Weird ping times on wireless network

Hi all,
Ok..so the problem is this - I have a fairly fast PC running Windows XP Home
in a house with several other people, all connected to a wireless network
(Actiontec) which then goes through a 1Mb cable modem.

For the most part the system has run fine..I upgraded the firmware on the
router a while ago and everything continued to seem fine. Then my ping times
started shooting up for no reason whilst gaming. When I say shooting up I
mean 30 up to 700+ then back down to 100, back up to 999 back down to 40ish
and so on.

I've run Ping PLotter and the problem seems to be from the wireless router
onward. My connection to the router is an average of about 3-10. The next
step..which i assume is the cable modem..can go well above 1200 on occasion
and hovers round the 5-800 mark. Then it will be fine for a few days. If i
reset the router the pings drop down to normal...then climb again about 20
minutes later. I've checked to see if anyone else is accessing it at the time
and its rare for someone to be on there when i am, so its unlikely to be
anyone else leaching the bandwidth.
I've even tried running Ad-Aware, Spybot etc etc to see if there were any
malicious programs that could be a cause. Nothing. At all.

So...I'm now stuck with a connesction that is sporadically slow and getting
worse and I have no idea why.

Any clues anyone????

kuju wrote:
> Hi all,
> Ok..so the problem is this - I have a fairly fast PC running Windows
> XP Home in a house with several other people, all connected to a
> wireless network (Actiontec) which then goes through a 1Mb cable
> modem.
>
> For the most part the system has run fine..I upgraded the firmware on
> the router a while ago and everything continued to seem fine. Then my
> ping times started shooting up for no reason whilst gaming. When I
> say shooting up I mean 30 up to 700+ then back down to 100, back up
> to 999 back down to 40ish and so on.
>
> I've run Ping PLotter and the problem seems to be from the wireless
> router onward. My connection to the router is an average of about
> 3-10. The next step..which i assume is the cable modem..can go well
> above 1200 on occasion and hovers round the 5-800 mark. Then it will
> be fine for a few days. If i reset the router the pings drop down to
> normal...then climb again about 20 minutes later. I've checked to see
> if anyone else is accessing it at the time and its rare for someone
> to be on there when i am, so its unlikely to be anyone else leaching
> the bandwidth.
> I've even tried running Ad-Aware, Spybot etc etc to see if there were
> any malicious programs that could be a cause. Nothing. At all.
>
> So...I'm now stuck with a connesction that is sporadically slow and
> getting worse and I have no idea why.
>
> Any clues anyone????

Your 1Mb connection is shared. If someone else in the house is, for
example, uploading P2P, that upload will throttle the download
available. Or if someone is both uploading and downloading, there might
not be anything left for you.

Q

Thank you Quaoar, however I have checked whether other people were online at
the same time. I can access the web activity log for the router and, for
instance, lastnight when I submitted my problem here I was the only user
online in our house. There's only 4 of us with computers and the other three
were all away yesterday anyway. I chhecked simply to see if a nextdoor
naighbour was accessing our network but that wasnt the case.
As a side note - the ping times seem fine today....but probably wont be later.

"Quaoar" wrote:

> kuju wrote:
> > Hi all,
> > Ok..so the problem is this - I have a fairly fast PC running Windows
> > XP Home in a house with several other people, all connected to a
> > wireless network (Actiontec) which then goes through a 1Mb cable
> > modem.
> >
> > For the most part the system has run fine..I upgraded the firmware on
> > the router a while ago and everything continued to seem fine. Then my
> > ping times started shooting up for no reason whilst gaming. When I
> > say shooting up I mean 30 up to 700+ then back down to 100, back up
> > to 999 back down to 40ish and so on.
> >
> > I've run Ping PLotter and the problem seems to be from the wireless
> > router onward. My connection to the router is an average of about
> > 3-10. The next step..which i assume is the cable modem..can go well
> > above 1200 on occasion and hovers round the 5-800 mark. Then it will
> > be fine for a few days. If i reset the router the pings drop down to
> > normal...then climb again about 20 minutes later. I've checked to see
> > if anyone else is accessing it at the time and its rare for someone
> > to be on there when i am, so its unlikely to be anyone else leaching
> > the bandwidth.
> > I've even tried running Ad-Aware, Spybot etc etc to see if there were
> > any malicious programs that could be a cause. Nothing. At all.
> >
> > So...I'm now stuck with a connesction that is sporadically slow and
> > getting worse and I have no idea why.
> >
> > Any clues anyone????
>
> Your 1Mb connection is shared. If someone else in the house is, for
> example, uploading P2P, that upload will throttle the download
> available. Or if someone is both uploading and downloading, there might
> not be anything left for you.
>
> Q
>
>
>

Hi,

I am experiencing the same behaviour and don't know what to do. Only
restarting the router helps to bring the ping back to normal. Together with
high ping times I get lots of my packets lost. It can be up to 25 % lost
packets, which makes the surfing unbelievably slow and almost every web page
is corrupted (some images don't load or look weird).

Let me know what you have tried to solve this problem.

Thanks,

Petr


"kuju" <(E-Mail Removed)> pí¹e v diskusním pøíspìvku
news:73B92AE2-1407-452C-95BE-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi all,
> Ok..so the problem is this - I have a fairly fast PC running Windows XP
> Home
> in a house with several other people, all connected to a wireless network
> (Actiontec) which then goes through a 1Mb cable modem.
>
> For the most part the system has run fine..I upgraded the firmware on the
> router a while ago and everything continued to seem fine. Then my ping
> times
> started shooting up for no reason whilst gaming. When I say shooting up I
> mean 30 up to 700+ then back down to 100, back up to 999 back down to
> 40ish
> and so on.
>
> I've run Ping PLotter and the problem seems to be from the wireless router
> onward. My connection to the router is an average of about 3-10. The next
> step..which i assume is the cable modem..can go well above 1200 on
> occasion
> and hovers round the 5-800 mark. Then it will be fine for a few days. If i
> reset the router the pings drop down to normal...then climb again about 20
> minutes later. I've checked to see if anyone else is accessing it at the
> time
> and its rare for someone to be on there when i am, so its unlikely to be
> anyone else leaching the bandwidth.
> I've even tried running Ad-Aware, Spybot etc etc to see if there were any
> malicious programs that could be a cause. Nothing. At all.
>
> So...I'm now stuck with a connesction that is sporadically slow and
> getting
> worse and I have no idea why.
>
> Any clues anyone????

Any devices that operates in the 2.4ghz frequency band will consume your
wireless bandwidth. You may have neighbors that are using 2.4ghz radios,
cordless phones, or even another wireless network. Additionally, some
microwave ovens emit radio interference on this frequency band. I've seen
people lose their entire wireless network when making popcorn. No kidding!

Also, check and see if there is a updates for your access point and wireless
adapter. There have been quite a case where performance improved with
updated drivers.

--
Jerry Peterson
Windows Network Services - Wireless

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
"kuju" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:148BEC54-210B-4E30-BB02-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Thank you Quaoar, however I have checked whether other people were online
> at
> the same time. I can access the web activity log for the router and, for
> instance, lastnight when I submitted my problem here I was the only user
> online in our house. There's only 4 of us with computers and the other
> three
> were all away yesterday anyway. I chhecked simply to see if a nextdoor
> naighbour was accessing our network but that wasnt the case.
> As a side note - the ping times seem fine today....but probably wont be
> later.
>
> "Quaoar" wrote:
>
>> kuju wrote:
>> > Hi all,
>> > Ok..so the problem is this - I have a fairly fast PC running Windows
>> > XP Home in a house with several other people, all connected to a
>> > wireless network (Actiontec) which then goes through a 1Mb cable
>> > modem.
>> >
>> > For the most part the system has run fine..I upgraded the firmware on
>> > the router a while ago and everything continued to seem fine. Then my
>> > ping times started shooting up for no reason whilst gaming. When I
>> > say shooting up I mean 30 up to 700+ then back down to 100, back up
>> > to 999 back down to 40ish and so on.
>> >
>> > I've run Ping PLotter and the problem seems to be from the wireless
>> > router onward. My connection to the router is an average of about
>> > 3-10. The next step..which i assume is the cable modem..can go well
>> > above 1200 on occasion and hovers round the 5-800 mark. Then it will
>> > be fine for a few days. If i reset the router the pings drop down to
>> > normal...then climb again about 20 minutes later. I've checked to see
>> > if anyone else is accessing it at the time and its rare for someone
>> > to be on there when i am, so its unlikely to be anyone else leaching
>> > the bandwidth.
>> > I've even tried running Ad-Aware, Spybot etc etc to see if there were
>> > any malicious programs that could be a cause. Nothing. At all.
>> >
>> > So...I'm now stuck with a connesction that is sporadically slow and
>> > getting worse and I have no idea why.
>> >
>> > Any clues anyone????
>>
>> Your 1Mb connection is shared. If someone else in the house is, for
>> example, uploading P2P, that upload will throttle the download
>> available. Or if someone is both uploading and downloading, there might
>> not be anything left for you.
>>
>> Q
>>
>>
>>

Hi Petr

So far I've tried:
- Resetting the router (works for a while but not always)
- Checking for others using the network at the same time by accessing the
web activity log of the router. (Put the IP address of the router into IE and
you may be able to access various utilities on the router itself)
- Running a range of anti virus and anti spyware/malware programs
- Repairing the connection from my end using XPs built in repair function
- Tearing my hair out and shouting at the router before breaking down in
tears and begging it to work properly.

All to no avail. I think Jerry's idea may be a possibility though as we've
not long had a cordless phone installed. Im not sure if its actually plugged
in but i've seen one in a room downstairs so maybe thats it. Otherwise I
havent a clue. It does seem to be better in the early mornings though.



"Petr Tomasek" wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I am experiencing the same behaviour and don't know what to do. Only
> restarting the router helps to bring the ping back to normal. Together with
> high ping times I get lots of my packets lost. It can be up to 25 % lost
> packets, which makes the surfing unbelievably slow and almost every web page
> is corrupted (some images don't load or look weird).
>
> Let me know what you have tried to solve this problem.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Petr
>
>
> "kuju" <(E-Mail Removed)> pÃ*¹e v diskusnÃ*m pøÃ*spìvku
> news:73B92AE2-1407-452C-95BE-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > Hi all,
> > Ok..so the problem is this - I have a fairly fast PC running Windows XP
> > Home
> > in a house with several other people, all connected to a wireless network
> > (Actiontec) which then goes through a 1Mb cable modem.
> >
> > For the most part the system has run fine..I upgraded the firmware on the
> > router a while ago and everything continued to seem fine. Then my ping
> > times
> > started shooting up for no reason whilst gaming. When I say shooting up I
> > mean 30 up to 700+ then back down to 100, back up to 999 back down to
> > 40ish
> > and so on.
> >
> > I've run Ping PLotter and the problem seems to be from the wireless router
> > onward. My connection to the router is an average of about 3-10. The next
> > step..which i assume is the cable modem..can go well above 1200 on
> > occasion
> > and hovers round the 5-800 mark. Then it will be fine for a few days. If i
> > reset the router the pings drop down to normal...then climb again about 20
> > minutes later. I've checked to see if anyone else is accessing it at the
> > time
> > and its rare for someone to be on there when i am, so its unlikely to be
> > anyone else leaching the bandwidth.
> > I've even tried running Ad-Aware, Spybot etc etc to see if there were any
> > malicious programs that could be a cause. Nothing. At all.
> >
> > So...I'm now stuck with a connesction that is sporadically slow and
> > getting
> > worse and I have no idea why.
> >
> > Any clues anyone????
>
>
>