Data loss every 50 seconds

[Marshfield]

I play Everquest (on-line game) and am getting this problem :

I get a lag (data loss) situation quite a bit in EQ but it's an intermittent problem. I alt/ent and called up the "connected to MSN window" to see the actual data bytes incoming. When the lag started, data stopped incoming completely and didn't resume for 15 seconds. This creates a packet loss that starts at 1.6% and gradually increases to 43.8% and it's the same over and over. Then 50 seconds after the lag began, it started again. So, I get 15 seconds of non-playable lagging followed by 35 seconds of normal play. It repeats over and over until I restart my computer and relog into the game. Even then EQ may have the problem immediately or it may start back 20 minutes after I restart.
Any ideas. The 50 second repeat must be tied to something.
My modem is a USR V.92 Fax Win Int. Is this a modem problem also I am using Win98...thanks

 

[pansophic]

I've experienced a similar issue, but it was not on a production network. On our test network, someone was doing some testing and disconnected our test PBX from the Statum 2 clock source that the entire network is clocked from. Every 40 seconds I would receive a noise level that maxed out the counter on my modems. It would occur for about 5 seconds, and then go away. But the data impact was more than double that, almost 15 seconds as the protocols attempted to recover.

Turns out, it was clock slip on the T-1 that connected our PBX to the test network. The PBX's Stratum 3 clock just wasn't able to hold-over the Stratum 2 clock long enough, so we were experiencing a "clock slip" on the T-1.

I seriously doubt that you are experiencing the same problem, but it is possible. Normally something that is that repetitive is related to a clocking issue on the network.

Is this your home computer, or a system at your office?


pansophic

 

[Marshfield]

Thank you for your reply. Unfortunately, this is my home computer and it is stand alone...just using a modem. I did have a network card installed but will remove it this morning (there is no network to connect to).
Your answer was most interesting though. If I am ever to fix this, it will probably come from some sharp individual who can think outside the box. This question has been given to MSN and EQ. They have no interest in helping me and no idea what the problem might be.

Jim

 

[pansophic]

Sorry, in this instance I was talking about the telephone network, not the data network. Removing your LAN card won't do anything.

Do you know someone who has a laptop and could connect from your home to see if they experience the same trouble?

You will probably never get the phone company to certify that you can pass data over your analog telephone line, but if you are relatively certain that you have a line problem, there is test equipment that can verify it. A transmission impairment measurement set (TIMS) can be used to measure the noise, and the telephone company actually has specs on what levels they are to provide to their customers. But I've only ever found one or two techs who knew what they were or how to test them. When I would show them, they just shrugged and said that they could call their office OK.


pansophic