Super wierd ethernet problems between PC and Steam Link only

[Gindalf Brambledore]

I am currently debugging a very strange wired network issue that ONLY affects the connection between my Windows PC running Steam and the Steam Link and I am running out of ideas how to fix it.

Occasionally (varying between 2 and 20 times per hour) my stream completely stalls for about 2 seconds to 60 seconds worst case. The screen completely freezes but the connection stays alive. Before and after, the stream runs completely fine again.

My network setup is:
Windows PC
-> Fritz!Repeater (via LAN bridge)
--> Switch
---> NAS
---> Fritz!Box (Router)
-----> Steam Link
-----> Chromecast
-----> MacBook

(So the connection PC to Steam Link is all wired!)

I've been debugging with following pings:
PC -> Steam Link
PC -> MacBook
PC -> Chromecast
PC -> Repeater
PC -> Router
MacBook -> Steam Link

During the freezes, I observe ping timeouts for PC -> Steam Link.
However, *all other pings* are running completely fine while the PC -> Steam Link timeouts happen!
Also, if I connect the PC via wifi to the repeater, the timeouts do not happen (but the latency is bad, so it is not a permanent option for me).

The issue only occurred after introducing the repeater into my network and I was suspecting broken hardware or cables but my tests show that the repeater and cables are actually fine, I guess it's a configuration / software problem somewhere?

If anyone has any ideas, I'd be very grateful!

[_I_]

do the pcs and link get a similar ip?
ex. 192.168.same.different?

if not they are on different subnets and will need to use steams internet relays

disable dhcp on 2ndary router to make it a wireless switch (do not plug anything into its internet port), so the primary router will give all devices ip addresses

[Gindalf Brambledore]

Thanks for the hint. Unfortunately, all devices are on 192.168.178.xx and the Fritzbox router is the only DHCP server, so no issues from that perspective. :-(

[_I_]

pingbomb the link and see if its consistent

start -> run/search -> cmd
ping -t 192.168.link.ip

hit ctrl+c to stop and show min/max/avg and loss

[Gindalf Brambledore]

Pings from the PC to any of the hops except Steam link was stable, no timeouts.

I now replaced my PC with my MacBook, to rule out issues anywhere on the wired connection path via repeater -> switch -> router, started an In-Home-Streaming session between MacBook and Steam Link, and it is working fine for over 30 mins now, ping also shows no timeouts!

I might do another test with a streaming session between PC and MacBook.

[_I_]

could be a bad cable between the link and Fritz!Box

[Gindalf Brambledore]

Thanks for the hints, I will check this as soon as I got some time.

[Gindalf Brambledore]

Ok, I got some time to try some things:

- On the Windows PC I set the network to "Private"
- I limited the bandwidth to 30 Mbps
- I made a factory reset of the Steam Link and repaired it with the PC
- I tried the network package priority setting on and off

Nothing helped. ☹️

I activated the performance overlay, it shows me 1 ms direct ping latency and stable 20 ms display latency (which proves to me that it is a wired connection).

As soon as the freeze happens, it shows 80% packet loss and the incoming bandwidth drops from around 15 Mbps to 2 Mbps. When the freeze ends after like 20 seconds, everything goes back to normal, 0% packet loss. 🤪

I don't think it's a broken cable on the way. Most of the time the connection works fine and also I played Rocket League for some hours directly on the PC without any ping spikes (which proves the stable ping tests that I did previously).

I am now completely out of ideas. As I said, this only started to happen after I introduced the Fritz!Repeater into my network, so in my next session I will probably try to have a wired connection directly from PC to the network switch again (bypassing the repeater) to double-check if the error is gone again (even though I wouldn't know why).

[gdd]

ya

[nick]

Given it works perfectly when u connect PC via wifi and u have no problem pinging other devices when u connect PC via cable it seems to the only possible reason is the Steam Link freezing somehow. Frankly I do experience same kinda issue since the begining of December (perhaps new Steam Link FW rolled on devices?). I also use wired connection.

As long as it happens once every couple hours of gaming it didn't bother me enough to investigate (i recetly switched from WiFi so the cable brings much more better experience and i consider this as a trade-off),

[AS.]

I have the same problem. Steamlink does have performence drops like Herr Koch said. Steamlink with ethernet connection. When I play with my laptop I have no problems (wireless) .
I think it's the steamlink device.
I changed to a raspberry since now I've got no problems

[Gindalf Brambledore]

Hey guys, thanks again for your input. I can report back that I finally identified the issue, the packet loss in fact comes from a firmware bug related to "packet acceleration" when using a Fritz!Box 6591 Cable, firmware version 7.13, with a Fritz!Repeater 3000. After deactivating packet acceleration in the repeater, packet loss is completely gone. On the downside, it almost halves my bandwidth for devices behind the repeater (from 900 Mbps to 500 Mbps, but I guess I can't complain much). The router firmware is actually already fixed but hasn't been rolled out for months by the German ISP Vodafone to their rented Fritz!Box routers (like mine).

I am now waiting for the fix to be rolled out or, alternatively, buy an own Fritz!Box 6591 where I can install the firmware update myself.

For more details search for the issue on the German Vodafone forums, it is actually well known there.

[Jackbubu]

Im having the exact same issue, every 5 minutes or so the Package Loss gets up to 80% for 10-30 seconds and the returns to normal.

However im not using an Repeater, just "PC -lan- Fritzbox 7490 -lan- Steam Link".
I limited the bandwith to 30mbps and the Connection is displayed as "direct" in the steam link overlay. Normal Ping is < 1ms and the screen delay is 20ms. The Problem also only startet happening recently, before everything was fine. I did not change anything in my Network configuration either.

I cant find said Packet acceleration Setting in the Fritzbox, is it only available for repeaters ?

[Gindalf Brambledore]

Yeah the package acceleration option is hidden: Lower left corner "Inhalt" (=Content) -> "Fritz!Box Support" at the bottom of the page. Several advanced options can be configured on this page, including package acceleration.

By the way, Vodafone meanwhile rolled out Fritz!OS 7.21 to my Fritz!Box 6591 Cable and with this the bug is fixed, finally.

[Corru]

Thank you for the hint with package acceleration. Disabling it seems to solve my problems! THANKS!

[Brett]

I had the same problem and it was super annoying. Deactivating package acceleration as described fixed the problem ultimately. I am very thankful and this thread should be stickied for FRITZBox Users.

"Inhalt" (=Content) -> "Fritz!Box Support" -> Deactivate package acceleration = No more stutters!