Packets of what you ask? Everyone knows that computers talk to each other. Ok, perhaps everyone doesn’t know, so I am going to tell you. Computers communicate by sending little packets of information (data) between them. This is called “Packet transfer”.
These small packets carry all kinds of neat information in them. Such as: where the packet came from, where it is suppose to go, size, data being transmitted, and time it was sent.
Your computer keeps track of the “Time to Live” (ttl) and waits for a reply on the other end. If the TTL timer expires, receiving no response from the other end, your computer must send this information again.
This can be time consuming.
What is the delay or hold up? Truth be known it is because the connection was way too slow or the packet was lost somewhere in cyber space.
Subspace uses a special type of packet called “UDP” (User Data protocol), which could care less if packets are lost or late. It usually ignores most lost packets instead of resending them.
“Routers” are used to send those packets though Cyber Space. Do you know how many “Routers” are out there? I don’t even want to guess. Your packets will not necessarily take the same route every time, which will explain why some people experience lost packets one day and not the next.
Routers have a lot of information to absorb. Imagine, for a moment, how many packets are being sent at any given point in time. That poor Router has to figure so many things before it can make its next move. It asks itself, "Is this packet on my local network? Should I pass it to the next router down the line? How is traffic down the line? Can I pass this packet on in a direction that is quicker?"
The Router stores information in RAM. When the RAM gets full it discards all incoming packets until it can handle all the new ones.
Now that we have better concept on how things work lets see if we can figure out to rectify this problem.
Trouble Shooting With Ping.
A number of things could cause this problem
Do the usual things first: Scan, defrag your hard drive and install all Windows updates.
Check all your connections starting with your PC and work your way to the plugs.
Pick up your phone and listen for crackling noises, echoes or odd noises, if using dialup or DSL. Line noise can really screw up your connection.
Removing unwanted spyware, adware and browser hijackers from your PC is a task many of us do fairly frequently (or should be doing).
Try pinging yourself.
This does not mean using your own IP address.
Type in, without brackets “PING Localhost”
A good response ensures the loopback in the local machine can be reached
I have spent several hours researching this and cannot locate a lot of good advice to pass on. Will keep searching and keep notes as I move along.
Hopefully I can find more information that will be of value.
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Contributor's Note
This tool a long time to research and still looking for better results. My apologies for a not so perfect article
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