Connections have recently started dropping when doing anything requiring a constant connection

[NJW50]

Earlier this week things were fine but out of nowhere I've been having issues with my internet connection plummeting and even outright disconnecting.

In the game Elite Dangerous once I start the game from the launcher it goes through the usual start up video before attempting to connect to the game's servers. At this point I lose my internet connection, (chat programs like Discord suddenly can't connect to the server) and it's not until the game says it failed to connect and shuts down does the internet start to connect again.

For the past few days I thought it might be the game itself and have been trying to find fixes. In the meantime I've played the racing mode in Fortnite, only to find my connection dropping so bad that I'm not matching up with other players and the game isn't registering where I am on the track properly.

Out of curiosity I decided to try Microsoft Flight Simulator as I know the game checks for updates on startup. I also typed ping -t -l 900 bbc.co.uk into the command prompt on my computer which allows me to get an idea of my internet connection every few seconds. Well shortly after start up and right before it did the update check the average ping went from around 20ms up to the hundreds before the request timed out. It didn't return back to normal until the update check stopped with an error telling me to check my connection.

I'm connected a wifi adaptor to the router and it's been this way for at least the past month without any change. It wasn't until earlier this week that the problem arose. Restarting the router hasn't had any difference so far unfortunately and without much of a clue what the actual issue is I don't know where to look for a solution.

In short, I try to start doing something that needs a constant connection like online gaming and suddenly things go south until the game quits and it goes back to normal.

[Chrisee]

@NJW50 gaming over WiFi is never a good idea because WiFi signals are affected by interference which sounds like your issue as interference causes packet loss.. The main cause of interference is other WiFi networks within range in oractice only 3 networks can use the 2.4GHz band without interference issues. The 5GHz band is better because it has a shorter range but if your device is some distance from your hub there maybe minimal 5GHz signal to use. You can also get interference from other electrical devices especially if they usexsomecfot=rm of wireless communication.

The best solution by far is to usecan ethernet cable but where that isnt possible using powerlinecadapters that use the home's mains wiring to carry the data can work. Alternatively you could invest in a whole home wifi solution but thatvcan be costly.

There are other possible causes especially if there are multiple people in your home trying to use the Sky connection at the sametime but wifi issues are the most common.

[sim12345]

I've had no issues with Sky broadband for a number of years but the last few weeks it has dropped out at least once a week - usually when I'm on a Teams call for work. No extra devices have been connected recently and the same amount of usage as there has been all through Covid.

No idea what's causing it to drop out now but it's very annoying. 
Luckily I have sky mobile so I know there's been an outage when I get 2GB of data because of it - that's happened multiple times over the last few weeks

[NJW50]

While I understand that wired is best, I've been on wifi because that's the only realistic option at this moment in time. I'm also trying to understand why it's been perfectly fine up until a few days ago.

[NJW50 · Accepted solution]

Okay, it seems that the issue wasn't with wifi itself but rather the hardware. I've managed to get my hands on another adapter and so for it's not having any problems at all. It seems that as its gotten older the previous wifi adaptor I was using suddenly gave out when it came to the particular traffic from online games. I still don't know what exactly was causing it to fail but at least it isn't an issue any more.