Inconsistent pings - What can I do

[Grazzy]

So I'll just describe the situation in as much detail as possible.

While playing console xbox/PS I occasionally experience high or at least inconsistent pings (15 -1000). It never comes high enough where I get kicked out of game, but it does become unplayable.

- it happens when the internet is not being used by anything else
- It's extremely unlikely anybody is piggy backing off my internet
- it's a standard internet connection in a major city (25ish down/3ish up)
- It will be fine for weeks at a time and then awful
- my nat type is moderate
- it's a wireless connection (and realistically cant be wired)

Any advice is much appreciated

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[The Head Crusher]

Try opening up your NAT to a type 3. I was having issues connecting with other people with the PS4 and that fixed it for me.

 

[Grazzy]

Isn't type 3 a strict NAT? I would have thought that an open nat would improve the situation not a stricter nat. I'm also a bit skeptical that it is an issue with NAT, but I'm willing to give it a shot

 

[Gardner McKay]

Isn't type 3 a strict NAT? I would have thought that an open nat would improve the situation not a stricter nat. I'm also a bit skeptical that it is an issue with NAT, but I'm willing to give it a shot

I guess the first question I have is when you say it becomes awful, for how long are we talking? A few minutes? Hours? Days?

Unfortunately, the best advice I can give would be using a LAN cable. Aside from that...

A stricter NAT did not work for me, I had to get my NAT type to open (NAT type 1). You can do this two ways, either open the correct ports for the game you want to play or set your PS4/Xbone IP as a DMZ. I know for COD games the first port it tries to use is 3074. Setting the Ps4/Xbone IP to DMZ does open your console up to DDOS attacks but, in 10 years of competitive online gaming, even at the MLG level for a while, I never experienced one. You can set up a DMZ through your router settings.

Additionally, it may not have anything to do with your connection at all, rather where the servers for the game are located. For example, I know there are two BO4 servers within about 600 miles of me. Using the Geo-filter on my router, I set a max distance from my house to 750 miles. I no longer get connected to servers in Europe and such, most of which jacked up my ping to a consistent 150-250 for that particular game, despite a speed test showing 12-15 MS.

I know you say there isn't anything else connected but not even a phone or laptop that could be doing an automatic update? I would recommend enabling QoS on your router if you have it. It prioritizes gaming connections.

 

[SniperHF]

I'd want to figure out if it was caused by the WLAN, LAN, or the WAN. Or PS4 for that matter. Otherwise it's just guessing. When you have the issue, try plugging in on the LAN. If it still persists, go directly into the modem. Doesn't have to be a permanent setup.

I had a switch misbehaving once that caused intermittent issues like this. You'd never know it unless you sat there running ping tests on it days on end.


A powerline adapter is a potential fix, but it actually might not be all that much better than Wifi depending on your layout. But again it would be guessing.

 

[Smelling Salt]

Could be as something as simple as node saturation.

When you notice your ping getting destroyed, try running a speedtest on a device that is wired and see what your ping is and if it shows packet loss.

 

[The Head Crusher]

Isn't type 3 a strict NAT? I would have thought that an open nat would improve the situation not a stricter nat. I'm also a bit skeptical that it is an issue with NAT, but I'm willing to give it a shot

Oops my mistake, got them mixed up.

 

[Leafs at Knight]

Need to open your NAT, but I'd never use wireless nowadays for online gaming/streaming/etc. Not trying to be an elitist but wired should be a priority. I run a 50 foot cable from the top floor to the basement, it can usually be done.

 

[Frankie Spankie]

Need to open your NAT, but I'd never use wireless nowadays for online gaming/streaming/etc. Not trying to be an elitist but wired should be a priority. I run a 50 foot cable from the top floor to the basement, it can usually be done.

Agreed, I wouldn't go wireless anything for gaming. A friend of mine had the same mind set of refusing to make wired work and kept complaining about lag. I kept telling him to go wired and he wouldn't do it until I finally convinced him to just run an ethernet cable through his wall to make it work. He finally gave in and his problems all went away.

But one other thought, as obvious as it may seem, is if you rent your modem from your ISP, just bring it to their office and say it doesn't work properly and you want to swap it for a new one. I used to do that years ago and Comcast never put up a fuss about it, it was always an easy swap. When my internet starting acting iffy, I'd swap it out and it would work fine again. They only rent out piece of shit modems anyway that only last a couple years before they start breaking down.