F5F Stay Refreshed Power Users Networks My internet connection has a big gap that goes from zero to one hundred percent a few times in a row.

My internet connection has a big gap that goes from zero to one hundred percent a few times in a row.

My internet connection has a big gap that goes from zero to one hundred percent a few times in a row.

J
JaffaHunters
Member
140
03-15-2026, 09:06 AM
#1
I'm using ethernet and I swapped out my standard rental router. The ethernet cord looks fine, it has no tears. My internet company is Spectrum with a one-gig plan. My wire is cat6 and it's 75 feet long. I don't know what the problem is yet, and I called their support team. They said there are no packet losses on their end. This started right after I moved my setup further away from the router here is the ping plotter test:
J
JaffaHunters
03-15-2026, 09:06 AM #1

I'm using ethernet and I swapped out my standard rental router. The ethernet cord looks fine, it has no tears. My internet company is Spectrum with a one-gig plan. My wire is cat6 and it's 75 feet long. I don't know what the problem is yet, and I called their support team. They said there are no packet losses on their end. This started right after I moved my setup further away from the router here is the ping plotter test:

S
Sebastian_L
Junior Member
14
03-15-2026, 09:20 AM
#2
Open up Device Manager and look at the settings for your ethernet card. You can find options that let you save energy, like "Green Ethernet." Turn these features down to see if they still cause problems later on.
S
Sebastian_L
03-15-2026, 09:20 AM #2

Open up Device Manager and look at the settings for your ethernet card. You can find options that let you save energy, like "Green Ethernet." Turn these features down to see if they still cause problems later on.

D
dniznemac
Senior Member
555
03-15-2026, 10:23 AM
#3
did it really fail, right?
D
dniznemac
03-15-2026, 10:23 AM #3

did it really fail, right?

B
Bartekdwarf
Posting Freak
791
04-01-2026, 07:41 AM
#4
Check your ethernet cable closely. Look for EIA/TIA printed on it, along with a number like 23AWG or something similar. That tells you how thick the wire is. You might also see CU written down there. Instead of looking for CCA, which you should avoid because that means copper-clad aluminum (which causes problems), just look to make sure the cable is pure copper and uses a size between 22 and 24 AWG. These are usually the thicker or standard flat ones. You don't need fancy stuff like Cat5e; really, any cable that meets these simple rules will work fine. The only reason some people sell bad cables is because they think you'll be okay if it's short distance. But if you use it too far, things get messy and slow down a lot. So maybe try running a normal ping command to your router IP address (192.68.1.1 in your case). You should see almost no loss of speed and latency should stay around 1 millisecond most of the time. There isn't much that can ruin this connection except for a bad port or a really bad cable, which is usually just the cable itself being defective. It's also a good idea to check for that "green" power-saving stuff on the connector, because those options often break down when you run them over long cables.
B
Bartekdwarf
04-01-2026, 07:41 AM #4

Check your ethernet cable closely. Look for EIA/TIA printed on it, along with a number like 23AWG or something similar. That tells you how thick the wire is. You might also see CU written down there. Instead of looking for CCA, which you should avoid because that means copper-clad aluminum (which causes problems), just look to make sure the cable is pure copper and uses a size between 22 and 24 AWG. These are usually the thicker or standard flat ones. You don't need fancy stuff like Cat5e; really, any cable that meets these simple rules will work fine. The only reason some people sell bad cables is because they think you'll be okay if it's short distance. But if you use it too far, things get messy and slow down a lot. So maybe try running a normal ping command to your router IP address (192.68.1.1 in your case). You should see almost no loss of speed and latency should stay around 1 millisecond most of the time. There isn't much that can ruin this connection except for a bad port or a really bad cable, which is usually just the cable itself being defective. It's also a good idea to check for that "green" power-saving stuff on the connector, because those options often break down when you run them over long cables.

N
NoGSky13
Junior Member
38
04-01-2026, 07:49 AM
#5
The label on the cable reads cat6, 4 pairs, 24 AWG, stranded, braided, unshielded twisted pair, with a specific ETL CM75 rating. I tried using the ping command to check my internet connection, and every time it shows that there is packet loss but very low latency (ping).
N
NoGSky13
04-01-2026, 07:49 AM #5

The label on the cable reads cat6, 4 pairs, 24 AWG, stranded, braided, unshielded twisted pair, with a specific ETL CM75 rating. I tried using the ping command to check my internet connection, and every time it shows that there is packet loss but very low latency (ping).

L
Lips
Senior Member
624
04-01-2026, 09:09 AM
#6
Yeah that's good. That cable means bare copper. If you could get this replaced under warranty I would try it. It might just be unlucky luck and have a defective wire. Pretty much the actual wire itself rarely has problems. You could look for any obvious defect, if it was pinched then it can break but leaves a very clear mark on the outside of the cable. The most common problem is one end isn't properly attached. On long cables like this sometimes I suggest trying to replace the ends or replacing them with keystones if you are doing a permanent install. But that's hard here because the wire is made of strands instead of solid metal. This means you need special RJ45 ends which aren't common and I don't know if they make keystone jacks for stranded wire, normally people run solid core wire in walls. Not sure what to recommend it looks like a broken cable at least hope it's just a bad port on your machine can't really be fixed
L
Lips
04-01-2026, 09:09 AM #6

Yeah that's good. That cable means bare copper. If you could get this replaced under warranty I would try it. It might just be unlucky luck and have a defective wire. Pretty much the actual wire itself rarely has problems. You could look for any obvious defect, if it was pinched then it can break but leaves a very clear mark on the outside of the cable. The most common problem is one end isn't properly attached. On long cables like this sometimes I suggest trying to replace the ends or replacing them with keystones if you are doing a permanent install. But that's hard here because the wire is made of strands instead of solid metal. This means you need special RJ45 ends which aren't common and I don't know if they make keystone jacks for stranded wire, normally people run solid core wire in walls. Not sure what to recommend it looks like a broken cable at least hope it's just a bad port on your machine can't really be fixed

X
XknockMC
Member
121
Yesterday, 01:51 AM
#7
Can you let me know if swapping out the wire helps? I have the same problem and I recently bought a replacement.
X
XknockMC
Yesterday, 01:51 AM #7

Can you let me know if swapping out the wire helps? I have the same problem and I recently bought a replacement.