Strange Connection Issues

tempo101 · August 2020

Hi all,

My girlfriend is staying with me for a few weeks as my city goes into hard lockdown, we normally play together regularly with no issues whatsoever (this has been a great year for her to rediscover gaming). However we are getting two really strange issues now that she has relocated her PC here that hopefully some of you can shed light on:

Constant Disconnects
When using an ethernet cable to connect to my router she is getting disconnected back to the login screen at an alarming rate. Usually we will get between 5-20 minutes of play before she gets an error message about requiring a stable internet connecting and is returned to the login screen. In advance of a few questions:

I am plugged into the same router with absolutely no issues.
This has not been happening to her when using her home network.
Speed tests on her PC show download speeds of 90+ Mbs and upload of 35+Mbs.
We have power-cycled the modem/router, with no effect.
We have done the IP address check, but that seems to be stable.
We have given ESO, Steam, and the launcher access through the firewall, to no effect.
We have tried the Launcher repair and delete of hostfiles, but that hasn't worked.

Strange Stuttering
When we connect her wirelessly to my network she no longer has the issues with disconnection, but she gets this weird micro-stuttering. The steam FPS counter suggests that she never drops below 90 FPS, but every 10-20 there will just be a little pause or stutter that only lasts for half a second or most, but over a prolonged period is actually making her quite nauseous.

We have updated the video drivers, with no effect.
We have tried with V-Sync on and off, without effect.

We are not super tech minded, and I am at a loss as to how to address either of these issues. Solving just one would really fix this issue for us, so any insight people could provide would be much appreciated.

Elsonso · August 2020

tempo101 wrote: »

Constant Disconnects
When using an ethernet cable to connect to my router she is getting disconnected back to the login screen at an alarming rate. Usually we will get between 5-20 minutes of play before she gets an error message about requiring a stable internet connecting and is returned to the login screen. In advance of a few questions:
I am plugged into the same router with absolutely no issues.

This has not been happening to her when using her home network.

Speed tests on her PC show download speeds of 90+ Mbs and upload of 35+Mbs.

We have power-cycled the modem/router, with no effect.

We have done the IP address check, but that seems to be stable.

We have given ESO, Steam, and the launcher access through the firewall, to no effect.

We have tried the Launcher repair and delete of hostfiles, but that hasn't worked.

Windows or Mac? Notebook?
Can you use the same cable as she is using and not have problems?
Can she use your cable and not have problems?
Does it change if a different port on the router is used?
Does it still happen when she is the only one using the router? (yours is not connected to router)
How long is the cable?
What brand is the router?
Where in ESO is the character she is playing, and are you in the same place?

Alienoutlaw · August 2020

could be a firewall issue if she is using a new ip and connecting via a "public" connection

tempo101 · August 2020

Elsonso wrote: »

Windows or Mac? Notebook?
Can you use the same cable as she is using and not have problems?
Can she use your cable and not have problems?
Does it change if a different port on the router is used?
Does it still happen when she is the only one using the router? (yours is not connected to router)
How long is the cable?
What brand is the router?
Where in ESO is the character she is playing, and are you in the same place?

Thanks for the reply.

Both Windows, desktop.
Have swapped the cables, and so far that seems to be making a difference (weirdly).
No difference with port change.
Still happening if she is the only using the router if she is using the bad cable.
Cable is about 1.5m
Router is TP-Link
Happens anywhere and everywhere, no particular area.

Elsonso · August 2020

So, it sounds like you may have a bad ethernet cable? If you don't have a spare, you might want to go out and buy another ethernet cable. You can easily get what you need at Walmart, Target, Best Buy, etc.

tempo101 · August 2020

Elsonso wrote: »

So, it sounds like you may have a bad ethernet cable? If you don't have a spare, you might want to go out and buy another ethernet cable. You can easily get what you need at Walmart, Target, Best Buy, etc.

Hopefully that's it, just weird that it works for my PC. But maybe in swapping them we made a clean connection when before something just wasn't quite right? I dunno. Hopefully it continues to work.

Thanks for the help, can't believe I tried all the complex stuff before the simple tests.

idk · August 2020

Does your GF normally connect to her modem/router via copper or wifi?

If she normally connects via wifi there may be an issue with her networking card and more specifically the Ethernet port.

If this is the case then Ethernet ports that connect to a USB are cheap and easy to install. Even if it is not the case it may be worth trying if no other solution is presented as they are low cost.

and of course, the cable suggestion presented above.

Good luck