This is a basic guide for simple and easy way to determine if you have problems with your Internet connection, or your Internet Service Provider, ISP, is to blame.
This test will not make you a computer guru and does not require for you to be one.
I'll make it easy! With Stars! 
Some good reasons for why you would want to do this test:
1. You may have a problem with the connection to your router. This means that your Internet will Always be slow, even if you upgrade your speed or change the provider.
2. Your ISP may be having problems and lying to you that the problem is in your equipment.
Step 1:
This is the tool we will use for the test.
The tool is called WinMTR and it looks like this:
As you can see it's nothing scary.
You can download it for free from the following address http://sourceforge.net/projects/winmtr/ … p/download
You will need to extract the files from the .zip file and then enter the WinMTR_x32 folder and start WinMTR.exe
Step 2:
Type "yahoo.com" in the text box and press the "Start" button.
Step 3:
Now you will see the empty window inside the program filling up with data and it will look something like this.
Don't Panic!
Here is what you're seeing, starting from the top:
Your computer is connected to your Router, by wireless or cable.
This connection is illustrated with the green curved line between them.
He sends "data" and receives "data" on that connection, indicated with a blue star.
This "data" is your internet.
Your internet comes in "packages" of that "data".
If you follow the long, horizontal, green line, it will take you to the place in the program where it says "Loss%".
This place indicates if there is a problem with your connection.
As you can see, there is a number for every connection.
The first number is for the connection between your Computer and your Router.
The second number is for the connection between your Router and your ISP devices. And so on...
This number indicates the percentage of lost "data".
The red rectangles indicate the "names" of each device your connection goes trough in order to reach Yahoo.com.
As you can see, your Router has a number, the next device has a number too, and so on and so on.
Now let's recap:
1. Your computer connects to your Router.
2. Your computer sends and receives "data" on that connection.
3. Your router sends that data to the next device on the next cable connection.
4. This cycle continues until it reaches its destination yahoo.com.
Step 4:
Detecting Problems.
If the "Loss %" number is high (anything above 1%) on line 1, which is the connection between your Computer and your Router, this means that there may be a problem in the following places:
1. Your computer.
2. The connection to your Router (the wireless or the cable).
3. Your Router.
This is the most critical part to test.
If there is a problem here, All of your internet will be slow, Always, no matter how fast your internet plan is or how fast your computer is.
Common causes are:
1. Problems with the network card on your computer, or wireless card, or the drivers, or viruses.
2. Problems with the Wireless configuration on your router, or problems with the cable.
3. Badly configured Router or hardware problems with the device.
If the "Loss %" number is high (anything above 5%) on line 2, which is the connection between your Router and your first Internet Provider device, this means that there may be a problem in the following places:
1. Your Router.
2. The cable between your Router and your Internet Provider device.
3. Your Internet Provider's device.
This is somewhat easy to fix, you can call your ISP and tell them that there is a problem, so they will come and fix it.
Somewhere in the list of addresses you will see your Internet Provider name.
If there are "Loss %" of data in the connections between you and your Internet Provider, your Internet Provider is to blame : ) there is a problem and you should call them so they can come and fix it.
If there are "Loss%" in connections after your Internet provider, that's outside of their network. You can call them, but there's little they can do about it I imagine.
Focus on the connection between your Computer and your Router, the first line in the program, and from your Router to the first device of your Internet Provider.
I will not get into details on how to fix those problems, but if you want to know ask away, or call your local technician.
Please feel free to correct me or for the mods to remove this post if it's not needed.
How to diagnose your Internet Connection
Thank you Deithrian,
A great guide, well written and I will keep it handy.
Terry
Just downloaded the 64 bit version and the results are quite interesting.
The only losses for my system and connection appear to be in Milan (13%) and Seattle (1%).
I am aware though that I lose between 10% and 20% when using WiFi compared to a Lan cable connection which I guess is similar for all users.
Very interesting, thanks.
Ray
a handy tool
very good.
thank you
I'm glad you found it interesting guys.
@F0xgl0ve
F0xgl0ve wrote:I am aware though that I lose between 10% and 20% when using WiFi
Ray
10-20% are numbers you shouldn't settle for.
Are those actual losses, or more of a theoretical numbers?
If those losses are real, there's most certainly something you can do about it. : )
Deithrian wrote:I'm glad you found it interesting guys.
@F0xgl0veF0xgl0ve wrote:I am aware though that I lose between 10% and 20% when using WiFi
Ray
10-20% are numbers you shouldn't settle for.
Are those actual losses, or more of a theoretical numbers?
If those losses are real, there's most certainly something you can do about it. : )
I pay for 35Mb but was told the best I was likely to get where I live in Gharb is about 30, If I do a speed test with my lap top wired in I get about 28 on a good day and if I disconnect the LAN cable and rely on WiFi that drops to around 24 - 25.
Ray
F0xgl0ve wrote:I pay for 35Mb but was told the best I was likely to get where I live in Gharb is about 30, If I do a speed test with my lap top wired in I get about 28 on a good day and if I disconnect the LAN cable and rely on WiFi that drops to around 24 - 25.
Ray
Oh I see, there might have been a slight misunderstanding.
We may be talking about two different kinds of loss.
The tool in this guide measures "Lost" packages of data.
I will compare this "loss" as the loss you will get if someone physically cuts the cable or the wireless connection to your router.
This means that if this tool reports 20% loss on line 1, this is the equivalent of someone unplugging the cable to your router, for 20% of the time you are using your internet.
In effect, you don't have internet for 20% of the time.
It may not seam this way, but that's only because people have developed mechanisms to "sort of" make things work even when such big loss of data is happening.
I want to point this out, because this kind of "loss" is serious and it will be very noticeable when you use Skype for example. Because there's lost data, you will have degraded sound and video quality, and (if data loss is great enough) you will miss what people are saying. They will freeze or their voice will become unintelligible.
This is the kind of loss the tool in the test can detect.
The tool doesn't measure "speed", as in how fast you can download big files over the internet, like a Speed Test.
It measures if the "stream" of data is uninterrupted.
If I can give a funny example:
If WinMTR shows no Loss and your internet is fast on Speed Test, you have a working Washing Machine.
If WinMTR shows no Loss, but you have slow internet on Speed Test, you have a working, but slow Washing Machine.
If WinMTR shows big Loss, and your internet is slow, you have a broken Washing Machine which breaks all the time and the worst part is that when it breaks it needs time to power back up again and start washing. : )
If you experience loss of speed on Speed Test, but you don't observe "loss" in WinMTR when you are using your wireless, that's perfectly normal.
It is a bit tricky to troubleshoot where the problem comes from, but if you don't have "WinMTR loss" you can achieve the same speed on your wireless as on your cable.
The things to look out for are:
1. Does your Wireless router support the speed of your internet? If it's anything new it should.
2. Does your laptop's Wireless adapter support the speed of your Router?
3. Is your Router configured Manualy, to use a Wireless channel which is not the default one. (if there are many wireless networks where you live and they all use the same channel, you will have a slow connection)
4. Is your Router's Firmware up to date?
5. Are the drivers for your Wireless adapter on your laptop installed from your manufacturer and up to date?
6. With different routers you will get different performance when it comes to custom settings. Aside from changing the Wireless channel to 11 or 13, which I would always recommend, you can also change the Hz the router operates on (20-40 or Auto) and the protocol it uses "b/g/n or Mixed". I can't recommend settings for the Hz and the Protocol because I have had 4 recent routers which performed in contradictory ways to the supposed "better" settings.
With two words, it's a trial and error. Change a setting, take a speed test, change another setting, take a speed test.
All this said, if WinMTR reports no loss on line 1 when you are on your wireless, don't worry about it, the speed drop you experience is not the end of the world if there are no WinMTR problems
Where are the problems (PC,Rooter or Melita ?)
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| WinMTR statistics |
| Host - % | Sent | Recv | Best | Avrg | Wrst | Last |
|------------------------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|------|
| 192.168.0.1 - 0 | 264 | 264 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 1 |
| No response from host - 2 | 253 | 250 | 6 | 11 | 81 | 14 |
| vl03-north01.csr01.melita.com - 2 | 253 | 250 | 7 | 11 | 81 | 14 |
| 212.56.129.98 - 2 | 253 | 250 | 8 | 14 | 73 | 14 |
| 212.73.241.201 - 2 | 253 | 250 | 35 | 44 | 156 | 41 |
| ae-14-3604.edge4.Chicago3.Level3.net - 7 | 211 | 198 | 145 | 151 | 213 | 165 |
| YAHOO-INC.edge4.Chicago3.Level3.net - 2 | 249 | 245 | 144 | 155 | 306 | 151 |
| ae-5.pat1.nez.yahoo.com - 2 | 252 | 249 | 169 | 178 | 241 | 179 |
| ae-1.msr2.ne1.yahoo.com - 4 | 229 | 220 | 161 | 168 | 199 | 167 |
| ae-0.clr2-a-gdc.ne1.yahoo.com - 2 | 252 | 249 | 161 | 166 | 217 | 163 |
| et-18-25.fab6-1-gdc.ne1.yahoo.com - 2 | 252 | 249 | 161 | 166 | 217 | 167 |
| po-15.bas1-7-prd.ne1.yahoo.com - 4 | 229 | 220 | 170 | 174 | 212 | 175 |
| ir1.fp.vip.ne1.yahoo.com - 2 | 252 | 249 | 173 | 179 | 271 | 180 |
|________________________________________________|______|______|______|______|______|______|
WinMTR v0.92 GPL V2 by Appnor MSP - Fully Managed Hosting & Cloud Provider
Thanks
Hello Sofienek,
As you can see in your report, there are no losses in the connection from your Computer to your Router.
Your Router = 192.168.0.1 - 0 %
This is great.
But there are consistent losses from your router to your ISP's device and down the line.
ISP Router = No response from host - 2%
ISP = vl03-north01.csr01.melita.com - 2 %
...
2% loss is not a big loss, but it's not normal either.
For example, I have 0% loss to vl03-north01.csr01.melita.com, and I'm from another country.
There may be a problem in the connection between your Router and your first ISP device.
If I was in your place I would run a couple of more tests in order to establish if the problem is consistent.
To be sure, you can run the following tests:
1. Instead of Yahoo.com, use other websites to test. Use Google.com or Bing.com.
2. Run the test in different times of the day if you can, to see if that changes the Loss% numbers for better or worst.
If you observe the same losses (2% on every connection after your router) when testing with different websites and times of the day, I would consider calling the ISP and asking them to take a look at the connection. You must explain that you are experiencing packet loss on connections after your Router.
Make sure that the 2% loss is consistent, so you can demonstrate the problem in case the technicians of your ISP come to visit.
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