How much Ping is acceptable? Homeplug makes no difference

FlyingPig

FlyingPig

FlyingPig

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London
Hi,

As per the title. I bought one of these nifty TP-Link homeplugs but my ping seems to remain the same as before when I was using Wifi. I am still around 50-70ms for UK websites (I am based in Northern Ireland, Plus.net broadband).



I have always noticed lag in online gaming and had hoped it would be better but it doesn't look like it, does it?
 
I would be surprised if a homeplug had any real effect on ping...

58ms would certainly not cause noticable lag in online gaming either!
 
Right, so have I misunderstood the whole concept behind a homeplug then? I thought that was the whole idea behind it? So, does this mean I am fine and I'm just a lousy player? :) I've been playing some BF3 lately and sometimes I fire a whole magazine in one guy without him dying, then he turns around and kills me in 1 shot. I've only installed my homeplugs just now, I guess I'd better see if they make any difference in practice during gameplay.
 
It's more likely that Plus.net is the problem with your relatively high ping.
Over ~30ms to anywhere in the UK would say to me there's a problem.

As an aside, as long as your ping is stable (say, 80ms all the time) the game should compensate.
It's when your ping goes from 20ms -> 300ms and all over the place that you will notice the lag.

As for BF3... Well... Welcome to Battlefield! :)
 
Yamahahahahaha said:
It's more likely that Plus.net is the problem with your relatively high ping.
Over ~30ms to anywhere in the UK would say to me there's a problem.
Click to expand...

Not in this case, NI is the problem here, for legacy reasons it's connection to the rest of the BT network is less than optimally routed (like all traffic is passed through edinburgh or something similarly stupid). I've heard 21CN is more intelligently done but I can't confirm one way or the other. for once cable would be your best bet here...
 
You could also be on an Interleaved line with a large Max delay setting. I don't know if Plusnet do this but 58ms is quite consistent with a Max delay of 32ms.

PlusNet said:
8. Consider switching off interleaving

Interleaving improves the quality of your broadband signal and helps stability on lines with problems. Unfortunately it can add a small delay (or added latency) to the service and this may affect the broadband experience for gamers.

Switching off interleaving can reduce the stability of broadband (making it more prone to fluctuations and drops), so in most cases we don't recommend doing this.

To switch interleaving off, use the Help Assistant to raise a Question. Follow the path - My Broadband Connection > Interleaving.
Click to expand...

Your modem might tell you whether you are interleaved or not and maybe even the delay setting imposed by your ISP.

As a Sky BB user I have mine reduced from 32ms to 8ms which is quite a drop and would take your ping down to around 34ms if this were the case.

Regarding homeplugs vs wireless you should find homeplugs more reliable and help with jitter on your ping, although some people find wireless fine for gaming others will complain.
 
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FlyingPig said:
Right, so have I misunderstood the whole concept behind a homeplug then? I thought that was the whole idea behind it? So, does this mean I am fine and I'm just a lousy player? :) I've been playing some BF3 lately and sometimes I fire a whole magazine in one guy without him dying, then he turns around and kills me in 1 shot. I've only installed my homeplugs just now, I guess I'd better see if they make any difference in practice during gameplay.
Click to expand...

home plug is to get your internet router to places where your wireless cannot reach because of walls in interference.

ping is the total time from your PC to the destination and back not to the first hop of the ISP.

do a tracert to the destination this will show you how long each "hop" takes, thsi will also show if the delay is local or some where along the route though 58ms seems ok to me...
 
Jitter is your main problem, 1ms is good though!
Try pinging to the game server your lagging on.. not UK websites..
 
+1 for interleaving on max delay. What is your synch speed? Does the router show interleaving enabled?

Homeplugs are infinitely more stable for gaming than wireless so I'd stick with them.
 
Thanks for the advice guys. I will read up on interleaving and will have a chat with my host. I live in a rented house and I'm at the mercy of my landlady, who has already upgraded my monthly allowance from 10GB to 60GB. Don't think cable is an option in the area.
My last 4 BF3 games I keep getting disconnected, usually after a good run (Sod's law I suppose).
 
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chris6273 said:
Any chance the OP can do a tracert to bbc.co.uk so we can see where the problem lies?
Click to expand...

Here you go:

---------------
Tracing route to bbc.co.uk [212.58.241.131]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 85 ms 99 ms 99 ms dsldevice.lan [192.168.1.254]
2 70 ms 69 ms 66 ms lo0-central2.pcl-ag06.plus.net [195.166.130.47]

3 113 ms 154 ms 60 ms gi7-9-621.pcl-gw01.plus.net [84.93.254.137]
4 69 ms 60 ms 59 ms po4.pcl-gw02.plus.net [212.159.1.129]
5 60 ms 64 ms 60 ms po5.thn-gw02.plus.net [212.159.1.133]
6 60 ms 59 ms 60 ms rt0.thdo.bbc.co.uk [212.58.239.25]
7 61 ms 67 ms 65 ms 212.58.238.149
8 73 ms 63 ms 59 ms virtual-vip-231.thdo.bbc.co.uk [212.58.241.131]


Trace complete.

-----------

I have no real idea what this means apart from probably on the high side so any comments are welcome.
 
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