Awful ping spikes and jitter

[mmp7vm]

I've been with VM for almost a year now. For almost a year I have put up with terrible ping spikes and jitter. It seems to have become more severe over the last few weeks. 

It's most obvious when gaming, obviously. Playing FIFA, shooter games etc I get constant issues for ping and jitter. It also leads to issues with VOIP which is particularly annoying as I have no mobile signal at home, meaning I rely on WiFi calling but get constantly disconnected during spikes. 

If I ping google (8.8.8.8) from terminal, I get regular ping results > 200ms and often much higher. Pinging my home network shows no issues, and I see similar spikes pinging virgin network IPs. 

Using resources like packetlosstest.com, I have zero packet loss, but a very high % of late packets. I just did a 30sec test, 15 pings/sec and had 15% late (>100ms) packets with spikes peaking at 240ms. 

Pretty sure there is an issue somewhere downstream, or my area is over subscribed. Is there anything that can be done here?

[mmp7vm]

Opened a new terminal window and recorded the first 100 pings. Seems pretty clear something isn't right here. 

Spoiler

PING 8.8.8.8 (8.8.8.8): 56 data bytes

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=0 ttl=117 time=51.417 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=1 ttl=117 time=26.901 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=2 ttl=117 time=28.262 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=3 ttl=117 time=77.248 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=4 ttl=117 time=124.547 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=5 ttl=117 time=170.846 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=6 ttl=117 time=86.409 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=7 ttl=117 time=23.315 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=8 ttl=117 time=23.777 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=9 ttl=117 time=178.337 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=10 ttl=117 time=188.980 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=11 ttl=117 time=232.347 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=12 ttl=117 time=271.942 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=13 ttl=117 time=23.134 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=14 ttl=117 time=22.954 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=15 ttl=117 time=23.345 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=16 ttl=117 time=25.050 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=17 ttl=117 time=23.119 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=18 ttl=117 time=162.468 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=19 ttl=117 time=214.941 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=20 ttl=117 time=192.405 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=21 ttl=117 time=227.602 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=22 ttl=117 time=253.143 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=23 ttl=117 time=22.953 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=24 ttl=117 time=24.045 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=25 ttl=117 time=31.045 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=26 ttl=117 time=64.861 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=27 ttl=117 time=26.120 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=28 ttl=117 time=66.989 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=29 ttl=117 time=72.686 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=30 ttl=117 time=118.475 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=31 ttl=117 time=164.157 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=32 ttl=117 time=207.212 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=33 ttl=117 time=234.666 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=34 ttl=117 time=25.676 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=35 ttl=117 time=24.974 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=36 ttl=117 time=24.483 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=37 ttl=117 time=24.369 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=38 ttl=117 time=23.283 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=39 ttl=117 time=25.890 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=40 ttl=117 time=24.603 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=41 ttl=117 time=22.365 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=42 ttl=117 time=24.902 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=43 ttl=117 time=24.131 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=44 ttl=117 time=24.012 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=45 ttl=117 time=23.776 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=46 ttl=117 time=28.425 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=47 ttl=117 time=24.150 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=48 ttl=117 time=23.420 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=49 ttl=117 time=25.013 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=50 ttl=117 time=24.430 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=51 ttl=117 time=23.261 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=52 ttl=117 time=23.249 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=53 ttl=117 time=24.162 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=54 ttl=117 time=23.520 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=55 ttl=117 time=23.522 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=56 ttl=117 time=23.826 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=57 ttl=117 time=31.326 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=58 ttl=117 time=23.278 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=59 ttl=117 time=24.312 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=60 ttl=117 time=23.042 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=61 ttl=117 time=24.118 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=62 ttl=117 time=44.276 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=63 ttl=117 time=23.324 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=64 ttl=117 time=25.464 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=65 ttl=117 time=22.963 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=66 ttl=117 time=24.993 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=67 ttl=117 time=23.335 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=68 ttl=117 time=23.527 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=69 ttl=117 time=108.357 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=70 ttl=117 time=72.097 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=71 ttl=117 time=110.196 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=72 ttl=117 time=135.123 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=73 ttl=117 time=24.327 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=74 ttl=117 time=22.952 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=75 ttl=117 time=24.428 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=76 ttl=117 time=22.646 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=77 ttl=117 time=23.435 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=78 ttl=117 time=23.225 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=79 ttl=117 time=23.461 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=80 ttl=117 time=24.918 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=81 ttl=117 time=24.354 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=82 ttl=117 time=24.995 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=83 ttl=117 time=28.289 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=84 ttl=117 time=26.352 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=85 ttl=117 time=24.296 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=86 ttl=117 time=22.301 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=87 ttl=117 time=24.046 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=88 ttl=117 time=24.568 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=89 ttl=117 time=25.900 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=90 ttl=117 time=23.456 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=91 ttl=117 time=24.515 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=92 ttl=117 time=27.005 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=93 ttl=117 time=27.142 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=94 ttl=117 time=38.513 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=95 ttl=117 time=24.729 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=96 ttl=117 time=22.899 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=97 ttl=117 time=32.465 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=98 ttl=117 time=23.313 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=99 ttl=117 time=23.533 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=100 ttl=117 time=24.892 ms

And here is my packetlosstest

[legacy1]

Buffer jittering! likely on the upstream hrping if used right can show this

[Client62]

What does this test show for Jitter / Packet loss / Latency at the VM Hub and at the Console ?

https://www.samknows.com/realspeed/

Once the test begins click on: Run full test to see all the stats.

[mmp7vm]

Hi, sorry for the delay responding I had to find a suitable time to disconnect the google wifi and put the hub 3 back into router mode. 

Unfortunately the samknows realspeed test doesn't work for me, says RealSpeed is not supported on this network. Not sure why but I'm using a Hub 3 in router mode. 

[mmp7vm]

I restarted the hub and got it to run eventually. 

I ran four or five tests and actually the results came back looking clean across the board. 

Test : Router / Device

Test 1
Latency : 14.2 / 19.4
Jitter : 1.4 / 4.55

Test 2
Latency : 14.9 / 20.1
Jitter : 1.72 / 4.65

Test 3
Latency : 14.1 / 18.1
Jitter : 1.13 / 3.94

Test 4
Latency : 14.1 / 20.5
Jitter : 1.25 / 5.22

Test 5
Latency : 14.6/19.2
Jitter : 1.35 / 4.41

Packet loss is zero on all tests which is what I expected - not experiencing packet loss at all. 

Unfortunately these results just are not my lived reality as I can see when pinging IPs. 
Interestingly enough I noticed that when running the diagnostic test my pings to 8.8.8.8 (which I have running basically constantly now) spike like below until the test is over. So I guess the test prioritises above all other traffic but it's hard to tell if I'm actually running the test during a spike or not (it's a quick test, although when I test on other networks I will normally see a poor result after a few tests. 

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=3189 ttl=117 time=198.752 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=3190 ttl=117 time=206.371 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=3191 ttl=117 time=210.098 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=3192 ttl=117 time=207.346 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=3193 ttl=117 time=208.149 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=3194 ttl=117 time=212.120 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=3195 ttl=117 time=212.798 ms

On the flip side once I finished those tests I immediately ran five tests on ping.com

and I can see the spikes manifesting in my pings as they appear on ping.com

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=3802 ttl=117 time=22.179 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=3803 ttl=117 time=105.828 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=3804 ttl=117 time=57.016 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=3805 ttl=117 time=102.276 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=3806 ttl=117 time=139.480 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=3807 ttl=117 time=25.222 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=3808 ttl=117 time=21.134 ms

[Steven_L]

Hey mmp7vm,

Welcome back to the community and thanks for taking the time to post here on the forums.
I’m sorry to hear of the issues that you’re having with your connection at the moment. I have looked into this on our system and cannot see anything that would be causing your issues that you're having. How are things looking at the moment?

Kind Regards,

Steven_L 

[Client62]

Google DNS is a DNS server (not a ping mirror) so test that with NSLOOKUP queries.   Using Ping is very flawed as 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 are both load balancers, each ping response ( like each DNS lookup ) may well be returned from a different server or a different data centre or even go to a server that does not respond to any ICMP ping traffic.

The VM internet connection to the internet is looking OK,  what is not is the performance of the game servers.

[legacy1]

---

@Steven_L wrote:

I have looked into this on our system and cannot see anything that would be causing your issues that you're having.

---

We have eyes to see but are bind to use them😞

[mmp7vm]

Hi Steven,

I've monitored for a few days. I'd say there was slight improvement - I was still noticing some issues but not as severe as when I first made the post. 

However I fired up the xbox today and had very severe lag issues. I set up a ping to google at the same time and it was even worse than usual - as well as delayed packets I now had severe packet loss. 

--- 8.8.8.8 ping statistics ---
857 packets transmitted, 745 packets received, 13.1% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 21.728/61.983/509.118/61.168 ms

PING 8.8.8.8 (8.8.8.8): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=0 ttl=115 time=70.952 ms
Request timeout for icmp_seq 1
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=2 ttl=115 time=112.568 ms
Request timeout for icmp_seq 3
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=4 ttl=115 time=108.521 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=5 ttl=115 time=297.642 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=6 ttl=115 time=27.948 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=7 ttl=115 time=26.289 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=8 ttl=115 time=22.309 ms
Request timeout for icmp_seq 9
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=10 ttl=115 time=31.182 ms
Request timeout for icmp_seq 11
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=12 ttl=115 time=85.975 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=13 ttl=115 time=65.404 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=14 ttl=115 time=28.922 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=15 ttl=115 time=24.304 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=16 ttl=115 time=24.013 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=17 ttl=115 time=22.655 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=18 ttl=115 time=61.335 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=19 ttl=115 time=73.851 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=20 ttl=115 time=107.863 ms
Request timeout for icmp_seq 21
Request timeout for icmp_seq 22
Request timeout for icmp_seq 23
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=24 ttl=115 time=36.103 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=25 ttl=115 time=69.427 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=26 ttl=115 time=179.581 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=27 ttl=115 time=113.651 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=28 ttl=115 time=314.067 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=29 ttl=115 time=298.715 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=30 ttl=115 time=23.673 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=31 ttl=115 time=23.108 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=32 ttl=115 time=44.254 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=33 ttl=115 time=23.112 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=34 ttl=115 time=52.913 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=35 ttl=115 time=52.131 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=36 ttl=115 time=50.789 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=37 ttl=115 time=24.273 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=38 ttl=115 time=31.202 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=39 ttl=115 time=79.191 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=40 ttl=115 time=105.284 ms
Request timeout for icmp_seq 41
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=42 ttl=115 time=57.572 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=43 ttl=115 time=65.666 ms
Request timeout for icmp_seq 44
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=45 ttl=115 time=26.075 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=46 ttl=115 time=25.185 ms
Request timeout for icmp_seq 47
Request timeout for icmp_seq 48
Request timeout for icmp_seq 49
Request timeout for icmp_seq 50
Request timeout for icmp_seq 51
Request timeout for icmp_seq 52
Request timeout for icmp_seq 53
Request timeout for icmp_seq 54
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=55 ttl=115 time=62.260 ms
Request timeout for icmp_seq 56
Request timeout for icmp_seq 57
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=58 ttl=115 time=26.805 ms
Request timeout for icmp_seq 59
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=60 ttl=115 time=30.361 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=61 ttl=115 time=43.431 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=62 ttl=115 time=54.984 ms
Request timeout for icmp_seq 63
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=64 ttl=115 time=153.936 ms
Request timeout for icmp_seq 65
Request timeout for icmp_seq 66
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=67 ttl=115 time=46.179 ms
Request timeout for icmp_seq 68
Request timeout for icmp_seq 69
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=70 ttl=115 time=49.697 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=71 ttl=115 time=24.277 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=72 ttl=115 time=25.477 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=73 ttl=115 time=25.831 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=74 ttl=115 time=43.603 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=75 ttl=115 time=74.865 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=76 ttl=115 time=23.207 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=77 ttl=115 time=24.440 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=78 ttl=115 time=23.853 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=79 ttl=115 time=28.746 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=80 ttl=115 time=25.123 ms
Request timeout for icmp_seq 81
Request timeout for icmp_seq 82
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=83 ttl=115 time=31.190 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=84 ttl=115 time=29.208 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=85 ttl=115 time=25.676 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=86 ttl=115 time=204.209 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=87 ttl=115 time=29.063 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=88 ttl=115 time=22.985 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=89 ttl=115 time=23.695 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=90 ttl=115 time=80.852 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=91 ttl=115 time=26.560 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=92 ttl=115 time=156.009 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=93 ttl=115 time=42.034 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=94 ttl=115 time=24.736 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=95 ttl=115 time=38.381 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=96 ttl=115 time=23.466 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=97 ttl=115 time=29.671 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=98 ttl=115 time=103.957 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=99 ttl=115 time=218.787 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=100 ttl=115 time=311.550 ms