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Question

Why does my internet have high latency during high use?

Apr 3, 2017 6:24PM PDT

Hello everyone,

I am having some real wifi problems. I recently moved in to an apartment with a couple flat-mates, and from the start the internet was terrible. The router was located in the room next to me and the connection was so unstable that my computer would disconnect every minute or so. To solve this, the router was moved to the hallway. While this has increased my signal (now that the router is located outside my door), the other roommates are facing the same problem now as I was before. Additionally, whenever there are multiple people using the network the latency shoots up to over 1000 ms. When I am the only one home, the internet is totally fine.

Here are the details: we have a Hitron Technologies router (supposedly terrible) running with 10 megs per second. Rumor is the building has somewhat old wiring that should be replaced soon. When I run a traceroute, the first hop is fine, and the second hop immediately shoots up to 1,000 ms (in the first column). Every hop from then on hovers around 1,000 ms.

Is there a way to tell if this latency is caused by the router, wiring, or simply having too low wifi speed?

Discussion is locked

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Answer
It's pretty simple.
Apr 3, 2017 6:29PM PDT

A full highway can move slowly for each user (packet) but overall, it's moving a lot of traffic.

Nothing is really wrong here but if you want to prioritize your use (say for gaming) you look at a gaming router or router that can give your traffic priority.

http://www.linksys.com/us/p/P-WRT32X/

There is NO REASON to prioritize pint and traces. NEVER optimize that as what's really important is all other traffic.

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Obviously???
Apr 3, 2017 8:34PM PDT

Yes, thank you. But this doesn't really answer my question. Two people using the internet simultaneously should not cause 1000ms ping (and it never has for me in the past, living with my brother).

There absolutely is an issue here, and I am wondering if the traceroute provides any information on if the problem stems from the quality of the router, the speed of the internet, or the quality of the wiring in the building.

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traceroute instead of tracert?
Apr 3, 2017 8:38PM PDT

Are you using Linux instead of windows?

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Why yes it can AND should.
Apr 4, 2017 8:40AM PDT

I can't fit a years worth of class time into this small box but just like the onramp of a highway if the other user fills up the transmit lanes, then your packet will have to wait for those packets to go out first.

Traceroute and ping are pretty useless as coders I know who wrote router code do not optimize those packets since they are non-essential. That is, the other packets need priority for gaming.

I don't want to upset you but in this small space I have to summarize and keep it simple.

What would I do? Get a gaming router and disable WiFi.

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Answer
Do you think
Apr 3, 2017 7:05PM PDT

Just because you have an internet connection that you are entitled to speed ?
If everyone else in the neighborhood had internet too so you share the connection.

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Answer
router
Apr 3, 2017 8:09PM PDT

Have you yet compared the new speed through a LAN port on router to the wifi speed you achieve? Also consider a better wifi device than your roomies to give you more advantage, such as a dual antenna USB wifi device.