Wifi lag while gaming on phones
I have an issue with lag while gaming on wifi.
Key components of my network as below.
Nokia Fibre modem / GPON point as provided by my ISP -> Mikrotik RB4011
Mikrotik RB4011 -> OC200
Mikrotik RB4011 -> EAP225
Mikrotik RB4011 -> Rasberry Pi set up as the DNS server (Pi Hole)
Mikrotik RB4011 -> MoCA adapter 1
MoCA adapter 1 -> MoCA adapter 2
MoCA adapter 2 -> TP-Link POE switch (TL-SG1005P)
TP-Link POE switch -> EAP245
There are a few other things wired directly to the Mikrotik RB4011 and TP-Link POE switch (Smart TV, Nivida Shield, laptop).
My issue is that when I play mobile games both on my Android phone and iPhone (both on wifi), there are significant issues with lag. To confirm it is a Wifi issue, I also installed an Android emulator and played the same games on my PC which is wired to the Mikrotik directly.
Are there any setting or anything I can try to ensure better gaming performance on wifi?
Thanks in advance for your help.
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Hi @newtpuser,
Which game(s) do you experience lag with? My kids play games on their iPads & Xbox all day and haven't complained yet. Do you experience lag on BOTH the hardwired EAP225 and the MOCA connected EAP245?
Here are some things to try:
1) Disable Airtime fairness, Disable Band Steering
2) Use separate SSID's for 2.4 & 5.8
3) Enable Fast Roaming
4) Turn down transmit powers to Medium on all radios
5) Use separate channels for each AP, for each radio
6) Set the 2.4GHz BW to 20MHz, Set the 5.8GHz BW to 80MHz
7) Set the 5.8GHz radio for 802.11n & ac only
8) Make sure your firmwares are up to day (EAP225, 245, OC200)
9) Make sure your devices are on the correct AP depending on where you're at in your house
-Jonathan
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Thanks Jonathan.
I am playing brawstars.
I have tried all the steps 1 by 1 and it does not seem to improve gaming performance. Is there any way I can troubleshoot through an app?
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I just tried the 2.4 ghz network and there was noticable lower lag. Is it just netowrk congestion on the 5 ghz or is there something I should change on settings?
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Hi @newtpuser,
Here are a couple things you try:
1) Use a tool like inSSIDER to see what channels your neighbors are using and try to set the 2.4 and 5.8GHz radios to other channels
2) Make sure your two EAP's are set for different channels (and not Auto)
3) Make sure the 5.8GHz radio is set for 80MHz and not 20/40/80.
4) Make sure airtime fairness is off on both radios
5) Turn off the wireless MESH feature.
There seems to be a strange bug on the 5.8GHz radio in firmware 2.7 related to the 20/40/80 setting and the wireless mesh setting. Sometimes, not allways, speeds are reduced. Changing back and forth from 20/40/80 to 80 only (or visa-versa) often seems to clear up the issue.
From Omada, click on each AP and look at percent utilization of each band, and check the the LAN menu for RX & TX errors, dropped packets, etc. This would suggest a bad network cable.
Is it just one of the two AP's? Or are they both behaving the same?
-Jonathan
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Hi @newtpuser,
Have you run any speed tests from your mobile devices? Which iPhone/Android phones do you have?
The reason I ask is because when I downloaded and played Brawl Stars on my iPhone XSM it played beautifully (not that I'm any good), but I noticed that this is a very graphically intense game with lots of eye candy.
I'm wondering if your PC is just much faster than your mobile devices and that's why you are seeing lag on the mobile devices and not on the PC. I cannot image that this game uses the network very much. At least when I played, all of my competition were AI bots which would be on device anyway. But perhaps it's possible to play other real people over the internet?
Anyway, I've noticed that when my kids play very graphically intense games like some of the Roblox games/obbies their iPad's will bog down from all of the on screen graphical action.
Just a thought,
Jonathan
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I have all those functions turned off.
Its typically worse on the 245 vs the 225 but it does happen on both access points.
No issues with Rx / Tx errors but around 15k Rx dropped packets. Do you think this is a Lan cable issue?
Yes Braw Stars is graphics intensive but I dont think thats the issue as, if I am on 4G instead of WiFi, there is no lag.
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@AdamJ2020 Where is this setting?
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This explanation doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. I recall there being such a setting on my Android phone, but not on an iOS phone. What doesn't make sense is that the phone would not be going to sleep while you are playing the game. Unless i misunderstood the OP, I believe he was talking about lag while playing the game -- not a delay in terms of waking up his phone and then starting a new game.
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@JSchnee21 Agree that this is probably not the problem and its about lag while playing the game. However I am clutchng at straws so wanted to check and rule this out.
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So I got a new phone and it appears it was an issue with my old phone. Might have been the many hard drops it took and something wrong with the antenna. New phone works perfectly on Wifi. Thanks for everyones help.
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