Internet works well for downloading files but causes issues during online PC gameplay.
Internet works well for downloading files but causes issues during online PC gameplay.
In recent days, my internet has been behaving oddly. While playing games like Destiny 2 and The Division 2, the ping jumps to 500 or even higher. Downloads show no issues at all. Traceroute and ping tests on websites reveal no problems. My ping is usually between 25-36 ms, and traceroute shows consistent results. However, when I try to download and run a ping test command, the ping spikes to 200+, 500+, and sometimes RTOs. This happens even during gameplay. I changed my DNS from the default ISP to 1.1.1.1 but didn’t notice any improvement. Using a VPN made things worse. I contacted my ISP, who said they’ll change or move my channel. They think this might be due to a change in my public IP address, which seems to differ when I have internet issues. Recently, after upgrading my data plan, my IP switched back to the problematic one. My question is: what caused this? Could an IP with ping problems affect me? PS: I’m new here and my English isn’t very strong.
Welcome to the forum! - DNS won't have any impact except on the very beginning of your testing where your computer needs to look up the IP address to a domain name. I think we can safely rule this out for now. - IP address won't have any impact on ping unless there is something else going on (like a Denial-of-service attack). - I suspect you are using a Cable Modem. Cable Modems modulate your internet signals over a cable TV channel on the wire. It also demodulates cable TV channels to receive internet signals from your ISP. These channels are sometimes shared with your neighbors, which is why you might see your Internet speed go down when everyone gets back from work/school. This may have an affect as cable modems tend to lock on to channels and if a particular channel is crowded, ping time can be affected. The steps your ISP took to resolve this so far likely necessitated a reboot of your cable modem - and your cable modem called out to the ISP and asked for an IP address. The ISP handed you a random available one. You would only get the same if you had some extraordinary luck or your paying for a static IP address (Or your ISP is super cool and assigns you a static IP for free). How much bandwidth are you paying for? What bandwidth are you getting from a speed test site? (Both upload and download measurements would be great). Are you on wifi to your router? Or are you on a wired network line? Are other devices in your house seeing the same issue?