Puzzling cable modem performance

[AMDfreak]

In a bad storm a couple weeks ago I lost 2 cat5 cables, a broadband router, a nice 3com NIC, and a slew of other stuff. I bought a cheapo Linksys NIC to get the cable access up again, and I now see some interesting performance problems when playing online games. In SOF2 and Counterstrike, the ping is very eratic. I know some fluctuation is normal, but not wildly high numbers it goes up to. In Everquest, the "lagometer" shows constant packet loss ranging from 5% to over 60%. Before, there was almost never any packet loss. Could it be that my one remaining working cat5 cable is faulty, is the new cheapo NIC just crap, or is it possible that the cable modem is slightly screwed up?

 

[Texun]

Have you tried pinging the NIC or modem? If you have packet loss at the modem then you may have your answer. If not, ping the gateway and call the cable company. They probably took the hit too.

 

[sml]

The packet loss could be attributable to either the cable or the NIC; if you got a REALLY crappy NIC, That's where I'd check first. Wouldn't hurt to call the cable co and have them run a diagnostic on your circuit too.

 

[AMDfreak]

Well, I still can't nail anything down as the main cause. The NIC was really crappy as after only a week of use, the connector went flaky. If I balely nudge the cable, the NIC lost connectivity. Since it was after 9pm and I needed groceries anyway, I picked up another cheapo NIC at Wal-Mart. This one can't even get recognized by AT&T! With the network upgrades I'm supposed to be able to just turn the modem off and on, and it will recognize the new MAC. After an hour and a half on the phone with AT&T, I got nothing, but my roommates computer still hooks up fine. My conclusion, AT&T is suck! I'll be taking both cheapo NIC's back and getting a good 3com again.