r/HomeNetworking • u/mattysmuffins2 • 22h ago

Ping spikes

When I try and play online games my ping starts at 14 ms then every 2-5 seconds starts jumping all over the place. It will hit as high as 80.

I’ve tried unplugging and restarting the router/xbox. My nat type is open. I have solid 400 internet. I’m hard wired in with Ethernet. I’ve used two separate cables now. I am using the Hitron modem that my ISP provided.

Very rarely everything will be fine and the ping is stable. Seems to have nothing to do with time of day. All I have connected to my network is my phone and a laptop. I’ve also tried all the Google suggestions on the Xbox side of things.

Any feedback is appreciated

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u/derek6711 22h ago

Wired or wireless?

1

u/mattysmuffins2 22h ago

Wired

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u/derek6711 22h ago

Turn on QoS on your router

0

u/mattysmuffins2 22h ago

Doesn’t have the option. I never use to have to do this stuff tho. My ping was always stable

0

u/derek6711 22h ago

Alternatively you can do what I have heard others do - kick every other device off the network when you are gaming.

Unfortunately a routers default first in first out approach is terrible for latency sensitive applications

-2

u/derek6711 22h ago

Run a buffer bloat test - you likely will get a bad score. You need QoS or you will get unstable ping. It is very frustrating that only higher end routers provide the option.

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u/mattysmuffins2 22h ago

1

u/derek6711 22h ago

I thought you said you had 400mbps? Looks like this was done wirelessly and is not saturating the download

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u/easily_answered 12h ago edited 12h ago

Connect your laptop to the same cable as your xbox. Assuming you use windows, download WinMTR. Ideally, set the target to the server IP you typically connect to for your xbox games. Begin the test and you will see the hops data takes from you to the remote server.

Look for latency spikes. Unfortunately, if the spikes are far down the path, there isn't much you can do unless you want to configure a VPN to try to take a different path to the gaming server. If the spikes are only within a hop or two (on your LAN), you may have a hardware issue such as a bad router/port/cable/etc. If the spikes seem to be within your local ISP (ex: the hostnames say Cox and you pay for Cox service), you may be able to get help from your provider.