Computer problem or ISP?

[Electric Sheep Make Steel Wool]

This has been lasting for about 2 months. One weekend, my ISP, telus, gave a call about upgrading my internet services, but it was so f**king expensive that I didn't accept. So, after that, my tf2 is practically unplayable . Even in servers with 20 Ping, I get lag spikes every 5-10 seconds where I rubberband all the way back. Sometimes, I stutter literally in mid air, then the connection problem box pops up and I may disconnect or pop back at the last moment. I even installed WTFast trial to see if it did any good--which it did to be honest, but the connection seems to be even worse after the trial ended. I did whatever I can--except using a cabled connection, which isn't possible as my router is in the basement--to fix the issue: restarting, adding a heat sink to router, checking for net adapter updates, changing the rate, changing the channel etc. None of my spikes last more than 30 seconds, which completely prevents my internet troubleshooter from detecting any error as the process takes a minute at least. I know there are many other threads about this on the internet, but none of the solutions helped and the ones that seemed like this one were never answered.

Some extra info:
I tried plugging in 2 other usb adapters, didn't work, should I unplug them all?
the wireless box never displays anything other than connected: internet access. (unless the spike lasts more than 20 seconds, in which case it becomes "no internet access")
the computer is a month less than a year old.
the problem rarely happened before.
my internet speed drops from 1.25Mb/s to 0.5Kb/s when lagging.
my router is on channel 11, which was told by ISP to be the best channel.

[Ace42]

If your bandwidth or latency are fluctuating, then it's a problem with your connection not your computer per sé.

Make sure no-one else is using your connection and thus consuming your bandwidth; change your router's admin password as well as its wifi key. Make sure your AV and firewall software is current to guarantee you've got no malware using your bandwidth, make sure you're not running any background apps that might eat your bandwidth.

If you generally get good bandwidth on the whole, it's less likely to be a problem with your wifi connection to the router - a bad connection is a bad connection.

It could be a problem with RF interference from other sources - turning on a scanner attatched to a PC in a completely different part of the house would cause my old router to desync. Trying to isolate the router's powersystem (surge protector / UIPS) could eliminate this as a potential problem, as could putting an noise cancelling block around the cable.

Your ISP could be packet-shaping you - although this is unlikely, as you'd notice a far more consistent downtime. Run an online checker to test if they are, as packet shaping will often not be active on telemetry and thus won't get flagged by various performance tests.

This could easily be an ISP / Telecom provider issue. Bad weather caused moisture seepage into a local exchange cabinet - my ISP took FOREVER to get around to fixing it, and it led to all sorts of problems. If I wasn't certain my setup was absolutely perfect, and if I hadn't been persistent in tackling them, they would've kept sending me around in circles doing pointless things like rebooting the router or deleting my webcache.

Keep track of the line attenuation and noise levels on the telephone line - see if the spikes line up with times when there's worse noise on the line.

And, of course, check the basic guides for router positioning and setup to make sure you have the best setup possible - short distance between router and telephone master socket, not too many devices on the phone line, making sure that (if it's an older BT style line) the ringer-wires are disabled, the microfilters are in good condition (you probably have a spare, try swapping them around) with clean connectors.

[Electric Sheep Make Steel Wool]

Not sure if this is helping, but in net_graph 2 I can see blank zones when freezing, completely blank, not spaced out lines.

I tried the telephone thing, no noises.

The other computers on the system did not have any problems, even the iPad.

After testing, I found out that I only get disconnections when I actually join a team and play. No lag on spectator mode.

I do not have any wifi scanners, and it will be hard to check the socket brancher because all the important things are connected to it (tv, signal service, dvd etc)

[Electric Sheep Make Steel Wool]

Update: apparently my connection with tf2 is VERY WEAK. even firing the syringe gun causes noticeable fluctuations in the net graph

[Ace42]

Well your previous post sends alarm bells ringing - multiple devices on the network will consume bandwidth; multiple devices plugged into the phone line will effect the REN (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringer_equivalence_number) load lon the line.

As for "noise" on the line, it doesn't mean audible noises (although audible noises could cause a problem).

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noise_%28electronics%29 for clarification. Your router should have a statistics page which will tell you line attenuation and singal-to-noise (SNR) ratio.

But all of this isn't TF2 specific, so you'd be be better off on a telecoms forum sorting out your connection problems than here.

[Allusoar]

Their throttleing your connection.

[Electric Sheep Make Steel Wool]

Oh, the computers aren't on most of the times, plus I get decent bandwidth when not lagging.

As of the graph, my router page doesn't really have anything related to SNR

I would have posted on another forum if not for the crazy registration thing... They need your cell phone number!? I don't even have a cell phone, I never felt like getting one.