Long-term investigation of unstable input, affected by electrical and network conditions

[unexpected8]

I'm also experiencing the same problem. The strange thing is, I connected the computer and router to a UPS and solar power supply, and the problem improved for about an hour before returning.

(Note: The solar power supply was not grounded or had any grounding wires. I don't know if that's the cause or not.)

[fa1kk]

Hello, I'm lurker for some time on this forum, I've tried a lot of things too, I find myself in your post. but I would like to understand something, I've tried countless locations, some were good, some were bad, but why were the good locations 'good' only for 7/8 days? i don't get it, btw new location = new computer and monitor and peripherals? i never believed in body input lag, but tell me again, why when i leave computer for 5 or 10 mins and after that the game becomes smooth again? for short period of time?

I don't think the human body is the cause. The human body is simply part of the electrical circuit. It's basically a capacitor, so touching the PC, keyboard or mouse changes the capacitive coupling and leakage current paths.

But that's only changing the electrical conditions, not creating the problem itself. The body clearly isn't the root cause.

What cross-section are the main L1, L2, L3, and PEN conductors in the distribution board?

Also, could you tell me whether the situation gets better late at night, around 1–2 a.m.? If it does, I have a permanent solution for you because I've been through the exact same

For me, there isn't any consistent difference between daytime and 1-2 a.m. when I use grounding; however, if I remove grounding, a difference does occur, and it is linked to the PEN load.

I'm interested in your permanent solution, though. If I haven't already tried it.

[fa1kk]

I am experiencing exactly the same symptoms as the original poster. I have also concluded that the cause is neither hardware nor software, but rather an electrical issue.

I believe that most players are experiencing this problem. They simply have never experienced a truly normal environment, so they do not realize that their setup is abnormal and mistakenly assume that it is working as intended.

I have traveled to many different regions across my country and visited internet cafés (PC cafés) to investigate this issue. I have tested more than 30 locations, and only two of them felt normal.

The problem was present even in the metropolitan areas with excellent infrastructure. It also appeared in newly built facilities with modern equipment.

Interestingly, the places without the issue were located in smaller cities, were relatively old, and did not even have particularly high-end equipment.

I also found that one PC café had no issue at all, while another café only about 100 meters away suffered from it. This suggests that there is probably nothing wrong with the electricity coming from the power plant, through the transformer, and into the building itself. It seems more likely that the problem begins during the distribution of electricity inside the building.

I currently suspect radio-frequency interference or EMI. The reason is that when I watch YouTube videos on my smartphone in the same room as my computer, the video quality appears slightly degraded, just like when I use my PC. The image loses some depth and sharpness.

However, when I watch the same YouTube videos in my bathroom, the videos surprisingly look clearer and smoother, with noticeably better depth and image quality.

The only thing that changed was my location.

I also suspected EMI and RF at one point. I have a meter that measures electric field, magnetic field, and RF. It's not a laboratory instrument, but one thing is perfectly repeatable: if I disconnect the PE from the outlet that powers my PC, the measured electric field increases. As soon as I reconnect PE, the field drops significantly. That doesn't necessarily make the PC work better, though, so I don't think the measured field itself is the root cause.

I also powered my PC directly from the service entrance after the meter while physically disconnecting my entire house wiring from both phase and PEN. The improvement was extremely small, so I don't think my internal wiring is the main problem.

Right now I believe the problem is somewhere between the 0.4 kV transformer and my house. It could be a damaged cable, a low cross-sectional area of the PEN cable, a high-impedance PEN connection, poor contacts, or another device injecting interference into the distribution network. At that point, the wiring simply carries that interference everywhere.

During long power outages I ran my PC from a battery power station, with the PE still connected to the battery. The moment grid power returned, the monitor immediately became dull, and it's pretty noticeable. It happened instantly several different times. That's why I think the source is related to whatever comes from the distribution network rather than the PC itself.

A few years ago, engineers from the Central Branch of the UCRF told me about an investigation near my airport. An old computer mouse in a house near the airport was radiating enough interference that aircraft within roughly 5-7 km experienced a noticeable delay in rudder response during taxiing. After they located and removed the mouse, the problem disappeared. Whether it's related to our issue or not, it shows that unexpected sources can produce very unusual effects over surprisingly large distances.

I'm trying to figure out where it enters the electrical network and exactly what enters the electrical network and what exactly is injecting it. If it even exists. Because you can't be 100% sure in all this nonsense.

[MontyTheAverage]

Hello, I'm lurker for some time on this forum, I've tried a lot of things too, I find myself in your post. but I would like to understand something, I've tried countless locations, some were good, some were bad, but why were the good locations 'good' only for 7/8 days? i don't get it, btw new location = new computer and monitor and peripherals? i never believed in body input lag, but tell me again, why when i leave computer for 5 or 10 mins and after that the game becomes smooth again? for short period of time?

I don't think the human body is the cause. The human body is simply part of the electrical circuit. It's basically a capacitor, so touching the PC, keyboard or mouse changes the capacitive coupling and leakage current paths.

But that's only changing the electrical conditions, not creating the problem itself. The body clearly isn't the root cause.

What cross-section are the main L1, L2, L3, and PEN conductors in the distribution board?

Also, could you tell me whether the situation gets better late at night, around 1–2 a.m.? If it does, I have a permanent solution for you because I've been through the exact same

For me, there isn't any consistent difference between daytime and 1-2 a.m. when I use grounding; however, if I remove grounding, a difference does occur, and it is linked to the PEN load.

I'm interested in your permanent solution, though. If I haven't already tried it.

That makes sense. Probably why some think body is the cause with conductivity between touching the PC and link with body/electric currents.

But I am trying to understand how the issue is similar in so many different locations. I also have tried diffirent places like tzatarnaitz and the symptoms have been the same. I have probably tried 5 locations across 3 different continents. Also different PCs and peripherals. The lag symptoms showed up same ways all these places. I just can't wrap my head around that. So all these locations has problems? It surely can't be that widespread can it?

[astroasis]

Hello, I'm lurker for some time on this forum, I've tried a lot of things too, I find myself in your post. but I would like to understand something, I've tried countless locations, some were good, some were bad, but why were the good locations 'good' only for 7/8 days? i don't get it, btw new location = new computer and monitor and peripherals? i never believed in body input lag, but tell me again, why when i leave computer for 5 or 10 mins and after that the game becomes smooth again? for short period of time?

I don't think the human body is the cause. The human body is simply part of the electrical circuit. It's basically a capacitor, so touching the PC, keyboard or mouse changes the capacitive coupling and leakage current paths.

But that's only changing the electrical conditions, not creating the problem itself. The body clearly isn't the root cause.

What cross-section are the main L1, L2, L3, and PEN conductors in the distribution board?

Also, could you tell me whether the situation gets better late at night, around 1–2 a.m.? If it does, I have a permanent solution for you because I've been through the exact same

For me, there isn't any consistent difference between daytime and 1-2 a.m. when I use grounding; however, if I remove grounding, a difference does occur, and it is linked to the PEN load.

I'm interested in your permanent solution, though. If I haven't already tried it.

That makes sense. Probably why some think body is the cause with conductivity between touching the PC and link with body/electric currents.

But I am trying to understand how the issue is similar in so many different locations. I also have tried diffirent places like tzatarnaitz and the symptoms have been the same. I have probably tried 5 locations across 3 different continents. Also different PCs and peripherals. The lag symptoms showed up same ways all these places. I just can't wrap my head around that. So all these locations has problems? It surely can't be that widespread can it?

I think its like a spectrum, the desync and picture quality issues can go from terrible to mediocre to normal depending on electrical conditions. Ive been in 3 different houses in the same uk town, first house was my parents which was perfect until 2018 then 1440p 144hz literally became like 900p and 40hz, second place better picture quality but still horrible desync and input lag, now my third place the best of all with what seems to be no desync (but maybe it can go even better, who knows?)

[fa1kk]

But I am trying to understand how the issue is similar in so many different locations. I also have tried diffirent places like tzatarnaitz and the symptoms have been the same. I have probably tried 5 locations across 3 different continents. Also different PCs and peripherals. The lag symptoms showed up same ways all these places. I just can't wrap my head around that. So all these locations has problems? It surely can't be that widespread can it?

That's exactly why I don't think everyone has the same root cause. The symptoms can look almost identical while the underlying problem is completely different. One person could have a bad PEN connection, another could have a faulty appliance injecting interference, someone else could have poor grounding, and another could simply have routing issues, and so on.

I don't think we should assume there's one universal explanation just because the symptoms are similar.

In my case, I've managed to rule out quite a lot over the last few years, so I'm trying to narrow it down to my own electrical distribution rather than assuming everyone has exactly the same problem. Since there is more than enough evidence that proves the point of the problems with electricity.

I think its like a spectrum, the desync and picture quality issues can go from terrible to mediocre to normal depending on electrical conditions. Ive been in 3 different houses in the same uk town, first house was my parents which was perfect until 2018 then 1440p 144hz literally became like 900p and 40hz, second place better picture quality but still horrible desync and input lag, now my third place the best of all with what seems to be no desync (but maybe it can go even better, who knows?)

Sometimes everything improves together: The monitor looks clearer, mouse movement becomes more precise, motion clarity improves, and online games become much more playable. And the other day everything improved together, but the online part isn't working at all, while the offline one is just flawless.

What's interesting is that in my case this can happen instantly after changes in the electrical network, without changing anything else. That's why I'm focusing much more on finding what changes electrically.

The difficult part is finding which parameter actually changes, because so far there isn't a reliable way to measure it directly, or at least I haven't found it yet.

[dervu]

I don't think we should assume there's one universal explanation just because the symptoms are similar.

True. Just like in medicine. Many issues have overlapping symptoms.

[TN_fun]

Guys, if you think it's your body acting like a capacitor, try this: play for a few days using only wireless devices (keyboard, mouse, headset). After that, don't touch your PC at all for a few days. Then, ask someone else to play on it for a couple of days — a friend, your girlfriend, your parents, anyone — and see if the issue is still there.

[fa1kk]

Guys, if you think it's your body acting like a capacitor, try this: play for a few days using only wireless devices (keyboard, mouse, headset). After that, don't touch your PC at all for a few days. Then, ask someone else to play on it for a couple of days — a friend, your girlfriend, your parents, anyone — and see if the issue is still there.

I've already tested this many times. Friends, family members, engineers, my parents, grandparents, my sister - many different people have used my setup. The experience is always the same regardless of who is sitting at the PC.

We've also tested different keyboards, mice, monitors, laptops, and complete PCs brought from other places. Once they're connected in my environment, they behave almost exactly like my own system. So there is no point in those tests.

[gjk]

I have the exact same issue as this guy here, and the funny thing is, he is also from my country, so I don't believe that this is house related in my case, and my friends have the same latency increase...

https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads ... s.3642136/
TL;DR: input lag that gets worse over time.