This topic

Ping spikes

Davosi — Sun, 18 Feb 2024 18:05:56 GMT

Hi,

I have the bt smart hub 2. Since December whenever I connect any devices to the WiFi, phones, tv, laptop… they cause my pc and PlayStation to be unstable online. Consistent ping spikes making online gaming unusable. We’ve had bt internet for 3 years and never had any issues until December. It’s a small flat and there’s only two of us. I’ve had three new routers, changed just about every setting possible.

to me it seems like the WiFi devices are hogging all the bandwidth, but this has never been an issue before. Any help with fixing this would be appreciated.

we have 70mb connection fttc

Re: Ping spikes

countrypaul — Sun, 18 Feb 2024 19:24:54 GMT

Our eldest teenager was complaining earlier this evening about terrible ping times (around 200ms) when playing online, we to have FTTC around 70Mb/s We traced it to my wife's PC having been rebooted and M$ Onedrive trying to update everything. As soon as it was paused the ping times for gaming returned to normal (around 10ms).

All our PCs are hard wired via Gb ethernet rather than WiFi so a slightly different setup but could you have something similar taking place over your WiFi?

Have you tried a reset on your SH2 (rather than just a reboot)?

Re: Ping spikes

Davosi — Sun, 18 Feb 2024 19:40:05 GMT

Hi.

Thanks for the reply.

The thing is, every smart device connected individually causes these spikes. If I turn off the WiFi and just use my pc or PlayStation online there are no issues and the ping is very stable. It’s not a combination of all these devices being used at the same time either.

I’ve even checked the speed of the internet whilst I’m having the problem and it’s not less than I would expect. So I can’t see how these devices are causing ping spikes if the download speed is fine and not being maxed out.

I haven't reset the router because I got 3 new ones which havnt helped unfortunately.

Re: Ping spikes

countrypaul — Sun, 18 Feb 2024 20:31:32 GMT

Have you got a WiFi Analyzer? I installed one on my laptop when chasing a problem and found it very helpful.

If there is interference on your WiFi it may help track down what is causing it. Obviously interference is only one possibility but could result in retransmissions or just eat up CPU cycles on the SH2.

Does the problem show up on both 2.4 & 5GHz ? If you disable each in turn and see whether it happens (I am assuming you have some 5GHz devices) it may give a clue as to what is happening.

Unless someone else has seen the same or similar it may be a case of trying systematically to track the problem down.

Do you have DV, if not can you try a different hub (not an SH2 but a different make) just to see if it is specific to the SH2 or your environment? If you can't borrow a different hub (I assume you don't have n old one lying about) can you try an access point with WiFi on your hub disabled (you may want to set the SSID & Pwd on the AP to the same as your SH2 to avoid updating everything else.

Re: Ping spikes

Davosi — Sun, 18 Feb 2024 20:50:36 GMT

I don’t have one of those, also forgot to mention that the pc and PlayStation are both plugged in with an Ethernet cable.

yea I tried the 2.4 and 5 ghz Chanel’s on and off and it’s didn’t help.

I think my next move is a new router, which is very annoying.

Re: Ping spikes

countrypaul — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 00:10:12 GMT

Since you have tried 4 routers already I would be suspicious of it simply being the router. Given how many SH2 routers are out there I would have expected to have heard lots of identical problems being reported if that was the case.

If you do go for a different router make sure you can return it if not happy. If the problem appears on a completely different router as well as the SH2 you will have to check out the WiFi in more detail.

Just to be clear:

1) With all WiFi disabled on the SH2 no problems with ping times.

2) If 2.4 GHz is turned off on the SH2 but 5GHz is turned on, the ping problem appears is that without clients connected or only with?

3) If 5 GHz is turned off on the SH2 but 2.4GHz is turned on, the ping problem appears is that without clients connected or only with?

Re: Ping spikes

Davosi — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 10:32:20 GMT

Hi,

Yea that’s right, with no devices connected the ping stay completely stable at 5-9ms

Ive tried with 2.4 and 5 ghz on and off but it has no effect.

It seems to be any sort of video streaming that causes the main issue. Instagram reels, Netflix or similar, if they are on the connection the ping is very unstable. Again this is even if only one device is connected. Last night my partner was using bbc iPlayer, nothing else and the ping was spiking. As soon as she paused it, it stopped. I’ve also done a speed test while Netflix or bbc is running to see if the download is effected but I’m still getting a good download speed.

Re: Ping spikes

countrypaul — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 11:01:50 GMT

What is your upload speed like? I ask as if your upload speed is low then it could be that outgoing packets are delayed which would show up as an increased ping time but make little difference to downloads. For reference our upload shows as 17.5 Mb/s.

Does the problem show up if you have something simple like a single WiFi smart switch connected rather than something that continually communicates?

What version of firmware is your router using?

Re: Ping spikes

Davosi — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 11:18:48 GMT

The upload speed sits around 17-19mb. Even when streaming video content.

Sorry I’m not sure what a WiFi smart switch is. I’m Just using the router.

the firmware is v0.41.01.10137

ive just downloaded pingplotter and whenever i press play Netflix, pingplotter goes crazy. It starts from the first jump after my router address and then goes like a wave to the other servers.

Re: Ping spikes

countrypaul — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 12:00:50 GMT

Looks like its a "new feature" in the SH2 & you're no the first to find it:

Firmware Update v41 causing gaming issues - BT Community

Sorry I should have checked for that earlier.

Re: Ping spikes

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 13:14:50 GMT

@Davosi

WiFi Analysers are also available as apps on mobile phones.

There are quite a few available in the app stores, they are mostly very similar to each other - often it is just the way the information is shown on the phone's screen differs between apps.

I use "WiFi Analyzer" on Android.

Re: Ping spikes

Davosi — Wed, 21 Feb 2024 08:28:06 GMT

Hi Paul,

I’m not sure it’s just a WiFi issue, any sort of streaming causes the problem. Mostly videos but my partner was just scrolling a clothing shop with pictures and that was causing spikes as well. Really not doing anything internet heavy. Totally at a loss. I’m now trying to switch over to EE to try their new router as it has more controls on it apparently. I will still get a WiFi analyser just in case it helps

Re: Ping spikes

Anonymous — Wed, 21 Feb 2024 08:47:40 GMT

@Davosi

It might be better to install a WiFi Analyzer app on a phone or tablet before changing ISPs or getting a new router etc.

You could be suffering from WiFi interference from your neighbours if they are close by. If that is the case, then changing ISPs or router is unlikely to resolve the issue.

Also, bear in mind that your problem could have more than one cause, and therefore require more than one solution to completely resolve it.

Re: Ping spikes

Davosi — Wed, 21 Feb 2024 08:53:38 GMT

Okay? Do you have a recommended one?

Re: Ping spikes

Anonymous — Wed, 21 Feb 2024 09:01:02 GMT

As per my Message #11, I use "WiFi Analyzer" on Android.

Re: Ping spikes

countrypaul — Wed, 21 Feb 2024 09:20:13 GMT

I also use "WiFi Analyzer" but on Windows.

Re: Ping spikes

Davosi — Wed, 21 Feb 2024 09:38:30 GMT

The issue I’m having still occurs even with my pc being hardwired into the router. I run my ping test and have Netflix going and the ping spike up to roughly 40- 200ms. So it can’t just be a WiFi issue. Something else must be going on. And I know streaming services require a lot of bandwidth, but this was never an issue before. Even playing a 6 second video on Instagram reels causes the issue, or general web page browsing.

Re: Ping spikes

countrypaul — Wed, 21 Feb 2024 09:41:11 GMT

What connection method was your wife using WiFi or ethernet when browsing the shop?

I was under the impression that the EE router is the same as the one BT were going to supply basically a revised version of the SH2 so may have the same issues. I agree with @Anonymous try the WiFi Analyzer first and see if there is anything interfering before swapping ISP.

I know with ethernet a faulty ethernet card could saturate the ethernet with corrupt frames causing everything to slow or stop (less likely with TP ethernet though) so a shared medium like WiFi could perhaps suffer the same. The fact other users have reported almost identical issues with the SH2 on that version of firmware makes it highly likely to me that it is a bug/feature of the firmware. If the problem only appears when WiFi is active, then 2 obvious options are:

1) Use a different hub/router (as per message #4) - not easy if you use DV

2) Set up a WiFi Access point or Mesh and disable WiFi on the SH2 until the firmware is fixed