High latency

[IreneCheeseman]

My son has recently experienced unusually high latency when gaming - he hasn't had a problem with this for months until this weekend (Friday 11th - Sunday 13th March 2022).

What is causing this? We have reset the router and followed every recommended fix to no avail. Due to the nature of the games he plays he says that it is borderline unplayable with the current amount of input delay caused by the high latency. This is the same on a wired or wireless connection.

Thank you

[IreneCheeseman]

Hi,

Is there an equivalent 'wifi survey' app on the App Store which you can recommend at all? I don't use the Play Store unfortunately.

In terms of the latency, my son can only really play in the evenings during the week so it it hard to say whether it is an all day problem, but he has said that weekends are bad for latency whatever the time of the day.

In terms of Wi-Fi it has been intermittent at all times of the day, any day of the week.

It's very frustrating because I believe that most, if not all, of our estate is on Virgin Media so it feels like it would be difficult to switch to something else which is better.

[Andrew-G]

I assume you mean the Apple app store - search the term Wifi Analyzer (probably appropriate with the US spelling), and select something that gets decent reviews. @jbrennand Could you recommend an Apple wifi analysis app?

The problems you describe have been about your son's gaming, but aren't really evident in the BQM.  If the problem is on specific games (or for specific gaming platforms) this can sometimes be caused by poor internet traffic routing.  Sometimes that's within VM's control, sometimes it isn't.  It may be worth seeing if he can setup a VPN for his gaming connection, but that will depend on his age and technical skills.  Most gamers have friends who can advise on such things.

If you're at the end of your tether, then phone up an alternative ISP and make a pre-sales enquiry, they'll tell you what availability is.  If you're on a package that includes TV then it'll have to be BT or Sky, if you're after broadband and landline, then you'll get better quality service and a more helpful response from a smaller ISP like Zen Internet.  If you're one of those very unlucky people who genuinely has no Openreach option, then you'll have to stick with VM, but the VPN options may help.

[jbrennand]

HTH...

Get Apple's Airport Utility for the iPhone. Then go ... Settings->Airport Utility scroll down and toggle "Wifi Scanner" to on (green). Then open the App and click on the Blue WiFi Scan icon at top right. then,  hit the blue "scan" icon.

Data will flow in continuously updating, with the SSID's showing as the "strongest" i.e. "best" signal at the top of the list - with highest RSSI values - and the channel numbers are also shown.

Only use channels 1,6,11 for the 2.4 GHz band - choose the best channel for you (least congested ) and switch your SSID to that channel.