Mystical Internet Problem

[OniaPL]

Yeeeaaahhh... What the title says. I have been playing a lot of Black Ops lately, and my ping is usually 70-80. But now, for a couple of days, during evenings my internet has become slow. daytime it works fine, but about after 8 pm it slows significantly, and online gaming becomes impossible (500-900 ping). There has never been a problem like this before.

I ran virus scans and malware scans, so I doubt there are any of those.

Does anyone have any idea what causes this, and how this could be fixed?

 

[SturmDolch]

Is anyone in the house downloading something during that time? Is something scheduled to run? Alt tab when it happens and open Task Manager (CTRL+ALT+DEL then Task Manager). Check if any processes are using lots of the CPU or memory. Then, if you are using Windows 7 (I'm not sure about other versions) click on Performance then open Resource Monitor. Click on Network, and it will let you see which processes are using the Network and how much bandwidth.

Also try running Speedtest [http://speedtest.net] when the game is going normally, then again when you're getting 500-900 ping, just to make sure.

If not, are you using a Wireless router to connect to the internet?

Maybe it's also the service provider, or there are a lot of people in your area using the internet at that time. Maybe you live in a neighbourhood filled with people that download massive amounts of porn overnight.

 

[Mekado]

Also, when your ping is very high, try a ping to the server you're trying to reach (no idea what's the ip of the black ops server?)

Open up a DOS screen and ping www.whateverserver.com
You should get something like this ;
Reply from 72.14.204.104: bytes=32 time=25ms TTL=56

Follow the ping and check where your latency (time=??ms) shoots up, it'll tell you where the problem is (if it's your ISP for example, it'll be easy to see there) if you see high ping from the first jump, your computer (or some part of your setup, router etc) is the problem.

Edit: i just realized it's the wrong command, you need to
tracert www.whatever.com

Sorry!

 

[The Gray Train]

i would also contact your isp. some, like Cox Communications, have hubs that support the neighborhood. if a lot of people in your 'hood use them, and are online (and 8:00 pm is when a lot of people start winding down for the day), it could affect performance. think of rush hour on the interstate. it's a fast way to travel, but at certain times everyone wants to use it, and it can slow to a crawl. also, in general experience, there are certain times of day where a ton of people are online, as some are leaving and some are getting on in great numbers. lastly, try and contact whoever manages the server, see if there have been any problems.