Help understanding this problem

Shagster · Post by **Shagster** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 12:24 am

I have Northland Cable (which is complete ****). Every month or so they have like a few days where the connection just sorta craps out. Pings jump above 1s . I don't much at all about how the internet works. yet over the year the problem always produces the same tracert. So it started like a week ago and I thought it would be gone by now but it turned into a 24 hour thing. It is progressive until they do whatever it is they do to fix it.

That third server, whatever it is, is always where the connection dies on a tracert to any site. I am hoping to better understand exactly what that server is. Is it a local box they just need to restart? I'd love when they send me to a lvl '2' technician (does lvl 2 mean they are still a jackass but just kept the job for more than a few months? Or are they actually qualified?) and I could just tell them what they need to do to repair it. I usually just tell them that ip (or ip's) and that it is where the connection dies, ends up going nowhere though.

Also, just to make sure, am I under the correct impression that a tracert like that exempts anything inside my household from being the problem?

Any info would be great. Thanks!

trogers · Post by **trogers** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 12:39 am

The router at hop 3 belongs to AT&T.

Use the WHOIS function of this link to look up the owner (and location):

http://www.dnsstuff.com/

Shagster · Post by **Shagster** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 12:44 am

Neato. Didn't know you could whois one of those.

Still, curious as to what it is. Like is there a definate pattern the first few IP's follow for a commercial connection?

Something up on a telephone pole? Buried? Server in a room full of servers? little green box next to the apartment complex?

trogers · Post by **trogers** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 3:12 am

Shagster wrote:Neato. Didn't know you could whois one of those.

Still, curious as to what it is. Like is there a definate pattern the first few IP's follow for a commercial connection?

Something up on a telephone pole? Buried? Server in a room full of servers? little green box next to the apartment complex?

I am not in the US and so am not clear about problems there. Have there been some bad weather that is affecting AAT&T's network? You are the 3rd member to post signal problem which points to intermediate routers of AT&T.