DDOS Protection in Ranked (us-east-1) Causing Packet Loss

On and off for the past 2 seasons I've had fairly random issues when playing ranked. I would occasionally get really bad packet loss in the higher tiers. (>= Plat 2). I started paying closer attention to the performance display in-game and realized that's when the DDOS protection (indicated by the shield icon in performance) appears.

I've done a bunch of testing (ranked, unranked, custom modes) and I've found a pretty consistent pattern. In non-ranked or custom modes where DDOS doesn't appear i never had an issue with packet loss. However, as soon as i play a game where DDOS is enabled... BOOM! Instant ~40/60 packet loss/sec. More details below...

1. Tested us-east-1 and us-central-1 ranked matches (DDOS Prot./Shield Icon was enabled). Only packet loss on us-east-1. No issues on us-central-1. (Attached)
2. Tested us-east-1 and us-central-1 unranked matches (No DDOS Prot./Shield icon), no issue for either. (Attached)
3. Restarted router (GT-AX11000), Restarted Modem (CGM4331COM), Disabled any active applications showing network usage during playtime. No impact.
4. Tried reviewing packet information via Wireshark (apparently that's an instant red-flag as Apex closes

I've heard about potential workarounds like using VPNs, check the provider, etc... but i'm convinced this is an EA/Apex issue at this point.

Anyone else experiencing something similar?