Open a command prompt and start a ping somewhere that will respond (your home router is a good one if you are at home)
ping -n 1000 192.168.1.1
Then go to speedtest.net and start a speed test.
Watch the ping round trip times. They will increase a bit as buffers fill up along the route, but in some cases they will end up wildly undulating up to values of several seconds, or no response is received. This is due to a phenomenon known as "buffer bloat" which is due to excessive buffering, usually at the point before the slowest link in the chain. This plays tricks on TCP, which expects packets to be dropped in a timely fashion once the link is saturated.
It seems to be responsible for a lot of problems that are usually attributed to "internet congestion" or dodgy broadband.
ping -n 1000 192.168.1.1
Then go to speedtest.net and start a speed test.
Watch the ping round trip times. They will increase a bit as buffers fill up along the route, but in some cases they will end up wildly undulating up to values of several seconds, or no response is received. This is due to a phenomenon known as "buffer bloat" which is due to excessive buffering, usually at the point before the slowest link in the chain. This plays tricks on TCP, which expects packets to be dropped in a timely fashion once the link is saturated.
It seems to be responsible for a lot of problems that are usually attributed to "internet congestion" or dodgy broadband.
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