Wi-Fi connection going to (near) 0 Mbps when entering an Overwatch 2 game

[KalKoenkie]

Hardware (Laptop, Brand: SKIKK)

Core i7-10870H at 2.20 GHz

RTX 3070 Laptop

Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 160MHz

32 GB RAM (2933 MT/s) (Single channel)

1TB Samsung 980 NVMe SSD

 

Software:

Windows 11 Home version 23H2 64 bit

GeForce Game Ready Driver 566.14

Intel Wireless Wi-Fi Drivers version 23.90.0.2

(I hope I have included all relevant information. Please let me know if more is required)

 

I have a puzzling issue where my internet seems to almost fully turn off on Wi-Fi while entering a game of Overwatch 2. A quick overview of what I experience:

• Before opening the game: No issues, the Speedtest app shows a Ping of 9ms with Down/Up speeds of ~350/350 Mbps, able to watch 4K videos etc.
• I open Overwatch 2: Sometimes no issues, sometimes issues start and I get disconnected already.
• I enter a game/the practice range: I start lagging and get kicked after a couple of seconds. During this time the Speedtest app cannot even perform a test due to the lack of connection.

I have experienced these issues once before, and what fixed them then was updating my Graphics Drivers, so these are the troubleshooting steps I have undertaken so far:

• Reinstalling the latest graphics drivers.
• Updating the Wireless Wi-Fi Drivers to the latest version as shown above.
• Restarting the laptop.
• Try Baldur's Gate 3 multiplayer (Which seemed to work without issue)

The issue persists, unfortunately.

Unfortunately, I do not have access to a different Wi-Fi network to test.

 

Any suggestions for other troubleshooting steps and/or fixes are more than welcome. Thank you so much in advance!

[esCaPade1]

Try a few other games, if you can. If it's just Overwatch 2 that does it, get in touch with them. Look on forums first to see if anyone else is seeing the same, so you can back yourself up when talking to them.

 

Honestly, graphics drivers are the last thing I'd try. It's more likely that a reboot after installing drivers did more last time than the drivers themselves. I could be wrong, but, well, I just don't think so. 

 

Sometimes, things don't work not because they can't, but because the system is too busy to listen to your actions. Check CPU usage when the weird stuff is happening.

[YoungBlade]

I notice that you didn't mention re-installing Overwatch 2. Since that's the only application where you have a problem, it's worth a try.

 

Apart from that, is it possible that someone is actually disrupting your internet? As in, someone is actively doing a DDOS or similar attack against your IP when you try to play Overwatch? Because your symptoms there are exactly what I would expect if that were the case.

 

A way to test this would be to try using another device attached to your WiFi when this happens. If the other device's connection goes down at the same time, that cause would be my first guess. To the outside Internet, your router is the only thing there is - your IP address for all devices is the same to the internet, the router then sends the data to the appropriate device on your end. So if someone outside of your network is doing something to take down your connection, it should impact every device on your network, not just the one computer.

 

 

[OddOod]

Welcome to the forums!
 

16 minutes ago, KalKoenkie said:

Unfortunately, I do not have access to a different Wi-Fi network to test

There is literally no one you know/a cafe nearby with WiFi? I'm impressed you can even get 350Mbps

Can you access your router's admin panel? Is there a chance there is some QoL setting that is specifically throttling your PC when you connect to Overwatch? 

[KalKoenkie]

11 minutes ago, esCaPade1 said:

Try a few other games, if you can. If it's just Overwatch 2 that does it, get in touch with them. Look on forums first to see if anyone else is seeing the same, so you can back yourself up when talking to them.

 

Honestly, graphics drivers are the last thing I'd try. It's more likely that a reboot after installing drivers did more last time than the drivers themselves. I could be wrong, but, well, I just don't think so. 

 

Sometimes, things don't work not because they can't, but because the system is too busy to listen to your actions. Check CPU usage when the weird stuff is happening.

Thank you for your response. Other games seem to work fine so I will try to reinstall Overwatch and if that does not work I will indeed contact Blizzard support. CPU usage is what I would expect, and should not be high enough to cause any issues.

[KalKoenkie]

11 minutes ago, YoungBlade said:

I notice that you didn't mention re-installing Overwatch 2. Since that's the only application where you have a problem, it's worth a try.

 

Apart from that, is it possible that someone is actually disrupting your internet? As in, someone is actively doing a DDOS or similar attack against your IP when you try to play Overwatch? Because your symptoms there are exactly what I would expect if that were the case.

 

A way to test this would be to try using another device attached to your WiFi when this happens. If the other device's connection goes down at the same time, that cause would be my first guess. To the outside Internet, your router is the only thing there is - your IP address for all devices is the same to the internet, the router then sends the data to the appropriate device on your end. So if someone outside of your network is doing something to take down your connection, it should impact every device on your network, not just the one computer.

 

 

I did not mention reinstalling Overwatch 2, since that did not seem to work last time but I will try now regardless. Thank you for the reminder

I am able to watch 4K videos on my laptop while the issues are happening in Overwatch 2, so I do not think DDOSsing is the issue here but it is a valid suggestion, thank you.

[Tridefender]

Take a photo of your laptop opened, focus on where the SSD is and the wifi card.

It might just be hardware, bad design leading to your SSD roasting the wifi card and in almost every case kills it.

[KalKoenkie]

6 minutes ago, OddOod said:

Welcome to the forums!
 

There is literally no one you know/a cafe nearby with WiFi? I'm impressed you can even get 350Mbps

Can you access your router's admin panel? Is there a chance there is some QoL setting that is specifically throttling your PC when you connect to Overwatch? 

Thank you! What I meant by saying that I cannot test other Wi-Fi's right now, as I am in a European timezone and everything is closed and my friends live quite some time away. If I have not solved it before I will try it at another Wi-Fi as soon as I can.

I checked the router's admin panel and I cannot find anything that should throttle my network.

[KalKoenkie]

1 minute ago, Tridefender said:

Take a photo of your laptop opened, focus on where the SSD is and the wifi card.

It might just be hardware, bad design leading to your SSD roasting the wifi card and in almost every case kills it.

Thank you for your reply!

Unfortunately, I will not have access to the required tools to open my laptop for a couple of weeks, but if I cannot fix it before then I will do that. Would something like that cause symptoms where only limited programmes are affected with bad connection?

[Tridefender]

8 minutes ago, KalKoenkie said:

Thank you for your reply!

Unfortunately, I will not have access to the required tools to open my laptop for a couple of weeks, but if I cannot fix it before then I will do that. Would something like that cause symptoms where only limited programmes are affected with bad connection?

It's basically io intensive operations that CAUSES the wifi problem. You can try doing a speed test while running crystal disk mark, it's pretty intensive and if speeds drop/wifi disconnect you can basically blame it on poor design.

 

What you can do to solve it, assuming it's proven the case, buy a wifi direction adapter card, which is basically a piece of PCB that allows you to move the wifi card from beneath the SSD, depends on your model

[KalKoenkie]

23 minutes ago, KalKoenkie said:

Thank you for your response. Other games seem to work fine so I will try to reinstall Overwatch and if that does not work I will indeed contact Blizzard support. CPU usage is what I would expect, and should not be high enough to cause any issues.

Reinstalling the game did not work. I will contact Blizzard support, but leave this open for the time being, as they are not known for being too helpful amongst my friendgroup.

[Tridefender]

5 minutes ago, KalKoenkie said:

Reinstalling the game did not work

I won't say it's software, wifi stutters right after intensive disk io sounds extremely suspicious 

[KalKoenkie]

10 minutes ago, Tridefender said:

It's basically io intensive operations that CAUSES the wifi problem. You can try doing a speed test while running crystal disk mark, it's pretty intensive and if speeds drop/wifi disconnect you can basically blame it on poor design.

 

What you can do to solve it, assuming it's proven the case, buy a wifi direction adapter card, which is basically a piece of PCB that allows you to move the wifi card from beneath the SSD, depends on your model

Thank you for your suggestion. I ran consecutive Speedtests during the Crystal Disk Mark test and at no point did the internet speed decrease

[Tridefender]

Just now, KalKoenkie said:

Thank you for your suggestion. I ran consecutive Speedtests during the Crystal Disk Mark test and at no point did the internet speed decrease

What's your laptop brand?

[KalKoenkie]

1 minute ago, Tridefender said:

What's your laptop brand?

It is a SKIKK

[Mark Kaine]

which launcher steam or battlenet?

 

have you tried winning a cat6 cable instead? 

 

2 hours ago, KalKoenkie said:

do not have access to a different Wi-Fi network to test.

its probably not your wifi... its likely your laptop... try an USB receiver instead. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-802-11ax-Frequency-USB-AX55-Nano/dp/B0BQ1DLLCM?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

 

 

1 hour ago, KalKoenkie said:

 SKIKK

can you return it?