Continuous hourly packet drops occurring for ten seconds, beginning 10 minutes after system startup.
Continuous hourly packet drops occurring for ten seconds, beginning 10 minutes after system startup.
The Asrock X670E is paired with a Ryzen 9 7950X3D processor running at 4.2GHz, featuring a Crucial T700 2TB Gen5 NVMe M.2 drive and a WD_BLACK SN850X 4TB M.2 SSD. It also connects to a 64GB PC with AMD Ryzen 9 E ASUS GeForce 4090 graphics. The system is powered by a Windows 11 Pro 64-bit OS, and the PC is linked to a home router via a Cat 8 cable. The router is set up with a 1GB download and 0.1GB upload bandwidth, and diagnostics seem normal despite ongoing issues.
From the moment it starts, around 10 minutes in, there are frequent packet loss events lasting about 10 seconds. These occur roughly every hour, though occasionally they drop to under 100% for brief periods—this is unusual rather than typical. The problem began in early November (Nov 23–Jan 24), but after removing Norton 360 and NordVPN, it seemed to disappear. It would reappear occasionally when connecting to NordVPN and then disconnecting.
Poorly, it causes Discord to freeze for about 20 seconds and disconnects me from online servers or games. I ran pingplotter for weeks using the paid version, testing various troubleshooting steps: swapping cables, disconnecting other devices, using a different router (Devolo Mesh), and switching to a Zyxel hub. The PC and laptop both showed no packet loss, but the PC still exhibited the same pattern.
I attempted to troubleshoot by checking running services and scheduled tasks, but lack of expertise left me uncertain. Admitting defeat, I’m seeking expert advice from a knowledgeable community to help identify the cause and resolve this persistent issue. If anyone has insights or suggestions, please share them.
It might be wise to hire an exorcist before Halloween crowds fill everything. You’ve already done a lot of troubleshooting. It looks like your router and internet service provider are clean, as another machine showed the same issues. Your Ethernet cable seems fine since the Wi-Fi from the same device also had problems. Have you tried a fresh Windows installation? You might need to reformat your boot drive or swap it out with another and install Windows from scratch. This can help determine if the problem is hardware or software-related. If it resolves with a new Windows, it likely points to a driver issue, a buggy app, or malware. If the problem remains after a fresh install, it probably stems from hardware failure—perhaps a faulty driver for your motherboard, chipset, or the Ethernet adapter. You could also test with a USB adapter to connect via Wi-Fi or Ethernet; it may have its own driver and could work as a workaround. If the motherboard is suspected, consider contacting the seller for a replacement. Such a costly component shouldn’t have annoying glitches. Good luck!
WiFi and the wired NIC represent completely different hardware components, making it highly improbable this issue stems from the motherboard. As you mentioned, I’d like to test a fresh Windows installation since it’s more likely the problem lies with the PC itself rather than the network hardware.
Thank you for your response. I considered a new setup but questioned whether reinstalling everything would resolve the recurring issue. Since the problem disappeared for months, I treated the fresh install as unlikely to cause it again. I suspect a scheduled task or service might be involved, but I struggled to track the process at each moment. Not having Pingplotter enabled made it hard to link events to specific times, especially regarding updates or installs. I’m sorry for missing Pingplotter permanently—I would have been better at tracing when it restarted and connecting it to a Windows update or software change. At this stage, I’d consider using a Ouija board if it could help. I’m taking a break from alcohol to focus on weight loss and sleep quality, as Airplane said I might have chosen the wrong week to quit.
Ping Plotter checks responses one by one and doesn't always treat every reply as a complete failure. If your connection is slow, it may show delays instead of errors. The device prioritizes different types of traffic, so some pings might be delayed but not dropped. It depends on the router and network conditions between you and the server.
Thanks for the update. The laptop didn’t face the same problem I did, and I usually don’t let my router handle pings. I did turn it on a few weeks back and used broadband, which didn’t show any issues.
It would be puzzling if the laptop were struggling on WiFi while the PC handled wired connections easily. This scenario seems quite confusing. I think the CAT 8 cable might not be ideal and could be picking up interference, especially since higher cables like CAT 6a aren't always reliable. I can't picture it causing this exact problem. I'm open to considering Windows network stack issues too—I've experienced strange problems with it over the past decade. For instance, one network card would fail completely during a Windows update, but later function normally. In contrast, the same card in Linux worked perfectly all along.
I began removing small portions of programs and restarting, testing for an hour. I focused on anything that might have asked for permission to update or had recent installs that seemed fine but could be the cause. The issue disappeared. Possible causes include Apple Mobile Support Services running during an iTunes update. Antares client for Autotune Pro, Bandcamp DAW, and a Codemeter runtime kit might have been involved. While swapping cables and testing Wi-Fi, I pressed the flashback BIOS button with the Ethernet cable, which triggered several motherboard reinstalls. Technology can be tricky sometimes. Thanks for your help in trying to clarify things. I’m not sure why these programs acted the way they did, but Apple seems most likely given its role as the only common software from about nine months ago.