Question ASUS RT-AX86U :: Latency Spikes on WiFi

[Morris8504]

BLUF: Why are my router ping returns upwards of 168ms when I'm only 20 feet from the router? (Average ping is less than 10ms, but spikes between 10-100ms occur every minute with spikes of 100+ms every 5 minutes.)

I will start this by saying that I enjoy gaming on my laptop/PC and I know a fair amount about the systems, but I'm no expert. I also know about the broad theory of WiFi and how it works, but I don't know the intricacies of how it works, how to diagnose issues, and how to resolve issues. If something I state below is rather Chicken Little-esque, please just explain it to me. I'm really just trying to get rid of the loss of connection to the Internet.


I just moved and set up my network with a new RT-AX86U. I had been using Eero while I was overseas, but I think they're essentially the same as an Apple, so I won't use them anymore. Philosophy aside, I switched back to an ASUS router and have been noticing instances where my laptop (wireless) will lose connectivity while I'm in a virtual class session. I called the ISP (Cox Business) and they deny there have been any issues with my service. I loathe Cox as an ISP, but I don't have a better alternative where I live (Starlink was too expensive for to slow of a connection).

I have now begun running an Internet Connection Monitor (Chrome extension) and a ping -t on my router, simultaneously. I am noticing my laptop (WiFi) is receiving ping returns from the router that I did not expect. While most returns are under 10ms, there are some spikes upwards of 168ms. I am 20 feet from the router and I'm the only person on the router. I have a desktop (hardlined) on the router as well, running the same dual connection monitoring process, and it is receiving ping returns below 10ms, with 2ms being most common.

Any idea why my router would be giving such high ping returns to my laptop? Is this normal? I have never tried to troubleshoot connection issues with an ISP this significantly, but I really distrust Cox and want to make sure they're providing what I pay for in my first 30 days. At the end of this, I really just want reliable connection rates from whatever device I'm running. If there's an issue (potentially) with the router, I'd like to know how to resolve it.

Thank you!

 

[helpstar]

if hardwired works fine, the only thing you should consider is that the wi-fi is problematic when it comes to ping an stability.

Is your laptop´s BIOS, wi-fi driver, chipset and windows up to date?
Which laptop model are you using? does it provide wi-fi 6 or less?

Is the firmware of the ASUS router up to date?
Is the WAN port configured to provide WAN 2.5Gbit connection

which modem are you using from COX? which internet connection speed should be at you port

download something big like a windows/ubuntu image and a game via steam simultaneously to have a look if the data rate is maxed out. you can use windows task manager to see the performance of your wifi or lan while it´s downloading. It´s also showing the speed in Mbit/s .

 

[bill001g]

So how far is your neighbors router from yours....not actual question.

Wifi is subject to interference from outside your house from many things. It is not just wifi it can be stuff like baby monitors or drones or many other things that use the same radio bands.

The most common thing now days is all the neighbors around you with their own wifi. There is limited amounts of wifi bandwidth so everyone stomps on each other.

Could the asus router chose different radio channels and they happen to have more interfering signals that others. You can try other radio bands 2.4 or 5 and try to change the radio channels maybe you get lucky. The wifi bandwidth is massively over crowded so it might work today and not tomorrow when your neighbors gets a new router.

This is the key reason they say to not play online games on wifi. Game are one the very few applications that do not tollerate the latency spikes you see that are cauesd by the error recovery used in wifi. Almost everything else uses buffers to hide it. I am unsure why a virtual class would disconnect most video confercing you get a glitch in the video or distorted audio but it recovers. Online conferencing is not quite as bad a online games but it also has more issues on wifi.

It is not a issue with your ISP if you desktop machines does also see issues.