What is Packet Loss, and How to Fix It?

When your devices are connected to the internet or any network, data is sent and received in small units, and this process is called packets. When a packet fails to travel between the router and the device, it is called packet loss (network packet loss).

It often happens when one or more of these packets don't reach their destination. This can cause network unsettledness, including slow service and even loss of connectivity. Usually, online services like live broadcasting, video streaming, webinars, video conferences, and meetings can experience these issues.

Example 1: VoIP Call Quality Drops

Consider using your business phone system to make a VoIP call. During the call, the audio becomes choppy, with parts of the conversation cutting in and out. You may notice some delay before responding. This is likely caused by packet loss, where some voice data packets are not reaching their destination.

When you try to call the same person using a different VoIP platform, such as Google Voice or Skype, the call quality is much better. This suggests that rather than your equipment or internet connection, packet loss occurs on the network of the original VoIP provider

Example 2: VoIP Call Disconnects

You are on a VoIP call for a virtual team meeting, and the call terminates unexpectedly. When you try to call back, you get the same issue. You decide to do a ping test and find that certain points on the network experience packet loss. Such dropped calls are caused by an overloaded internet connection, outdated equipment, or a misconfigured router.

Example 3: Intermittent VoIP Call Delays

During a VoIP call, your voice seems to be slow and delayed. On your end, it sounds like you are speaking into a weak echo. However, the person on the other end of the phone can hear your voice. This type of one-way delay, caused by packet loss or excessive network jitter, may affect the quality of voice transmission.

In all of these cases, diagnosing packet loss involves testing network routes, checking for congestion, and using tools like ping or DPI to locate where the packet loss is happening in the network.

Packet loss occurs due to weak signal strength at the destination, interference (natural or human-made), system noise, software corruption, or overloaded network nodes. Multiple factors often contribute to this issue simultaneously.

Network congestion occurs when nodes and links are overloaded with traffic. This slows down the network for users. It's like online rush hour traffic and often happens during peak hours.

Network congestion can lower the quality of service (QoS). It leads to packet loss, queuing delays, blocked new connections, and reduced network throughput.

The rapid obsolescence of hardware is a significant issue for your network. Devices like firewalls, routers, and network switches consume substantial power and can degrade network signals. Organizations often neglect hardware updates during expansions or mergers, which leads to packet loss and connectivity outages.

When a network exceeds its capacity, it weakens and drops packets. Devices have built-in buffers to hold it temporarily. These buffers queue packets until the network can send them. However, if the network is overwhelmed, buffers fill up quickly. As a result, packets are discarded before they can be sent.

Buggy software on network devices can disrupt performance and block packet delivery. Faulty hardware often accompanies these issues. System bugs or glitches may cause interruptions. Rebooting hardware and applying patches can fix these bugs.

Unusually high rates of packet drop could indicate a security breach. Cybercriminals may hack your router and instruct it to drop packets. They can also launch a denial-of-service (DoS) attack. Flooding the network with excessive traffic prevents legitimate access to files, emails, or online accounts. Fixing it during a full-blown security attack is challenging.
 

It adversely affects networks in several ways:
 

• It reduces connection speed and throughput.
• Reduces the quality of latency-sensitive applications like streaming video and VoIP.
• It leads to incomplete data transmission.
• It can cause network dropouts.
• Retransmission of data by Wi-Fi routers due to packet loss results in noticeable lag.
• Results in distorted and low video and audio quality.

To conduct a packet loss test on a Windows PC:
 

1. Open Command Prompt: Open the Command Prompt by pressing Windows + R, typing "cmd," and pressing Enter.
    
2. Initiate Ping Test: In the Command Prompt, type "ping -n 100 1.1.1.1" and press Enter to initiate the test. This command specifies the number of ping tests and the IP address for testing packet loss. Stop the test by pressing Ctrl + C.
    
3. Review Ping Statistics: Review the ping statistics to determine the packet loss percentage after completing the test. A percentage exceeding 5% indicates high packet loss.
    

Here are some of the ways that you can do to fix packet loss issues:

It allows more data to flow smoothly through the network, minimizing congestion and ensuring packets reach their destination.

Restarting devices and routers can resolve software glitches, complete pending updates, and optimize memory usage by clearing temporary files.

Verify proper network configuration and ensure all cables are securely connected to prevent packet loss due to physical connection issues.

Switching to a wired Ethernet connection instead of Wi-Fi. It helps to reduce packet loss, as wired connections are generally more stable and reliable.

Keep your operating system (OS), device drivers, and firmware up to date to address potential bugs or compatibility issues causing packet loss.

Consider upgrading outdated network hardware that may struggle to handle modern network demands, leading to increased packet loss and connectivity issues.

Packet loss disrupts network connectivity and services by preventing online data packets from reaching their destination. All applications can be affected by it, mainly real-time users who are doing video and audio calling, playing gaming, and live streaming suffer more.

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When data traveling between your PC and a game server gets lost is packet loss in gaming. It can cause lag spikes and in-game issues like rubberbanding, similar to high ping. Even a fast internet connection with multiple users can experience this issue.

When data packets do not successfully reach their destination within a network is Packet loss on network.

High packet loss on your Xbox Series X or Xbox One usually means a network problem. This could be with your local setup or the wider server infrastructure.

Packet loss during VoIP calls may happen due to network congestion, outdated hardware, or incorrect configurations.