ping spikes

[mussen]

I'm wired directly into my router and everything goes smoothly until another computer starts using the network. There is a laptop and another desktop that can connect to the wireless signal (both Mac) that seem to randomly shoot my ping up to 500-1200 during the game. It doesn't happen when my girlfriend is emailing or watching videos...it's more like some background process that interferes when the computers are awake but not being used (or used intensely).

This happens whether I have a static IP and have the port open or not. The other 2 computers using the wireless connection do not have static IPs.

If anyone has any suggestions about what process I might be able to shut off on the Macs or a trick to configure the router better, that would be fabulous.

The router is rather old, and perhaps this problem would go away if I bought a new one, but I thought I'd ask before doing so.

Thanks!

[mussen]

...also, the spikes last for at least 10 minutes (making it unplayable) and happen about every 10 minutes of playing the game.

[Karl]

Find a bandwidth or network monitoring program and hopefully you can find what is causing your issue:

http://www.google.com/search?q=mac+bandwidth+monitor

[mussen]

I finally found the culprit and I thought I would post it in case anyone else has a problem like this. It was a program running on both wireless computers that continually syncs documents with an online server. It causes no ping problem or change in general for my connection, just when I start online gaming, at which point it freaks out for some reason.

[ledow]

Loads of computers have a ton of rogue network access all the time. I manage networks and it's unbelievable the traffic you can save just by shutting off certain software - Adobe Updater, Google Updater, Java Updater, Quicktime Updater, Windows Updates, toolbars in IE/Firefox, things talking home from your ISP, computer manufacturer, peripheral manufacturer (NO YOU DO NOT NEED TO CHECK I HAVE THE LATEST PRINTER DRIVER EVERY HOUR, HP!), etc. I cut a school's monthly bandwidth to a THIRD of its normal size just by getting rid of that stuff or blocking it in the firewall.

On Windows / Linux, I use a combination of Zonealarm (but any software firewall that "pops up" to tell you what programs are accessing the net will do) and Wireshark to track down those sorts of things. I'm sure there must be an equivalent on Mac. Out of 378 programs on my PC that want to access the net, approximately five need to do so without asking (browser, IM client, Steam, etc.), and the rest need to do so about once a week or so whenever *I* choose, not the software author. ZoneAlarm had a feature called the Stop button - where you press the button and then ONLY programs that you choose can get past it. Perfect for gaming - press the stop button and only let games connect, then turn the stop button off when you want to browse and do other stuff.

And even on a fast computer, with Gigabit networking, and a fast broadband, you *can* get ping-spikes just because something wants to upload. If my girlfriend uploads a Facebook photo, it kills my ping stone dead for a few seconds. If something tries to talk home (like Steam error reporter, or something probing for an update), you can also hit problems if it starts a small upload or a large download. Skype can also kill it, because of the outgoing audio/video streams.

Keep your computers clean, people, and watch what's allowed to access the net. You'll be surprised how much junk tries to, and you'll be safer and get more consistent pings by stopping it doing so automatically.

[mussen]

Thanks for the great info. I'll look into all of that to tighten it up further. Cheers!

[Tekn0]

I wonder if DropBox is doing any routine syncing. I need to check this ASAP.