Network Utilization - not really dealing with ESO, just general question

AlienPrimate

I have been wondering for a while now about how network utilization on a router works. I only share the router with my brothers and it always says that I only use about .5% of the available network. This is when I watch videos or play games like ESO or LoL. I always have terrible lag while playing ESO, so I was confused when I did a speed test online and discovered that I have excellent internet. Finally, I did a speed test while looking at the network utilization and it was at about 40% during the speed test and immediately dropped back below 1% when the test was concluded. What causes this?

NerfEverything

If you are using the windows tools to monitor your network utilization, the % it is giving you is based on your computer's network card's maximum connection speed (10Mbs/100Mbs/1000Mbs) and has nothing to do with your router or internet connection's maximum speed. So the number is basically useless.

To answer your question, the speed test will max out your internet connection. If you are paying for a "10Mbs" connection, which is typical for broadband, you are probably only ever getting 5Mbps max because broadband companies are liars and thiefs. So what you were seeing was your internet connection maxing out at 4Mbs on you 10Mbs network card, showing a 40% utilization.

AlienPrimate

If that is what is being payed for, why is it that I use so little when I'm doing something that actually needs the connection, not just a worthless test? How is the test able to pull so much data while everything else lags while having the potential of a good connection?

NerfEverything

ESO doesn't need a lot of bandwidth, ESO uses less than 1% on my utilization monitor and I don't get any lag. Your lag issues are most likely caused by problems with your router/ISP not having the correct ports open. There should be a section in the customer support page that says what ports need to be open and how to do it. Or just submit a support ticket and they should be able to help you out.

But if you are on the EU server, I hear it is just constantly laggy.

AlienPrimate

Thanks for the post. I'll try that.