I get similar results showing packet loss w/ CAT 6 and business grade networking equipment. Sometimes it feels as you describe but sometimes it does not. If you set ping plotter to 1k samples @ 1 second intervals , some hardware will start filtering packets because it thinks your getting flooded because of the large amount of ping replies coming in from each hop. If you get the same results , even once you switch to an ethernet cable .. try shutting down / removing anything running a firewall / UTM / IDS. If the packet loss is still showing up from 86...1 to 86...65 and also shows on the other hops you may have another problem. It could be anything from a bad network card (rare) bad modem/router (more common especially from overheating) to a problem on your line. If you using DSL call the company and make sure there is not a bridge tap on the line. If you running cable, it may be more difficult to get anywhere w/ tech support since the drops coming into your area are shared by multiple customers. Oh, with the router/dsl modem ... if it has a firewall set/spam filtering set/anti-virus , etc. disabling these will reduce the load on the router. A normal home 10/100 router cannot handle 100meg throughput with all those services running and depending on the model / firmware , your packets may be getting put into a buffer for processing by said services which will basically will make your connection feel as if the ping is higher.