Until recently, I could play Dead by Daylight and The Outlast Trials while using Discord without any problems. Now, whenever I join a Discord server call, my ping can jump to around 5000 ms. I can hear my friend, but she cannot hear me. It sometimes improves after a few minutes before getting worse again. Private calls have not been tested.
Dead by Daylight has also become extremely laggy and rubber-bands frequently. Matches may freeze when I interact with a generator before disconnecting with a message saying the dedicated servers are not responding. The same thing happens in the bot tutorial. The Outlast Trials now fails to let me enter the sleep room, showing errors such as "failed to join save game" or "connection to the servers failed."
These problems began suddenly after I had used TreeSize to find large files and delete data I thought was unnecessary. I completely reset the laptop with a clean Windows installation, but the issues remained or became worse. I have since purchased a new gaming laptop, and the same problems still occur. Drivers are up to date, including the latest GeForce driver.
I use Wi‑Fi and cannot rely on Ethernet. Speed tests show around 500 Mbps, and this connection worked normally for about a month after our ISP provided a new modem/router with antennas. I have tried disabling Discord's Quality of Service packet-priority setting and switching between the Discord app and website, but it made little difference. The problems also appeared after recent game patches, including Dead by Daylight testing Denuvo anti-cheat. What should I check next?
1 Answer
A high speed reading does not necessarily mean the connection is stable. Discord and online games are much more affected by packet loss, jitter, and brief Wi‑Fi interruptions than by download speed. Run a packet-loss or continuous ping test while the problem is happening. Even a small amount of packet loss can cause voice chat to stop working and games to disconnect.
Since Ethernet is not practical, test from close to the router and, if it supports both bands, try switching between 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. Also reboot the router and check whether another device is heavily using the connection. The new ISP equipment could be misconfigured even though it reports the expected speed. If packet loss appears, contact the ISP and ask them to check the line, router, and Wi‑Fi signal rather than only running a speed test.
I’m on Wi‑Fi and can’t use Ethernet as a permanent connection. The speed test showed about 500 Mbps, but I’ll run a packet-loss test while the issue is happening. Disabling Discord’s setting and switching between the app and browser did not help. The new ISP equipment worked perfectly for about a month, so I’m unsure whether the recent game patches or the router are responsible.