Internet speeds are tanking as soon as I open a game, no matter the software company.

Jon0917

Reputable
Jul 7, 2016
11
0
4,510
I've been having some issues with my internet. My internet speeds are at around 100 Mbps when I'm idling on my computer just watching a Twitch stream or a YouTube video. However, as soon as I open any video game on my PC, and this happens with any of the launchers, (Steam, Uplay, Epic Games, etc.) my speeds decline to around 2 Mbps which is really slow. In case it was a software issue, I've reset my PC but it hasn't solved anything.

PC Specifications:
GTX 1070
i7-7700k
AsRock Z270 Killer SLI/ac (which is what I use to connect to the Wi-Fi)
16 GB of Ram @ 2133
500 Watt power supply, EVGA Bronze
1 TB Western Digital
250 GB SSD

My modem is the Arris TG1682. I do not know the model of my router, but if it is necessary to solve this problem, I could go take a look at it.
So the AsRock Z270 Killer SLI/ac motherboard has two antennas on the back of it that allow me to connect to the Wi-Fi, and the speeds are great whenever I'm watching a Twitch stream, around 100 Mbps, but whenever I enter a Steam game, or Uplay game, or Epic game, and I run the internet speed test, I get around 2 Mbps download and the Twitch stream on my second monitor goes to 144p and buffers. As stated above, I have an EVGA 500 watt Bronze power supply. I'm running Windows 10 Pro 64 bit. My ISP is Spectrum internet. There are probably around 10 devices connected to the WiFi at the lowest and around 15 at max. I haven't been getting any error messages either.

EDIT: I did some further investigating. I initially thought that it was a software issue, but I'm thinking it might actually be a hardware issue. I started Steam in offline mode and started playing an offline game, The Forest, and it turns out that even though Steam wasn't connected to the Wi-Fi, my Wi-Fi speeds still dramatically decreased after I turned on The Forest. Could there be a problem with the power supply, or maybe my network card overheated? I connect via the antennas on the back, and if they're connected to a network card, maybe the network card overheated.

EDIT 2: I'm able to get a stable 30 Mbps when playing a game when I switch over to the 2.4 network. I was able to use the 5 Ghz network when playing a game yesterday, so what could've gone wrong with the 5 Ghz channel overnight? I haven't done anything to mess with it.
 

mtracy1991

Reputable


1. Try reducing your device count and run a test strictly for your PC.
2. I have 300 mbp/s with Cablevision and I don't see this at all. The reason behind this from a rep was, "Usage is at its peak, that is why you don't see your numbers."
3. Run speedtest and see what information you get back.
4. Have you tried running a cable versus the Wi-Fi?
5. Go into the router settings and set priority to your PC and ensure that it is at the top of the hierarchy; this makes a definite difference.
 

Jon0917

Reputable
Jul 7, 2016
11
0
4,510
1.) I was up until around 1 AM last night when there is only around 3 devices online, and the issue still persists, while my both my brother's computers were doing fine all day.
2.) I understand that my speeds will slow down since a lot of other people are using the WiFi, but 100 Mbps to 2 Mbps as soon as I open a game seems a bit extreme.
3.) I ran the Ookla speedtest before I opened a game and it gave me 100 Mbps. As soon as I opened the game and sat on the menu for about a minute, I ran the speedtest and it said that I had a speed of about 2-3 Mbps. I wanted to know if it was truly the game causing it, and so I ran the speedtest while I was in the game, getting around 2-3 Mbps, and then in the middle of the test, I Alt+F4'ed the game, and as soon as the game stopped, my speeds skyrocketed from 2-3 Mbps to around 90 Mbps again. Based on this, I believe that it is truly a hardware issue.
4.) My PC is very far away from the modem and router, so I cannot run an ethernet cable. However, my two brother's computers are also connected to the WiFi and they have had no issues with the internet, just me.
5.) I guess I could try this, but I've never done it before. My internet speeds while gaming have been great in the past, in fact, yesterday morning the speeds were fine, but then by last night, the speeds were getting horrible, when I didn't do anything to my PC in between the playtimes.

I contacted my ISP and they said that it could be an issue with my network card. It seems strange that as soon as I exit the game, however, my speeds go from 2-3 mbps to around 90 mbps.
 

mtracy1991

Reputable


What is your router model/brand?