Destructo Aug 19, 2020 @ 4:38am
Lag spikes in games even though my internet is good
When I am in a game. Whether it be csgo, league of legends, etc. My ping keeps randomly spiking from 30ms to over 2000ms and anywhere in between.
My Internet is pretty fast and I have no issues with it other than the ping spikes in game:
https://ibb.co/pWKxzPD
Does anyone have any ideas on how to stop this?
I am using WiFi but I have also tried Ethernet and it's the same, so it's not the fact that I'm on WiFi which is causing the lag spikes.
Thanks.

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Showing 1-11 of 11 comments
Supafly Aug 19, 2020 @ 8:02am 
Internet being pretty fast has nothing to do with ping.

Someone with 1/2mb connection can have the same ping as someone on 900mbps. I've been living in this house for 30+ years and had a similar ping on both of those connections and upgraded speeds between. Ping is the time to get to and back from a destination. Speed is how much data can be transported to the destination in a second.

For gaming you need a stable connection.
Wifi is often the cause but if it's the same wired it's something else.

When did it start?
Does it happen around the same times of day or is it all the time?
Happen when only other internet users are at home?

To identify if it's and internal (inside your home) or exterior (outside your home) open a command prompt. Enter the next line of text changing the x's to the IP address of you modem/router
ping x.x.x.x -t

Let it run for 5 minutes minimum then press Ctrl +C to stop it. The Max should be very close to the min and avg. If MAX has spiked really high then it could be an issue with the modem/router. If it remains low run it for longer and particularly when other internet users are home.

If spikes occur when other internet users are home they are likely consuming all the bandwidth or the modem/router can't handle separating the data priorities. Contact ISP or consider a better router.

If after multiple tests and the ping remains low with not large spikes then it's an external issue. Could be ISP related or could be another providers network. Contact ISP to see if it's something they can help with.
_I_ Aug 19, 2020 @ 8:21am 
speed and ping are different

'high speed' is like having more lanes on a freeway
but during busy times if the lanes are moving slow you still may have quick downloads of large files, but the delays (ping) will be larger

use tracert to see where the lag is coming from

tracert googole.com
the first hop is the router
2nd is modem
next few are isp

if the first 2 are high, its a lan/wifi issue (10+ms)
if the next few are high (100+ms) its an isp issue, call them to have a tech check the lines
Destructo Aug 19, 2020 @ 9:52am 
I know ping and speed is different but even in the speedtest result it said my ping is 9ms.
My ping when everything is working is usually good (<30) but it's just the spikes which are the problem.
Did a ping and a tracert to google.com and these are the results
https://ibb.co/tJrGnT0
https://ibb.co/cLd37Ch
_I_ Aug 19, 2020 @ 10:10am 
ping -t the first 3 hops on the tracert list, to see which gives spikes
Bad 💀 Motha Aug 20, 2020 @ 5:28am 
Join servers that are physically closer
Destructo Aug 21, 2020 @ 6:42am 
Originally posted by Bad 💀 Motha:
Join servers that are physically closer
I'm in aus and im joining aus servers
Fajita Jim Aug 21, 2020 @ 6:52am 
I have had modems/routers start acting up after either OS/Software updates on my side or updates on the ISP side. Log into your router and see if a BIOS/Firmware update is available. This has solved similar problems for me in the past.
Last edited by Fajita Jim; Aug 21, 2020 @ 7:02am
Captain Eotech Jun 14, 2023 @ 8:11pm 
I have a 50/50 Internet atm and mine spikes from 20 to 40 and 50 to 130 in ping in csgo. What can I do that would be an easy fix? I know its my own internet/router that is the problem, but if I can just upgrade to 100/100 that would fix it idk.
Or should I buy a completely new router?
PopinFRESH Jun 14, 2023 @ 8:48pm 
Post your speedtest result.

What you're referring to is called Jitter. e.g. the variance in latency over time.

What is your ISP? Your traceroute looks like you are double NAT. Also why cut off things when posting your traceroute? giving incomplete information doesn't usually help. Your traceroute shows that whatever is between 10.77.12something and what appears to be the first public network are potentially overloaded and are at least not responding on the control plane.

This is likely outside the scope of your network and out of your direct control.
PopinFRESH Jun 14, 2023 @ 8:53pm 
Originally posted by Supafly:
Internet being pretty fast has nothing to do with ping.
correct

Originally posted by Supafly:
Let it run for 5 minutes minimum then press Ctrl +C to stop it. The Max should be very close to the min and avg. If MAX has spiked really high then it could be an issue with the modem/router. If it remains low run it for longer and particularly when other internet users are home.

If spikes occur when other internet users are home they are likely consuming all the bandwidth or the modem/router can't handle separating the data priorities...

People consuming bandwidth isn't going to change the latency being shown by pining something. ICMP is responded to by routers on the control plane, not the data plane.
Last edited by PopinFRESH; Jun 14, 2023 @ 8:53pm
Make sure your PC isn't having a thermal issue. Thermal issues can show up in strange ways, like poor interest performance.

I had a PC back in the day that would shoot high ping into the thousands making online unplayable. I finally figured out what was actually happening, my PC was overheating and increasing ping in the moment.

It was a phenom x6 processor and the cooling was the problem. Removed the cooler and cleaned the CPU off and reapplied. This one thing solved my multiplayer issues. No more dropped ping.

What I'm trying to say is sometimes PC can act up and the behavior can be misleading. In your case it's internet, but is it really?
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Date Posted: Aug 19, 2020 @ 4:38am
Posts: 11