PlusNet & ping

SDMFer

SDMFer

SDMFer

Associate
Joined
10 Nov 2013
Posts
57
Location
Manchester
Hi all

Recently changed to PlusNet Unlimited broadband and have found my ping has gone through the roof when trying to play games online (notably Team Fortress 2).

Previously I was with Sky and had a fast connection and for the UK server I connected to, pings were very stable around 20ms.

Since moving to PlusNet my pings connecting to the same server is >150ms and very laggy. However I do not notice any difference with download/upload speeds - speed tests have confirmed this.

After playing around with my microfilters, if I unplug then plug the phone cable back into the wall socket, if I run a tracert to www.bbc.co.uk I get 20ms pings and a good connection to TF2. After a short while this reverts back to the horrendous pings mentioned previously. Tracert to www.bbc.co.uk shows ~80ms per step compared to 20ms before.

I've contacted PlusNet and they've suggested testing everything inside the house before getting an engineer to look at it. The only change is the PlusNet router I'm now using, which I believe is a Technicolor 582n. Could this be the cause?

Would it be a worthwhile investment to get a new (and improved!) router or is it unlikely to be the issue? I don't have another modem/router to test unfortunately.

Thanks!
 
I'm connecting via Ethernet.

When running a tracert, it records a 1ms ping to dsldevice.lan, so I'm assuming it's connecting okay. However it does record <1ms when I've managed to get it to a lower overall ping. If this helps!
 
Are other TF2 servers affected?
Tried a different type of game (non-Valve)?
Run WinMTR and point it at the same TF2 server IP while you play.
Create a BQM. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/ping

I do dislike Technicolor/Thomson routers as they have had big issues with Valve games in the past.
 
All TF2 servers are the same, very laggy and a very high ping (>150ms).

Unfortunately I don't have any non-Valve multiplayer games to compare with!

Running WinMTR I checked out the ping for the server I previously got very good ping/latency with. Here is the output:

|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| WinMTR statistics |
| Host - % | Sent | Recv | Best | Avrg | Wrst | Last |
|------------------------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|------|
| dsldevice.lan - 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| lo0-central10.ptw-ag02.plus.net - 0 | 7 | 7 | 34 | 82 | 109 | 107 |
| link-a-central10.ptw-gw01.plus.net - 0 | 7 | 7 | 24 | 57 | 83 | 66 |
| xe-0-2-0.ptw-cr01.plus.net - 0 | 7 | 7 | 23 | 66 | 108 | 72 |
| xe-0-2-4.rt0.thn.bandwidth.co.uk - 0 | 7 | 7 | 29 | 59 | 88 | 64 |
| te-3-4.rt0.sax.gamingdeluxe.co.uk - 0 | 7 | 7 | 24 | 64 | 83 | 66 |
| server.gamingdeluxe.co.uk - 0 | 7 | 7 | 25 | 63 | 85 | 73 |

(Hopefully that all turns out okay!)

I also set a BQM running last night at your suggestion, set it going at around 8pm. Used my computer at around 7am this morning then nothing till 6pm.
My Broadband Ping

Hopefully this information will help! I'm wondering if a better modem/router would benefit me - perhaps it would help as a problem solver anyways.
 
Well I connected to the same server as I have in the past (I am trying to keep this a constant) and have just achieved my best ever ping of 6ms! Which was fairly stable as well for at least 15 minutes of gaming. For my current PlusNet provision this is unheard of - achieving anything around 20-30ms would be fine. I didn't even manage this on my previous Sky contract so that is a bonus.

I ran WinMTR whilst doing this and the output is as follows:

|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| WinMTR statistics |
| Host - % | Sent | Recv | Best | Avrg | Wrst | Last |
|------------------------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|------|
| dsldevice.lan - 0 | 1083 | 1083 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
| lo0-central10.ptw-ag02.plus.net - 0 | 1083 | 1083 | 20 | 51 | 553 | 158 |
| link-a-central10.ptw-gw01.plus.net - 0 | 1083 | 1083 | 20 | 22 | 84 | 25 |
| xe-0-2-0.ptw-cr01.plus.net - 0 | 1083 | 1083 | 19 | 25 | 89 | 24 |
| xe-0-2-4.rt0.thn.bandwidth.co.uk - 1 | 1079 | 1078 | 20 | 23 | 78 | 27 |
| te-3-4.rt0.sax.gamingdeluxe.co.uk - 0 | 1083 | 1083 | 24 | 26 | 99 | 31 |
| server.gamingdeluxe.co.uk - 0 | 1083 | 1083 | 23 | 27 | 101 | 29 |

Again, apologies if the formatting is a little off.

Unfortunately I do not have a separate modem - the Technicolor 582n is an integrated model, at least I know that the cable from my phone socket connects straight into it and it works to some degree!

I am slightly confused now as I have achieved some excellent pings although have no idea as to how or why - I do not think high-volume traffic is affecting it as I have attempted to play TF2 at this same time on other nights, weekday and weekend and had poor ping times, poor enough to make the game unplayable with lag. Any suggestions welcome! :)
 
SDMFer said:
Unfortunately I do not have a separate modem - the Technicolor 582n is an integrated model, at least I know that the cable from my phone socket connects straight into it and it works to some degree!
Click to expand...

Ah, you're using ADSLx. It might be worth picking up a second-hand dg834g v4.
 
I had that problem with Plusnet and TF2 (plus SFIV and Hawken) using that router, contacted support and they said;
I have done some line testing and this has revealed that your line has been banded to the wrong profile meaning you are not getting the speeds you should be.

I have now arranged for a reset to be conducted on your line which should resolve the issue for you.
Click to expand...
I've not done much online multiplayer since, but when I did play TF2, it was fine for over an hour when previously I would suffer monumental ping every 15 minutes.
 
A quick update - I've been playing TF2 since the last post and had very good pings! In the region of 8-18ms, which I am more than happy with. This has been at varying points of the day as well, so no obvious bandwidth throttling from traffic.

The only change I've made is to enable the router to respond to pinging, which I had to set to allow the BQM to work. Maybe this is the difference?

Anyway, thanks for all your help! I'll let you know if it all goes wrong! :-)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom