I get inconsistent lag and packet loss in online games, especially Path of Exile. I've used PingPlotter and replaced several home-network components because I suspected an ISP or routing problem, but the issue keeps coming and going. Recently, I had Path of Exile running while an MMO was open in the background, and both games began lagging badly at the same time. Could my PC's network hardware or drivers be struggling with traffic from multiple games? What should I check locally, such as CPU, RAM, Ethernet adapter drivers, or other network settings? I'm using a wired connection.
2 Answers
Test for bufferbloat and bandwidth saturation. A sudden upload or download spike can cause latency and packet loss for every game, even if the connection seems fast normally. Run a bufferbloat test, check your router’s traffic while the issue occurs, and enable QoS or SQM if your router supports it. Testing another device at the same time can also show whether the problem is limited to this PC or affects the whole connection.
First check whether the problem is actually network-related or whether the extra game is exhausting system resources. Watch CPU, memory, disk, and GPU usage in Task Manager while both games are running. Also check whether either game is downloading updates or generating unusually high network traffic. Since you’re on Ethernet, inspect the adapter in Device Manager and update or reinstall its driver if necessary.
I’m using wired Ethernet, and I don’t think CPU or RAM usage is maxing out, but I’ll monitor it while the lag happens.
If every device starts lagging, focus on the router, modem, signal quality, or ISP. If only this computer is affected, then investigate its Ethernet adapter, driver, background traffic, and resource usage.