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Problems online gaming

shyneecie — Fri, 15 Aug 2025 13:43:24 GMT

Hi, I joined BT over 2 years ago as it was the best option for myself and my partner who are gamers. We each have a ps5 and other devices. We noticed at first even though the speeds are great, one of us would get kicked out of online sessions if we were in the same one together. The ping spikes are crazy high too. I called bt and spoke to a lovely gentlemen who did something to make sure our connections were so much better. Problem is now we had to get a replacement router and the settings are back to square one. I called bt the other day and the guy said he couldnt get the notes from the previous call as it was over 2 years ago so he would clear the channel and reset the network, however this has actually made things worse. The connections are terrible and the ping spikes are high again. He told me to come on here to get some answers as he said he could do no more over the phone. Has anyone else gone through this and if so what do we do to resolve this?

thank you so much 🙂

Re: Problems online gaming

licquorice — Fri, 15 Aug 2025 14:54:40 GMT

The only settings you can change on the BT hub are to change WiFi channels and you can do that yourself.

However, using WiFi for gaming rather than a wired connection is never going to be ideal.

Re: Problems online gaming

shyneecie — Fri, 15 Aug 2025 14:57:27 GMT

I totally hear you, however problem is im in a new build property and the hub has to be placed in a cupboard. thing is though whatever that bt guy did over the phone worked perfectly but i just dont know what it was. we've been told to move the hub but i cant as the ont box is in the cupboard and im not allowed to drill through the walls

Re: Problems online gaming

licquorice — Fri, 15 Aug 2025 14:59:07 GMT

As stated, the ONLY thing the guy could do would be to change WiFi channels.

Go to advanced wireless in the hub manager and experiment with different channels.

Re: Problems online gaming

shyneecie — Fri, 15 Aug 2025 15:01:25 GMT

we've done all that its still not working properly so thats why i called and the guy on the phone told me to come on here

Re: Problems online gaming

licquorice — Fri, 15 Aug 2025 15:16:03 GMT

There are no other settings you can change.

You could try depowering the ONT for half an hour or so to give the hub a different IP address when it reconnects. This might give a different routing to your game server.

Re: Problems online gaming

Kimberlin — Fri, 15 Aug 2025 15:35:24 GMT

Hi, obviously I can’t see your setup so it’s a little hard to envisage. You say your router is in a cupboard with the ONT? I assume therefore that the power supply for both is in that cupboard and that the Cat5/6 lead from the ONT is plugged directly into the router instead of a wall socket?

Would it be possible to move the router by drilling through the top or bottom of the cupboard frame and running the router power lead and an extension Cat5/6 lead through trunking to a location outside the cupboard itself?

Fully appreciating that the ISP has limited options for the adjustment of settings, finances permitting, a third party router that you can adjust settings might be more suitable? I can for instance prioritise certain devices over others on my network with my own setup.

How many other devices do you currently have connected to your router on a routine basis?

Re: Problems online gaming

shyneecie — Fri, 15 Aug 2025 16:44:02 GMT

Yeah thats exactly how its set up. I am unable to drill any holes or move the router at all ive spoken with my landlord about this and its a definite no.

We've split all the devices so the consoles are running on 5ghz and everything else such as tablets, phones and the sky q box are all on 2.4.

i was downloading a movie last night and my game lost connection completely. All this seems to be happening ever since we got our router replaced

Re: Problems online gaming

Kimberlin — Fri, 15 Aug 2025 17:40:26 GMT

@shyneecie

Yes, somewhat inconvenient for you that it's the landlords rules and you're stuck with the location situation.

I tend to harp on a bit about 3rd party routers, I'm no fan at all of ISP routers purely because of the lack of flexibility to change settings. The plus of a WiFi 6 (802.11ax) router, is that depending on the router brand, it may well support OFDMA and QoS (you can search for the book definitions) both of which might significantly improve your connection issues. You can also change DNS server settings within the router itself, MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit) settings. You can even change the channel width settings for 2.4ghz to between 20 and 40mhz. I know it probably comes across as a bit gobbledegook, but that's half the fun of exploring the equipment for me.

You might I be able to improve the problems using a WiFi extender, but it's no guarantee.

Have you tried a hard reset of the router? That would probably clear the cache but any improvement may be shortlived.

I wish you luck, it's clearly a frustrating experience for you.

Re: Problems online gaming

imjolly — Fri, 15 Aug 2025 18:21:07 GMT

As you have SKYQ it uses channel 36 so you need to change the hub 5ghz channel to something else like 44 or 48

Re: Problems online gaming

gg30340 — Sat, 16 Aug 2025 18:33:10 GMT

While I appreciate that you are not able to drill holes in the property so running "normal" Ethernet cable through the wall is ruled out but you can get flat Ethernet cable which you can run under the cupboard door and along the skirting either under the carpet or stuck to the skirting board with double sided tape which would not damage anything and is easily removed if required.

If you can run this you could run it to either a wireless access point near to where you use your devices which would allow a wifi connection or to an Ethernet switch where could could connect your devices by Ethernet if they have Ethernet ports.

Alternatively you could run the "flat" Ethernet cable from the ONT socket which the BT hub is presently plugged into in the same way as above and move the BT hub to where you want it use it.

Unless the landlord is in the same property and can see what you have done , how would he know you have moved it and in the event he found out you just put things back to how they are and remove the double sided tape.