Unreliable link in route

I was able to resolve this problem by switching to Spectrum.  I'm now getting a solid 35ms at all times.

1) If you think you're going to get to talk to someone in a NOC with residential/consumer-grade Internet service, you need a level-setting adjustment.  Maybe at a Mom & Pop, but not with any national provider.

2) You have no packet loss to your ultimate destination.  Any "packet loss" on intervening hubs is not really packet loss, but a (legitimate) deprioritization of sending back error messages when it receives a packet that has seen too many hops.  Once you get back to 0% packet loss on a hop beyond it, you should ignore any "packet loss" on a hop.

3) It looks like that route gets congested during peak hours.  Peering congestion is a thing.  And when it happens, they have to negotiate how it's going to get fixed and who's going to pay.  When you have a corporate Internet service with SLAs, then you get someone in support you can call.  When you're a residential account, get support agents who cannot help you at all and the option of seeing if you have any better providers you can switch to.

BTW, if ATThelp replies, they'll probably include a link to their handy latency guide which will tell you that 60 ms latency is absolutely fine and you have no reason to complain anyway.

Ok, sure.  Respectfully, I'm not sure why you replied to my message.  I think 90ms and 5-10% packet loss is not absolutely fine.  If you're not ATT and you can't help, you can just ignore this thread, right?

Hi @Chuck704,

We understand your concern with regard to packet loss. We're happy to help!

We have some useful information on ⁠understanding ping and traceroute. This will let you know what is acceptable latency. 

We also recommend that you:

1. Disable IPv6.

2. Change your DNS.
3. Try testing on multiple devices. Preferably with a hard wired connection.
4. Test with all 3rd party hardware removed.

 If you still face the issue, please help us with the below points:

1. What is the model of your gateway?(To confirm there are no non issues with the model). 
2. Do you have a 3rd party gateway connected to your network?(To confirm issue is not with the set up of 3rd party gateway).  

Let us know if this helps!

David, AT&T Community Forum Specialist

Hi, David.  As I've noted, there is a peering issue between AT&T and Magna5, or Level3 or whatever they're calling themselves now.  Some amount of congestion is expected during prime time, but latency goes up 3x and packet loss can get up to 10%.  This may be affecting other customers, so it would be good to get this in front of network operations to at least see if this is correctable.

Thank you for reaching us again @Chuck704,

We hear you, and happy to assist you!

Please let us know if you have tried the above provided troubleshooting steps, and if the issue is persisting, please help us with the below information:

1. What is the model of your gateway? (To confirm there are no non issues with the model). 
2. Do you have a 3rd party gateway connected to your network? (To confirm issue is not with the setup of 3rd party gateway).  

To know more about latency and ping please visit our forum thread.

For further assistance, we are always here to help!

Nate, AT&T Community Forum Specialist.

I have a BGW210-700 directly connected to my PC.

Hello @Chuck704,

Thank you for providing the information. We hear you, and happy to assist you!

Since the given troubleshooting didn't work, please try below steps:

1. Go to Firewall > Packet Filter and click Disable Packet Filters, then run the above command again. The packets should still be dropped.
2. Go to Firewall > Firewall Advanced, set “Drop incoming ICMP Echo requests to Device LAN Address” to Off, and click save. Run the ping command again, and it should go through.
3. Turn the packet filter back on.

If the issue persists, we recommend reaching out to HomeTech (paid subscription service). They'll be able to further assist with providing specialized support managing your home network and ensuring your firewall is configured correctly.

For further assistance, we are always here to help!

Nate, AT&T Community Forum Specialist.

Home network is fine. I'm reporting a peering issue.  Are there any humans in support?

Hello @Chuck704,

We get how this feels and, we are here to make things right!

We recommend that you try contacting our technical support. You can reach the at 855.920.0146 \ 866.545.9260 \ 877.353.5972 \ 800.288.2020.

They are available Monday to Friday 07:00am-09:00pm CT and Saturday-Sunday 08:00-09:00pm CT.

For further assistance, we are always here to help!

Nate, AT&T Community Forum Specialist.