Wireless Web Browsing Works But Not Gaming

[Vance S]

Hello all,

I just set up my first wireless network today. It's only my computer that's wireless and one other that is wired. I have a Linksys WRT54G router and the 54G pci card also. My web browsing is working at good speeds without disconnects but when I try to play games (specifically STEAM games) I have problems. I try to refresh the server list and it tells me that I cannot connect to the master server. Sometimes a few servers will show up but with outrageous pings. I've tried to open the ports needed for HL2 but that didn't seem to help. Does anyone have any advice for me?

[dylskee]

I have the same router and i don't have any trouble when i use my laptop to play half life. Here's a link that might help some. (http://portforward.com/english/routers/port_forwarding/Linksys/WRT54G/Half_Life_Steam.htm)

[Vance S]

Thanks for the link dylskee but I had already been to that site and followed the port forwarding directions.

So I made a bit of progress. I was able to actually find a couple hundred servers and join a few of em to play. Everything was going fine until after a certain point my ping jumped into the 400s and I couldn't move anymore.

Windows is telling me that my wireless connection speed is 36 Mbps which should give me a much better ping than 400. Is there anything I can do besides buying a more expensive router?

EDIT: Now I can't play at all. I join a server and my ping is around 50-80 and then once I pick a team and spawn into the actual game my ping jumps into 500+ levels. Bleh.

[bLack0ut]

It might the card/router limiting bandwith, or they might just be broken. Got another pair to switch out?

[dylskee]

That's a pretty decent router so i wouldn't waste money on another one. Check your cpu usage, sounds like you have other programs running in the background. I had that problem once, my ping was like 400 when it was usually 50 on this server i go to all the time. Come to find out it was my daughter downloading music the same time i was gaming! Sounds like your having the same issue, make sure no one else is hogging the bandwidth and check your cpu usage.

[Vance S]

I know it's not a cpu problem because I don't leave other programs running while I'm playing games. But as for the bandwidth the other computer on the network was also playing the game with me. I haven't had problems before with 2 computers on one network playings games at the same time. Is it a different story if one PC is wireless? The other computer didn't experience any extra lag but it is wired to the router. Maybe that's what causes the difference.

[bLack0ut]

Well, did you test it by only playing with the computer with wireless? if the ping is still high, it isnt the other computer

[Vance S]

I still get rediculous pings even when the other computer is turned off. Something else I noticed was that when I play Half-Life 1 games online they work fine but when I try to play Half-Life 2 games is when I get the crazy lag. Even the server browser of HL1 works better than HL2. Is HL2 just more of a bandwidth hog?

EDIT: I just played some CS:Source and it seems to work better than the DOD:Source. That would be great if I actually liked CS but I play DOD. Maybe it's just DOD that is really bandwidth hungry and I just don't have the juice for it? That would be weird cause sometimes I get okay pings for a while but then it shoots back up again.

EDIT #2: I think I have figured out the problem. I believe it's just a simple reception issue. I have just been playing for a while with pretty good ping on DOD:S and I noticed that my wireless connection has better reception at night than it does during the day. It must be because of less electronic equipment being used at night. So I think I just need to work on ways to increase the reception for my PC. I'm thinking I need a new antenna for my pci card. Anyone think that will help with reception and if so are there any that are recommended?