How to Fix Ping Spikes, Lag Spikes and Rubberbanding

Step-by-step

1. 1.Tell FPS spikes from network spikes

   1. Turn on the game's network stats (most games have ping and packet loss in the HUD or telemetry settings) and an FPS overlay.
   2. If FPS drops at the moment of the spike while ping stays flat, it is an FPS spike. See our stutter and DPC latency guides.
   3. If FPS is steady but ping jumps or packet loss appears, keep going with this guide.

2. 2.Ping your router while you play

   This one test tells you if the problem is inside your house.

   1. Open Terminal and run ipconfig. Note the Default Gateway (often 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1).
   2. Run the command below with your gateway address and leave it running while you play.
   3. On Ethernet you should see under 1 ms almost all the time. On Wi-Fi a few ms is normal. Jumps to 50-100 ms or "Request timed out" mean the problem is between your PC and the router.

   ping -t 192.168.1.1

3. 3.Ping the internet at the same time

   1. In a second Terminal window, run the command below.
   2. If this spikes but the router ping stays flat, the problem is your internet line, router queue or provider.

   ping -t 1.1.1.1

4. 4.Fix spikes inside the house

   1. Use an Ethernet cable. It removes most Wi-Fi spikes at once.
   2. If you must use Wi-Fi: use 5 GHz or 6 GHz, move closer to the router, and avoid walls and floors in between.
   3. Regular spikes every minute or so on Wi-Fi are often background network scans. Ethernet removes them.
   4. Set the Wi-Fi adapter to full power: Control Panel > Power Options > Change plan settings > Change advanced power settings > Wireless Adapter Settings > Power Saving Mode: Maximum Performance.
   5. Update the network adapter driver from the motherboard or adapter maker.

5. 5.Stop background uploads

   Uploads fill the router's queue, and your game packets wait behind them. This is the most common cause of spikes on a good connection.

   1. Windows: Settings > Windows Update > Advanced options > Delivery Optimization > turn off "Allow downloads from other PCs".
   2. Pause OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox and other cloud sync while you play.
   3. Pause downloads in Steam, Epic, Battle.net and EA app.
   4. Check other devices: video calls, cloud backups, camera uploads and streaming on other PCs and phones all share your connection.

6. 6.Test and fix bufferbloat

   1. Run the Waveform bufferbloat test. A grade of C or worse means latency jumps when your connection is busy.
   2. Turn on SQM (also called Smart Queue, Adaptive QoS or Cake on some routers) and set it to about 90% of your measured speeds.
   3. If your router has no SQM, it is the router's limit. Our session can help pick a fix.

7. 7.Find where packet loss starts

   1. Run the command below. It takes a few minutes and shows loss at each hop.
   2. Loss that starts at your router or the first hop after it, and continues to the end, points to your line or provider. Send the result to your provider.
   3. Loss on one middle hop that does not continue to the end is usually harmless. Routers often ignore ping traffic.

   pathping -n 1.1.1.1

Check that it worked

• ✓The router ping stays steady (under 1 ms on Ethernet) during a full match.
• ✓The bufferbloat grade is A or B.
• ✓In-game packet loss stays at 0%.

What does not work (and why)

// SOURCES & FURTHER READING

• Waveform bufferbloat test
• Noverse win-config: Network docs — DNS providers and network adapter settings
• valleyofdoom/PC-Tuning — evidence-based Windows tuning guide

// FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS