Question High Packet Loss spikes ?

[Jzibby]

I've moved back home from college and all of a sudden I'm getting packet loss while still having low ping and good upload/download speed. In the middle of gaming, I'll get these random spikes that make it unplayable. After a few seconds, my internet will return to normal but within a couple of minutes, It will spike again. I can't connect to my router with an ethernet cord but this issue seemed to just turn up out of nowhere. We've upgraded our router and internet speeds but this issue came up after those upgrades. Any suggestions or potential hardware issues?

 

[bill001g]

Pretty standard issue and why it is said to never play online games on wifi.
Wifi is subject to random interference from say neighbors wifi usage. This interference causes data to be retransmitted which takes time and causes the latency spike.

There is no real solution since it is almost impossible to prevent other people from using the same radio channels as you. You can try the standard change the radio channel or band. Maybe forcing it to 20mhz will help. It will slow the maximum download speed but it gives you more choice in channel selection and because it is a simpler signal it might not get damaged as badly with interference.

In the end your only true solution is to not use wifi. If you have coax cables look at using MoCA it is almost as good as actual ethernet. You can also consider powerline networks. It might be slower than wifi but it is much more stable. You don't actually care about the speed when you play game it only uses maybe 1mbs.

 

[DelenaСhelsiecain]

I know it's strange given your low ping and good speeds, but this could still be related to your WiFi. WiFi can get interference from nearby devices or other networks, causing packet loss spikes. This doesn't always affect your speed test results, but can definitely mess with gaming. You might want to try changing your WiFi channel or band, or even switching it to 20mhz - this could potentially reduce interference.

Sadly, WiFi isn't always the best for gaming. If possible, you might want to explore other options. For example, if you have coax cables, MoCA could be a good alternative. It's almost as good as ethernet. Powerline networks are another option - they might be slower than WiFi, but they're usually more stable.