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Random lag spikes while gaming

lewshann
Grafter
Posts: 32
Registered: ‎26-11-2011

Random lag spikes while gaming

Hey,
Recently I have been experiencing lag spikes while gaming at all hours. I am unable to find what is actually causing the spikes and there is nobody on my end that is downloading or doing anything that will take up a lot of bandwidth. Just wondering if there is anything that is wrong with my line
Phone exchange:
GLENROTHES NORTH
Estimated line speed:
15Mb (This may vary between 12.5Mb and 17Mb) - Checked on 2013-04-05 23:56:45
Current line speed:
10.4 Mb
Download speed achieved during the test was - 8.43 Mbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 4 Mbps-21 Mbps.
IP Profile for your line is - 11.79 Mbps
Upload speed achieved during the test was - 0.76Mbps
Additional Information:
Upstream Rate IP profile on your line is - 0.83 Mbps

My download speed seems to be a 20-30% lower than what I was getting a few weeks ago.
The games I have been experiencing lag on are:
World of Warcraft
League of Legends
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
If there is anymore information needed I'll get back as soon as I can
Thanks
26 REPLIES 26
orbrey
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 10,540
Registered: ‎18-07-2007

Re: Random lag spikes while gaming

Hi there,
Looks like your profile is the best it's been since February, and I can't see any connection drops that might have caused the profile to reduce. Granted it is slower than your estimate though - is the router in the master socket?
lewshann
Grafter
Posts: 32
Registered: ‎26-11-2011

Re: Random lag spikes while gaming

Sorry for the late reply, I've been really busy the past few days.
Yes, the router is plugged into the master socket. it seems to be that the statistics seem to be fine yet while I am gaming my latency is just not good enough, especially considering I'm paying the extra £5 a month for the Pro add on.
my latency used to be on average 50 in games but the past few weeks iI have been constantly spiking up to 150-300 every couple of minutes.
chrispurvey
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 5,369
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎13-07-2012

Re: Random lag spikes while gaming

Is your connection currently wired or wireless?
lewshann
Grafter
Posts: 32
Registered: ‎26-11-2011

Re: Random lag spikes while gaming

Hi Chris,
my connection is wired.
orbrey
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 10,540
Registered: ‎18-07-2007

Re: Random lag spikes while gaming

You say you have the pro add-on, and I can see you're on the Unlimited account. The pro add-on actually elevates pretty much all other traffic to the same priority as gaming, so if anyone else is using the connection at the same time you will see latency increase.
I suspect if nobody else is using the connection you'll be fine, but would recommend that if you're sharing it you actually get rid of the pro add-on as that will almost certainly improve things.
lewshann
Grafter
Posts: 32
Registered: ‎26-11-2011

Re: Random lag spikes while gaming

Hi Matt,
I am slightly confused by your last post. When looking at the Pro add on it states that it will provide lower latency and faster ping times. But in your post you say that it isn't actually making my gaming better but is instead giving most other things the same priority as gaming?
Looking at the information about the Pro add on it states this:
6. How will it make my games faster?
Latency and high ping times when you're online gaming are frustrating.
With Plusnet Pro latency is lower and ping times are quicker than standard broadband. This means you'll get faster, smoother gaming - and experience your games exactly how they're meant to be enjoyed.
Our traffic management system automatically recognises and gives priority to lots of popular games. We constantly review and add more games to our database, to give them priority.
If you have a favourite game that you'd like adding to our database just let us know.
Also looking at the traffic prioritization graph it tells me that with Plus net Unlimited gaming is titanium, which is the same as what the pro add on provides. Does this mean that the pro add on isn't even effecting my gaming at all? And that I would have identical latency/ping without the Pro add on?
Thanks
chrispurvey
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 5,369
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎13-07-2012

Re: Random lag spikes while gaming

Hi lewshann,
With our Unlimited product you would see no difference between this and Pro add-on when gaming, Pro add-on is more beneficial for other products other than Unlimited.
orbrey
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 10,540
Registered: ‎18-07-2007

Re: Random lag spikes while gaming

To elaborate on the above, and answer some of your questions:
Quote from: lewshann
...you say that [the Pro add-on] isn't actually making my gaming better but is instead giving most other things the same priority as gaming?

Well, not everything - details of what it prioritises are on the page you quoted from, the far right column in the table at question 5. If anyone in your house is i.e. using FTP to an external site it'll disrupt your online gaming.
Quote from: lewshann
looking at the traffic prioritization graph it tells me that with Plus net Unlimited gaming is titanium, which is the same as what the pro add on provides. Does this mean that the pro add on isn't even effecting my gaming at all? And that I would have identical latency/ping without the Pro add on?

Yes, exactly Smiley
Try turning it off for a while and if it doesn't make a difference let us know (and add it back on) and we'll refund you the cost of the add on for the month. If you still do see issues it'd be good to have a wireshark capture of the traffic - details on how to do that (sorry if you know already) are at http://community.plus.net/library/faults/using-wireshark-for-data-capture/
Hope that helps.
lewshann
Grafter
Posts: 32
Registered: ‎26-11-2011

Re: Random lag spikes while gaming

Alright, Thanks for the responses Chris & Matt. I will try disable the pro add on for now and get back to you.
Thanks
lewshann
Grafter
Posts: 32
Registered: ‎26-11-2011

Re: Random lag spikes while gaming

Hi guys,
So far tonights gaming has been fine with latency moving from 50-66 max (In World of Warcraft)
This is with the pro add on disabled.
I'll keep trying this out and get back to you in a few days.
I do have another question, about interleaving, I have been reading the forums and I did read that having interleaving turned on could increase latency. Will having interleaving on cause a large, notable increase?
orbrey
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 10,540
Registered: ‎18-07-2007

Re: Random lag spikes while gaming

Hi there,
It's a noticeable increase, certainly. It's actually on for you on the downstream, if you like we could try and turn it off? We could get that completed today if you want to give it a go, though there's a small chance the connection may become more prone to dropping.
lewshann
Grafter
Posts: 32
Registered: ‎26-11-2011

Re: Random lag spikes while gaming

Hi Matt,
I guess it is worth giving it a try wth interleaving turned off if possible.
Thanks
Pettitto
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 6,346
Fixes: 5
Registered: ‎26-11-2011

Re: Random lag spikes while gaming

I've placed an order for Interleaving to be switched off on your line. It's unlikely to be removed until Monday now though.
Edit:
With Interleaving off, you'll probably see an increase of around 6ms.
lewshann
Grafter
Posts: 32
Registered: ‎26-11-2011

Re: Random lag spikes while gaming

Hi Chris,
You say that with Interleaving off that it will increase my ms by around 6 instead of decreasing? if it is going to increase my ms rather than decrease I would prefer it turned on as the goal is to get the lowest ms possible.
Thanks