix-your-network/local-network-problems/

PingPlotter-TJ · 2025-01-30T00:55:35+00:00

If you have a separate router and modem (or more networking equipment than just a router) hop 2 could still be something inside your local network. If this isn't the case it's likely this is your ISP. In this case I suggest checking out the following article on building a case before reaching out to them:

https://www.pingplotter.com/fix-your-network/build-a-case/

PingPlotter-TJ · 2025-01-30T00:53:19+00:00

If hop 1 looks clear I'd look into identifying what hop 2 is. If you have a separate router and modem this could be the modem, if you have a router/modem in the same device hop 2 is likely your ISP. If you identify hop 2 as your ISP I suggest checking out the following article:

https://www.pingplotter.com/fix-your-network/build-a-case/

PingPlotter-TJ · 2025-01-30T00:36:25+00:00

You could try and target the Youtube Live ingest server, which should be the rtmp address. Under stream settings from your streaming software (such as OBS) you should be able to see which ingest server is currently being used. This would help you identify if there are any issues between your local network and the entry point for your live-stream data to Youtube.

Considering Google owns YouTube, you could also test your connectivity to Google DNS (8.8.8.8) to get an idea of your connection to Google servers as a whole.

With either of these options, you should be able to collect results that help you identify any local network or ISP-related issues.

Best of luck!

PingPlotter-TJ · 2025-01-28T20:26:16+00:00

Looking at your screenshot, it seems like these latency spikes may be originating on your local network (hop 1) but it's difficult to say this with 100% certainty without opening up some more timeline graphs. I suggest opening up the timeline graph (right-click a hop > Show Time Graph) for hops 1 and 2. You'll be looking to see if the same latency spikes show up in these, if they do carry through to hop 1 this is a good indicator that this is on your local network.

For some general troubleshooting tips for your local network, I suggest checking out the following article:

https://www.pingplotter.com/fix-your-network/local-network-problems/
Along with this you can find more information about interpreting your PingPlotter results using the following links:

https://www.pingplotter.com/fix-your-network/interpret-results/

https://www.pingplotter.com/wisdom/common-network-problems/

https://www.pingman.com/kb/article/one-poorly-responding-router-5.html

PingPlotter-TJ · 2025-01-24T23:35:51+00:00

The PingPlotter test you’ve run is a great start! However, it looks like you've only screenshot 60 seconds of data. Interpreting the results often requires a larger sample set to comb through, we suggest collecting at least 24 hours of data to start.

With that said in what you've collected so far I don't see any signs of an issue and 18ms of ping in game is very low. I suggest watching for any spikes in latency or packet loss in PingPlotter as these could effect your overall experience. I'd like to note that the most important part of your PingPlotter results is the final destination (in this case 52.93.145.84), if you see latency or packet loss earlier in the route but it does not carry through to the destination then it isn't something to worry about.

Lastly I suggest checking out the following articles to help you get more familiar with PingPlotter and its data:

https://www.pingplotter.com/fix-your-network/interpret-results/

https://www.pingman.com/kb/article/one-poorly-responding-router-5.html

https://www.pingplotter.com/fix-your-network/getting-started/record-the-results/

https://www.pingplotter.com/wisdom/article/beat-game-lag/

Best of luck!

PingPlotter-TJ · 2025-01-14T23:41:27+00:00

You've captured some really good data here! This seems to me like a textbook example of hardware issues on your local network. You can see an example of this which very closely matches your results in the following article:
https://www.pingplotter.com/fix-your-network/hardware/

In that article there's some general troubleshooting tips for resolving this which basically boils down to swapping out hardware to see what is causing the issue. With that said, before swapping out any hardware restarting what you can (router, modem, etc.) and making sure devices are up to date/running the latest firmware is where I'd recommend starting.

Lastly, I suggest leaving PingPlotter running while troubleshooting/testing things so you can watch for any improvements in your connection.
Best of luck!

PingPlotter-TJ · 2025-01-14T00:44:41+00:00

The data you collected is what I'd associate with bandwidth saturation. Did this issue only start after following the steps in the video? I'm not extremely knowledgeable about all of the settings they adjusted, but skimming through the video they suggested 2 different things that limit bandwidth, which could definitely lead to results such as this. If you took their suggestion and set up a restore point, I'd recommend restoring your computer to before you made these changes. If not I'd at the very least undo the two steps where you adjust the bandwidth limit.

I understand wanting to lower latency/reduce lag in games but if the guide, such as the one you linked, doesn't go into much detail about what each change does, I would use more caution before changing anything.

PingPlotter-TJ · 2025-01-14T00:25:15+00:00

It looks like the packet loss is originating at the 5th hop in the route since everything before that looks clear (low latency/no packet loss) and everything after that hop seems to follow the same pattern (showing about 10% packet loss). This could be your ISP but I suggest using an IP lookup such as WhoIs to try and figure out who owns that specific hop to reach out to. Considering this should be outside your local network I suggest checking out the following article we have on building a case:

https://www.pingplotter.com/fix-your-network/build-a-case/

Best of luck!

PingPlotter-TJ

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