Internet works perfectly apart from in games, (w/o firewall and connected to modem!)

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8 Jan 2009
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Still unsolved!:

My internet works perfectly apart from in games (such as Counter-Strike Source), where I get massive lag, rendering the game totally unplayable.

- I've had this problem for about a year and a half, I used to be able to play games online perfectly.
- This occurs on three different computers: even a new one I built myself with no other software on.
- All the computers all totally capable of playing the games and I have a 10 meg internet connection that should be capable of playing the games.
- I've tried disabling firewalls and connecting to the modem, both do not make a difference.
- The problem still occurs on games that apparently do not require port forwarding (Counterstrike Source)

I've tried calling my ISP (a small local company) many times about the problem and they fail to get back to me every time. I plan to switch to BE broadband soon.

I have included a load of info below, I'm not sure if it indicates there is a problem, the bottom piece of info (the 'ping -t' bit) looks the most problematic.

Any advice would be much appreciated!

Info

'Speedtest.net'

download 2739 kb/s
upload 366 kb/s
ping 37 ms
distance (to server) < 50 miles

'Tracert yahoo.com'

1: 1ms, 1ms, 1ms
2: 2ms, 1ms, 1ms
3: 24ms, 45ms, 24ms
4: 28ms, *, *
5: *, 28ms, 24ms
6: 25ms, 25ms, 24ms
7: 103ms, 103ms, 103ms
8: 99ms, 102ms, 102ms
9: 104ms, 99ms, 103ms
10: 102ms, 103ms, 102ms
11: 101ms, 102ms, 102ms

'Ping -t www.yahoo.com' (pings every second until you cancel)

I got 'time' generally of about 35 to 40ms. But, one ping in roughly every 30 to 50, quite regularly, was really high (about 6 in total), which were usually about 700ms.

I got a couple 'lumps' of high pings such as: '37, 55, 148, 591, 40, 122, 113, 177, 209, 57' and '38, 104, 150, 155, 49'. Part way through there are three 'request timed out's in a row.

At the bottom there is a summary:
Packets: Sent = 312, Received = 308, Lost = 4 (1% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 34ms, Maximum = 725ms, Average = 56ms

I later tried doing the 'ping -t yahoo' again for two minutes without a game running to see what would normally occur, I got between 99 and 109ms every time for two minutes, apart from one 430ms.

This is at 2.30pm on a weekday when everybody is at work or school, so I wouldn't imagine there to be many other people online at this time competing for bandwidth.
 
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in CS:S have you sorted out your rates in the console?

cl_update 101
cl_cmdrate 101
rate 20000

These are just the rate which most people use, but i think its a problem with your net.
 
Sorry, I should have been clearer:

Its a problem I have in every single game I've played, probably over 50, not just CS:S.

E.G. Red Alert 3, GTA IV, all source games, Call of Duty 4, etc. etc...
 
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The problem occurs on all three of my computers, and a brand new computer I built myself with no other software on, so it cannot be spyware.


(It was more than capable of playing games:
- Asus P5K Premium
- BFG 8800 GTS OC 512MB
- Corsair 4GB DDR2 XMS2 Dominator PC2-8500C5
- Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz)
 
maybe all three are infected

especially since you said you connected them up directly to the modem without a firewall.
 
I only connected them to the modem *after* I had the problem to see if it would make a difference, I did have a firewall enabled. I disabled the firewalls a different time, that did not make a difference.

I tried playing online with a brand-new computer I built myself as soon as it connected to the internet, unless it was riddled with a large amount of very powerful spyware within 5 minutes I don't think this could be a spyware problem.

I do regular checks on all my computers with leading anti-spyware programs and generally find very little.

I'm 99% sure this isn't a spyware problem.
 
So should I keep trying to contact my ISP who have been very unhelpful in the matter, or might it be easier to just switch? (I plan to anyway because of my current company's rip off prices and appalling helpline)

What should I tell my ISP? The same things I have said on this forum?
 
Have you checked all the correct ports are forwarded?

And are you connecting to uk servers, or ones further afield, ie America, Australia?
 
Yeah you could give them a call and tell them whats happening, they might make out thats its a fault with your computers rather than the internet itself, but we know thats not true.

I would wait until tomorrow to call as more people will on on here later today and might have an answer for your problem as there very helpful on here and know loads!.
 
Have you checked all the correct ports are forwarded?

And are you connecting to uk servers, or ones further afield, ie America, Australia?

Counter-strike Source apparently can play without any port forwarding, and the problem still occurs.

I've tried connecting to many, many different servers and on all of them get instant *massive* lag, there is something totally wrong, not minorly wrong that increases with distance.

Thanks for all the help so far everyone!
 
ok

didn't mean to jump at you btw..

what os are you using?
what else is running at the same time?

-ie, it's possible that an AV program could be interfering -if it's a poor program

it's probably an ISP problem though, but best to rule out your end before asking them :)
 
ok

didn't mean to jump at you btw..

what os are you using?
what else is running at the same time?

-ie, it's possible that an AV program could be interfering -if it's a poor program

it's probably an ISP problem though, but best to rule out your end before asking them :)

The problem occurs by wire and wireless for both XP and Vista.

When I tried it for the first time it was on a computer with literally nothing else on it, I just installed a couple games and played them online to see if they would work - no firewall, anti-virus or anything other than the router.

A couple of days ago I tried connecting straight to the modem (but with a firewall on) out of desperation- no difference.


Hmm, interesting, the ping spikes may be due to that. I'll test later when I have time.

Wireless is not the main cause of the problem though, because it occurs when connected by wire as well.

haha :( hopefully I've ruled out my end by now!
 
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You may have faulty wiring in your house or interference from other devices connected to the line. plug your modem directly into the master socket(you need to remove the faceplate) and see what happens.
You also need to get hold of another router/modem either could be damaged.
 
You may have faulty wiring in your house or interference from other devices connected to the line. plug your modem directly into the master socket(you need to remove the faceplate) and see what happens.
You also need to get hold of another router/modem either could be damaged.

I don't think the problem can be with the router as the problem still occurs when I plug straight into my modem.

However I agree that my modem or wiring in my house could be a problem.

But the matter is made all the more confusing considering we have been able to play games fine in the past with the current router, modem and wiring, and we haven't changed any or damaged them in any way that I know (although something may have happened without me noticing).

How would I see if someone would I see if I had 'interference from other devices connected to my line'? the only other item we have connected is a Wii, but the internet doesn't work on that also.

I'm a bit confused by 'plugging the modem into the master socket', do you mean take off the face plate on the wall, and then there will be another different socket behind that, in which the modem could work properly?

buying a new modem is quite an expensive option to consider, I think that will be more of a final attempt to get around around the problem after I have tried changing ISP and trying to get them to fix it. Who knows, my ISP may even provide me with a new free one?

I just can't believe nobody has ever had the same problem as me. Nobody in any forum has ever heard of such a problem before: where everything works perfectly except for games which don't work at all for no logical reason.
 
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