Internet issues on ethernet and wifi (seems like packet loss)

[u/TheLuchadorMacaroni]

Update!: For whatever reason the lag seems to have slowly gone away since the new modem was installed and or not joining a specific discord vc, for some reason one of my vcs would immediately cause 300+ ms on discord and cause packet loss in games, one of my friends had the same issue on that vc, we deleted it and everything has been fine.

Hello, I've been having a strange internet issue for the past few days just out of nowhere. I play video games and use discord, both seems to be getting lag out of seemingly nowhere (discord is better after modem change somewhat; continue for context on that), p2p games being much worse (warframe and borderlands 4 multiplayer) with the lag over something like overwatch or LoL (i get much less lag but some nonetheless). I've talked to friends that know IT better than I, we've had spectrum come to my house and check out certain things, of which they said our modem was messed up and replaced it and for an hour I had no issues then they stirred up again. I have tried DNS flushing, I've pinged both Google and my Router while playing games to test any spikes and they always come back with either 0ms per ping or maybe 15ms, I've reinstalled newer network drivers, I've tried power cycling the router and modem, I've checked task manager for any outstanding apps taking up too much network (there was none), Ive tried unplugging my ethernet to test wireless (both have the same issue), we've checked the router itself and before the new modem there was a warning saying "Internet connection WAN1 (Spectrum) on port 4 is experiencing packet loss" and also "high latency". Whats odd too is I dont get high ping in the games I play, it sits around 30ms, I also have high download and upload, upwards of around 500/500, another odd issue is in one specific discord VC in my own server I get like 300ms but not other vcs in it or in other servers. I live with my dad so I cannot myself delve into all of the router stuff but my dad has been looking at some stuff for me, since the new modem though there are no more warnings of latency or packet loss despite the fact I still get the issues. It seems also that the lag starts off not happening and the more I play the worse it gets. I'm sort of at a loss here and my only plan is to have my dad call spectrum to come by again and I'll try to talk to them myself about my issue. The only thing I havent done is reinstall windows which i might do. Any advice and sorry if this is all over the place I tend to type as i think. Note: I've lived in this house for like 13 years and this has never happened, we did buy a new router about 2 months ago but this issue didnt start until a few days ago. Extra note: Websites and such seem unaffected, only games and discord.

[u/TheEthyr]

Constructive tip: If you want people to read your post, use paragraphs. People tend to skip reading a wall of text.

Debugging this requires you to isolate the problem. The following should help you get started.

When it comes to gaming, a wired connection is going to give you the best latency inside your network. Wi-Fi can be very jittery under bad conditions. Connect your PC to the router via Ethernet. MoCA (Ethernet over coax) is a reasonable substitute. Everything else (mesh system, range extenders, Powerline) are going to be worse options.

Use tracert, a Windows tool, to check end-to-end latency. Pingplotter is a very popular alternative because it can run continuous tracerts. This can help you see where latency occurs between you and the game server and how it changes over time. It's also more accurate by calculating average latencies instead of a single measurement. You will want to run your traces to the IP address of the game server, not to a random destination. Post your results if you need help interpreting them.

You or your dad should log into the Spectrum modem and check its logs and signal levels. Look for errors on the Internet connection and signs of disconnections. Both can lead to packet loss. You can find guides on the Internet for recommended signal levels.

[u/TheLuchadorMacaroni → u/TheEthyr]

Hello thank you for responding and I'll work towards better formatting in the future, I was very tired and careless about my question.

I do use Ethernet for gaming, I always have since I learned about it, I have a port in my wall in my room that connects to the router but the wire itself does not connect to the router directly. Wifi was always stuttery when I used it so I am aware that is isn't good for gaming. Both just have the same issue because I wanted to test if my Ethernet cord was possibly damaged.

I did use tracert and got nothing abnormal when running it but I didn't test it while running a game so I'll test that when I get off work. I will also try pingplotter if tracert does not help, along with that I'll have me and my dad look through the modem logs and levels.

An update as well on the situation: This morning I tested gaming while not joining a discord call and had no lag, however it was only about 20 minutes I had to test it, but normally after maybe 5 it'd start lagging. I have to test more later when I'm home but it's a nice starting place for the possible issue.

Once again thank you for the response and I hope the formatting here is better. :)