Does a router increase latency?

[Mitzi]

I have a DLink 504 router attached to my ADSL line. Download/upload speeds are fine (64Kb/32Kb) but I tried to play CS last night for the first time and was getting pings between 200-400ms, regardless of servers.

I have my adsl router plugged directly into a socket upstairs, downstairs, on the same line the phone is plugged into the socket via a micro filter.

Is there any reason why I should be getting such poor latency? I've also noticed that the echo and noise on the phone is considerably worse since getting ADSL - could that affect it? Do I need a better filter (the one I've got was a cheapo £2 jobbie)?

Appreciate any advice.

Cheers,

 

[Confused]

A router may add 2-5ms to your ping, but shouldn't add anything more.

I'm going through my server as a router onto my crappy ntl cable line, and I can still get 14 pings to some CS servers.

What happens if you take out the phone and the microfilter from downstairs, and plug just the router to the phone line through the microfilter?


Confused

 

[Mitzi]

Originally posted by: Confused

What happens if you take out the phone and the microfilter from downstairs, and plug just the router to the phone line through the microfilter?

If I do that whenever the phone rings or someone picks up the phone downstairs to make a call the ADSL disconnects

When using an NTL 600k connection last year I too was getting pings in the region of <20ms.

I am going to try a different micro filter tonight and see if that makes any difference. I have also logged a support call with F2S (my provider) to see what they say.

Cheers,

 

[Confused]

I know that when the phone rings it will mess it up, but for the esscence of testing, i suggest trying not having a phone hooked up at all, to see if you can eliminate a problem

I would also try the different microfilter in the same manner too


Garry

 

[Mitzi]

Will do tonight and report back.

Cheers matey.

 

[owensdj]

Mitzi, I went from using cable Internet without a router to using it with a Netgear RP614, and I didn't notice any increase in ping times in any games. A good router shouldn't add any significant amount of latency.

 

[Genx87]

yes it will add latency. Not that much though.

Something else is afoul. Have you checked to see if you have any traffic going through the router that shouldnt be?

 

[gunrunnerjohn]

Have you rebooted the router lately? I just had an issue today where everything seemed slow, some sites were awful, others weren't so bad. I finally unplugged the cable modem and the router, waited 30 seconds, and plugged them back in. Instant fix! Don't know exactly what the problem was, but it's gone now.

 

[cmetz]

Note that the latency in an ICMP ping might not be the same as the latency in an in-game ping or a TCP connection due to the wonders of PAT.

Many ADSL technologies seem to drift towards higher error rates over time and a power cycle of the ADSL modem - causing a resync - often helps.

It is very important that whenever you experience a problem with your ADSL line, you try reconfiguring things and taking the router out of the equation and seeing how much that changes the problem. That will tell you rather quickly whether it's the router or not.

 

[Mitzi]

Cheers for the info guys. I didn't have too much time for troubleshooting last night but I did reseat (unplug-plug) the filter on the phone downstairs and also power-cycle the router. I tried a random CS server for 5 minutes or so and was getting a ping of around 30ms - much better! I'll monitor the situation and see how it goes.

Still getting static noise on the phone so still considering trying a different (more expensive) filter. I have 2 of the cheap ones I have now and both lead to noise - plugging the phone directly into the socket cures things.

Cheers chaps.

 

[Slaughter]

You said you have the phone connected with the microfilter right? I've never had to use microfilters myself, always ran CAT3 from the interface on the house to the socket. But, aren't you suppose to plug the modem into the microfilter and the filter into the socket?

 

[Mitzi]

Originally posted by: Slaughter
You said you have the phone connected with the microfilter right? I've never had to use microfilters myself, always ran CAT3 from the interface on the house to the socket. But, aren't you suppose to plug the modem into the microfilter and the filter into the socket?

Yes the phone is connected to a micro-filter. The router uses a different socket (though on same line) and is connected directly into the socket. If I connect the router into the socket via a filter then whenever the phone rings the ADSL drops the connection.

 

[xSauronx]

Originally posted by: Mitzi

Originally posted by: Slaughter
You said you have the phone connected with the microfilter right? I've never had to use microfilters myself, always ran CAT3 from the interface on the house to the socket. But, aren't you suppose to plug the modem into the microfilter and the filter into the socket?

Yes the phone is connected to a micro-filter. The router uses a different socket (though on same line) and is connected directly into the socket. If I connect the router into the socket via a filter then whenever the phone rings the ADSL drops the connection.

get a dsl line splitter, my boss got a sprint dsl kit at work, came with a splitter. wall jack to splitter line in, and then it has 2 voice and one data out.

my paperwork says not to use a filter on the line to the dsl router ever, only between phones and their respective jacks, and to use a splitter when you put the dsl on the line, as opposed to using a regular wall jack

dont have much experience with it, justa thought tho