Lagging/ Ping Spikes

[Mark2000]

Hi there.

I suspect this question has been asked many times but I am looking for some advice on lagging whilst playing on an Xbox series S.

I have had Sky Superfact broadband since March. On the whole this works fine. However, when my son us gaming, most recently playing Fortnite, it can get very laggy. His Xbox is in another room, around 20 metres from the Sky router and is connected via Wi-Fi as its not practical to connect it to the router via an Ethernet cable.  According to the network statitics on the Xbox, the upload rate is generally above 40 Mbps and the upload speed is around 16 Mbps. There is very limited packet loss (0 or 1%). The latency is between 20 and 30 ms. However the wireless strength is fairly low (between 50 and 70%). When he is playing Fortnite the ping rate is anywhere from 0 to in the 100s.

I have run the sky broadband test on a number of occasions and everything seems ok. Speed to the hub is usually around 58 Mb/s. The only issue that appears fis in terms of stable connection (there is a no against this).

Details statistics can be found below.

Thanks in advance.

[jamesn123]

@Mark2000 

You pretty much already have your answer. The Xbox is 20m away, which through walls can be quite a distance. If the signal strength is only around 50-70% it will be extremely likely that there is WiFi interference, especially at peak times in the evenings.

You have a few options really

1. Use ethernet

2. Use Powerline/Homeplugs

3. Buy a 3rd party gaming router that has better WiFi radios and game QoS

[Mark2000]

Thanks for the prompt response @jamesn123. I thought this might be the case but wanted to check. The only thing that made me think it wasn't this was the unstable connection flag when I ran the sky broadband test. As I say, the ethernet cable is not practical. I have looked at powerline adapters. At this stage I am wonder whether it would be worth taking out Sky WiFi Max.

[jamesn123]

@Mark2000 

I am not sure why the Sky checker is suggesting you have an unstable connection because from your stats I can't see a line fault with your margins & the line has not dropped since the router last rebooted 37hrs ago.

Regarding Sky WiFi Max, it would likely not help at all because it uses WiFi 6 technology for the improved WiFi experience & the Xbox Series S does not support WiFi 6. 

[Mark2000 · Accepted solution]

Good to know that Sky Wifi Max is unlikelty to help. I guess its either a powerline adapter or working out some way to get an Ethernet cable from the router to the Xbox. Thanks again @jamesn123