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I've been experiencing HUGE spikes while connected trough wireless in my home, and I just can't figure out what is happening. I've had this problem with my previous computer too, I just bought a new one and the problem persists, so I'm out of ideas. Here's the details:

  • Both computers are notebooks, models (new) Dell XPS 15z & (new) MSI GS70 Stealth Pro.
  • I can only really "feel" the problem while online gaming (particularly DOTA 2).
  • Everything works fine and smooth while connected through Ethernet cable.
  • Problem persists in other wireless networks (different places, different routers and ISP).
  • Both computers have NVIDIA video cards (5xxM and 870M).
  • First computer had Windows 7, second is running Windows 8.1.
  • Both computers get quite hot while playing.
  • The spikes occur every couple of minutes or so.
  • WI-Fi cards: Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6230 (Dell) and Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 (MSI).

That's all i can think of. I've searched around the internet for information regarding these cases and i remember finding a huge forum thread in Dell's forums, lots of users having similar problems, some solved it, some didn't. I can't find similar threads or information regarding the second computer though.

What I've tried:

  • Different combinations of drivers for wireless cards.
  • Different routers and ISP.
  • Different (physical) locations.
  • Huge external ventilators.

Thanks a lot, if I should add more information of the case please let me know.

Edit 1: After looking carefully I found out that the spikes occur weather I'm playing something or not. I went back to the basics and left a "ping -t" command running for solid 20 minutes. The ouput showed clearly the spikes happening, so it's not related to computer usage. I also found out that spikes occur every 120 seconds (average, since the tool i used to measure wasn't perfect, from 118 seconds to 122 second every single time), or tow minutes. Hope this information helps, I'll continue looking.

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  • Have you tried disabling all power saving options including U-APSD? Nov 20, 2014 at 2:35
  • Ok, I think I found the problem. Apparently it was related to the router. It's kind of late so I will edit and answer the question tomorrow for future references. Thanks!
    – JLeon
    Nov 20, 2014 at 3:39

1 Answer 1

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Ok, reporting back. I finally tracked down the problem. Turns out it was related with the router, an Arris TG862 provided by the ISP (VTR Chile). I remember having the same problem at a friend's house a while ago, different router but the same company, so the problem may happen in other company provided routers.

What worked for me was:

  • Changing Arris TG862 broadcast type to 802.11g.
  • Changing Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 broadcast type to 802.11g (same).
  • Changing NAT type of the router from RouterWithNAT to bridge.
  • Disabling Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 Bakground scan. (Information in how to do so here).

Please note that in my particular experience (different from the link I just shared), the spikes occurred every 2 minutes (120s), and the spikes were a lot higher (between 1700ms and 3900ms, sometimes even a lost packet).

I hope that this experience can be of any help to someone out there, saw a lot of unresolved posts related to these wifi cards around the web.

Regards

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