Fluctuating ping to a certain ISP backbone

-1

There's a central server that located 300 miles away from my country. but when i test the ping to that server or their ISP backbone, i get inconsistent or a fluctuated pings from there. i live in Saudi Arabia, and the server is located in Qatar (300miles away).

So here's a screenshot showing a traceroute from my computer to that server:

However, This problem doesn't happen to any other servers from various locations.

So is this considered to be normal? if no. how can it be fixed?

UPDATE: Wait, i found out something! when i try pinging my friend who lives there and hires the same ISP, i get a stable ping times of 25-27 ms with no problems! and when i try to traceroute to his dynamic IP, i get almost the same hops from there, but it still shows inconsistent ping to these static ip servers until it reaches his home which surprisingly shows a constant and stable ping times to him. Could it be that his ISP configured their dynamic IPs to choose a special route to my ISP which was waaay better than what they chose for their static ip servers?

Semphie94

Posted 2015-08-14T23:29:06.883

Reputation: 46

1No it is not normal. Please [edit] your question and include output of tracert and pathping to the problem destination, – DavidPostill – 2015-08-11T16:58:52.327

Ok i will soon. – Semphie94 – 2015-08-11T17:04:34.663

And for good measure tracert and pathping output to a well known site (www.bbc.co.uk for example) as well. – DavidPostill – 2015-08-11T17:06:35.180

Well i might not be able to make it on time though. But believe me i'm familiar with these stuff, so i'd guess it could be either the backbone between me and their network, or maybe an overloaded servers?(this problem doesn't happen to any other ISPs that connect to their servers) – Semphie94 – 2015-08-11T17:13:15.693

Exactly. There is probably not much you can do about it anyway ... but the diagnostics will help pinpoint the problem. – DavidPostill – 2015-08-11T17:18:18.037

Ok. Thank you so much for the help! Really appreciated. – Semphie94 – 2015-08-11T17:19:52.317

Answers

Is this normal? Yes and no. Yes, in that it's a common problem and not everyone considers it a problem. No as in under ideal conditions, it wouldn't happen.

How can it be fixed? By telling your ISP to get a faster connection to the target network. For most consumers, this basically means it's out of your control. The issue has nothing to do with you or your connection, and is caused by poor capacity between your ISP and the destination.

Unless you know somebody fairly senior or happen to have an unusually helpful ISP, they are unlikely to do anything about it unless it is losing them money. In practice that means unless a large number of customers complain of significant issues they will most likely do nothing about it. You personally can do nothing about it.

qasdfdsaq

Posted 2015-08-14T23:29:06.883

Reputation: 5 762

Thanks, i got it. but in conclusion to your 2nd Paragraph. it means that if they built up a server that has a enough or a high capacity connection, then it wouldn't necessarily fluctuate by testing ping to that server? (Makes sense) – Semphie94 – 2015-08-15T00:12:42.520

They need faster peering and/or transit. It has nothing to do with the server. – qasdfdsaq – 2015-08-15T00:14:20.867

Oh i see, so it can't be helped. i guess i'll just avoid their poor connection till they fix their peering. Thank you again! – Semphie94 – 2015-08-15T00:17:39.187

Are you sure? I asked someone i know who knowledgeable about it, and he told me it could be that the ICMP packets are being treated as low-priority, and nothing looks out of ordinary and it's completely normal. (Sorry just curious) – Semphie94 – 2015-08-23T00:07:24.790

@Semphie94: Yes, I'm sure. ICMP packets being treated as low priority would only affect one or two hops. In your case it's affecting the destination server as well. – qasdfdsaq – 2015-08-24T12:28:04.530

Sorry for asking too much but, this is a traceroute from my ISP to the same ISP backbone located in another city from my country here (500miles aprox) : http://i.stack.imgur.com/vZ6VA.png is this also the same?

– Semphie94 – 2015-08-25T08:33:32.563

It's not relevant. – qasdfdsaq – 2015-08-25T12:44:40.437

It is only a problem with services & customers with that ISP, but if you are not served by that ISP it should not be a problem to you.

You don't state if you are dependent on that ISP at all.

To use an analogy, the drive of your neighbour is blocked but you can freely drive your car around on little congested roads. It is only an issue to your neighbour who cannot get his car off the drive, or someone who wanted to park a car on their drive. Please let me know if I am missing the point here.

albal

Posted 2015-08-14T23:29:06.883

Reputation: 1 155

I took ISP to mean Access provider, probably the most common use case for this site from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_service_provider If you are describing another use case please be more precise. Thanks.

– albal – 2015-08-11T17:28:00.293