Question Packet Loss on certain games with PCI-E WiFi Card

[tobeee617]

Hi all,

Since I got my PC 4 years ago, it has always had bad WiFi, particularly packetloss in certain games I play (overwatch, valorant, cs, r6), which is incredibly noticable. I thought it was just the WiFi Card acting up so I finally got a new one a few weeks ago and it has the exact same problem. My motherboard doesn't support WiFi which is why I use a PCI-E Adapter. I get packet loss both at home, on normal private wifi, and at university halls wifi, but when I was using ethernet in a different city for 2 years I had no issues, so I know it is an issue with the adapters, althought I cannot figure out why. I'm not able to use ethernet where I am right now. I posted in a different forum, and was told that it was 99% a problem with my ram and/or SSD, so I brought a brand new NVME and 32gbs of ram, neither of which has helped the packet loss. I'm wondering if it's an issue with the motherboard itself, due to this exact same issue happening on 2 different Wifi cards and a cheap USB adapter I thought I would give a try.

OS: Windows 10 64-bit
Motherboard: ASUSTeK TUF B450-PLUS GAMING (AM4)
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 2700x
RAM: 32GB DDR4 3000MHz
PCI-e Wifi Adapter: TP-Link AC1200 Archer T4E
GPU: GTX 1660 Super

Thanks!

 

[helpstar]

wi-fi is always lagging or slower than ethernet. Either get a repeater to get the best signal or use ethernet.
Is the router compatible to wifi 5? IEEE 802.11ac 5 GHz would be the best performance but wouldn´t be stable if the router is too far away (<5m indoors without wall)

check the antennas
you can check the signal by using a large download file, wait about 10seconds after every move, you turn the antennas

to have a look what the problem could be:
run userbenchmark.com and post the http link of your result, e.g. https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/28977730

 

[tobeee617]

https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/68132602

I'm not able to use ethernet right now, and I was using a WiFi extender and it didn't help at all, and where I am currently my PC is maybe 20cm from the AP/Extender, so I cannot get any closer. I'm using IEEE 802.11ac 5 GHz. Moving the antennas has minimal affect on the download speed, but there never seems to be any packet loss on the download speed, that I can see, and using packetlosstest.com shows little / no packet loss, but in all games I play, theres always packet loss so I'm completely lost on what the issue is.

 

[SkyNetRising]

I'm not able to use ethernet right now, and I was using a WiFi extender and it didn't help at all, and where I am currently my PC is maybe 20cm from the AP/Extender, so I cannot get any closer.

20cm away from AP ? How are you unable to use ethernet?

Connect ethernet switch between AP and incoming ethernet cable and connect your pc to the switch.

 

[tobeee617]

20cm away from AP ? How are you unable to use ethernet?

Connect a switch between AP and incoming ethernet cable and connect your pc to switch.

The ethernet port is broken, i've used 3 different ethernet cables and 4 different devices to test, I live in student accomodation and the internet provider says they see nothing wrong on their end and tell me it's my devices, so I cannot use the ethernet port no matter how many times I email them. If I could use ethernet, I would. But I would still like my WiFi to work for instances where I am unable to use ethernet.

As I said, i've used 2 different PCI-e WiFi Cards, and a USB adapter too and all tested on 3 seperate networks, all 3 have packet loss, yet I had no packet loss when I was previously using ethernet, which is why I assume it is an issue with the motherboard or something.

 

[SkyNetRising]

The ethernet port is broken

Ethernet port is broken on what device?
If ethernet port of your pc is broken, then get PCIE ethernet adapter.

 

[tobeee617]

Ethernet port is broken on what device?
If ethernet port of your pc is broken, then get PCIE ethernet adapter.

The ethernet port in the wall, which I need to connect any of my devices to ethernet is broken. My ethernet port on all 4 devices I have tried are all functional.

 

[SkyNetRising]

The ethernet port in the wall, which I need to connect any of my devices to ethernet is broken. My ethernet port on all 4 devices I have tried are all functional.

But you have Access point right next to your pc.
How is this Access Point connected to network?

 

[tobeee617]

But you have Access point right next to your pc.
How is this Access Point connected to network?

I assume hard-wired, by the company which provides internet for the whole accomodation block.
My issue isn't with connecting to ethernet, it's with packet loss from my WiFi connector, is you are unable to help with that, that's ok.

 

[bill001g]

The reason you have seen so many people recommend you use the ethernet is wifi is known to have issue like you describe. Since you have used multiple wifi cards and have the same issue it is not the hardware.

This is very well known issue of trying to play online games on wifi. There is a massive amount of devices both in your house and outside your house likely using wifi. All these signal interfere which causes data loss and data retransmission. Game because they are realtime do not tolerate a bad network connection very well.

Wifi is almost magic since you can't see the signals and how they are being affected. It is almost impossible many times to fix when it does not work.

You are much better off spending your time trying to not use wifi. Ethernet is your best option but you can consider powerline or moca also.

Wifi is extremely restricted by the government which also makes is almost impossible to troubleshoot. Pretty much the only options you have are to try using 2.4, 5ghz and maybe 6ghz if you have wifi6e. You can try other channels within those bands and maybe change the channel width to say 20 or 40. In most cases this does nothing because every wifi channel is massively over crowded.

 

[SkyNetRising]

I assume hard-wired, by the company which provides internet for the whole accomodation block.

Do you not have access to this Access point? It should be connected with ethernet cable.
Do as described in post #4. I don't understand, what is preventing you to do that.

My issue isn't with connecting to ethernet, it's with packet loss from my WiFi connector, is you are unable to help with that, that's ok.

Wifi connection is susceptible to signal interference.
Nearby mobile phones, operating microwave ovens, lots of wifi devices in near vicinity - all of it can cause degraded wifi signal.
Your best course of action is avoiding wifi completely.

BTW - you can not use wifi and ethernet at the same time, if they are connected to same local network.
You have leave only one enabled. Disable the other connection.
This is important. If you fail to follow this, you'll get significant packet loss.

 

[lantis3]

USB ethernet

https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-Ethernet-USB-C2500-Connection-Compatible/dp/B093FB9QWB

But you said the port on the wall is broken? And how did you determine that the packet loss is from wifi adapter?

Packet loss actually can happen anywhere between your device and the game server. If it happens in the middle, you have no way to fix it unless you change the route.