Constant lag spikes - files linked

What errors were you getting running the WinMTR?

Were you using the latest version 0.92 or the broken 0.8?

Unfortunately, we really need to see the actual traces. The problem with both ping and traceroute is they don't provide enough data to diagnose a problem.

ping only gives you full latency from you to destination and back. That's fine to see overall latency times, but it doesn't show WHERE the problem is.

traceroute gives a list of teh nodes on a route, but it only pings each of them basically once so unless the node was acting up at that exact moment, you won't notice an issue with that either.

We like the WinMTR because it is a combination of the traceroute (so we can see each node) with a CONTINUAL ping so we can get over-time statistics for each node directly. This is what is needed in order to see what might be going on with the network.

Make sure you're using 0.92. The application says in the status bar what the version is I believe.

It helps diagnosis if you post the data you captured while experiencing issues.

Edit: I see you added them to the drive. Maybe someone can look when they get a chance.

Clearly something going on at the ISP level between hops 2 and 3.

My recommendation is to send those bad traces to your ISP and ask them to escalate to a network technician. It is unlikely something you can resolve directly.

So there are a lot of things to consider in how a network condition can affect different things differently.

For example, most streaming services use various forms of buffering and quality degrading to not affect the flow of audio/video. They start with an up-front buffer of at least a few seconds and maybe more depending on signal quality. This allows them to fetch-ahead in case there is a signal problem and they can play directly from buffer until signal improves.

Games also have different forms of mitigation to offset the appearance of issues. Games like Diablo3 and WoW also do a form of buffering and desync using client prediction to offset a ping spike or temporary loss in signal. The games can become desynced but due to client prediction and simulation you don't "feel" it.

Also, the issue at the ISP can be many different things which can affect services differently. They could have faulty hardware which can be intermittent. They could have congestion issues similar to traffic on a highway. Too many people trying to use the same road at the same time can cause traffic issues.

It can be time-based, etc. Does your issue happen all the time or only at specific times? Either way, you are showing clear signs of issues shortly into the ISP so they need to resolve that at the least. It could be a compound problem however and after the ISP issue is fixed we find a different one. Such is the nature of network diagnostics as a third party.