Unexplainable, Random Packet Loss on ONLY MY Computer

[Skyie]

A few days ago i've had this problem where my PC will get terrible packet loss to the point that online games become unplayable, I can't talk in discord voice chats and web pages load very slowly.

My internet speed on my PC is about 5 - 7mbps download and it used to be 65 - 70mbps. Below I have included an image of an Ookla speed test I did and as you can see I get over 45% packet loss despite having good ping and jitter. 

This is something that is only happening on my computer, I use a USB wifi adapter and I have used it on other machines at it has worked fine and gave very good stable connection with no packet loss, so I know the issue isn't the adapter, my PC also has been in the same position in my room for months and I have never had problems as bad as this.

I also recently took my PC apart and put a new power supply in it and transferred my operating system to another SSD and ever since I did this, the computer has been having very bad connection issues although windows performs fine and single player games I play also have great frame rates. What could possibly be causing this packet loss and is there any way to fix it?

 

My Specs (if they're  relevant)

CPU - AMD Ryzen 5 3600

Motherboard - MSI B450 PRO M2

RAM - Corsair Vengence 16GB DDR4-3000MHz (2x8)

GPU - Gigabyte GTX 1080 8GB G1 Gaming

Storage - Kingston A400 480GB SSD + Seagate Barracuda 1TB 

Power Supply - Corsair TX650M (my old one is a Corsair VS450)

 

[CWALD]

I would uninstall and reinstall the drivers. It might also be worth reseating both the adapter and the internal USB header if applicable. Could also check the antenna  orientation on both the router and your PC/adapter.

[GuiltySpark_]

So, the USB WiFi adapter is a massive red flag, usually the culprit. 

 

What I would suggest is first, finding if the problem exists between your PC and your router/access point. If it doesn't, we can then explore beyond that. 

 

You can do a continuous ping to your routers local IP using the below command, OR, what I suggest is grabbing the free version of PingPlotter and let it run in the background. 

 

ping defaultgatewayip -t

Do you know how to find your default gateway IP?

[tkitch]

What you want to do first, is see where the packet loss is happening.

Open a command prompt:

IPConfig - find out what your computer's default gateway is.

 

Ping -t *default gateway*

 

See if there is packet loss there.  If there is, it's loss between your desktop and your router.  If yes, then it's one of those two devices.  If there's no loss here, then there are further steps to take, but I'm going to stop here for now.  (Bite me @rickeo I was typing!)

[Skyie]

2 minutes ago, tkitch said:

What you want to do first, is see where the packet loss is happening.

Open a command prompt:

IPConfig - find out what your computer's default gateway is.

 

Ping -t *default gateway*

 

See if there is packet loss there.  If there is, it's loss between your desktop and your router.  If yes, then it's one of those two devices.  If there's no loss here, then there are further steps to take, but I'm going to stop here for now.  (Bite me @rickeo I was typing!)

Here is a quick ping test I did between my PC and router, as you can see there are quite a lot of "request time outs" on it

[BigNavi31]

(This may be a long shot but) has anything like large sheets of metal been placed in rooms between your pc and your router? This could interfere with the wifi signal and cause a poor connection. Could you try using an ethernet connection to see if it makes a difference? Have you recently started using other wireless devices that operate on the same frequency as your wifi? These could also interfere.

I hope this helps  

[MadGoatHaz]

@BigNavi31beat me to it, have you upgraded to or is there a wireless mouse, keyboard or Bluetooth device in use in the same room? 

 

Where is the USB wifi device? (Front panel, back panel, internal header) 

 

It's the device capable of 5ghz and do you have a 5ghz broadcast to use? 

 

Did your local ip change? If qos is used on the router, is it no longer giving you priority? 

 

And lastly, restart your router? 

[tkitch]

13 minutes ago, Skyie said:

Here is a quick ping test I did between my PC and router, as you can see there are quite a lot of "request time outs" on it

That is your problem, you're dropping a buncha packets between the router and your computer.

 

You could try hooking the USB Wifi up to a USB Extension cable, and move it around to different places and see if that helps?

 

Restarting the router may help, too.

 

Or go wired.  Fix all the problems.

[Skyie]

5 minutes ago, tkitch said:

That is your problem, you're dropping a buncha packets between the router and your computer.

 

You could try hooking the USB Wifi up to a USB Extension cable, and move it around to different places and see if that helps?

 

Restarting the router may help, too.

 

Or go wired.  Fix all the problems.

I've had the USB in the same place for months and there has never been any issues, ive also tried it in different slots within my computer but to no avail. And the thing about going wired, im not able to do that as my router is downstairs and my pc is upstairs. And i've restarted the router many times as well

[tkitch]

Wifi can be affected by other devices.

 

Grab a wifi scanner for your phone and see what channels are better and possibly change the wifi channel on your router?  That may help?

[Skyie]

1 minute ago, tkitch said:

Wifi can be affected by other devices.

 

Grab a wifi scanner for your phone and see what channels are better and possibly change the wifi channel on your router?  That may help?

I changed from channel 36 to 44 (I use 5GHz) and still the same result, my phone is in the room too but that doesn't typically affect anything

[MadGoatHaz]

Just out of curiosity, are you 220v or 120v? Furthermore, do you know if your electrical outlet is properly grounded? 

 

Might want to try plugging your computer into a different outlet and or directly into the outlet if using a power strip. 

[Skyie]

Just now, MadGoatHaz said:

Just put of curiosity, are you 220v or 120v? Furthermore, do you know if your electrical outlet it properly grounded? 

 

Might want to try plugging your computer into a different outlet it directly into the outlet if using a power strip. 

I live in England so I use 220V