Input lag only in multiplayer games

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djoni
Posts: 26
Joined: 10 Mar 2021, 07:55

Input lag only in multiplayer games

Post by djoni » 10 Mar 2021, 08:26

Hello everyone. As the title says, I am suffering from input lag in multiplayer games such as Counter-Strike. What do I mean by input lag?

1. Delayed movement
2. Delayed shooting
3. Broken recoil and hit registry
4. Feels like my mouse is floaty
5. Desync between my gameplay and the server's

Firstly, the problem does not occur in offline/LAN. Another important thing to mention is that it doesn't occur between 01-10AM and everything seems alright in that timespan. The most confusing thing is that even when I am playing with the so called input lag of mine, I have perfect connection - no packet loss or choke, stable download and upload speeds and no ping fluctuations. I have tested all options on my network adapter but nothing seems to help. Currently I am paying for VDSL 50/10 mbps but I somehow receive 80/15 mbps. Also I am using ethernet. My modem is Huawei HG630 v2. Also worth to mention is that the more devices connected to wi-fi, the worse my gameplay becomes and (attention!) when the weather is bad it is almost unplayable. Sometimes my game lags so bad that I'm being disconnected from the server with this error in the console "Can't connect to Steam". All of this without any ping fluctuations and zero packet loss. I have contacted my ISP and been told that everything is fine. And of course, doing ping and speedtests shows basically this, so I cannot blame them. Is there anything I could possibly do to make this problem dissapear without changing my ISP because I have signed a 2y contract? Could the problem be in me and what could cause this kind of lag?

TTT
Posts: 253
Joined: 28 Jul 2018, 14:17

Re: Input lag only in multiplayer games

Post by TTT » 15 Mar 2021, 08:27

Well by what you said, it can only be your internet.

ISPs only care that you are getting the speed you are paying for, the longer the route they send it can cause issues and also if you are on a busy line it could have high congestion.

So having a decent ping and no packet loss doesn't mean its not your internet.

Ideally you need an ISP that gives you you're own line to your house, not shared.

You can always try a different router though, order one off Amazon and just send it back if it doesn't make a difference.

djoni
Posts: 26
Joined: 10 Mar 2021, 07:55

Re: Input lag only in multiplayer games

Post by djoni » 15 Mar 2021, 10:19

TTT wrote:
15 Mar 2021, 08:27
Well by what you said, it can only be your internet.

ISPs only care that you are getting the speed you are paying for, the longer the route they send it can cause issues and also if you are on a busy line it could have high congestion.

So having a decent ping and no packet loss doesn't mean its not your internet.

Ideally you need an ISP that gives you you're own line to your house, not shared.

You can always try a different router though, order one off Amazon and just send it back if it doesn't make a difference.
Already tried router after my ISP's modem, unfortunately didn't help at all. Seems like you are right and my line is busy most of the time and there is high congestion. I'm not an expert so could you please tell me what do you mean by my own line? Perhaps it means no other users on the same ISP's switch but only me? Also the connection to the servers I play on are going through 7-8 hops using tracert. On the 5th hop which is the last of my ISP hops located in my capital I have latency spikes up to 250ms, roughly 5 packets out of 50 transmited using ping -t -n 50. What I've noticed using tracert is that even though on the 5th hop it sometimes show high pings, the last hop has normal ping. Could this be the problem or I am just chasing ghosts?

TTT
Posts: 253
Joined: 28 Jul 2018, 14:17

Re: Input lag only in multiplayer games

Post by TTT » 15 Mar 2021, 11:10

djoni wrote:
15 Mar 2021, 10:19
TTT wrote:
15 Mar 2021, 08:27
Well by what you said, it can only be your internet.

ISPs only care that you are getting the speed you are paying for, the longer the route they send it can cause issues and also if you are on a busy line it could have high congestion.

So having a decent ping and no packet loss doesn't mean its not your internet.

Ideally you need an ISP that gives you you're own line to your house, not shared.

You can always try a different router though, order one off Amazon and just send it back if it doesn't make a difference.
Already tried router after my ISP's modem, unfortunately didn't help at all. Seems like you are right and my line is busy most of the time and there is high congestion. I'm not an expert so could you please tell me what do you mean by my own line? Perhaps it means no other users on the same ISP's switch but only me? Also the connection to the servers I play on are going through 7-8 hops using tracert. On the 5th hop which is the last of my ISP hops located in my capital I have latency spikes up to 250ms, roughly 5 packets out of 50 transmited using ping -t -n 50. What I've noticed using tracert is that even though on the 5th hop it sometimes show high pings, the last hop has normal ping. Could this be the problem or I am just chasing ghosts?
It could be that but there is really nothing you can do.

By your own line I mean a direct cable to your house instead of the general lines that are already down. Some 'real fibre' ISPs where it is a full fibre connection all the way do it, also you can pay alot of money for a business line in some areas.

I have the same problem, in my area they never properly implemented fibre, its fibre to the local box but then the old copper lines to the houses.

djoni
Posts: 26
Joined: 10 Mar 2021, 07:55

Re: Input lag only in multiplayer games

Post by djoni » 15 Mar 2021, 12:04

TTT wrote:
15 Mar 2021, 11:10
djoni wrote:
15 Mar 2021, 10:19
TTT wrote:
15 Mar 2021, 08:27
Well by what you said, it can only be your internet.

ISPs only care that you are getting the speed you are paying for, the longer the route they send it can cause issues and also if you are on a busy line it could have high congestion.

So having a decent ping and no packet loss doesn't mean its not your internet.

Ideally you need an ISP that gives you you're own line to your house, not shared.

You can always try a different router though, order one off Amazon and just send it back if it doesn't make a difference.
Already tried router after my ISP's modem, unfortunately didn't help at all. Seems like you are right and my line is busy most of the time and there is high congestion. I'm not an expert so could you please tell me what do you mean by my own line? Perhaps it means no other users on the same ISP's switch but only me? Also the connection to the servers I play on are going through 7-8 hops using tracert. On the 5th hop which is the last of my ISP hops located in my capital I have latency spikes up to 250ms, roughly 5 packets out of 50 transmited using ping -t -n 50. What I've noticed using tracert is that even though on the 5th hop it sometimes show high pings, the last hop has normal ping. Could this be the problem or I am just chasing ghosts?
It could be that but there is really nothing you can do.

By your own line I mean a direct cable to your house instead of the general lines that are already down. Some 'real fibre' ISPs where it is a full fibre connection all the way do it, also you can pay alot of money for a business line in some areas.

I have the same problem, in my area they never properly implemented fibre, its fibre to the local box but then the old copper lines to the houses.
Same here, all local small ISPs provide fiber to their switch and then LAN cable to my home. Before I had such connection and actually it was good, but I had some terrible input lag caused by something small in my game and its scaling so I changed my ISP hoping it would solve the problem. Well, it not only didn't solve it but made it terrible. Now when I found out the real cause of my input lag after so many years I have this annoying problem. I will switch to another ISP in the next few weeks but never again DSL.

Palacko
Posts: 39
Joined: 04 Aug 2020, 15:48

Re: Input lag only in multiplayer games

Post by Palacko » 15 Mar 2021, 12:34

Hey djoni, you write about mouse is floaty - seems more like the problem most of us have here (electrical caused) the other stuff could also be from isp - but we have all of this shit too and at us its not isp.

Did you try in another location? Should be instantly perfect then.
Also turn on your phone 4G and give Hotspot to Pc. Problem fixed then?

djoni
Posts: 26
Joined: 10 Mar 2021, 07:55

Re: Input lag only in multiplayer games

Post by djoni » 15 Mar 2021, 15:01

Palacko wrote:
15 Mar 2021, 12:34
Hey djoni, you write about mouse is floaty - seems more like the problem most of us have here (electrical caused) the other stuff could also be from isp - but we have all of this shit too and at us its not isp.

Did you try in another location? Should be instantly perfect then.
Also turn on your phone 4G and give Hotspot to Pc. Problem fixed then?
No, no, all these electrical stuff are total nonsense. My mouse is floaty because when I shoot, the server has to send me back recoil prediction and viewpunch angle but because of my ISP's issue even my crosshair can't go steady, let alone moving freely my mouse. Plus I experience rubberbanding which sometimes returns my mouse in totally different position from where it has to be. And you know, when playing shooters, what you do the most is shooting. It is more like visual illusion because my movements and my inputs are not synced with the server. When somebody peeks me, I have a feeling that I can't put the crosshair on the enemy, like my mouse is muddy. Not because my sensitivity or DPI is low, but because it's ferrari peeks most of the time and I just can't react. I've had this floaty mouse you are talking about before, but it was scaling problem and I fixed it, now I have no input lag but ISP problems. About the hotspot - I have tried and it fixes my problem but playing with packet loss, jitter and high ping is not an option for me. Another issue I have is when playing CS most of the time I'm getting dropped with the following error in the console "Steam connection lost". Whats even more weird is that I still have perfect connection and when I alt+tab and go to cmd and ping some website/server it shows perfect results. The same when doing speedtest. When I go back to the game and join some server after few minutes I'm getting dropped again. What I tried so far and couldn't fix this is reinstalling my games, steam and finally the OS.

TTT
Posts: 253
Joined: 28 Jul 2018, 14:17

Re: Input lag only in multiplayer games

Post by TTT » 15 Mar 2021, 15:14

djoni wrote:
15 Mar 2021, 15:01
Palacko wrote:
15 Mar 2021, 12:34
Hey djoni, you write about mouse is floaty - seems more like the problem most of us have here (electrical caused) the other stuff could also be from isp - but we have all of this shit too and at us its not isp.

Did you try in another location? Should be instantly perfect then.
Also turn on your phone 4G and give Hotspot to Pc. Problem fixed then?
No, no, all these electrical stuff are total nonsense. My mouse is floaty because when I shoot, the server has to send me back recoil prediction and viewpunch angle but because of my ISP's issue even my crosshair can't go steady, let alone moving freely my mouse. Plus I experience rubberbanding which sometimes returns my mouse in totally different position from where it has to be. And you know, when playing shooters, what you do the most is shooting. It is more like visual illusion because my movements and my inputs are not synced with the server. When somebody peeks me, I have a feeling that I can't put the crosshair on the enemy, like my mouse is muddy. Not because my sensitivity or DPI is low, but because it's ferrari peeks most of the time and I just can't react. I've had this floaty mouse you are talking about before, but it was scaling problem and I fixed it, now I have no input lag but ISP problems. About the hotspot - I have tried and it fixes my problem but playing with packet loss, jitter and high ping is not an option for me. Another issue I have is when playing CS most of the time I'm getting dropped with the following error in the console "Steam connection lost". Whats even more weird is that I still have perfect connection and when I alt+tab and go to cmd and ping some website/server it shows perfect results. The same when doing speedtest. When I go back to the game and join some server after few minutes I'm getting dropped again. What I tried so far and couldn't fix this is reinstalling my games, steam and finally the OS.
And getting instant 1 shot from people, when on killcam they have shot about 8 bullets at you before they've killed you and people suddenly flying round corners at speeds you can't even move in the game.

I get all that stuff as well! :(

djoni
Posts: 26
Joined: 10 Mar 2021, 07:55

Re: Input lag only in multiplayer games

Post by djoni » 15 Mar 2021, 15:31

TTT wrote:
15 Mar 2021, 15:14
djoni wrote:
15 Mar 2021, 15:01
Palacko wrote:
15 Mar 2021, 12:34
Hey djoni, you write about mouse is floaty - seems more like the problem most of us have here (electrical caused) the other stuff could also be from isp - but we have all of this shit too and at us its not isp.

Did you try in another location? Should be instantly perfect then.
Also turn on your phone 4G and give Hotspot to Pc. Problem fixed then?
No, no, all these electrical stuff are total nonsense. My mouse is floaty because when I shoot, the server has to send me back recoil prediction and viewpunch angle but because of my ISP's issue even my crosshair can't go steady, let alone moving freely my mouse. Plus I experience rubberbanding which sometimes returns my mouse in totally different position from where it has to be. And you know, when playing shooters, what you do the most is shooting. It is more like visual illusion because my movements and my inputs are not synced with the server. When somebody peeks me, I have a feeling that I can't put the crosshair on the enemy, like my mouse is muddy. Not because my sensitivity or DPI is low, but because it's ferrari peeks most of the time and I just can't react. I've had this floaty mouse you are talking about before, but it was scaling problem and I fixed it, now I have no input lag but ISP problems. About the hotspot - I have tried and it fixes my problem but playing with packet loss, jitter and high ping is not an option for me. Another issue I have is when playing CS most of the time I'm getting dropped with the following error in the console "Steam connection lost". Whats even more weird is that I still have perfect connection and when I alt+tab and go to cmd and ping some website/server it shows perfect results. The same when doing speedtest. When I go back to the game and join some server after few minutes I'm getting dropped again. What I tried so far and couldn't fix this is reinstalling my games, steam and finally the OS.
And getting instant 1 shot from people, when on killcam they have shot about 8 bullets at you before they've killed you and people suddenly flying round corners at speeds you can't even move in the game.

I get all that stuff as well! :(
I feel you man. People who used to die from a single click of my left mouse button now easily kill me even when I'm emptying a full clip in them with 2-3 hits in the best scenario. Living in a place with no fiber connection nowadays is disgusting. I don't mind to pay for my own high speed fiber line, the thing is that nobody can provide me one in my city. Imagine playing with high refresh rate monitor, pc not meeting but surpassing the games requirements, expensive perephrials and properly configured settings, but stuck with poor connection. That's a huge problem nowadays.

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