Question Packet loss on 100ft ethernet connection

[Bobman108]

I live in a rental home that was constructed in 2020, but with no ethernet because "wifi is the future". Anyways, I need to reduce my ping for online gaming as wifi isn't cutting it. Since I rent this house, I cannot make a bunch of holes in the house. However, I can lead a wire up to my bedroom from the router's one and only allowed spot according to our hoa (downstairs living room). The problem is that when I go into games, I experience packet loss. My friend told me to try and do "ping www.google.com -t" in cmd and every once in a while I get "request timed out". Then I tried packetlosstest.com and same thing, some test are perfect, other get packet loss. I read in a bunch of forums that the wire may be the issue and to me that made sense. I got another wire. one that was built for outdoors use and pretty pricey. Same results. I got another ethernet cable, one with a bunch of 5 star reviews... same thing. Now I have three 100ft ethernet cables I still haven't returned and poopy ping.

 

[Etrius vanRandr]

I was going to try this with a laptop. Waiting on the ethernet adapter to come.

Are you getting packet loss with wifi as well? If so it could just be the ISP. Try tethering your phone and try a phone hotspot to check that it's not your machine as well. Test as many configurations as you can to isolate the problem.

 

[Bobman108]

Understood. On the other hand, I am surprised that your wi-fi connection was not satisfactory. How many wi-fi devices are connected to this router?

Not many. The issue is that my room has several walls in the path going to my router. I am also in the process of switching my setup to a different room that gets less direct sun, since my current one warms up so much, esspecially with a gaming pc in it. The new room is directly above the router.

 

[Bobman108]

Understood. On the other hand, I am surprised that your wi-fi connection was not satisfactory. How many wi-fi devices are connected to this router?

The wifi is great for normal use. However for a game like Valorant, you need a stable ping. When I did have it wired to the router (packet loss and all), my ping was consistent. When I play wirelessly, I would see spikes of up to 700 ping randomly, which isn't fun when you are playing a competitive shooter. The closest server to my location is one located in Georgia, which limits the number of servers I can select to get the best ping possible. Being on wifi meant that ping was even higher compared to wired. However, for downloading games and such, the router can output the max bandwidth available (~300mbps) over wifi.

 

[Bobman108]

Are you getting packet loss with wifi as well? If so it could just be the ISP. Try tethering your phone and try a phone hotspot to check that it's not your machine as well. Test as many configurations as you can to isolate the problem.

No, wifi is perfect through every test. No packet loss what so ever.

 

[Etrius vanRandr]

No, wifi is perfect through every test. No packet loss what so ever.

Then use WiFi. A few mbps isn't going to make any major differences in your ping.

Use a snoop to get the server's IP and test it on both wired and wireless then report the 15min average here and loss percentage.

You said you've tried numerous routers as well, any thoughts that your NIC might be the problem? My ZBook's NIC is awful.

 

[Bobman108]

Then use WiFi. A few mbps isn't going to make any major differences in your ping.

Use a snoop to get the server's IP and test it on both wired and wireless then report the 15min average here and loss percentage.

You said you've tried numerous routers as well, any thoughts that your NIC might be the problem? My ZBook's NIC is awful.

I'm looking for lower ping, not better mbps. In game, my ping is in the 30-50+ and will often spike to 500+ms. In a game like Valorant, that is unplayable and not very fun (assuming I'm having any fun lol its valorant). With a wired connection, I would minimize or negate that issue entirely, which is how I've always played these types of games. Wired. 50ping may be "playable", but when I spike from 20ms to 55ms then it steadies back at 20ms, Valorant translates it to "RUBBERBAND THAT MAN BACK THREE STEPS!"

 

[Bobman108]

Ok, I've got the right wire that works perfect now.I'm using the CableMatters 100ft cable that was suggested and it gives me 0% packet loss from multiple tests. My ping in my silly video games are now consistent and below 30 at all times.

 

[Etrius vanRandr]

but when I spike from 20ms to 55ms then it steadies back at 20ms, Valorant translates it to "RUBBERBAND THAT MAN BACK THREE STEPS!"

Seems like Valorant's problem then, not yours. My ping is what the 1337 would consider 'bad' (100ms-200ms) and games that are network heavy like Destiny 2 and GTA Online don't have any rubber banding issues. if a 30ms change is causing you to rubberband that severely, it's likely not even you.

Valorant, like many games these days, uses a mesh network instead of a central server. One player is the 'host' while others are all interconnected. If the host has really, really bad Internet or plays on a console, then you will have issues.

Ok, I've got the right wire that works perfect now.I'm using the CableMatters 100ft cable that was suggested and it gives me 0% packet loss from multiple tests. My ping in my silly video games are now consistent and below 30 at all times.

Try playing at 200ms for a while, lol. It builds character.

 

[bill001g]

I suspect his actual problem was packet loss since a ethernet cable can not delay traffic but it depends on how the games show that. The vast majority either say nothing or report the loss. There are some that retranmit data and count this as ping time.