[SOLVED] Awkward high packet loss

[RobinVossen]

Hello,

I recently moved from Opensuse to Xubuntu.
And ever since I have done this I am having issues with my network.
These issues started during installing.

During my first install attempt I enabled the feature to download updates during install.
I started the installer and just waited for a little while, got up, had some coffee, read the newspaper, went to the loo and got back to check on my install.
When the screen said, 123Hours remaining I aborted the install.
Rebooted, made sure the "download updates" checkbox was not checked. And pressed install.
Got up, got coffee, got back install done.

Great!

I rebooted into my new envoirment, wanted to install my required tools. You know gedit, cmake, chromium, sylpheed etc etc using Ubuntu Software Center.
The USC hanged. Everything was slow. And the download time told me 6days. I aborted rebooted and started analysing my network.

First I pinged 3 locations:
nu.nl (National Website), google.com (American Website), nippon.jp (Asian Pacific Website).
The current results when I do this are the following.

robin% ping -c 10 nu.nl ; ping -c 10 google.com ; ping -c 10 nippon.jp
PING nu.nl (62.69.166.254) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 62.69.166.254: icmp_req=2 ttl=249 time=6.76 ms
64 bytes from 62.69.166.254: icmp_req=3 ttl=249 time=887 ms
64 bytes from 62.69.166.254: icmp_req=6 ttl=249 time=234 ms
64 bytes from 62.69.166.254: icmp_req=7 ttl=249 time=7.46 ms
64 bytes from 62.69.166.254: icmp_req=8 ttl=249 time=270 ms

--- nu.nl ping statistics ---
10 packets transmitted, 5 received, 50% packet loss, time 31595ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 6.764/281.221/887.807/322.666 ms
PING google.com (173.194.67.101) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from wi-in-f101.1e100.net (173.194.67.101): icmp_req=1 ttl=49 time=10.5 ms
64 bytes from wi-in-f101.1e100.net (173.194.67.101): icmp_req=3 ttl=49 time=10.5 ms
64 bytes from wi-in-f101.1e100.net (173.194.67.101): icmp_req=4 ttl=49 time=10.6 ms
64 bytes from wi-in-f101.1e100.net (173.194.67.101): icmp_req=7 ttl=49 time=10.2 ms
64 bytes from wi-in-f101.1e100.net (173.194.67.101): icmp_req=9 ttl=49 time=791 ms
64 bytes from wi-in-f101.1e100.net (173.194.67.101): icmp_req=10 ttl=49 time=10.5 ms

--- google.com ping statistics ---
10 packets transmitted, 6 received, 40% packet loss, time 9036ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 10.253/140.723/791.821/291.179 ms
PING nippon.jp (114.179.231.27) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 114.179.231.27: icmp_req=3 ttl=104 time=253 ms
64 bytes from 114.179.231.27: icmp_req=4 ttl=104 time=251 ms
64 bytes from 114.179.231.27: icmp_req=5 ttl=104 time=295 ms
64 bytes from 114.179.231.27: icmp_req=6 ttl=104 time=785 ms
64 bytes from 114.179.231.27: icmp_req=8 ttl=101 time=467 ms
64 bytes from 114.179.231.27: icmp_req=10 ttl=104 time=260 ms

--- nippon.jp ping statistics ---
10 packets transmitted, 6 received, 40% packet loss, time 34607ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 251.950/385.740/785.804/194.092 ms

The average package loss of 43% worried me.
The latency can't really be the issue of the slowness since I think 10ms to reach google is alright.

So, I had a look at my MTU, restared my router, retried, used another system.
None of those are the issue. The MTU of my system is 1500. The other systems don't have any slowness.

Next part to test, I got to University and checked my internet there. It worked _PERFECTLY_.
We got another router at University, a Linksys something, we made a little 5 person network.
No issues.

That is starting to get me confused. I checked iptables for some odd rule. But, iptables was empty.
I tracedrouted google.com

Got the following:

traceroute to google.com (173.194.67.139), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets
 1  * * *
 2  * * *
 3  * * *
 4  * * *
 5  * * *
 6  * * *
 7  * * *
 8  * * *
 9  * * *
10  * * *
11  * * *
12  173.194.67.139 (173.194.67.139)  2668.287 ms  2669.405 ms  2671.414 ms

I am starting to run out of options. Maybe my NIC is just damaged?
As I am using WIFI it might be some very strong electrical field somewhere in the air, yet the other laptops magicly don't have issues with connecting to Wireless.


Does anyone have an idea?
Some system info to boot:

robin% lsmod ; uname -a ; lspci ; uptime ; iwconfig ; ifconfig
Module                  Size  Used by
iptable_filter         12810  0 
ip_tables              27473  1 iptable_filter
x_tables               29846  2 iptable_filter,ip_tables
pci_stub               12622  1 
vboxpci                23200  0 
vboxnetadp             13382  0 
vboxnetflt             23441  0 
vboxdrv               287082  3 vboxpci,vboxnetadp,vboxnetflt
rfcomm                 47604  4 
bnep                   18281  2 
bluetooth             180104  10 rfcomm,bnep
parport_pc             32866  0 
ppdev                  17113  0 
vesafb                 13844  1 
snd_hda_codec_realtek   223867  1 
joydev                 17693  0 
hid_logitech_dj        18593  0 
nvidia              12319264  32 
uvcvideo               72627  0 
videodev               98259  1 uvcvideo
v4l2_compat_ioctl32    17128  1 videodev
snd_hda_intel          33773  4 
snd_hda_codec         127706  2 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel
snd_hwdep              13668  1 snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm                97188  2 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec
snd_seq_midi           13324  0 
snd_rawmidi            30748  1 snd_seq_midi
arc4                   12529  2 
snd_seq_midi_event     14899  1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq                61896  2 snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
ath9k                 132390  0 
mac80211              506816  1 ath9k
ath9k_common           14053  1 ath9k
ath9k_hw              411112  2 ath9k,ath9k_common
ath                    24067  3 ath9k,ath9k_common,ath9k_hw
psmouse                87603  0 
cfg80211              205544  3 ath9k,mac80211,ath
serio_raw              13211  0 
shpchp                 37277  0 
snd_timer              29990  2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device         14540  3 snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
video                  19596  0 
snd                    78855  17 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hwdep,snd_pcm,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
wmi                    19256  0 
soundcore              15091  1 snd
snd_page_alloc         18529  2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
i2c_nforce2            13058  0 
asus_laptop            24493  0 
sparse_keymap          13890  1 asus_laptop
input_polldev          13896  1 asus_laptop
mac_hid                13253  0 
lp                     17799  0 
parport                46562  3 parport_pc,ppdev,lp
usbhid                 47199  1 hid_logitech_dj
hid                    99559  2 hid_logitech_dj,usbhid
r8169                  62099  0 
Linux Stolas 3.2.0-23-generic #36-Ubuntu SMP Tue Apr 10 20:39:51 UTC 2012 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
00:00.0 Host bridge: NVIDIA Corporation MCP79 Host Bridge (rev b1)
00:00.1 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation MCP79 Memory Controller (rev b1)
00:03.0 ISA bridge: NVIDIA Corporation MCP79 LPC Bridge (rev b3)
00:03.1 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation MCP79 Memory Controller (rev b1)
00:03.2 SMBus: NVIDIA Corporation MCP79 SMBus (rev b1)
00:03.3 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation MCP79 Memory Controller (rev b1)
00:03.5 Co-processor: NVIDIA Corporation MCP79 Co-processor (rev b1)
00:04.0 USB controller: NVIDIA Corporation MCP79 OHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev b1)
00:04.1 USB controller: NVIDIA Corporation MCP79 EHCI USB 2.0 Controller (rev b1)
00:08.0 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation MCP79 High Definition Audio (rev b1)
00:09.0 PCI bridge: NVIDIA Corporation MCP79 PCI Bridge (rev b1)
00:0b.0 SATA controller: NVIDIA Corporation MCP79 AHCI Controller (rev b1)
00:10.0 PCI bridge: NVIDIA Corporation MCP79 PCI Express Bridge (rev b1)
00:15.0 PCI bridge: NVIDIA Corporation MCP79 PCI Express Bridge (rev b1)
00:16.0 PCI bridge: NVIDIA Corporation MCP79 PCI Express Bridge (rev b1)
02:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation C79 [GeForce G102M] (rev b1)
03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 01)
04:00.0 Network controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) (rev 01)
 12:50:22 up  4:06,  0 users,  load average: 0.77, 0.97, 0.97
lo        no wireless extensions.

wlan0     IEEE 802.11bgn  ESSID:"flare"  
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.437 GHz  Access Point: 00:25:9C:D5:35:1C   
          Bit Rate=65 Mb/s   Tx-Power=15 dBm   
          Retry  long limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=61/70  Signal level=-49 dBm  
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:9790  Invalid misc:1361   Missed beacon:0

eth0      no wireless extensions.

eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr e0:cb:4e:24:b9:bf  
          UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
          Interrupt:41 Base address:0xe000 

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback  
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
          RX packets:2136 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:2136 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
          RX bytes:174828 (174.8 KB)  TX bytes:174828 (174.8 KB)

wlan0     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:25:d3:de:4c:9e  
          inet addr:192.168.1.101  Bcast:192.168.1.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::225:d3ff:fede:4c9e/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:163484 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:114542 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:238187571 (238.1 MB)  TX bytes:10831786 (10.8 MB)

Thanks,
- Robin

[elija]

I have experienced this in two situations

1. IPV6 enabled with hardware that really didn't like it
2. Accidentally assigning two computers the same IP address

[Irithori]

As the issue seems to be related to wlan, but also your laptop seems to be working, maybe the issue is a overused wlan channel.
List of WLAN channels - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You can get a list of actively used channels/frequencies with
iwlist( - Linux man page
and set a different channel with
iwconfig( - Linux man page

However, this probably needs to happen on the AP.

Other than that: Yes, I also already experienced that hardware A just doesnt want to work with hardware B, although not in recent times anymore.

[RobinVossen]

IPV6 enabled with hardware that really didn't like it

I highly doubt this, due to the fact that it's quite a 'new' laptop (2 Years or so). And that I didn't happen with Suse. Where I am sure it has IPv6 Enabled.
But I'll give it a go anyway. =)

It's a non-modified Laptop. So I don't think the hardware clash.

The Channels sound the most reasonable. I had a look at the roaming networks and I didn't see a different one. And I doubt the people around here know how to set a Channel. As I see a lot of router names when I scan =P.

But I'll give it a check. Thanks for the recommendations..

[RobinVossen]

Seems that was not it either.
I noticed that when I changed the channel and when I reloaded my ath9k module it seemd things where fine.
But, when I launched Chromium everything collapsed again.

[elija]

Does this happen when you do anything or is it only when using Chromium?

[RobinVossen]

The issues is resolved. And the problem was: Network manager.
I replaced it with wicd and everything works without a hick.