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Wireless slightly flakey?

D4ng3r

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Oct 23, 2008
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143
Location
Ottawa, Ontario
My brother can play on our internet (1 meg profile right now, DSL) with minimal lag, roughly 80-100 ping to most servers in call of duty 4. I am upstairs, receiving wireless from the router a floor below me.I get the same ping as he does, but I get some micro-lag where I can't turn for like half a second, and then I turn. Its as if my mouse was not responding, or my keyboard would not respond for those fractions of a second. It hasn't always been like this. Just in the last 3-4 months.

I play on a competitive level, so not being able to move where I need to go takes all the fun out of the game for me. I can't put in an honest effort when every 15-20 seconds my mouse/keyboard does a mini-lag.:doh:


Anyone have any ideas on how to trouble shoot this problem? Is it the distance? (I'm right above the router through a hardwood floor). I have an extreme somethingorother card in my computer with 2 antennas. Does having a metal-legged table near the PC and computer wires around it affect the signal?

Any help would be awesome, I'm dying here. This same issue is present in the new Alien Swarm, where it is as if I can move fine for a little bit, but as soon as I hold a different direction or try to move my mouse, I don't turn for a second or two, and end up running into walls, because I can't change the direction I face. I'm not seeing other people lag, its just my imput that seems to suffer.:blarg:
 

_dangtx_

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mtl
first off try a cable and see if it doesn't happen anymore. if it does, time for troubleshooting elsewhere.

yes, metal stuff can affect, but if it was there before maybe its not that.

ps looping 3dmark doesnt freeze or such right?
 

Arinoth

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I don't want to sound like an ass but if you play at a competitive level you should know that your internet/keyboard/mouse should all be wired as they can in themselves at micro seconds of lag and it sometimes adds up. Try everything wired first
 

LarkStarr

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Oct 4, 2007
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1,625
you assume it's a wireless router or peripheral issue. Have you gone through offline games / benchmarks that don't exhibit the same behaviour first?
 

D4ng3r

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Oct 23, 2008
Messages
143
Location
Ottawa, Ontario
I don't want to sound like an ass but if you play at a competitive level you should know that your internet/keyboard/mouse should all be wired as they can in themselves at micro seconds of lag and it sometimes adds up. Try everything wired first

Don't worry, you don't sound like an ass. The only reason I am on wireless is pretty much out of necessity. I am upstairs, I would need a 100ft cat5 cable to reach my PC, and I would have to run it in such a convoluted manner to keep it from being in the way that it hardly makes it worth it. Maybe I should look into it though?

you assume it's a wireless router or peripheral issue. Have you gone through offline games / benchmarks that don't exhibit the same behaviour first?

Yep, all offline games run great. Crysis is terrific. Other offline games don't showcase the same symptoms.
 

JD

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Don't worry, you don't sound like an ass. The only reason I am on wireless is pretty much out of necessity. I am upstairs, I would need a 100ft cat5 cable to reach my PC, and I would have to run it in such a convoluted manner to keep it from being in the way that it hardly makes it worth it. Maybe I should look into it though?
Most definitely. You'll invest more money (and lost games) into fixing wireless than you will running a $20 cable. You say the router is right below you? Why not drill a small hole through the floor/ceiling? You can buy some cable cover things at your local renovation store too that tape to the wall to hide the cable. Paint it your wall colour and it'll blend in decent enough.

However in the meantime though, I'd temporarily put your PC down by the router and try it with a cable. If all is well, then proceed with running the longer cable upstairs.

If you want us to help solve the wireless problems though, you'll have to tell us what router you have, the firmware on it, what security options you're using on the wireless side, and the wireless adapter in your PC. Without those, it's kind of hard to diagnose. Assuming your router has removable antennas, it may be feasible to use a directional antenna on it instead and aim it approximately where you believe your PC to be. However these can be expensive, and means you won't really have wireless in the entire home anymore.
 

D4ng3r

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 23, 2008
Messages
143
Location
Ottawa, Ontario
Most definitely. You'll invest more money (and lost games) into fixing wireless than you will running a $20 cable. You say the router is right below you? Why not drill a small hole through the floor/ceiling? You can buy some cable cover things at your local renovation store too that tape to the wall to hide the cable. Paint it your wall colour and it'll blend in decent enough.

However in the meantime though, I'd temporarily put your PC down by the router and try it with a cable. If all is well, then proceed with running the longer cable upstairs.

If you want us to help solve the wireless problems though, you'll have to tell us what router you have, the firmware on it, what security options you're using on the wireless side, and the wireless adapter in your PC. Without those, it's kind of hard to diagnose. Assuming your router has removable antennas, it may be feasible to use a directional antenna on it instead and aim it approximately where you believe your PC to be. However these can be expensive, and means you won't really have wireless in the entire home anymore.

Thats a GREAT start, thanks. I'll move my PC downstairs for now, see how that goes. If that fixes it, then I'll run the cable, or return here with all the information you have requested. I'll post back in this thread and revive it if I need more help.

I'll start working on this ASAP with your suggestions.
 

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