[SOLVED] High ping because of housemates

[svenbrouwer]

Last week I moved into a student home and i've been having internet issues. I like to play games and at random moment my ping spikes to above 50 until sometimes even 500. This can stay for hours which makes it impossible for me to play.
I think the reason for this is because other students are streaming/doing other stuff on the internet. I dont know exactly how many students are using the same router but I believe it to be around 20. The normal internet speed when Im the only one using it is 5ms and about 50-100 mbs download and upload. I dont mind if the download/upload speed drops below 10 mbs, but the very high ping bothers me. My question is: what should I do in order for my ping not to go above 20-30. Do I need a better router, or a better internet subscription, or something else? We have fiberglass internet. I dont know exactly what subscription we've got, and I also do not have access to the main router.

 

[digitalgriffin]

Welcome to student housing.
Sux to be you.

Any number of things can be wrong.

How is your computer connecting to the router? (WiFi or Wired?) Be sure to include the WiFi model if that is what you are using. What model router?

 

[svenbrouwer]

Welcome to student housing.
Sux to be you.

Any number of things can be wrong.

How is your computer connecting to the router? (WiFi or Wired?) Be sure to include the WiFi model if that is what you are using. What model router?

I think the router is a WAP300N. Im using a wired connection. Every room got his own ethernet port and if they want wifi they can connect their own router to it.

 

[bill001g]

Unless you have control of the router there is nothing you can do. Even if you would be able to set things in the router you would have to get some agreement which is highly unlikely with 20 people competing for bandwidth.

It can be as simple as someone downloaded a patch for a game. It can also depend on the game, the new microsoft flight simulator first downloads a massive patch and then constantly downloads huge amounts of data as you play. The recommended bandwidth is 50mbps for best use. That is huge compared to almost any other game.

It can be a bunch of people watching 4k netflix also.

You may not use much but it is going to be very hard to convince the guy who wants to play flight simulator to turn everything way down so you do not get ping spikes.

If you can get your own internet connection installed that you pay the ISP directly for then you should have no issues because you are not sharing. Anything else especially if it is included in your rent you likely have no way to make it better.

 

[svenbrouwer]

Unless you have control of the router there is nothing you can do. Even if you would be able to set things in the router you would have to get some agreement which is highly unlikely with 20 people competing for bandwidth.

It can be as simple as someone downloaded a patch for a game. It can also depend on the game, the new microsoft flight simulator first downloads a massive patch and then constantly downloads huge amounts of data as you play. The recommended bandwidth is 50mbps for best use. That is huge compared to almost any other game.

It can be a bunch of people watching 4k netflix also.

You may not use much but it is going to be very hard to convince the guy who wants to play flight simulator to turn everything way down so you do not get ping spikes.

If you can get your own internet connection installed that you pay the ISP directly for then you should have no issues because you are not sharing. Anything else especially if it is included in your rent you likely have no way to make it better.

Getting my own internet connection installed would be something I am willing to do, but how could I do this? If I get acces to the router, do I have to install a second routerof my own with a seperate internet connection? And how could I connect this to my room, without also connecting it to the other rooms?

 

[jasonf2]

If you control the router (assuming it is good enough) you can enable prioritized traffic control on it. Set up properly it should let the streaming stuff run while the higher priority stuff gets thru with a more reliable ping. This doesn't guarantee a ping like a dedicated modem, but in a jammed up situation it can help. This is setup in the router itself and most modern os have it enabled by default. It has been a while since I have dealt with the specifics, but if memory serves it is a layer 2 protocol and is pretty seamless once it is up. Good routers also allow for layer 4 prioritization, but that takes some setup on your part setting it up for specific services and can be a pain to manage. Layer 4 would allow you to downgrade netflix and hulu specifically to a lower priority level though and let everything else run better.

 

[bill001g]

This is mostly a question for the ISP and the owner of the building.

Your first problem is will the ISP deliver a second connection to the building. Obviously you can use something like mobile broadband and a hotspot but if it requires running wires or fiber the ISP will incur a expense and they may not want to deal with it.

ISP are very strange sometimes. I know they generally will not do something as simple as activate a second cable modem at the same address. There really is no difference if you were to hook a second modem to a splitter on the side of the house or the one on the street that goes to the neighbors house. Many for some reason just refuse to do this even though they get twice the money every month.

Now even if the ISP will do it will the owner of the building allow it. The ISP tend to favor the direct approach they would just drill a hole though the outside of the building and run the new wire into your room. Anything else again costs more money or requires that your landlord set things up for them.

 

[digitalgriffin]

This is mostly a question for the ISP and the owner of the building.

Your first problem is will the ISP deliver a second connection to the building. Obviously you can use something like mobile broadband and a hotspot but if it requires running wires or fiber the ISP will incur a expense and they may not want to deal with it.

ISP are very strange sometimes. I know they generally will not do something as simple as activate a second cable modem at the same address. There really is no difference if you were to hook a second modem to a splitter on the side of the house or the one on the street that goes to the neighbors house. Many for some reason just refuse to do this even though they get twice the money every month.

Now even if the ISP will do it will the owner of the building allow it. The ISP tend to favor the direct approach they would just drill a hole though the outside of the building and run the new wire into your room. Anything else again costs more money or requires that your landlord set things up for them.

^^^^He's right. Sorry but you may be @#$%@#EF.

You could try buying a new better router (Linksys went to hell when Belkin bought them.) and a high speed connection from the ISP, but that's about the best you can do. But if your friends are sucking up 1/2 the bandwidth now, and you double the speed, you will likely cut your ping in half.

Please install FING on your phone and access the router and make a list of everything on the network. DO NOT INCLUDE MACS and IP's! We might be able to determine who the main offenders are.

 

[svenbrouwer]

^^^^He's right. Sorry but you may be @#$%@#EF.

You could try buying a new better router (Linksys went to hell when Belkin bought them.) and a high speed connection from the ISP, but that's about the best you can do. But if your friends are sucking up 1/2 the bandwidth now, and you double the speed, you will likely cut your ping in half.

Please install FING on your phone and access the router and make a list of everything on the network. DO NOT INCLUDE MACS and IP's! We might be able to determine who the main offenders are.

Hey, I installed FING on my pc. I got 1 warning that says my ethernet link speed is only 100mbps. What else do I look for? all I see is a bunch of routers that are connected and a playstation.

 

[digitalgriffin]

Hey, I installed FING on my pc. I got 1 warning that says my ethernet link speed is only 100mbps. What else do I look for? all I see is a bunch of routers that are connected and a playstation.

That doesn't make any sense. There should only be 1 router in any house. Everything else should be switches, range extenders, and access points. And the PS can't be hooked to more than 1 device.

You need to start tracing routes and wires.

Also sounds like your ethernet cable is bad. How long is the run of the cable? A lot of that cable off Amazon isn't up to spec and often fails over longer distances.

 

[svenbrouwer]

That doesn't make any sense. There should only be 1 router in any house. Everything else should be switches, range extenders, and access points. And the PS can't be hooked to more than 1 device.

You need to start tracing routes and wires.

Also sounds like your ethernet cable is bad. How long is the run of the cable? A lot of that cable off Amazon isn't up to spec and often fails over longer distances.

This is what I'm seeing:
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/5273/Fv8fvY.png

Also, I tried 2 different ethernet cables one of 15m and one of 5. Both said 100mbps. The thing is, there could be a problem with the cable that goes from the main router to the ethernet port in my room.

 

[digitalgriffin]

This is what I'm seeing:
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/5273/Fv8fvY.png

Also, I tried 2 different ethernet cables one of 15m and one of 5. Both said 100mbps. The thing is, there could be a problem with the cable that goes from the main router to the ethernet port in my room.

A router will sometimes appear 3 times because it has 3 MACS (2.4GHz 5GHz ethernet).

But those other "routers" better be in AP or bridge mode. Or you're going to have problems.

Unfortunately there isn't much I can do to help you without understanding or seeing the topology of the network. (That means how it is wired up and configured)

Part of your issues might be because of noise/traffic over the line causing rejection or collisions. It might be because the router you are connecting too is junk or configured incorrectly. It might be your nic is configured incorrectly. Or it might be you have a bad cable.

This might be one of those situations where wireless might be better. Unfortunately it's a 300N, so it's kinda slow by modern standards.

You need the find your local college nerd, be nice to him, offer him pizza and a beer (if you are both legal age to drink) and have him take a look at your system.

Your network just needs experienced hands on approach with the rats nest you guys likely have.