Random lag spikes when using WiFi

[Cyortonic]

About 2 weeks ago, lightning struck our house and it killed our cable, internet and some TVs and monitors around the house, a long with my ability to use Ethernet. Because of this, I had to start using wifi and whenever I try to do something like play CS GO or even watch a Twitch stream, I get random lag spikes, yet my ping is typically between 20-40.

I would like to know is there any fix or way to stop these frequent lag spikes.

 

Thank you.

[Shiv78]

1. What router do you have?
2. What is the network speed in the spot you play in?
3. Is your Wifi card on your computer 802.11 ac, n, g, or what?

[Cyortonic]

11 minutes ago, Shiv78 said:

1. What router do you have?
2. What is the network speed in the spot you play in?
3. Is your Wifi card on your computer 802.11 ac, n, g, or what?

1. Arris TG1672

2. I normally get pinmg of around 30 when on East coast CS servers.

3. 802.11ac

[Shiv78]

3 minutes ago, Cyortonic (ACG) said:

2. I normally get pinmg of around 30 when on East coast CS servers.

 

Not ping- what is your DL and upload speed

[Cyortonic]

Just now, Shiv78 said:

Not ping- what is your DL and upload speed

Sorry m8. 40 down, 20 up.

[Shiv78]

3 minutes ago, Cyortonic (ACG) said:

Sorry m8. 40 down, 20 up.

Hmmm... pretty good speeds. Have you tried a different router, i/e one that wasn't hit by a power surge?

[Cyortonic]

Just now, Shiv78 said:

Hmmm... pretty good speeds. Have you tried a different router, i/e one that wasn't hit by a power surge?

This is a new one. The one hit by the power surge was dead.

[Donut417]

10 minutes ago, Cyortonic (ACG) said:

This is a new one. The one hit by the power surge was dead.

Your modem/router combo is only rated at wireless N, BUT its dual band N. Are you using 2.4 Ghz or 5Ghz? If on 2.4Ghz I would try 5Ghz if your in rage. It could just be wireless interference. There is less of a concern of interference on 5Ghz.  

 

Also, about how far from the router are you and how many walls are between? 

[Cyortonic]

Just now, Donut417 said:

Your modem/router combo is only rated at wireless N, BUT its dual band N. Are you using 2.4 Ghz or 5Ghz? If on 2.4Ghz I would try 5Ghz if your in rage. It could just be wireless interference. There is less of a concern of interference on 5Ghz.  

 

Also, about how far from the router are you and how many walls are between? 

Using 2.4Ghz, 5Ghz won't show up on my computer (it does on my phone, though)

I'm in the same room as the router. I can literally touch it from my desk.

 

[Donut417]

4 minutes ago, Cyortonic (ACG) said:

Using 2.4Ghz, 5Ghz won't show up on my computer (it does on my phone, though)

I'm in the same room as the router. I can literally touch it from my desk.

 

If you have an AC wireless card, then you should be able to connect to the 5Ghz network. Something has to be funky here. 

[System Error Message]

wireless lag spikes are common because the medium is shared. The more the medium is used (such as other networks on the same frequency) the more spikes you get, Also mixing A and AC does slow down the AC devices when the device with wireless A is communicating.

[Cyortonic]

5 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

If you have an AC wireless card, then you should be able to connect to the 5Ghz network. Something has to be funky here. 

It doesn't matter to much, I'm getting a new card in about a week or so.

[tt2468]

That's wifi for you. Wifi is not a reliable way of communication.

[Curlz]

If you go to your router settings, you normally can change what channel your 2.5Ghz is on.  To know what the best channel to change too, you can download apps from the Google store or Cydia that can analyse your WiFi to determine the channel with the least 2.4Ghz interference.

 

Interference can cause spikes in ping and dropped connections.

[pyrojoe34]

My guess is you're getting interference. So many things use 2.4Ghz and they often overlap channels. You can try changing the channel to a less used one or getting a 5Ghz card which is a much less common frequency and will see less interference.

 

The best option is (obviously) connecting through a lan and not wifi, but if you can't run a cable there are products that allow you to use the existing power grid in your house to transmit a connection through the outlet so you don't have to run an ethernet cable.