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hugo60
28-12-2008, 22:41
Hi, I am currently on the 10mb wireless package and play online games frequently, mainly first person shooters. My problem is that every 30 seconds or so i get packet loss and the game will jitter for about 2 seconds. It is extremely frustrating and is stopping me from being able to play properly.

Going wired isn't really an option for me I don't thinnk, so any ideas what i could do? My Signal strength and speed are fine.

moaningmags
28-12-2008, 22:47
Change the wireless channel.

hugo60
28-12-2008, 22:50
Change the wireless channel.

To any in particular? Must i reset the router/Modem after doing so?

moaningmags
28-12-2008, 22:53
Which channel is it on now? It maye be the default of ch6, if so try channel 1, test it, if no good try channel 11, test it, if still no good try middling channels. No need to reboot afterwards just make sure you click apply at the bottom of the page.

hugo60
29-12-2008, 00:12
Yeah its channel 6 atm. I'll try this and repost after, thanks.

---------- Post added at 23:12 ---------- Previous post was at 21:56 ----------

Tried several of them and no improvement really, any other ideas?

moaningmags
29-12-2008, 00:13
Interference from other wireless equipment in the house?

Stabhappy
29-12-2008, 00:28
Is the jittering hardware related? It may sound patronising to ask but gotta cover all bases.

To check, is the screen sort of 'locking up'? What game?

If it's a Source engine game, enable the developer console and then in said console enter net_graph 1. If there are lots of ping spikes then it's network related, if not and it seems more stuttery or like it's locking up, try turning details in the game down.

Do you use VOIP or any similar things? Streaming audio? Does that spike? What game server?

I know it's a lot of information to gather but as I said, cover all bases and you'll get all the problems sorted :)

chickendippers
29-12-2008, 00:51
Wireless just doesn't cut it for FPS gaming. I have a wireless n router in the same room as the computer and when it's on the wireless I still get ping spikes.

hugo60
29-12-2008, 01:25
Is the jittering hardware related? It may sound patronising to ask but gotta cover all bases.

To check, is the screen sort of 'locking up'? What game?

If it's a Source engine game, enable the developer console and then in said console enter net_graph 1. If there are lots of ping spikes then it's network related, if not and it seems more stuttery or like it's locking up, try turning details in the game down.

Do you use VOIP or any similar things? Streaming audio? Does that spike? What game server?

I know it's a lot of information to gather but as I said, cover all bases and you'll get all the problems sorted :)

I get it on all games and all servers; CSS, BF2, War Rock etc. I have ran the net graph while playing on css and every minute or so the game stutters and the lost packets will go up to around 40 and drop back down. My pc runs the games fine in terms of frames per second. No, i dont use VOIP.

Stabhappy
29-12-2008, 02:57
Are all of these games online? (Again, I apologise for the potentially insulting question).

Although I can pretty much now see that it is infact due to wireless, is there any chance you could throw the modem onto your machine for a direct test to check it's not a network/pc issue?

hugo60
29-12-2008, 03:11
Yep they are all online games. I'm not sure what you mean by this direct test and how to do it.

moaningmags
29-12-2008, 03:40
Connect the modem direct to the machine that you use for online gaming.

This will allow you to test if the router itself is causing the issue.

hugo60
30-12-2008, 02:35
Don't think i will be able to do that without taking my pc downstairs which is a pain in the ass. I think i had it with my old router aswell though :S

hugo60
03-01-2009, 20:29
Any other ideas? Or am I just going to have to put up with it?

Joxer
03-01-2009, 21:32
You need to find out where the loss is happening - you could try opening four command prompt windows and running ping (with whatever the windows switch to keep it running is -t ?) and then run pings to these places

The router - 192.168.1.1
The modem - 192.168.100.1
The default gateway - you will need to look at the router config to find this it will look like the routers public ip (the one you get from the connectio link aqt the top of this page) but probably end with .1 the second last number may differ too.
The server you are playing on. - should show up in the server browser in game.

Just let them run for a while and look for any packet loss or high pings.

You could try running tracert over and over again but this way you can set it going and sit back and watch.

hugo60
03-01-2009, 22:00
It will only do 4 readings then it stops, not sure how to make it keep runnning. The Ping to the default gateway was averaging around 17ms while all the others where averaging 2 or 3.

Edit: I just got it to work continuosly and all the readings were <1ms, but then occasionally there would be a 700ms +. This was to 192.168.1.1

Joxer
04-01-2009, 00:04
Looks like a wireless issue in that case, as that is the routers addressand the first hop in the route, if it is slow there then everything after will be too.

Apart from trying different channels it might be worth investigating the old Pringle can wifi aeriel, they can boost signal strength but may help reduce off axis interference as well.

hugo60
04-01-2009, 00:49
I seem to have fixed it by disabling 'Wireless Zero Configuration' after searching around for ages :S thanks for the help offered though.