Internet Connection problems

[Sonic The Rat]

Hi! Not new to desktops but also not very expirienced. I need some help. For my pc, I am having some troubles regarding internet connection. I have resorted to a usb adapter for Wifi. This was not my first choice regarding internet connection. My router is nowhere near my pc setup and I would be unable to access ethernet at the moment. I have tried Wifi cards but they still get the same unfortunate results as my current usb wifi adapter. Anywho, I enjoy gaming, but I can't help to notice when playing online/multiplayer games that I get lag spikes or conection freezes every roughly 5 seconds. My laptop along with my family's desktop has no problems as such and expirience no connection problems like I do. I used to game on my laptop and never got the connection freeze. I am able to stay in game and not be disconnected but can't help to lag for about a second or two every 5 seconds. I have had this problem for as long as I can remember on my desktop. I always wondered if it was my usb adapter or pci-e slot so even went as far as getting a new expensive Asus usb Wifi adapter for christmas but still get the same connection spikes. My friends either have ehternet or wifi cards and those who have wifi cards have a totally fine time playing online games. I can even clearly see my connection spikes happen when on discord my three green connection bars when in a voice chat goes to one red for a second or two then back to three green bars. In multiplayer games I would rubberband back to my spot roughly 1 second before th lag. I don't get any problems like these since offline games such as City Skylines or Slime Rancher don't have these lag/rubberband problems. Have had this pc for about 3-4 years now. Can't help to think if it's the motherboard or something. (I honestly couldn't know). Help would be great!

 

GPU - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950

CPU - Intel Core i5-4430

Ram - 24.0gb

Storage - 1.0tb

Motherboard - Asus z97-Pro Gamer

Bios - American mega trends inc. 2203 2016-02-26

Power supply - evga 500w

Operating system - Windows 10 pro 64bit

[CaptainUseless]

I would reccomend using an cable, it may not be the most pretty solution but they are easy to hide and maybe you got some shortcuts through empty space between walls or floors

[Bombastinator]

Wifi is a chain of many parts.  There is the netfeed, the base station, the connection between the base station and the WiFi connector on the machine, and the machine itself.  Each of these have their own protocols and problems.  The issues you are having could be at one or more points on that chain. The advantage of an ethernet cable is it simplifies the chain and maintains a high level of throughput from the base station.  The disadvantage of course, is that it is a cable.  

[RTIK]

Nothing can replace a good old ethernet cable when it comes to realtime-traffic applications!

 

If really only that one computer got a problem and you can't use an ethernet cable I'd suggest trying out these four quick to do things:

 

1.) If enabled, disable QoS in the settings of your your wifi adapter. In my experience networking applications can benefit from deactivation of this option.

2.) Try deactivating all power/energy saving - related settings for your wifi-card.

3.) Just for the fun of it (if you haven't done this already), try connecting the computer with your router via cable temporarily. Maybe it's not in the hardware but in the networking stack of your computer?

4.) If you haven't installed any drivers but let Windows do everything: Try installing the latest drivers for your Mainboard and your graphics card.

 

[Sonic The Rat]

1 hour ago, Bombastinator said:

Wifi is a chain of many parts.  There is the netfeed, the base station, the connection between the base station and the WiFi connector on the machine, and the machine itself.  Each of these have their own protocols and problems.  The issues you are having could be at one or more points on that chain. The advantage of an ethernet cable is it simplifies the chain and maintains a high level of throughput from the base station.  The disadvantage of course, is that it is a cable.  

If ethernet does not fix what do you recomend.

[Bombastinator]

1 hour ago, Sonic The Rat said:

If ethernet does not fix what do you recomend.

Going through the chain and finding the weak link.  Then either replacing them with better links or possibly adding more links via a WiFi repeater or something such.  WiFi repeaters can only help with the broadcast feature though and add complication.