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Need help with intermittent high pings to ASUS router

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rodenti

Occasional Visitor
A few days ago I noticed that I started getting intermittent rubber-banding in online gaming. I ran a ping -t against 8.8.8.8 (Google DNS) while gaming and found that some of my pings were exceeding 2000ms. I called my ISP help line and they remotely checked my line and found no issues... they thought it could be my cable modem and suggested that if it continued I get it replaced.

I have a Hitron cable modem/router (not in gateway mode) and an ASUS RT-AC3100 router attached to the cable modem. The WAN port of the AC31000 is connected to one of the LAN ports of the cable modem, so it is double-natted (which hasn't caused issues in the past).

Before I get the cable modem replaced I decided to troubleshoot some more. While gaming I set up three command prompts from a wired Windows computer to ping -t the Hitron, the AC3100, and a printer on my network.

While gaming on the same computer I noticed that when I rubber-banded I got a high ping count (anywhere from 300ms to 2000ms) to both the Hitron and the AC3100, but my printer ping continued at <1ms to 3ms.

Thinking it could be my router causing the issue I swapped out my AC3100 for a RT-N66U - but I still get a high ping to both the ASUS router and the Hitron cable modem.

My gaming computer is running through a D-Link GO-SW-8GE gigabit network switch to the ASUS router, and there are also other computers, laptops, printers, smart phones, IOT devices, video game systems on the network as well as another network switch and an RT-AC68U in access point mode going through a powerline network. Other computers on the network are also getting rubber-banding so it isn't isolated to the one computer.

Any idea what can be causing this high ping? What should be my next troubleshoot step?

Thanks for any help.

Edit: forgot to mention that the AC3100 is running a current Merlin firmware, the N66U is running the latest Merlin fork.
 
Last edited:
I don't understand what rubber-banding is?

What connection are you gaming on, WiFi or wired LAN?

What specific firmware are you running on the routers?

If you are wired directly into the RT-AC3100 does this issue subside? If it does; your switch(es) may be the culprits here.
 
Thanks for the reply.

Rubber-banding happens in first person shooter games where a high latency causes your character to bounce back to a previous position. It makes the game unplayable if it happens too frequently.

I took your advice and connected my computer directly to the Asus router, disconnecting the network switch. I still get the issue.

I also switched my cable modem to gateway mode to eliminate the double nat.

The firmware on my RT-N66U is 374.43_38E4j9527 (Merlin LTS Fork) - this is the router in using right now. The AC3100 was using a recent version of the regular Merlin firmware (no more than a couple of months old)

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk
 
To eliminate the RT-N66U, switch the cable modem back to router mode and connect directly to it. Of course, try the RT-AC3100 in its place too.

If the direct to modem works without issue when was the last time you did a full reset to factory defaults on your Asus routers?

If it is more than 3 firmware versions ago, that is the next step I would recommend.
 
To eliminate the RT-N66U, switch the cable modem back to router mode and connect directly to it. Of course, try the RT-AC3100 in its place too.

If the direct to modem works without issue when was the last time you did a full reset to factory defaults on your Asus routers?

If it is more than 3 firmware versions ago, that is the next step I would recommend.
I tried all of the following without success:
- Swapped out AC3100 router with N66U router (to rule out defective router)
- Changed the cable between the router and cable modem
- Updated firmware and factory reset Asus router using both admin panel and long press of wps button.
- Factory reset cable modem
- Switched cable modem to bridge mode.
- Direct connect computer to router bypassing network switch.

As suggested I'll put the cable modem back into router mode and try a direct connection from my computer to the cable modem.


Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk
 
So I hooked directly up to the cable modem and didn't see any lag. I then reinstalled my AC3100 to run parallel to the N66U. I disabled wireless in the AC3100 to avoid conflicts.

I hooked my gaming computer via the network switch to the AC3100 and left the rest of my network on the N66U. So far no lag, but I'll monitor it for another day.

My next step will be to enable wireless on the AC3100, disabling wireless on the N66U - my plan is to add more network devices gradually to the AC3100 until it starts lagging again.

Is it possible for a specific device on my network to be causing the issue with high latency?

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk
 
In networking and notably with WiFi, anything is possible. :)
 
I would assume you have setup the QoS properly and give your gaming rig the highest priority over other device?

if not, it is possible some device (maybe someone downloading stuff) consume all your bandwidth.
 
I would assume you have setup the QoS properly and give your gaming rig the highest priority over other device?

if not, it is possible some device (maybe someone downloading stuff) consume all your bandwidth.

I had the QOS turned on with the settings at:
QOS Type: Adaptive QOS
Bandwidth Setting: Automatic
Queue Discipline: sfc
Mode: Gaming


I have been slowing adding devices back onto my AC3100 and the high latency has not returned. I have started with the wired devices - I have a couple of wired devices to move before I switch over my wireless from the N66U to the AC3100.

BTW the AC3100 is running Merlin 384.9 - and I factory reset it when I started having issues.

Thanks indark and L&LD for your help - the suggestions have definitely helped me in my troubleshooting. I'll try to get all my devices switched by the end of the weekend then report back.
 
I had the QOS turned on with the settings at:
QOS Type: Adaptive QOS
Bandwidth Setting: Automatic
Queue Discipline: sfc
Mode: Gaming
.

I will change queue displine from sfc to fq_codel to further reduce bufferbloat, can help reduce rubber banding.
https://github.com/RMerl/asuswrt-merlin/wiki/QoS-Queue-Disciplines

I personally also prefer manually capped the bandwidth @90% of actual bandwidth (between 80 -95% is suggested)

you can check & compare bufferbloat @ http://www.dslreports.com/speedtest
as you tweak around the setting

you can also assign priority to certain device
Untitled.png
 
I will change queue displine from sfc to fq_codel to further reduce bufferbloat, can help reduce rubber banding.
https://github.com/RMerl/asuswrt-merlin/wiki/QoS-Queue-Disciplines

I personally also prefer manually capped the bandwidth @90% of actual bandwidth (between 80 -95% is suggested)

you can check & compare bufferbloat @ http://www.dslreports.com/speedtest
as you tweak around the setting

you can also assign priority to certain device
View attachment 16582

That was an interesting article. I switched to fq_codel, but I'm not sure what to set the bandwidth to... I'm paying for 150/15 but I consistently get 200/17 so I set bandwidth to 180/15 based on my actuals.
 
I connected everything back up except my powerline network adapter and the wifi and had no latency issues. I then switched the wifi over from the N66U to the AC3100 and still no issues. When I connected up my powerline adapter the latency issues returned within minutes... unplugging it returns the network to normal.

So I narrowed it down to either the powerline adapter or the devices attached to it. On the other end of the powerline adapter is an RT-AC68U running as an access point to provide wifi for my second floor. I already have a network cable running into a bedroom on the second floor, so I'l move the router to that room to see if the issue returns... this should prove if it is the router or the powerline adapter that is causing the issue.
 
Missed the part of 'and an RT-AC68U in access point mode going through a powerline network.'.

It's likely to be the powerline adaptor (they're too flakey to recommend except to the most desperate customers) if my past experience with them is an indicator. Note when anything gets turned on (inside or outside the home), like AC/furnace, Refrigerator, electric stove/Microwave/etc., it may make them freak out then.

Check that your RT-AC68U AP is using a unique control channel too vs. your main/other WiFi routers.
 
Missed the part of 'and an RT-AC68U in access point mode going through a powerline network.'.

It's likely to be the powerline adaptor (they're too flakey to recommend except to the most desperate customers) if my past experience with them is an indicator. Note when anything gets turned on (inside or outside the home), like AC/furnace, Refrigerator, electric stove/Microwave/etc., it may make them freak out then.

Check that your RT-AC68U AP is using a unique control channel too vs. your main/other WiFi routers.

The powerline adapter had been running fairly well for several years to my son's bedroom until I ran ethernet to his room, and it ran well with the router until a couple of weeks ago. I am guessing that either the adapter has gone bad or my power lines have more interference now.

Right now I have the routers using channels 6 and 11 for 2.4ghz, and control channels 40 and 149 for 5ghz.

Thanks a lot for your help! It took a few days, but I'm glad to have finally figured out what was causing the latency issues on my network.
 

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