Customer reported that multiple switches showed packet loss when pinging Google DNS (8.8.8.8) and suspected this might be related to an e-faxing service issue that started after an outage on Jan 21, 2026. Initial validation from core/distribution switches did not reproduce consistent packet loss to 8.8.8.8, but traceroute monitor / mtr showed a single external (ISP) hop reporting high loss while subsequent hops (including the destination) did not.

• Reports of “packet loss to 8.8.8.8” from multiple switches.
• E-faxing service instability observed since the Jan 21, 2026 outage (suspected correlation).
• Ping validation to 8.8.8.8 (including rapid/extended tests, e.g., 1000 probes) shows low or no loss.

Switch health checks show no local anomalies:

• CPU/memory stable
• No recent core dumps
• No chassis/system alarms
• No suspicious log activity

traceroute monitor 8.8.8.8 shows high loss on one intermediate ISP hop (example below), while later hops show 0% loss:

• Hop X (ISP router, e.g., isp-hop.example.net (198.51.100.10)) shows high “Loss%”
• Hops after that and dns.google (8.8.8.8) show 0% loss

Treat “loss” on a single intermediate hop as likely ICMP rate-limiting if later hops (and 8.8.8.8) do not show loss.

If end-to-end loss is confirmed, engage the ISP/upstream team and, if available, shift routing/egress to avoid the problematic ISP path.