Why is my ping so inconsistent?

[Rexem2017]

So, I've been playing Fortnite (I'm so sorry, I fell into the trap with everyone else) and sometimes my ping is decent. 60ms, not amazing, but not too bad either.

But then, at other times, my ping is from 250-500ms. Is there a reason for this? Granted, my network has a lot of other devices on it, but I don't know much about networking - does bandwidth connect with ping? I have noticed that when there is nothing else on my network the ping is great.

So, is there a good way to fix this? It's not like I move my PC around, I play on a desktop, so I am always the same distance from the server I use. Is there some weird setting that I would turn off to fix this? 

Thanks!

[Lurick]

Ping is not related to bandwidth directly but can be negatively impacted if something else is consuming all the available bandwidth and constraining the rest of the network. Ping is very impacted by wireless signal quality, interference, etc.as well so if you're not using a wired connection then that can definitely be a big reason why it varies so much.

[Koneinuri]

While ping is important for games, you need a bit of bandwidth too. Looking at that ping you're using probably some kind of ADSL or mobile internet. So if those devices you mentioned are watching videos in high res or downloading stuff (or maybe someone left some torrents active) you might be bandwidth starved if you've a low speed plan, lets say 10 mbps or less, so check what they're doing.

[Rexem2017]

Just now, Lurick said:

Ping is not related to bandwidth directly but can be negatively impacted if something else is consuming all the available bandwidth and constraining the rest of the network. Ping is very impacted by wireless signal quality, interference, etc.as well so if you're not using a wired connection then that can definitely be a big reason why it varies so much.

So what's the best way to fix my issues?

Also, I do use a wireless connection - I'm on the third floor of my house, the router is on the first, so I use network extenders.

[Rexem2017]

2 minutes ago, Koneinuri said:

While ping is important for games, you need a bit of bandwidth too. Looking at that ping you're using probably some kind of ADSL or mobile internet. So if those devices you mentioned are watching videos in high res or downloading stuff (or maybe someone left some torrents active) you might be bandwidth starved if you've a low speed plan, lets say 10 mbps or less, so check what they're doing.

Honestly I don't know my plan, but I do know the Xbox probably drains all of the bandwidth for me (since I use a PC, my brother uses an xbox), so can I reduce the bandwidth that devices use by any chance?

[Lurick]

Just now, Rexem2017 said:

So what's the best way to fix my issues?

Also, I do use a wireless connection - I'm on the third floor of my house, the router is on the first, so I use network extenders.

Unfortunately, aside running a cable or maybe looking into powerline, which can still vary a bit depending on the quality of electrical wiring, distance between nodes, etc. there isn't much you can do.

 

Make sure you've got minimal interference from other devices, make sure you're on the 5GHz band if at all possible, and if you have to use the 2.4GHz band to get a good signal then I would check the channel congestion with a wifi analyzer app and change the channel to something that's not heavily utilized (ie: if channel 1 has 10 SSIDs on it and 11 has none then switch to 11)

[Rexem2017]

1 minute ago, Lurick said:

Unfortunately, aside running a cable or maybe looking into powerline, which can still vary a bit depending on the quality of electrical wiring, distance between nodes, etc. there isn't much you can do.

 

Make sure you've got minimal interference from other devices, make sure you're on the 5GHz band if at all possible, and if you have to use the 2.4GHz band to get a good signal then I would check the channel congestion with a wifi analyzer app and change the channel to something that's not heavily utilized (ie: if channel 1 has 10 SSIDs on it and 11 has none then switch to 11)

How do I check these things?

[Lurick]

4 minutes ago, Rexem2017 said:

Honestly I don't know my plan, but I do know the Xbox probably drains all of the bandwidth for me (since I use a PC, my brother uses an xbox), so can I reduce the bandwidth that devices use by any chance?

If they are all wireless then not really. To keep it simple wireless divides up who can talk into time slices and the more things the more slices it's divided up into and the more latency is introduced since a device can only transmit so much in a given slice of time, compound that with smaller slices and latency increases, bandwidth takes a hit, and you're left with a bad experience overall.

 

There are ways to combat this such as MU-MIMO and other technologies that can give multiple devices a full time slice which can help with the issue but the router and devices have to support it.

[Lurick]

1 minute ago, Rexem2017 said:

How do I check these things?

Download a wifi analyzer app on your phone, they are free so just get one that's got good ratings.

Go to your router's web page and look for wireless settings and it will probably say it under SSID or something. If you can post the model of the router you have then I can try to look it up and give you better instructions.

[Rexem2017]

1 minute ago, Lurick said:

Download a wifi analyzer app on your phone, they are free so just get one that's got good ratings.

Go to your router's web page and look for wireless settings and it will probably say it under SSID or something. If you can post the model of the router you have then I can try to look it up and give you better instructions.

And then how do I switch to a different band/ different channels?

[Lurick]

Just now, Rexem2017 said:

And then how do I switch to a different band/ different channels?

Select the dropdown and set it to whatever is open.

It should be on the same page as your wireless options on the router.

[Rexem2017]

2 minutes ago, Lurick said:

Select the dropdown and set it to whatever is open.

It should be on the same page as your wireless options on the router.

Ok thank you!