Overview
As the name implies, Packet Loss is the loss of data packets during transmission. Some Packet Loss is not a big deal for typical internet surfing. But with certain things like gaming, it will surface in the form of lag. If the packet loss is significant, it will be noticeable even during normal usage.
If you are experiencing network performance drops on Windows, you can use tools like Ping and Pathping to perform a Packet Loss test. If you find Packet Loss inside your network, you can follow the steps from this guide to try and fix it. If the Packet Loss occurs outside your network, you must contact your ISP for support.
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Using Ping to Test Packet Loss
When you Ping a host, you send them an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) Echo Request, and your device waits for an ICMP Echo Reply. In doing so, you can find information like the Round Trip Times (RTT) and Packet Loss Values for each request. You can use the Ping tool via the command line interface on Windows.
1.) Press Win + R, type cmd, and press Enter.
2.) Type ping agent.convoso.com and press Enter.
3.) Check the Packet Loss values here.
Ping for Packet Loss Troubleshooting
We demonstrated basic Ping usage above. But for actual Packet Loss troubleshooting, we recommend the following procedure:
1.) Ping The Convoso server using a large packet size as such:ping -t -l 10000 agent.convoso.com
2.) After 15 or so Pings, press CTRL + C to stop the Ping Test.
3.) Analyze the results.
- The average RTT should not be higher than 15ms.
- Generally speaking, 2-3% packet loss is acceptable. If you get higher packet loss, try a Ping Test with a higher count (50+) again.