Internet Gaming and Downloading

[Guest]

I play internet games quite a bit and recently bought FFXI, but i dont really
want to install it until i can fix this certain problem. Currently, i have
two computers setup on a network where 'computer 1' has the broadband modem
connected and then this connection is shared across the network by a hub and
ICS. When i want to play an online game on 'computer 2' i have to make sure
no one is using our 'computer 1' for downloading on kazaa, bittorrent, or
simply uploading to their friends on MSN. This is because if any of these are
going then on the game i get lag spikes, where the ping will be 40-50 for 0.9
secs then shoot up to 200-300 for 0.1 secs and start over.
I think this maybe down to upload only as i was told to perform two tests
by a nice gentleman. First was to run a processor intensive program on
'computer 1' and see if the ping spiked, and the second was to download an
update from windows on 'computer 1' to see if the ping spiked. In both tests
the ping was unaffected.
Can anyone suggest any other tests i can try to pin down the problem, or
give any possible solutions for this? Any help at all is much appreciated.
Mark

 

[DanS]

I play internet games quite a bit and recently bought FFXI, but i dont
really want to install it until i can fix this certain problem.
Currently, i have two computers setup on a network where 'computer 1'
has the broadband modem connected and then this connection is shared
across the network by a hub and ICS. When i want to play an online
game on 'computer 2' i have to make sure no one is using our 'computer
1' for downloading on kazaa, bittorrent, or simply uploading to their
friends on MSN. This is because if any of these are going then on the
game i get lag spikes, where the ping will be 40-50 for 0.9 secs then
shoot up to 200-300 for 0.1 secs and start over.
I think this maybe down to upload only as i was told to perform two
tests
by a nice gentleman. First was to run a processor intensive program on
'computer 1' and see if the ping spiked, and the second was to
download an update from windows on 'computer 1' to see if the ping
spiked. In both tests the ping was unaffected.
Can anyone suggest any other tests i can try to pin down the
problem, or
give any possible solutions for this? Any help at all is much
appreciated. Mark

ah yes, but neither of those tests mimmicked what you are complaining
about.

you said 'downloading on kazaa, bittorrent, or simply uploading to their
friends on MSN.' PtP sharing programs USUALLY open a lot of simultaneous
connections which will affect network performance. And they are also
uploading data.

normally i would say drop the ICS and get a cheap router, which will
offer better performance and it doesn't matter what the host computer is
doing, but in this case, it MAY be ISP related.

the real test is to find out if it's the P2P alone, or the uploading
alone. with nothing else going on try each one separately, ping test,
start a long upload on the host, ping test again. ping test, open a P2P,
let it sit for a while, or do a couple of searches to get your peer out
there and start a couple d/l's, then ping test again.

unfortunatley, you would need a router to do full testing, to then
determine beyond the shadow of a doubt whether the result's you see are
caused by the host computer or by your ISP.

a router would be a good choice over ICS anyday.

 

[Malke]

I play internet games quite a bit and recently bought FFXI, but i dont
really want to install it until i can fix this certain problem.
Currently, i have two computers setup on a network where 'computer 1'
has the broadband modem connected and then this connection is shared
across the network by a hub and ICS. When i want to play an online
game on 'computer 2' i have to make sure no one is using our 'computer
1' for downloading on kazaa, bittorrent, or simply uploading to their
friends on MSN. This is because if any of these are going then on the
game i get lag spikes, where the ping will be 40-50 for 0.9 secs then
shoot up to 200-300 for 0.1 secs and start over.
I think this maybe down to upload only as i was told to perform two
tests
by a nice gentleman. First was to run a processor intensive program on
'computer 1' and see if the ping spiked, and the second was to
download an update from windows on 'computer 1' to see if the ping
spiked. In both tests the ping was unaffected.
Can anyone suggest any other tests i can try to pin down the
problem, or
give any possible solutions for this? Any help at all is much
appreciated. Mark

The very simplest and best way to deal with this is to buy a cable/dsl
router, replace the hub, and get rid of ICS.

Malke