Forum Discussion

Ariel_V's avatar
Ariel_V
New Contributor II
5 years ago

Internet Disconnects While Gaming

I've had similar issues off and on for years, but recently has gotten so bad that I cannot play games.

When gaming, my latency either jumps up or I am completely disconnected from the internet for 5-10 seconds(sometimes a bit longer).  When it comes back it's slow for about 20 seconds then is fine again.  This happens regularly about every 4 minutes when I play at night.  It happens similarly with multiple games.  My main PC is connected via ethernet. When I had issues previously they suggested that I upgrade.  I now get 300mbps down and 30 up.  I should not have any issues gaming.  When I upgraded my service, I purchased a new modem as well.  I recently started using a VPN which described that it can help with inconsistent internet connections.  The VPN does not seem to be helping with the issue, but I can see my latency jump up anywhere from 1,000-4,000 when the disconnection issue occurs.  

If I didn't play games, I may not even notice, as streaming doesn't seem to trigger the issue.  I have started noticing that when I am on video call for work, it also occurs, and I am kicked out of the call and have to reconnect after a few moments.  My work laptop is on the wireless, but since the issue mirrors what is happening on my personal PC which is wired, I do not think it is a wifi issue.

I have had a technician come out, and replaced something in my wall.  They said that the line looked a lot better after he did it.  However, I think that my connection is great most of the time, they would only see the in the moment that it goes out or latency jumps.  

I've googled everything, from sound to software issues causing these kinds of issues and have tried what seems like every approach to try to correct this.

I'm at a loss.  Feels hopeless that this will be resolved.  

  • skohon25's avatar
    skohon25
    New Contributor III
    5 years ago

    Following.  My internet cuts and upload speeds drop drastically when gaming and on web calls.

  • Allan's avatar
    Allan
    Moderator
    5 years ago
    @Ariel.V, What speeds are you currently getting? Also, are you experiencing this issue on multiple devices in the home or just one? -Allan, Cox Support Forums Moderator.
    • Ariel_V's avatar
      Ariel_V
      New Contributor II
      5 years ago

      My speeds are good, when I do a speed test I'm getting the promised speeds of 300down and 30 up.  I'm now experiencing this on all devices and it seems that gaming or VOIP calls trigger the disconnection issue.   So when I'm not gaming or doing a video call for work, the issue is not normally felt.

      • ChrisL's avatar
        ChrisL
        Former Moderator
        5 years ago
        If you're able to trigger the issue yourself this is sounding more like there may be some router settings that need to be adjusted. That said, there may be benefit to reaching out to Arris support to see if they have any guidance.

        -Chris
  • Smorgydorg's avatar
    Smorgydorg
    New Contributor II
    5 years ago

    Spent many hours with support over 2 days. They did every test possible. A tech came out and said the line signal was good. He and the online techs (one of whom had a VERY thick Swedish accent) said it's probably my modem (Motorola MB8600). It's barely over 2 years old and, believing Cox, I left some angry reviews of the modem on sites for it failing so quickly.

    This morning my upload speed (the only thing that counts for gaming) was back to 35Mb/s--for a while. Now it's tanking again. I checked my modems logs and all I could find was time synchronization errors. Doesn't sound like it's a modem issue to me but maybe I'm wrong.

    I'm going to ask Cox to give me one of their very questionable new "gaming" modems and test it out for a few weeks. If the speed is stable, then I will know it's my modem. But if not I'll send it back,

    Cox needs to figure this out! I've paid them thousands of dollars over the years just for internet service. If Google Fioswere able to give me service in my area, I would have switched a long time ago. It gets rave reviews.

    • Ariel_V's avatar
      Ariel_V
      New Contributor II
      5 years ago

      I have also contacted support many times over the last couple weeks.  Each time they offer another service for me to pay more money to fix.  I spend $150 a month on just internet with them, so I think I should have a stable connection.  I do not believe it is your modem, as we all seem to be having similar issues and if the modems were faulty they would have seen that in some of their tests.  Especially when the tech came and checked everything out.  I'm hopeful that there is someone that reviews this that will be able to correct or give some advice.  Beyond that, I'm looking into alternatives, but unfortunately, our selections are limited.  When alternatives are made widely available, I'll be switching.  I have one night a week that I get to play online games and for months, I have not been able to finish a single game without an issue.  

      • Smorgydorg's avatar
        Smorgydorg
        New Contributor II
        5 years ago

        Conspiracy theory here: Maybe the psycho's running the company are throttling third-party modem users so they'll rent one of theirs. Just ordered one and I'll see if it suddenly works.

  • Annanprince's avatar
    Annanprince
    New Contributor
    5 years ago

    I am having the same issue and can't work because of the interruption. Technician is coming out tomorrow but I think I am going the have the same discussion you had, which will not resolve the issue,