[SOLVED] Detailed Post. Please help me optimize my connection!

[RBurris24]

Hi all,

I am trying to improve my internet speed to my PS4 Pro for better gaming. I have a coax running from the wall to my modem (NetGear CM1000). My modem is connected to my router (Netgear R6400v2) via CAT6 ethernet. My router is connected to my PS4 via ethernet. I'm 90% sure this ethernet is also a CAT6 but I don't remember for certain. My ISP is Xfinity by Comcast and I'm paying for up to 600 MBPS. I ran speed tests on my PS4 with this set up and the results were as follows:

4 consecutive tests

Test 1:
Download - 88 mbps
Upload - 8.6 mbps

Test 2:
Download - 113 mbps
Upload - 7 mbps

Test 3:
Download - 174 mbps
Upload - 7.1 mbps

Test 4:
Download - 62 mbps
Upload - 7.6 mbps

Just out of curiosity (I have very little knowledge in this field) I turned off my router and disconnected it and ran the ethernet directly from my modem to my PS4 Pro. Here are those test results:

Test 1:
Download - 472.5 mbps
Upload - 9.4 mbps

Test 2:
Download - 255.5
Upload - 8.9 mbps

Test 3:
Download - 345.3 mbps
Upload - 8.9 mbps

Test 4:
Download - 255.6 mbps
Upload - 10.0 mbps

Assuming I'm even looking at the right issue to begin with (my router being the speed issue), what can I do about it? Is it a hardware issue? A software issue? Any and all responses are greatly appreciated. Thank you!!

Robert

 

[bill001g]

You still have huge variations in the speed even directly connected to the modem. You should also be able to get much closer if not over 600mbps you pay for. I would test in the early morning to be sure your ISP does not have overload issues.

That router should easily be able to run 600mbps. Problem is there are many features in router that if you use them slow you down. it still should be much higher than the 174mbps you get in the best test. I would check to see if there is newer firmware. I would also reset the router and configure only the admin and wifi passwords. Avoid configuring anything else.

Do you have another device like a pc so you can check if other devices are affected. Even a cell phone will likely get over 200mbps if you are close to the router.

The good news is even if you don't get this fixed it has little to no impact on your games. Games only need about 1mbps up and down at the most. Many are much lower than this. It will affect your download of games but not the playing

 

[RBurris24]

You still have huge variations in the speed even directly connected to the modem. You should also be able to get much closer if not over 600mbps you pay for. I would test in the early morning to be sure your ISP does not have overload issues.

That router should easily be able to run 600mbps. Problem is there are many features in router that if you use them slow you down. it still should be much higher than the 174mbps you get in the best test. I would check to see if there is newer firmware. I would also reset the router and configure only the admin and wifi passwords. Avoid configuring anything else.

Do you have another device like a pc so you can check if other devices are affected. Even a cell phone will likely get over 200mbps if you are close to the router.

The good news is even if you don't get this fixed it has little to no impact on your games. Games only need about 1mbps up and down at the most. Many are much lower than this. It will affect your download of games but not the playing

Thanks for the response!! I hard-reset my router, checked for firmware updates (I have the latest installed) and re-ran the tests with the same results. I haven't turned on any router features myself but maybe there are some features turned on by default that could be affecting it's performance? I went ahead and performed the same speed tests you suggested on my 2012 MacBook Pro9,2 and my iPhone X. Here are the results:

2012 MACBOOK PRO9,2 (2.4 GHz band) tested via speedtest.net. 7 feet from router.
Test 1:
Download-113.5 mbps
Upload-17.75 mbps
Ping-13ms

Test 2:
Download - 123.86 mbps
Upload - 17.88 mbps
Ping - 10 ms

Test 3:
Download - 96.17 mbps
Upload - 17.63 mbps
Ping - 10 ms

Test 4:
Download - 93.54 mbps
Upload - 17.75 mbps
Ping - 24 ms

IPHONE X (5 GHz band) tested via speedtest app. 7 feet from router.

Test 1:
Download - 309 mbps
Upload - 17.8 mbps
Ping - 16 ms

Test 2:
Download - 152 mbps
Upload - 18 mbps
Ping - 10 ms

Test 3:
Download - 386 mbps
Upload - 17.8 mbps
Ping - 11 ms

Test 4:
Download - 206 mbps
Upload - 17.9 mbps
Ping - 10 ms

If download speed isn't the correct measurement to gauge my in-game wifi performance by, what metric should I be looking at? My goal is to optimize my WiFi performance for the best possible multiplayer experience. I play a first person shooter and the winner of a gunfight is often determined by fraction-of-a-second reaction times. I just want to know that whenever I lose a gunfight, it's not due to me having inferior internet (which I've been suspicious of) and these tests clued me in to there being significant room for improvement

Thanks for helping me understand all of this. Me and my buddies have spent more time today speculating about wifi than actually playing our game! Ha!

 

[SamirD]

It's time to look for trouble in your modem. Look at the status screen and how many uncorrectables do you have? If you have them 5-figures deep, something is wrong.

 

[bill001g]

The key factor for games is the latency BUT it is not really how low it is but more how consistent it is. Latency is not affected by the bandwidth you have unless you overload the connection.

Game companies do not want to give a advantage to someone who happens to live closer to the server location and has lower ping speeds. They introduce artificial delays so people that have low ping time to even this out. They can't fix huge differences of say 250ms but they seem to fix 100ms or more.

This means someone with a 70 ping to the server will run the same as someone with a 110 ping to the server.

What is key is that the latency is very consistent the server can only correct so fast for difference....this is one of the ways hacker cheat by abusing this. You want less than say 10ms of jitter in your connection.

Wifi because of how it is designed will get massive spikes in ping times because of interference. It could be as simple as someone walks between the device and the router but most times it is because of neighbors wifi use. If you really want to improve your gaming experience not using wifi should be your largest concern.

From what I have seen the best people can use crap machines and connections and still win. They spend way more time playing these games than I would ever consider.

 

[RBurris24]

It's time to look for trouble in your modem. Look at the status screen and how many uncorrectables do you have? If you have them 5-figures deep, something is wrong.

Thanks for the response. Here is the modem information I found:

Apply Cancel

Frequency start Value

This field below allows you to modify the frequency the cable modem start with its scan during initialization and registration. Enter the new start frequency and restart the cable modem for it to take effect.

Starting Frequency

Startup Procedure

Procedure Status Comment Acquire Downstream Channel 525000000 Hz Locked Connectivity State OK Operational Boot State OK Operational Security Enable BPI+ IP Provisioning Mode Honor MDD IPv6 only

Downstream Bonded Channels

Channel Lock Status Modulation Channel ID Frequency Power SNR / MER Unerrored Codewords Correctable Codewords Uncorrectable Codewords 1 Locked QAM256 20 525000000 Hz 13.2 dBmV 40.8 dB 3352104112 0 0 2 Locked QAM256 17 507000000 Hz 13.5 dBmV 41.0 dB 3351053419 0 0 3 Locked QAM256 18 513000000 Hz 13.4 dBmV 40.9 dB 3351057435 0 0 4 Locked QAM256 19 519000000 Hz 13.3 dBmV 40.9 dB 3351060021 0 0 5 Locked QAM256 21 531000000 Hz 13.1 dBmV 40.7 dB 3351064149 0 0 6 Locked QAM256 22 537000000 Hz 13.1 dBmV 40.7 dB 3351067035 0 0 7 Locked QAM256 23 543000000 Hz 13.0 dBmV 40.8 dB 3351071736 0 0 8 Locked QAM256 24 549000000 Hz 12.9 dBmV 40.7 dB 3351073938 0 0 9 Locked QAM256 25 555000000 Hz 12.8 dBmV 40.6 dB 3351085409 0 0 10 Locked QAM256 26 561000000 Hz 12.8 dBmV 40.5 dB 3351090112 0 0 11 Locked QAM256 27 567000000 Hz 12.7 dBmV 40.6 dB 3351093089 0 0 12 Locked QAM256 28 573000000 Hz 12.5 dBmV 40.5 dB 3351098060 0 0 13 Locked QAM256 29 579000000 Hz 12.5 dBmV 40.4 dB 3351100991 0 0 14 Locked QAM256 30 585000000 Hz 12.3 dBmV 40.4 dB 3351105098 0 0 15 Locked QAM256 31 591000000 Hz 12.3 dBmV 40.3 dB 3351110013 0 0 16 Locked QAM256 32 597000000 Hz 12.3 dBmV 40.3 dB 3351112943 0 0 17 Locked QAM256 33 603000000 Hz 12.2 dBmV 40.2 dB 3351139711 0 0 18 Locked QAM256 34 609000000 Hz 12.0 dBmV 40.2 dB 3351142685 0 0 19 Locked QAM256 35 615000000 Hz 11.9 dBmV 40.1 dB 3351147014 0 0 20 Locked QAM256 36 621000000 Hz 11.8 dBmV 40.1 dB 3351150908 0 0 21 Locked QAM256 37 627000000 Hz 11.7 dBmV 40.0 dB 3351152179 0 0 22 Locked QAM256 38 633000000 Hz 11.7 dBmV 40.1 dB 3351157310 0 0 23 Locked QAM256 39 639000000 Hz 11.6 dBmV 40.1 dB 3351161001 0 0 24 Locked QAM256 40 645000000 Hz 11.8 dBmV 40.1 dB 3351165034 0 0 25 Locked QAM256 41 651000000 Hz 11.8 dBmV 40.0 dB 3351169874 0 0 26 Locked QAM256 42 657000000 Hz 11.9 dBmV 40.1 dB 3351172574 0 0 27 Locked QAM256 43 663000000 Hz 11.9 dBmV 40.0 dB 3351175819 0 0 28 Locked QAM256 44 669000000 Hz 11.9 dBmV 39.9 dB 3351180798 0 0 29 Locked QAM256 45 675000000 Hz 11.9 dBmV 39.2 dB 3351183228 0 0 30 Locked QAM256 46 681000000 Hz 11.9 dBmV 39.8 dB 3351184506 0 0 31 Locked QAM256 47 687000000 Hz 12.2 dBmV 39.9 dB 3351185352 0 0 32 Not Locked Unknown 0 0 Hz 0.0 dBmV 0.0 dB 0 0 0

Upstream Bonded Channels

Channel Lock Status Modulation Channel ID Frequency Power 1 Locked ATDMA 93 17300000 Hz 41.8 dBmV 2 Locked ATDMA 94 23700000 Hz 42.0 dBmV 3 Locked ATDMA 95 30300000 Hz 43.3 dBmV 4 Locked ATDMA 96 36700000 Hz 44.0 dBmV 5 Not Locked Unknown 0 0 Hz 0.0 dBmV 6 Not Locked Unknown 0 0 Hz 0.0 dBmV 7 Not Locked Unknown 0 0 Hz 0.0 dBmV 8 Not Locked Unknown 0 0 Hz 0.0 dBmV

Downstream OFDM Channels

Channel Lock Status Modulation / Profile ID Channel ID Frequency Power SNR / MER Active Subcarrier Number Range Unerrored Codewords Correctable Codewords Uncorrectable Codewords 1 Locked 0, 1, 2, 3 48 850000000 Hz 10.9 dBmV 37.0 dB 1108 ~ 2987 822614686 790478937 0 2 Not Locked 0 0 0 Hz 13.4 dBmV 0.0 dB 0 ~ 4095 0 0 0

Upstream OFDMA Channels

Channel Lock Status Modulation / Profile ID Channel ID Frequency Power 1 Not Locked Unknown 0 0 Hz 0 dBmV 2 Not Locked Unknown 0 0 Hz 0 dBmV

Time​	Priority​	Description​
2020-04-08, 21:37:44​	Notice (6)​	CM-STATUS message sent. Event Type Code: 24; Chan ID: 48; DSID: N/A; MAC Addr: N/A; OFDM/OFDMA Profile ID: 3.;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:64:36:5d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​
2020-04-08, 21:37:12​	Notice (6)​	CM-STATUS message sent. Event Type Code: 16; Chan ID: 48; DSID: N/A; MAC Addr: N/A; OFDM/OFDMA Profile ID: 3.;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:64:36:5d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​
2020-04-08, 14:34:12​	Notice (6)​	DS profile assignment change. DS Chan ID: 32; Previous Profile: ; New Profile: 1 2 3.;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:64:36:5d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​
Time Not Established​	Notice (6)​	Honoring MDD; IP provisioning mode = IPv6​
Time Not Established​	Critical (3)​	SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:00:00:00:00:00;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​
2020-04-06, 23:56:18​	Critical (3)​	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:64:36:5d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​
2020-04-06, 23:56:07​	Critical (3)​	Unicast Ranging Received Abort Response - Re-initializing MAC;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:64:36:5d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​
2020-04-02, 15:34:22​	Critical (3)​	Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:64:36:5d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​
2020-03-13, 07:58:47​	Critical (3)​	Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:64:36:5d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​
Time Not Established​	Critical (3)​	SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:00:00:00:00:00;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​
2020-02-25, 00:23:23​	Critical (3)​	Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:64:36:5d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​
Time Not Established​	Critical (3)​	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:64:36:5d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​
Time Not Established​	Critical (3)​	SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:00:00:00:00:00;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​
2020-02-25, 00:23:25​	Critical (3)​	Resetting the cable modem due to docsDevResetNow​
2020-02-19, 01:32:40​	Critical (3)​	Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:64:36:5d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​
2020-02-19, 01:33:44​	Critical (3)​	Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, But no Unicast Maintenance opportunities received - T4 time out;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:64:36:5d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​
2020-02-19, 01:33:34​	Critical (3)​	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:64:36:5d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​
2020-02-19, 01:33:33​	Critical (3)​	Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, But no Unicast Maintenance opportunities received - T4 time out;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:64:36:5d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​
2020-02-19, 01:33:30​	Critical (3)​	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:64:36:5d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​
2020-02-19, 01:33:28​	Critical (3)​	Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, But no Unicast Maintenance opportunities received - T4 time out;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:64:36:5d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​
2020-02-19, 01:33:25​	Critical (3)​	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:64:36:5d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​
2020-02-19, 01:33:24​	Critical (3)​	Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, But no Unicast Maintenance opportunities received - T4 time out;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:64:36:5d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​
2020-02-19, 01:29:44​	Critical (3)​	Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:64:36:5d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​
2020-02-19, 01:29:14​	Critical (3)​	Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:64:36:5d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​
2020-02-19, 01:28:54​	Critical (3)​	Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:64:36:5d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​
2020-02-19, 01:28:44​	Critical (3)​	Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:64:36:5d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​
2020-02-18, 00:46:33​	Critical (3)​	Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:64:36:5d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​
2020-02-18, 00:43:41​	Critical (3)​	Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:64:36:5d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​
Time Not Established​	Critical (3)​	SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:00:00:00:00:00;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​
2020-02-11, 13:11:25​	Critical (3)​	No Maintenance Broadcasts for Ranging opportunities received - T2 time-out;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:64:36:5d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​
2020-02-11, 13:11:16​	Critical (3)​	SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:64:36:5d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​
2020-02-11, 13:10:58​	Critical (3)​	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:64:36:5d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​
2020-02-11, 13:10:51​	Critical (3)​	SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:64:36:5d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​
Time Not Established​	Critical (3)​	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:64:36:5d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​
Time Not Established​	Critical (3)​	SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:00:00:00:00:00;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​
2020-02-04, 14:22:45​	Critical (3)​	UCD invalid or channel unusable;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c🆎94:6d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​
Time Not Established​	Critical (3)​	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c🆎94:6d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​
Time Not Established​	Critical (3)​	UCD invalid or channel unusable;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c🆎94:6d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​
Time Not Established​	Critical (3)​	SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:00:00:00:00:00;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​
2020-01-08, 18:16:55​	Critical (3)​	16 consecutive T3 timeouts while trying to range on upstream channel 2;CM-MAC=b0:b9:8a:b0:26:20;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c🆎94:6d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.1;​

 

[RBurris24]

The key factor for games is the latency BUT it is not really how low it is but more how consistent it is. Latency is not affected by the bandwidth you have unless you overload the connection.

Game companies do not want to give a advantage to someone who happens to live closer to the server location and has lower ping speeds. They introduce artificial delays so people that have low ping time to even this out. They can't fix huge differences of say 250ms but they seem to fix 100ms or more.

This means someone with a 70 ping to the server will run the same as someone with a 110 ping to the server.

What is key is that the latency is very consistent the server can only correct so fast for difference....this is one of the ways hacker cheat by abusing this. You want less than say 10ms of jitter in your connection.

Wifi because of how it is designed will get massive spikes in ping times because of interference. It could be as simple as someone walks between the device and the router but most times it is because of neighbors wifi use. If you really want to improve your gaming experience not using wifi should be your largest concern.

From what I have seen the best people can use crap machines and connections and still win. They spend way more time playing these games than I would ever consider.

So ms of jitter is the measurement of how consistent my latency is? Is there a way to test my PS4's jitter to see if it's below 10 ms? This all still applies even though I always play with the setup mentioned above, right? (ethernet running from router to PS4).

 

[bill001g]

There are sites that test for jitter but you can just ping some common ip like 8.8.8.8 and watch it. A random spike here are there does not mean much. The ones that cause issues are when you burst of higher latency in a row. Don't put a lot in the 10ms number though it is just a example many games tolerate more.

Be aware you can not fix a lot of these issues when they are not caused by your equipment or your traffic. If some ISP has some problems in the internet you likely can do nothing about it.