Lag spikes only on wired Computer

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eejoonho

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Oct 5, 2017
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Hi,
I am getting huge lag/ping spikes every couple seconds ONLY on my wired connection PC, while my wireless computer is completely fine. Any idea what is causing this?

On a possibly related sidenote.. I believe this started happening on the day I got a new phone and laptop, about 4 days ago.

Thank you.
 
Solution
Ralston18
Temporarily remove the new phone and laptop from the network.

Test the ping again. The idea is to eliminate their presence as a factor. If the lags stop then add back only one or the other.

Test again.

Also, use Task Manager, Resource Monitor, and Performance monitor on your PC while connected wired. Try one at a time: just open the window and watch without doing anything.

Leave the window open and slide to one side. Go online, game, or otherwise work as normal.

Watch what your system is doing and see if you can spot some performance issue or action that correlates with the lag spikes.
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Ralston18

Ralston18

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Oct 11, 2014
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Try another known working Ethernet cable between your router and "wired connection PC".

Did you do any re-arranging or make any other changes to the physical setup. You may have bumped or otherwise caused something to loosen or get looser. Check all connections to ensure that they are fully and firmly in place.

New phone is wireless but what about the laptop - wired or wireless? Is the laptop having any problems? Do the spikes occur when the laptop is powered off. Either way, check it's network adapter settings to ensure that they are correctly configured to match the router.


 
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eejoonho

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Oct 5, 2017
7
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510
Hi,
I suspected it was the ethernet cable, so I bought a new one, and I'm still having the same problem.

The laptop is wireless and is not having any issues. I did a test by plugging the ethernet cable into the laptop, and then immediately started having the same issue.

I also tried turning off all other devices on my network, and that did not fix it.
 
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Ralston18

Ralston18

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Oct 11, 2014
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Now you are narrowing things down.

If two devices (your PC and laptop) both have a problem and a new, known working network cable does not solve the problem then the culprit may be the router or the router LAN port being used.

Are you connecting directly to the router or are you using some interim connection points: wall outlet, a switch or hub?

Who manages your network router? You may need to take a look at the router's logs if available and if enable.
 
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eejoonho

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Oct 5, 2017
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510
I'm using a modem and router in 1 combo, and I'm starting to think that it's the problem.
My coaxial cable originally went through a splitter before going to the modem, so I tried removing the splitter and connecting straight to the modem.
I originally thought it fixed the problem, the ping spikes were less severe at first, but they are now back to where it was before. Getting 500+ ms.
And I don't know see any router log option in my settings.
I may borrow someone's router to see if it helps.

Thank you so much for your help.
 
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Ralston18

Ralston18

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Oct 11, 2014
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Swap out the coax cables with known working coax cables.

Inspect all incoming coax cables as thoroughly as you can. Just do not climb poles or go up on roofs etc.. Look for any signs of cable damage or degradation: bare metal showing, corrosion, chew marks, kinks, nail or staple punctures, stretched cables. Any damage at all.

Also try another splitter - often the source of many problems. Most splitters are very cheaply made and can deteriorate quickly. Especially outdoors.

If you do not have any extra cables or splitters available sometimes just disconnecting and cleaning the connecting plugs will restore performance to normal.

Be sure to use a terminator cap on any unused coax ports - not just a "dust cap".
 
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eejoonho

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Oct 5, 2017
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Sorry to reply so late,
I've been struggling with this for 2 weeks now, I've just been too busy to do anything about it.
All of the cables seemed fine to me.
I even tried buying a wifi adapter for my PC and that didn't fix it.
I'm now thinking it's something wrong with my PC, because I again tried hooking the ethernet cable up to my laptop and it actually was fine there.
I honestly just don't know what's going on..
 
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Ralston18

Ralston18

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Oct 11, 2014
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Did you ping the PC or the router?

Run tracert and ipconfig /all also.

What device has the 192.168.0.1 IP address?

Could be an IP conflict.

Try flushing the DNS Cache. Reference:

https://www.maketecheasier.com/flush-dns-cache-windows10/

Easy to find other similar sites and "how-to's" if you need more information.

Ethernet cables can look fine but even a small amount of degradation or damage can cause intermittent problems. Generally in the plugs.

Could also be a problem with the LAN adapter. Look inside the PC's Ethernet port for debris or signs of damage.

Run the PC's built-in troubleshooters to see if they find and fix any problems.


 
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Ralston18

Ralston18

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Oct 11, 2014
34,816
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Temporarily remove the new phone and laptop from the network.

Test the ping again. The idea is to eliminate their presence as a factor. If the lags stop then add back only one or the other.

Test again.

Also, use Task Manager, Resource Monitor, and Performance monitor on your PC while connected wired. Try one at a time: just open the window and watch without doing anything.

Leave the window open and slide to one side. Go online, game, or otherwise work as normal.

Watch what your system is doing and see if you can spot some performance issue or action that correlates with the lag spikes.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
E

eejoonho

Prominent
Oct 5, 2017
7
0
510
Wow.. I believe I found the issue.
I went through the list of processes with network activity. When I disabled one called WDDriveManager.exe, (a Western Digital external harddrive software) the spikes stopped.
I don't know what caused the program to start doing this all of a sudden, because I've had this for a few years.
I googled it and found that someone else had the same issue: https://community.wd.com/t/wd-drive-manager-is-causing-ping-spikes-on-lan-connection/28784

But anyway, thank you so much Ralston for your help. I may not have found this if not for your suggestion.
 
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