BleedingKnee

I've got this intermittent problem where packets are dropped. It causes BF2142 to lose connection to the server.

I have two PCs and two internet connections (Comcast cable through router and shared T1 straight to the PC). When the problem occurs, it happens to both PC, on each connection. This rules out any router problem, PC problems, firewall problems etc.

Why do I think it's packet loss? When I send many pings to google, I get about 2 to 10% packet loss. The ping times stay very low (10 -50ms). Lowering ping packet size causes the packet loss to decrease.

I am in Arlington VA. Traceroute shows no common servers between my two internet connections.

My best guess is that some major server in the area is crapping out. Anyone got any tips on how to further diagnose/fix the problem? I've tried rebooting, changing cables (remember, two connections and two PCs, each with their own wires and router), crying, and cussing, but no luck. The problem comes and goes, sometimes lingering for several days.

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aka LousyBackup

Vinz [NL]

I am no technical wiz, but you might want to consider these possibilities:

1. Electrical interference due to electrical equipment being close to the cables in your house. I have heard of instances were the interference from an (old) TV or radio, placed close to a UTP-cable, would cause all kinds of weird connection problems.

2. Do a tracert to a random server. Write down the hops and perform seperate tracerts to these hops, increasing the distance each time you do not run into packet loss. Hopefully this can single out the culprit. Although if the buggy server is on one of the first hops, you're out of luck...

3. I cannot tell from your post if you also run a wireless connection, but if your cheapster neighbour is leeching your bandwith, this can also cause slow connections and PL.

Sorry, just guessing a bit here, hope these 2 cents help...