Question Abrupt disconnect from games without warning after 10-30 minutes of playing ?

[csstew]

Hello, starting a week or so ago I've been experiencing strange issues with an abrupt disconnect from most online games I play. As far as I know, no adjustments have been made before it started happening to cause what is going on. Most error messages when losing connection begin with "Client Timeout" or just a plain disconnection. Problem is, it only seems to be the game experiencing this disconnection from the internet as platforms like Discord where I can still chat to my friends are still functioning fine, I quite literally ask them "am I disconnecting" and get responses whilst everyone in the game is frozen.

I've tried the basics like flushing dns, restarting computer, restarting modem. Although I cannot test ethernet as I do not have a cord right now and I'm a few rooms away. I haven't been able to get solid tests with my 2.4ghz connection as it makes games simply unplayable at the moment.

I just need to narrow down what the issue is as I have never experienced this before, and I don't want to call my ISP just yet as it could very well be a issue not related to them. Any suggestions to what I can do to hopefully resolve this would be much appreciated!

If you would like information like my router model I will gladly provide that.

 

[helpstar]

check windows firewall and be sure it's set to private network and not public
reinstall wifi drivers
check for updates with windows update as well
verify game files with steam or the gaming platform you are using

 

[SkyNetRising]

Although I cannot test ethernet as I do not have a cord right now and I'm a few rooms away.

Then test with ethernet cable. when you're able to.

 

[csstew]

Then test with ethernet cable. when you're able to.

ordered a 20m ethernet cord, anything else I can try in the meantime?

 

[bill001g]

The best first test is simple ping commands.

Open 2 cmd windows and leave 2 constant ping commands run. The first run to your router IP. The second run to a common ip like 8.8.8.8.

When you have a issue look at both windows. If you get loss to your router then the it is likely the wifi connection dropped. If that on is good but you get loss to 8.8.8.8 then it is likely the internet to your house went down. You will have to do a bit more detailed testing before you call the ISP, they will try to blame google (8.8.8.8).

If both these are good then it is something else, likely some software issue on your pc. I suspect because you say discord works this is what you will find.

What could be happening is you get a very short outage that the game does not tolerate but discord does.

 

[Ralston18]

Yes: make and model information for modem, router, or modem/router (if combined).

The router's logs (if available and enabled) may provide some clue.

Who has full admin rights to the router? You will need help from that person.

 

[csstew]

The best first test is simple ping commands.

Open 2 cmd windows and leave 2 constant ping commands run. The first run to your router IP. The second run to a common ip like 8.8.8.8.

When you have a issue look at both windows. If you get loss to your router then the it is likely the wifi connection dropped. If that on is good but you get loss to 8.8.8.8 then it is likely the internet to your house went down. You will have to do a bit more detailed testing before you call the ISP, they will try to blame google (8.8.8.8).

If both these are good then it is something else, likely some software issue on your pc. I suspect because you say discord works this is what you will find.

What could be happening is you get a very short outage that the game does not tolerate but discord does.

Hey! Thanks for help troubleshooting, yesterday I ran 8.8.8.8 tests, during disconnects pings were firing smoothly, weirdly enough, 8.8.8.8 would periodically have 10-15 "Request timed out messages and I'm able to use the internet like normal while this is happening. After pinging my router, it is extremely stable and stays consistent compared to 8.8.8.8, any ideas?

 

[csstew]

Yes: make and model information for modem, router, or modem/router (if combined).

The router's logs (if available and enabled) may provide some clue.

Who has full admin rights to the router? You will need help from that person.

I have full admin access and I'll try looking for any errors in the event history.
The router is a TPLink, Archer VR1600v which I've had for a year or so.
The modem is a NBN FTTC, model number NDD-0300

 

[csstew]

Hey! Thanks for help troubleshooting, yesterday I ran 8.8.8.8 tests, during disconnects pings were firing smoothly, weirdly enough, 8.8.8.8 would periodically have 10-15 "Request timed out messages and I'm able to use the internet like normal while this is happening. After pinging my router, it is extremely stable and stays consistent compared to 8.8.8.8, any ideas?

Bit of an update, I tried playing a game and found both pings are active whilst i disconnect from the game. Still unsure what this could mean.

 

[bill001g]

When the ping to the router is good it in general means the problem is outside your house...at least as far as network issues are concerned it could still be some issue with the game itself or other software on your machine.

Random loss to 8.8.8.8 is not good that means something is getting disconnected in the path between you and google. This is also true of the game even though they likely take a different path though the internet.

Your next step is to run tracert 8.8.8.8.

This will not show any loss unless you are very lucky. The goal is purely to get the list of routers between you and google. Most importantly it is to get the IP of the first ISP router in the path. This is generally hop 2 but if you have multiple routers or the ISP has their first router set to not respond to trace/ping you might have to use hop 3.

What you now do is setup another cmd window and ping this IP also. What you can generally do is show the ISP that you get no loss to your router but you see loss to their first router. If you get a tech who is not brain dead they will know this means there is a issue with the connection coming to your house. These type of problems the ISP tends to get fixed.

Now if you are very unlucky you will still get game disconnects and random ping loss to 8.8.8.8 even though your test windows show no loss. What this means is there is a problem but it is not in your house or in the connection to your house. You of course could run lots of tracert and ping test to various router in the path to google and the game company trying to find where this is happening but it is not like you can drive down to the ISP office and replace a faulty interface in some router.

In many ways you hope it is some issue with the game itself if you get into that situation. The only partial solution is to use some kind of VPN that takes a different path than what your ISP has to the game company. This is very hit and miss since the VPN connection might pass though the same point that is having a issue.