Hey everyone, I recently switched from PlayStation to a gaming PC but have been running into some frustrating connection problems. Even after switching internet providers and having multiple technician visits, the lag and connection issues continue. For example, in Marvel Rivals, I see red connection warning icons. In Call of Duty Verdansk, the game can never find a match to load into. Plus, YouTube buffers a lot despite good speeds. I’ve tried running games as admin, resetting network settings, updating Ethernet drivers, and using a direct Cat 8 Ethernet cable with no other devices connected. My ISP speed test shows near max download and upload speeds with low ping, but latency spikes on download sometimes. Specs: AMD Ryzen 5 7600, RTX 4060 8GB, 32GB RAM, Windows network settings reset, Ethernet driver is up to date. Any ideas on what else I can try to fix these persistent connection and lag problems?
5 Answers
Don’t forget to check if there’s any QoS or traffic shaping enabled on your router that might prioritize bandwidth unevenly or limit certain traffic types. Also look out for IPv6 vs IPv4 conflicts or settings in your network setup that could cause search or loading issues in games. Sometimes toggling those protocols helps.
Since you’re already wired with Cat 8 and have good ISP speeds, it might be worth checking your router or modem firmware. Sometimes outdated router firmware can cause latency spikes or poor packet handling that messes with gaming. Also, consider plugging your PC directly into the modem once more and see if that helps. If everything’s direct and still lagging, your modem hardware might be worth replacing or testing with a known-good unit.
Could it be something related to your PC profile or software conflicts? You mentioned trying another Windows profile — have you tested gaming on a clean Windows install or USB boot? Sometimes background apps or corrupted network stacks on a profile can cause weird issues like this. If you can, also try running a Linux live session to test network and gaming performance. That helps isolate if it’s hardware or Windows related.
I haven’t tried a clean install or Linux live session yet, but that’s definitely something I’ll consider before going further. Appreciate the ideas!
Your latency numbers look a bit weird with that 345ms download latency spike despite decent ping overall. That high latency could totally mess with matchmaking. I’d suggest trying to run continuous ping tests to your game servers or Google DNS (8.8.8.8) to see if there are spikes or drops somewhere along the route. Also, sometimes Windows network adapters have power saving options or QoS settings that could throttle connections. Double-check the network adapter properties to make sure these are disabled.
Good call, I haven’t tried continuous pings or tweaking adapter power settings yet. I’ll see if disabling those helps smooth out the latency spikes.
Since your Internet speed is basically maxed out and you have a wired connection with no packet loss or VPN, the issue might be on the game server side or your route to those servers. It’s definitely frustrating but sometimes game matchmaking or server instability can cause hanging searches or connection icons. Ideally, you can check any server status pages or test at different times of day to see if it’s an external issue.
I had the ISP techs swap my modem twice so hoping that rules that out, but I’ll double-check firmware is updated next time I’m in the settings.