If your business relies on a hosted phone system or cloud-based communications platform, your network plays a critical role in the quality and reliability of every call. Because VoIP and Unified Communications depend on your internet connection, issues with your network can quickly affect voice quality, video meetings, and other real-time communications.

One of the most common culprits? Packet loss.

What Is Packet Loss?

Data travels across a network in small pieces called packets. Packet loss occurs when some of those packets fail to reach their intended destination.

A small amount of packet loss may go unnoticed, depending on the application. But real-time communications—especially VoIP calls—are far less forgiving. When packets are lost, users may experience:

• Choppy or robotic audio
• Distorted voice quality
• Echo
• Missing words or audio
• Long pauses or delays
• Dropped calls

Packet loss can also affect other business applications. Depending on the application and how it handles retransmission, lost packets can slow down or interrupt file transfers, cloud applications, and other network-dependent services.

What Causes Packet Loss?

Packet loss is usually a symptom of an underlying network issue. Finding the source can sometimes be challenging because several factors may be involved.

1. Network Congestion

Network congestion occurs when more data is trying to move across your network than your available bandwidth or network equipment can efficiently handle.

Think about everything competing for your internet connection throughout the day: cloud applications, large downloads, video streaming, software updates, video meetings, and multiple VoIP calls happening at the same time. When demand exceeds available capacity, packets can be delayed—or dropped altogether.

As businesses increasingly rely on cloud-based applications and real-time communications, understanding how bandwidth is being used is more important than ever.

2. Outdated, Faulty, or Insufficient Hardware

Your routers, switches, firewalls, Wi-Fi equipment, and even cabling can contribute to packet loss.

As packets travel across a network, they pass through multiple pieces of equipment before reaching their destination. If a device is outdated, overloaded, improperly configured, incompatible with other equipment, or physically damaged, it can become a bottleneck.

When more packets arrive at a device than it can process, the packets may be placed in a queue. This can increase latency, and if that queue fills up, packets may be dropped.

3. Configuration or Software Issues

Packet loss isn’t always a hardware or bandwidth problem. Configuration issues can also affect how efficiently traffic moves across your network.

Problems may be caused by incorrect network settings, software bugs, outdated firmware, or outdated network drivers. In some cases, updating firmware or drivers—or simply rebooting network equipment—may resolve the issue.

The key is identifying where the packet loss is occurring before deciding on a solution.

Diagnosing and Measuring Packet Loss

Finding packet loss can feel intimidating, particularly when the problem is intermittent. Fortunately, network testing and monitoring tools can help identify packet loss, latency, and other performance issues.

The HostMy IP Packet Loss and Delay Tool is one option for monitoring an internet connection and the network path, or “hops,” between your location and the internet. Its reports can help identify potential sources of slow speeds, packet loss, and latency. Because monitoring can run for extended periods, it can also be useful when troubleshooting intermittent issues that don’t show up during a quick speed test.*

Once the source of the problem is identified, the solution may be relatively simple. Reducing unnecessary network traffic, restarting or updating equipment, replacing faulty hardware, or adjusting network configurations may help resolve the issue. In other cases, the problem may be occurring outside your local network and require assistance from your Internet Service Provider.

That’s where working with an experienced technology partner can make a difference. Your Ideacom Network provider can help evaluate the findings, identify potential trouble spots, and develop a plan to improve the reliability and performance of your network.

Reliable communications start with a reliable network—and identifying packet loss is an important step toward keeping your business connected.

*HostMy does not take responsibility for or provide support for errors or inaccuracies that may be reported by its free online resource.