[SOLVED] My computer gets a network-related ping spike approximately every minute. Does anyone know how I could fix this?

[gebros3]

The ping spikes make it hard to play online games like CSGO because I'll keep having lag spikes and dying.

This problem started about a week ago. Some days there are ping spikes, some days there aren't. I don't remember installing anything new.
I'm thinking that it might be some type of virus, but I'm not sure.

I installed PingPlotter to help visualize the problem. Here is a ping graph:

https://imgur.com/a/cxGVeHm

View: https://imgur.com/a/cxGVeHm


Would really appreciate any help. Thank you!

 

[mdd1963]

Stop all unneeded background apps, cloud storage, even AV services, to see if you can determine what (if anything) is/might be causing the spike...(at least you can eliminate potential causes, assuming the problem is even yours to begin with alone is a dangerous assumption (Glasswire might help you see if you have outbound traffic once per minute beyond what is normal....and it will certainly assist in showing the source of inbound/outbound traffic, and if any is unexpected.)

Do these ping spikes occur with other /all CS;GO destinations? (Just because your connection is good does not mean the server you are contacting has a latency-free path through the CS;Go server you are connected to thru 15-20 + servers before actually getting to your computer)

 

[gebros3]

Hi, thanks for responding!

I'm assuming that when you say stop all unneeded background app, you're referring to this setting (please correct me if I'm wrong):

https://imgur.com/a/63acjWI

View: https://imgur.com/a/63acjWI

I turned off all background apps and the issue is still happening.

Regarding your question about ping spikes with other/all CSGO destinations: the problem also occurs with other games like multiplayer Minecraft, so I'm fairly certain that the problem has nothing to do with CSGO servers.

Here's another thing I found interesting:
I tried turning off all background apps by going into msconfig and disabling all services, and then I restarted my computer. However, I was unable to turn my PC's wifi back on.
So I went into msconfig and enabled all services and restarted my computer.

When it restarted, I noticed that the ping spike problem had disappeared.

https://imgur.com/XW5fbs3

View: https://imgur.com/XW5fbs3

After 20 minutes, I received 3 ping spikes, but everything returned to normal.

https://imgur.com/6NPRaxV

View: https://imgur.com/6NPRaxV

Then, 20 minutes after the 3 ping spikes, I started getting ping spikes every minute.

https://imgur.com/pFQoIQ7

View: https://imgur.com/pFQoIQ7



I hope this was helpful, and please correct me if I did not correctly turn off my background apps!


Update:
So I restarted my PC again, it was all fine until 20 minutes later when the every-minute ping spikes came back. There seems to be something going on with this 20-minute pattern?

 

[Ralston18]

Ensure that only one network adapter (either wired or wireless) is enabled. Not both (or more than one) at the same time.

If your ISP does not provide IPv6 - disable that. Or at least temporarily if you do have IPv6 service.

Look in Task Scheduler.

Per @mdd1963, you can and should get everything possible out of Task Manager Startup.

But other things can be triggered via Task Scheduler.

Do take a look in Reliability History for any events, error codes, or warnings that correspond with that 20 minute mark where the pings start again.

Also look in both Task Manager and Resource Monitor for processes and services that are running or start running.

Another good tool is Process Explorer which can be downloaded (free) via Microsoft's website.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer

Key is to identify what is launching, running and causing the spikes. Could be some rogue, buggy, or corrupted app trying to phone home....

Do not blindly delete or change anything that appears related or otherwise problematic. Identify first, then the applicable actions can be taken.

 

[mdd1963]

If you can nail down the exact time these spikes are occurring, perhaps LastActivityView can assist in identifying what things might be starting up at/near the time the 2 second+ lag-outs occur...

https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/computer_activity_view.html

 

[gebros3]

Hello again!

When I was checking my IPv6, I saw that it was already disabled.
I also checked my event viewer, and saw that there were no events that occurred at the 20 minute marks.

I tried using msconfig to check if any of the services were causing the ping spikes.
I first disabled all non-Microsoft services, restarted my PC, and everything was fine (for hours).
Next, I enabled certain services to see if they were causing the ping spike but none of them did (again, everything was fine for hours).
I disabled all non-Microsoft services again, and the ping spikes started happening at 40 minutes after restart.
It appears like the ping spikes weren't caused by a specific service.

I'll look into using Task Manager, Resource Monitor, and LastActivityView to determine what could be causing the spikes.

 

[mdd1963]

LAV is quite detailed, and will show down to the 100th of a second what is being launched/started allowing you to possibly zero in at least possibly see what task /service/app is causing the ping-robbing hitches...

 

[gebros3]

Update:
So I ran LAV, but it doesn't show anything running during the ping spikes.
Task Manager and Resource monitor don't show anything abnormal either.

I used msconfig to disable all non-Microsoft services, and it seems like the problem has gone away.
I'm thinking that I messed up while testing msconfig yesterday. I'll look into testing msconfig again.

 

[Mtop]

Turn off services a few at a time, first make a restore point.
When you turn off a service that takes away your WiFi - restore then try to determine which service restores wifi. make another restore and try again.
Note: Many can't be turned off and many are needed - you will find shadow copy and virtual disk turned off will disable restore so keep a record of what you'll need or want.