Lag Playing Online Games, High Download Speed

LordQuentium · Aug 22, 2013

Hi guys,

I'm struggling to understand what could be the problem, because as the title suggests, I get large lag spikes whilst playing online games, like Starcraft 2 or DOTA, but I get generally high download speed.

Any suggestions as to what the problem is, and any advice on how to fix it?

Thanks

Seladon-1370374 · Aug 22, 2013

What is your actual download speed ? Cause some people might find 2Mb/sec to be high.
Also, can you tell us your system specs ?

LordQuentium · Aug 23, 2013

Seladon-1370374 :

Sure, my download speed averages at around 700kb/s, but I live in the middle of nowhere and is impressive considering that.

System specs are here: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&docname=c03395766

Also, it is worth noting that I have the Billion BiPAC 7300N wireless router: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Billion-BiPAC-7300N-Wireless-Broadband/dp/B0029ANXEE/ref=sr_1_3?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1377261741&sr=1-3&keywords=billion

DonQuixoteMC · Aug 23, 2013

Do you play with an Ethernet connection or Wireless connection?

For me, the difference was HUGE.

LordQuentium · Aug 23, 2013

DonQuixoteMC :

I play wireless as there is no way for me to play wired

DonQuixoteMC · Aug 23, 2013

LordQuentium :

Ah. Okay. Well, sorry I can't help you much. If you ever get a chance to test it (Just to test to see if there's a difference) it could be quite telling!

The only other thing I could recommend would be to optimize your wireless signal (from the router). Something to look into might be Directional WiFi Antennas. Normally they're Omnidirectional so the signal is sent in every direction and is much weaker. With a directional antenna, the signal is sent in one direction and is MUCH stronger. Although it is less versatile and won't really work if you have multiple WiFi users in different places. Just a thought!

I wish you the best of luck!

DonQuixoteMC

MartinWilson · Aug 24, 2013

700Kbps is pretty poor for online gaming. Depending on the game your gaming experience may be poor.

Using wireless instead of wired Ethernet cables won't help either!

I'd be interested to see the results of a ping test (which tests latency and jitter - both very important when it comes to online gaming).

http://www.pingtest.net/

DonQuixoteMC · Aug 24, 2013

MartinWilson :

Good idea

makedo626 · Aug 24, 2013

Well i have broadband connection. and get download speed max 800kb-1m per second and sending is way worse. i can play dota 2 online BUT i get those annoying spikes sometimes also but nothing can be done about it. So if ping is like 150 its playable somehow but ower that you get laggs sadly.
And if you use broadband connection i would assume that 3g broadband connection uses same line as Cellphones and that causes lag for Everyone using that wendors broadband connections. 4g attleast not in Finland isnt used by other means than just in internet purposes and that has better connections becouse mobile phones aint taking the lines at all.

And if your using wireless Wifi or Broadband the signal strenght causes lagg also.
That strenght can be boosted with different antennas made for the devices you have and with directional antennas.

LordQuentium · Aug 24, 2013

MartinWilson :

Here are the results:

LordQuentium · Aug 24, 2013

makedo626 :

I understand that the download may be the problem, but the problems only started occurring a few months back, after a couple years of no lag spikes or anything.

My signal strength is generally okay, but it does occasionally drop to 1 or 2 bars, which does cause some of the problems. This, however, as I said, has not been a problem in the past.

DonQuixoteMC · Aug 25, 2013

This might be a dumb question, but can you think of anything that's changed recently that may have caused the problem?

MartinWilson · Aug 25, 2013

LordQuentium :

That's actually pretty good, especially from a under 1Mb circuit.

Have you tried another PC, or your PC on another circuit? I'm wondering if it's the PC (spyware or upgrade to game etc)

Also, what is your router and how old is it? Is it sufficiently cooled?

Is there anything you have purchased around the home that could interfere with wireless? New cordless phone/baby monitor/microwave. These all use the 2.4GHz range. Are you able to change the wireless on your router to 5GHz? It's much less congested.

Just throwing a few options out there! Maybe your circuit is ok and it's something at home that is having an impact. Failing all else, have you contacted the ISP?

I'm trying to eliminate

LordQuentium · Aug 25, 2013

DonQuixoteMC :

I did recently buy a wireless hard drive that connects to the router, but after having problems I disconnected it and the problems still persist. Here it is: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Personal-Cloud-Storage-Network-Attached/dp/B00499DMRQ

LordQuentium · Aug 25, 2013

MartinWilson :

I doubt that spyware is the problem, I recently formatted my hard drive (about a week ago), so its like brand new.

The router is about a year old, and I haven't set up anything specific to cool it down, but the router itself has a lot of ventilation and holes for the fans.

I can't change the 2.4GHz connection, but it has a series of channels around that frequency, you reckon changing channels might help?

I'm leaving my call the the ISP if all else fails.

Thanks

MartinWilson · Aug 26, 2013

LordQuentium :

MartinWilson :

I doubt that spyware is the problem, I recently formatted my hard drive (about a week ago), so its like brand new.

The router is about a year old, and I haven't set up anything specific to cool it down, but the router itself has a lot of ventilation and holes for the fans.

I can't change the 2.4GHz connection, but it has a series of channels around that frequency, you reckon changing channels might help?

I'm leaving my call the the ISP if all else fails.

Thanks

I'd recommend checking out what else could be potentially congesting the 2.4GHz band.

Install Inssider from Metageek - http://www.metageek.net/products/inssider/
(it's free and is pretty well documented) to a laptop and walk around the home to see what channels are less congested. Remember to only use channels 1 or 6 or 11

adfghsdf · Aug 4, 2014

The Round Trip Delay could be the problem (at the same time as Download and upload speed) as the ping is 34ms, for your online game it's probably too much (it also depends on where's the server location)..

Lag Playing Online Games, High Download Speed

Honorable

Honorable

Honorable

Distinguished

Honorable

Distinguished

Honorable

Distinguished

Distinguished

Honorable

Honorable

Distinguished

Honorable

Honorable

Honorable

Honorable

Reputable

Share this page