Recent online gaming ping spikes when streaming Netflix

[nemodog69]

my speeds and connection was horrendous last night even without netflix on, fifa on xbox was un- playable. Phoned BT got the usual checks, actually told her engineers been out 6 times and witnessed the problems. Asked her if any of the staff read this forum as its not just me with the problems. she was going to leave notes on the system. Doubt anything will be done. Asked her how long left on my contract. because would leave if i could. 11 months left so looks like i`m stuck with it.

[dubstepzombie]

@nemodog69  if you've had 6 engineers out and they can't fix it then you need to argue with BT to leave without exit fees - assuming you want to leave / swap ISPs.

State-

1. They can't fix your interent or even know what the problem is, it's going to cost them more money and wasted time sending more engineers out / what's the point ?

2. They're in breach of their own terms and conditions if they don't let you leave without exit fees, seeing as your connection is not fit for purpose / useless.

You could argue  17 (f) You won't have to pay the charges in clauses 17a to 17e if you: " end the service under clause 14b as a result of changes that significantly disadvantage you;" and 10 (c) states "(c) Sometimes there might be faults with the service. We'll fix any faults as soon as we can. Clause 18 sets out what you can do if there’s a problem." - well they can't fix the fault and don't know what it is, they are providing you with useless broadband.

3. They are advertising your connection is (word for word) "Perfect for streaming, gaming, watching and downloading in HD on multiple devices" and for you this is definitely not the case. I complained to OfCom about this and they pointed me to the 'advertising standards authority', inform BT you will be starting a complaint wth the 'advertising standards authority'. This is assuming you're on "SUPERFAST FIBRE 2" or above.

4. If 1 to 3  don't get you what you want  then insist they send you a deadlock letter that you have a fault they can't fix, then take the case up with Ofcom, quote from Ofcom "If, after considering your complaint, or after 8 weeks, your provider doesn't resolve the problem, ask them for a deadlock letter. This enables you to take yourcomplaint to an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) scheme."

[IanCannon]

Has anyone found a solution that doesn't involve changing ISP? 

Unfortunately, there aren't many options that don't involve downgrading my internet due to where I live.

That said, I think going back to a 1mb connection would be an upgrade compared to the internet like this:

I don't mind buying a replacement router with QoS settings or something, but I've seen posts from people saying that these didn't help.

[Tmillo]

It helped somewhat for me, but only because I manually restrict my BT TV to way below recommended streaming. It even means that sometimes lags on Netflix but most of the time I can actually game at a suitable speed.

Its shocking that the "amazing" home hub doesn't allow QOS, and that the "amazing" BT internet, "perfect for gamers" lags at the first sign of streaming on super fast devices. However if you're stuck in a contract then at least you can keep the hobby

[dubstepzombie]

@IanCannon  I'd definitely check your router / hub stats first, make sure the error counts aren't increasing, connection drops etc, plus also if you're connecting via Wifi make sure that isn't the source of the ping spikes i.e. poor signal / interference / someone using the same channel etc.

If you're sure the problem isn't your kit and you only see ping spikes when something else on your connection is active like netflix, twitch, music streaming etc then I'd say you're seeing the same problem that this thread is about.

Swapping ISP shouldn't mean downgrading your internet, your connection to the exchange via the road side cabinet or direct using ADSL will remain the same, changing ISP means your changing the part beyond your exchange, which has to be where this problem is if your connection to the exchange is solid.

My connection has been fixed but BT didn't say what they fixed they just closed my case via email with no explanation. I did see the route via the BT network change just before my ping became more stable. So I'm of the opinion that BT made changes to their core network which was just overloaded with traffic.

Annoyingly in a way I have to say my connection is good at the moment, I've tried to break it even to the point of trying to stream a game via twitch to see if that created any ping problems in the game I was trying to stream. I've tried streaming 4 twitch channels to see if that caused problems, it did to a point but I was still able to game with the odd minimal stutter, twitch seems to induce bursts of ping spikes of about 50ms, so are noticable when gaming but not a show stopper.

When my contract is finished or shortly before I'm ready to switch ISP, I've had enough of BT, hopefully a better ISP exists...

[bardeh]

IanCannon I see you're struggling with playing Path of Exile too on this cruddy BT connection. At least I don't play HC...

[dubstepzombie]

Actually I'm going to correct myself, I was seeing 50ms ping spikes when streaming one twitch channel, now I'm seeing no ping spikes. No idea if it's because it's off peak but at the moment I'm going to say the unthinkable and use two words in the same sentence that I could never imagine could be the case, I speak as I find and that is my 'BT' connection is 'good'.

I'll check again later - kind of in shock at the moment.

I was live chatting to another ISP earlier and I won't name them but they stated that BT slow down their network in busy areas, I stated that BT don't traffic shape but the agent said that they do. Of course this person was trying to sell their ISP so it's likely they would say anything but it was interesting what was said.

Pity BT shroud their networking status in secrecy where as other ISPs are open.

[IanCannon]

@dubstepzombie I'm not connecting via wifi, but the TV is.  It seems to literally only be the TV too (Amazon Prime/Netflix/NowTV), as I constantly watch youtube while gaming and it doesn't cause a slowdown. Also if I turn off Wifi the issue is instantly fixed, although then the TV doesn't work.  I doubt running a cat6 to the TV would help, as the issue seems to be what is being used, not how its connecting.

I also noticed a few days ago when I turning on my twitch stream to show a friend something (I'm not a streamer but I have it set up to show friends things), that my connection instantly shat itself.  I don't even have the throughput turned up high, it's not like I'm trying to stream at 1080p at 60fps.

Unfortunately changing ISP isn't that simple here, as there basically are no other options that come close to offering the speed BT does, and while I value stability and ping more than anything for gaming, without the household we do a lot of uploading and downloading for work and it taking significantly longer to upload content isn't something we'd do willingly.  We live quite rurally and there aren't many options.

Glad your problem has been resolved.  Did you contact BT directly about this problem?  My expectations for customer service is the usual runaround of them blaming your hardware and denying any problem exists while parroting a script and causing more frustration while solving nothing.

[nemodog69]

my connection seemed fine last night. engineer going to check my activity from monday. i have his mobile no because he even wants to get to the bottom of this problem. i`m waiting for the days of 5g mobile dongles on the house so we can lose the line rental and slow bt speeds. shame i didnt have virgin in my area i`d swap over quicker than a lag spike.

[dubstepzombie]

@IanCannon  I'm fully wired and I've never been a fan of Wifi, personally for trouble shooting I would try a cable to your TV box and turning off Wifi just to rule out any Wifi trouble.

Yes I contacted BT about 10 times including live chats and every time I told them I want to leave and leave without any fees because their connection wasn't fit for purpose.

When I wasn't getting anywhere which was the last call where they said you've got good speed and basically we don't care about your ping problems, we aren't letting you leave without fees I just started to contact Ofcom, local trading standards and advertising standard agency, I would have gone further and started to contact various gaming websites, I wasn't prepared to say ok it's fine that you're providing me with a junk connection. Every call I told the agent their connection was useless to me, overall I know I've changed nothing at my end and the connection is now very good.

Note that though it's openreach that provide the connection to your house, not BT, like other ISPs BT will just contact openreach to solve connection problems. Although if you've tried other ISPs and get less speed then perhaps swapping ISPs won't work, I would though check out Zen and Sky, both have a good reputation for gamers. 

In fact if you just look at the Sky forums, most of the posts are just from users that have no clue how to setup their routers and Wifi.