Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[mstrchen]

Hello,

Just a day ago I bought this DGL-5500 router to replace my old cisco. It works pretty well and the signal strength is superb. However I do realize I got some random ping spikes while gaming (CSGO to be precise). The ping 'd go up from 50ms to about 400ms and comes back down to 50ms in just 1-2 seconds. It does not happen very often (once or twice in 10 mins) but it's enough to kill the gaming experience.

At first I thought it might be my ISP/modem problem. To test that I've disconnected the Ethernet cable from modem to router, leaving the router powered up by itself without having internet access. Then I connect three pcs to the router and ran a offline game. Sadly the ping spikes persist and thus it does seem like it has something to do with my router. I've tested the offline game twice with both wire and wireless connections, and the spikes happen in both scenario.

To solve this I've tried to update the firmware to both 1.11 and 1.12 beta but nothing works. I've also disabled the DNS relay and tweak wireless channel settings (though not really relevant here)... etc but no luck. At one point I thought it probably has something to do with steam and CS Go but my friend plays LOL and he suffers from the same ping spikes. I am running out of options here hence the ask.

Any input'd be greatly appreciated!

[FurryNutz]

Link>Welcome!

• What region are you located?
• Are you wired or wireless connected to the router?
• Has a Factory Reset been performed?
• Was a Factory Reset performed before and after any firmware updates then set up from scratch?

FW Update Process

• Was the router working before any firmware updates?

Internet Service Provider and Modem Configurations

• What ISP Service do you have? Cable or DSL?
• What ISP Modem Mfr. and model # do you have?
• Is ISP Modem/Service using Dynamic or Static WAN IP addressing?
• What ISP Modem service link speeds UP and Down do you have?
• Check cable between Modem and Router, swap out to be sure. Link> Cat6 is recommended.
• Check ISP MTU requirements, Cable is usually 1500, DSL is around 1492 down to 1472. Call the ISP and ask. Link>Checking MTU Values
• For DSL/PPPoE connections on the router, ensure that "Always ON" option is enabled.

Router and Wired Configurations
Some things to try: - Log into the routers web page at 192.168.0.1. Use IE, Opera or FF to manage the router. Besure to log into the Admin account on the router.

• Turn off ALL QoS or Disable Traffic Shaping (DIR only) GameFuel (DGL only and if ON.) options, Advanced/QoS or Gamefuel. For the DGL-5500, review this for Streamboost information and settings: Furry's DGL-5500 Review

[mstrchen]

To answer your questions:
-I am in Ottawa.
-Usually Wireless but for testing purpose I did both
-yes, did one before FW update and another after Fw update as instructed.
-yes
-Ping spikes persist regardless what FW I have (the original one is 1.01).

-I have DSL service (planning on getting cable)
-Thompson Speedtouch st516 v6
-Dynamic Wan
-15 Down and 1 Up
-Tried 3 different one. They are all Cat6 (edit: sorry I lied. One of them is Cat6, the other 2 are Cat5E)
-I hostly don't know this one.
-yes, always on is enabled.
-I've turned the SB on and off and there's no difference.

I understand my internet maybe a bit slow and I'm planning to upgrade it in the future. But in the meantime I want to make sure my router is okay. As I mentioned, the ping spikes happen when there's no internet involved (playing offline game in lan). The cable between router and modem was removed for the testing purpose. And I've tried both wire/ wireless connections when playing in lan but still experiencing ping spikes.
 
Thank you for the quick reply

[junkie-xl]

I get this when I made change to the router sometimes, I have to hard reset and reconfigure from scratch.   DO NOT use the initial configuration assistant, do it all manually, I find it's the cause of these issues.

FYI, I run 2 pings, one to my ISP gateway and another to my router to keep track of this issue.   YOu should never go from <1ms to 400+ ms for 2-3 replies in a row from something in the same room. heh

[mstrchen]

Yes I've ran the 2 ping test before.
The isp gateway does have slight ping fluctuation but not big spikes. The worst I have seen is the ping went from -1 to 1000 for one reply and then back down right away.

This led me to think maybe it has something to do with my router config...
How do you choose which channel for your wireless to broadcast?

I've set 2.4ghz for wireless n only on channel 11. Enable HT20/40 coexistence.
5ghz I set it for ac only on channel 161 (I tried to set it on 165 but it does not work for some reason. When I do that it switch back to 40 on it's own)

Anything I should do to improve my wifi?

[FurryNutz]

Disable HT20/40 coexistence if your running single mode N.

What is the distances between the router and devices?

• Channel Width set for Auto 20/40Mhz.
• Try setting a manual Channel to a open or unused channel. 1, 6 or 11. 11 for single mode N if the channel is clear. 13 for EU regions.
• What security mode are you using? Preferred security is WPA-Personal. WPA2/AES Only. Some WiFi adapters don't support AES, so you might want to try TPIK only or Auto TPIK and AES.
• What wireless devices do you have connected?
• Any 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz cordless house phones or WiFi APs near by?
• Any other WiFi routers in the area? Link> Use InSSIDer to find out. How many?

This will let you know what channels to use...find a channel thats not being used, 1, 6 or 11 is preferred on 2.4Ghz. 5Ghz try 36, 49 or 149.

[mstrchen]

Thanks for your help, and my internet gets much better now. I've done another pin test with laptop directly connected to router and found no spike. Hence I am sure the ping spike has something to do wireless.

I've used InSSIDer to find out the best channels for both frequencies. At 5ghz every channel is usable and my pc seems like the only one using 5ghz wireless. I've tested 36 and 149 (I don't have 49 tho) and only 149 is usable because 36 is out of range for me. My pc is on the third floor and the router is on the first, and I have wood floor.

As for security mode I am using WPA2/AES only for both 5ghz and 2.4ghz. I have no cordless phone in the house and InSSIDer shows that there are few other routers nearby my house but they are all in channel 70-80 so there's no overlappong.

Though the ping spike seems much smoother now but it still exists. I feel like changing channels might be the cure here. Is there any rule when selecting channel?

[FurryNutz]

What is the distances between the router and devices?

Having the router on the 1st floor and your wireless up on the 3rd floor is not a good configuration. Any chance you can get the router on the 2nd floor or closer?
5Ghz is effected by building materials and such due such a high frequency. It's best in line of sight or maybe one wooden all away.

I presume this maybe one reason why some of your pings are going crazy...

[mstrchen]

yeah... I now think the distance might be the issue here.

Is it possible to do this tho? I have two routers right now, the old cisco E4200 and the new d-link5500. If I just make E4200 in bridge mode and connect these two routers via cable and place d-link 5500 on the second floor, would it work?

Because my modem has to be on the first floor...

[FurryNutz]

Yes you could use the e4200 in bridge mode if it support it.

I would move the 5500 to the 2nd floor and retest with out the bridge first.

If you can get the 5500 closer then you might be good with out the bridge.

[mstrchen]

Ok I'll test it today and report back later. Thanks for your help!

[FurryNutz]

 

[mstrchen]

Alright, so after hours of test (i've moved the router to my room for the test), I still have very slight ping issue. It doesn't happen as often but sadly it's still there. I think my best bet would be buying a 50ft long quality cat6 and connect my pc to the router.

[FurryNutz]

Do you have any other WiFi devices that you can test this ping with?

Ya, LAN cable is the best. Deep Surplus or MonoPrice are good places to get CAT6 from.

[mstrchen]

Yeah I have several pcs and laptops in my house for me to test. My laptop seems doing pretty well with pings. Only had a spike once in a hour. However that's not the case for my gaming pc, getting ping spike every 10 - 15 mins.

I've ordered monoprice Cat6 cable for my pc. Should solve my problem