Whether it’s the gamers or people in business, nobody wants to face ping spikes. It can disrupt a perfect gaming session or a business call. Although, lag spikes or ping spikes are network-related. Ping spikes are more inclined towards the route of your internet connection.
Also, it’s a matter of networks, so it’s delicate and might look complicated to solve. But do not worry! Ahead are some ways to solve this issue that we have presented in a simplified way. So, you can follow these solutions whenever you encounter ping spikes while browsing.
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Methods To Fix Ping Spikes
- Close The Activities Running In The Background
- Pause Or Shut Down All the Streams And Downloads
- Try Using VPN Services
- Check If The Network Drivers Are Up-to-date
- Reboot The Router
- Perform A Factory Reset On Your Router
- Open The Channels Of Firewall Ports
- Set An Application To High Priority
- Alter The DNS Server
- Change The Settings Of the Registry
- Run Troubleshooter For Network Adapters
How To Fix Internet Ping Spikes?
1. Close The Activities Running In The Background
Applications or programs running in the background consume a lot of bandwidth. This results in slow internet speed, which causes jitters in the connection. Thus, try to keep little to no background activities. To close the activities that might be eating a lot of bandwidth, follow these steps:
- Navigate to the Task Manager by pressing the CTRL + Left Shift + ESC keys together.
- Double-tap on the Network Column.
- Check for the programs that are active and using the most bandwidth. Right-tap on them and choose the End Task option from the context menu.
- Repeat the previous step for all the programs that are using unnecessary bandwidth.
Once you have closed the background activities, launch a game to check if ping spikes are still there.
2. Pause Or Shut Down All the Streams And Downloads
This solution is an extended version of the previous solution. Streaming and downloading anything is also moderately counted in the background activities. Besides, it requires a great deal of internet access.
And it doesn’t matter if you have a strong connection; it will get affected. So, if you are streaming anything in the background, stop it right there! To prevent the downloads, follow these steps:
- Open the downloads tab by pressing the Ctrl key and the J key on your keyboard.
- All the current downloads will display there—right-tap on the active ones.
- Select the Pause option from the small context menu.
Launch your game to check if the ping spikes persist. If it does, then try out other methods provided for you.
3. Try Using VPN Services
VPN services are popular because they cancel out the unnecessary usage of the internet. Thus, the optimized use of the internet can help in eliminating ping spikes. Also, it has proven useful for so many people, so trying the services won’t be a bad idea.
There are various VPN service providers available. Choose the one that serves your purpose. Here is the step-by-step of what you need to do to set up a VPN:
- Download and install the VPN application on your PC.
- Create your account and pay for it, if required.
- Switch on the VPN application and connect to a server.
Resume your game to check if the ping spikes have gone away. If they do not, connect your VPN to the region nearest to the server of the game you are playing.
For instance, if you live in the Northside and your game’s server is in the Eastside, connect your VPN to the server in the East. Rerun the game to check if it has resolved the problem. Keep in mind to always use premium VPN services. The free VPN services will only add to your problem even more.
4. Check If The Network Drivers Are Up-to-date
The old drivers won’t be compatible with the advanced games. Besides, the network drivers connect the modem to the PC to establish a connection. Thus, you need to use the updated versions of the drivers to avoid internet errors.
Updating drivers also helps when your drivers are suffering from errors or bugs. You can update or reinstall the network drivers by following these steps:
- Hold down the Windows logo key along with the R key. Doing so will open the Run window.
- In the empty field of the Run window, type in devmgmt.msc and hit the enter key.
- In the Device Manager, locate Network adapters. Once you find it, expand it.
- Right-tap on your network adapter. Choose Update Driver Software to start the updating process.
- Driver update wizard will appear. Click on “Search automatically for updated driver software.”
- Now follow the instructions that will appear in the wizard.
Once the update is complete, restart your PC. After your PC is switched on, check if the ping spikes are still there.
Steps to uninstall and then reinstall the drivers are below:
- Open the run box by pressing down the Windows logo and R keys.
- In the empty field, type devmgmt.MSC to open Device Manager.
- Extend Network Adapters and right-tap on your network adapter.
- Tap on the Uninstall device option.
- A dialogue box will appear asking for confirmation. Confirm it to uninstall the drivers.
- On the top of the screen, select “Scan for hardware changes.”
- It will detect the drivers compatible with your device and install them by default.
Once the drivers are reinstalled, you can reboot the system for better results. Now, launch the game again to check whether the ping spikes are still there.
5. Reboot The Router
Sometimes a faulty router with bugs in the software can result in ping spikes. You can stop this error only by restarting your router. To restart your router:
- Switch off your router and then plug the cables out from the switchboard.
- Wait for a minute or two before plugging in the cables again.
- Now, turn on your router.
Run the game on your PC to check if the above steps have resolved the problem.
6. Perform A Factory Reset On Your Router
The router is the other end of the internet supply that includes a route through networks. Sometimes the router that the ISP takes is longer than it should be. This could result in a lengthy response from your game’s server.
In such cases, resetting your router can change the network channels to the more optimum ones. But, to reset your router, you need to check the official website or contact your service provider. You can also take help from the manual that comes with the router.
The common steps that work with most of the routers are:
- Find the reset button on your router. It should be at the back.
- Press down the reset button for about 15 seconds. It will put the router in reset mode.
After the router is reset, it will switch on by default. Once its power is back on, connect your PC to the internet connection and launch the game to check for errors.
7. Open The Channels Of Firewall Ports
Sometimes the firewall ports have some blockage or are improper. Due to this reason, ping spikes can trigger while you play a game on your system. To add firewall ports in the game, follow these steps:
- Navigate to the Start Menu on your PC and open the Control Panel.
- Select System and Security and open Defender Firewall from it.
- Select Advanced settings, and from the left panel, right-tap on Inbound Rules.
- Now choose New Rules.
- New Inbound Rule Wizard will appear on the screen. Click on “Port.” Tap on Next to proceed.
- Type in the selected port number in the Specific local ports field and then tap on Next.
Some firewall ports that you can use are:
- 8393-8400 (TCP)
- 2099 (TCP)
- 5223 (TCP)
- 5222 (TCP)
- 80 (TCP)
- 443 (TCP)
- 80 (TCP)
- 8088 (UDP) (TCP)
- 7000-7500 (UDP)
- Choose the Allow The Connection option and tap on Next.
After executing the above steps, relaunch the game you were playing. Check if the ping spikes problem persists.
8. Set An Application To High Priority
You can set the application that you are using too high priority. It is an effective way to reduce ping spikes in that application or program. Not to mention, many people have reported resolving the said issue by enabling High Priority. Follow the steps given below to set your application as High Priority:
- Launch the application or program on your computer that is having the issue.
- Hold the keys: Ctrl, Shift, and ESC together. It will open the window of the Task Manager.
- Select the Details tab—Right-tap on each entry present in your application. Tap on “Set Priority” and then select the High option.
- Once you have set the priority to high, click on the Change Priority option. Doing so will bring the changed settings into effect.
Check whether the issue still appears while using the application or not. If it still does, then move on to changing the DNS server.
9. Alter The DNS Server
Your DNS server may be undergoing some issues. Due to this reason, you can encounter ping spikes while running an application or a program. To end this problem, you can try altering the DNS server. Follow these steps to switch your DNS server to another one:
- Navigate to the Control Panel From the Start Menu.
- Set the View to Category type.
- Open Network and Internet. Select Network and Sharing Centre.
- Click on Change Adapter Settings.
- Right-tap on the network that is active now. Choose Properties from the context menu.
- Click on Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) from the Networking tab. Tap on Properties.
- Choose “Use the following DNS server address.”
- Set the DNS server as 8.8.8.8 in the Preferred DNS Server.
- Now, set an alternate DNS server as 8.8.4.4.
- To save the changed DNS server click on OK.
After changing the DNS server, it’s important to clear the cache. To clean the DNS cache, follow these steps:
- Go to the search box on your PC in the Start Menu. Type cmd and press the enter key.
- Right-tap on the result “Command Prompt.”
- Choose Run as administrator to have full control of your system as an admin.
- In the empty field, type ipconfig/flushdns and tap on the Enter key on your keyboard.
Restart the application or program that was having the ping spikes issue. The problem should no longer remain.
10. Change The Settings Of the Registry
The registry of an application is directly connected to the network. You can try modifying its settings for a better internet connection. This could result in reduced ping spikes. You can alter the settings of the Registry by following the instructions below:
- Press the keys Windows and R on your keyboard. Search regedit in the run application. It will open the Registry Editor.
- As you make changes in the registry, you need to create a backup in case anything goes wrong. Go to File and select Export.
- Set the Export Range to All and then set the file name.
- Now select the location and choose the Save option.
- If anything goes wrong, you can choose “restore the registry to its original state.” It will resume the original settings.
- Go to the following key:
KEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\CurrentVersion\Multimedia\SystemProfile
- Double-tap on NetworkThrottlingIndex.
- Set the Value Data field as FFFFFFFF and select OK.
- Go to the following key:
KEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces
- Now choose the subkey that will show your network.
- Right-tap on the subkey and select the New option.
- Click on DWORD (32-bit) Value.
- Set the DWORD as TCPackFrequency. Set Value data to FFFFFFFF by double-tapping on it. Create a new DWORD and set it as TCPNoDelay.
- Double-tap on the final DWORD. Set its Value Data as 1.
- Now change the final settings by navigating to the following key:
KEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSMQ
- Repeat step number 12 to create a new DWORD.
- This time name it TCPNoDelay and again set the Value Data as 1.
- Alter the Parameters by extending the MSMQ key and selecting the Parameters option.
- Set a new DWORD in the Parameters key as TCPNoDelay. Set its Value data as 1.
- If you can’t find the Parameters key, right-tap on MSMQ, select the New Key option and set its name as Parameters.
- After executing the above steps, go and run the application with the issue again. Check for the error whether it’s gone or not.
The Last Resort – Run Troubleshooter For Network Adapters
As the ping spikes are a network issue, you can try troubleshooting the network adapters. If they are at fault, you will be right away prompted with the solutions:
- Open settings by pressing the Windows key with I and navigating to Update and Security.
- Click on the Troubleshoot option. You will find it on the left panel.
- Now from the right panel, select Additional Troubleshooters.
- Find the Network adapters option. Tap on it after finding it and select “Run The Troubleshooter.”
After the process of troubleshooting is complete, you can reboot your system. Try to open the application again to check for ping spikes. This time the error should cease to exist.
Conclusion – Random Ping Spikes
These are some useful solutions to help you when you encounter ping spikes. This article presents you with the most useful methods in a simple way to make them easy for you to understand.
But, after executing all the above steps you still encounter the issue, contact your ISP. There might be some network glitch in their server causing ping spikes while you surf the net.