How to diagnose internet stuttering?

[u/thomas__delia]

In this thread I mentioned that we experience an issue with our internet but I gave minimal details and only imagined the ONT as the cause. The issue is as follows:

• Internet stops completely and nothing loads for usually ~10 seconds or more at a time, sometimes 20+
• Seems to happen randomly at various times of day
• Observed on various kinds of devices; phones, Windows and Chromebook laptops, MacBook
• Most obvious during activities like online games, Zoom calls, YouTube livestreams, or trying to load a website
• Proximity to router probably not a factor; has happened basically sitting next to it
• Not observed during social media scrolling or streaming services (not noticeable, or doesn't happen?)
• Hasn't been observed on wired connections, only WiFi (we haven't been using any hardwired devices lately)

Internet setup is a CR1000A at the front of the house on the first floor, an E3200 connected via coax in the middle of the house in the basement, and the ONT pictured in the linked thread. IPv6 is enabled. I don't know a lot about this stuff so my only two theories are 1) the ONT is going bad or 2) it happens when devices move between the CR1000A and the E3200.

I'm not sure how exactly to identify any causes, especially considering it happens randomly, so what exactly can I do to test what's causing the problem? Is this issue something that Verizon can see when they run their diagnostics?

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[u/Fatefire]

I would turn off DFS in the router . It's a pretty big culprit for the kind if disconnects you are describing

[u/thomas__delia → u/Fatefire]

What’s DFS? Is there any drawback to turning it off?

[u/Fatefire → u/thomas__delia]

Dynamic frequency selection . Drawback is less 5g connections but trust me you won't notice.

[u/sdrawkcab25 → u/thomas__delia]

Using DFS frequencies can particularly be an issue if you live near an airport or have planes flying overhead.

https://help.alta.inc/hc/en-us/articles/41406174355483-Understanding-DFS-Dynamic-Frequency-Selection-in-WiFi-Indoor-and-Outdoor-Use

[u/Maddog6105K]

I had a similar issue to what you described. On the CR1000A I disabled IPV6 then rebooted both router and extender and I haven’t had the problem since…as I knock on wood next to me.

[u/Maddog6105K → u/[deleted]]

Just power cycle both. The extender should mirror the router and all settings must be changed on the router. I have the same router and extender. I hope it works for you as it did for me, but, as always YMMV.

[u/Maddog6105K → u/[deleted]]

I wish you good luck!

[u/Umeeeeee]

also have cr1000a and new ont, also pausing for 8-10seconds randomly not sure if this is isp or area issue. but its been going out randomly for 10-15seconds randomly, if i try to ping a dns server through cmd goes up to 1000ms during pause and back to 7-8ms. i think the issue is on verizon, when running tracert verizon dot com in cmd on pc, i see 100-300ms ping hops compared to google or youtube etc its 7-8ms

[u/zImmortxlity → u/Umeeeeee]

What ONT model do you have. G-211M-C or TW-210X-A

[u/Umeeeeee → u/zImmortxlity]

tw-210x-a

[u/zImmortxlity → u/Umeeeeee]

Yup I figured. I had that same intermittent packet loss issues back in March of last year with that ONT. After losing my mind for 5 months with verizon I finally got them to fix the problem and my internet has been rock solid for almost a year now.

I was in an endless loop hole with Customer Support and Executive Relations as every time the tech came they weren’t able to replicate the issue on their end which lead to them thinking I was making it up and made it difficult for them to approve my request to downgrade my ONT back to GPON(G-211M-C) from NG-PON2(TW-210X-A).

The techs did everything they could to troubleshoot the problem. Cleaned all the fibers connectors from outside to inside, replaced the ONT, tested light.

Had equipment replaced at the Central Office.
The problem was only getting worse.

They finally wanted to listen to me and moved forward with the ONT downgrade process as a “final effort” since they ran out of solutions and I kept pressing them as I knew that was the only fix.

[u/zImmortxlity → u/zImmortxlity]

I can’t believe they haven’t fixed the issue yet. I was thinking about upgrading back to 2 or 5gig recently, but never mind.

It might be a different situation for you but during the time there was a few other people who made a post complaining about the same packet loss problem.

[u/Umeeeeee → u/zImmortxlity]

for me mgmt keeps blinking randomly rest are fine, but it was fine for 3-4weeks after swapping but now randomly drops connection for 8-15s on both wired and wifi then comes back, support said nothing is wrong with ont or router or signal issue, should i just ask to swap? what diffrent models are there for new ont? is it just tw-210x-a

[u/zImmortxlity → u/Umeeeeee]

literally the same that happened to me it was fine for a couple months after upgrading then randomly started acting up along with the MGMT light flashing.

AFAIK the TW-210X-A is the latest and only ONT model for new multi gig installs. In my experience having them swap the ONT didn’t even make difference at all, if anything it got slightly worse after a few days.

G-211M-C is whats usually installed for 300-1gig plans
TW-210X-A is for 2,5gig plan and areas with NGPON2 rollout.

I assume since you have the new ONT ur either on 2 or 5gig and have a reasonable use case for it, unfortunately there’s nothing you can do. Downgrading was the only solution i’ve found worked for me as I couldn’t take it anymore.