Why is my ping so unsteady in game?

[RoLeX718]

I have what you would call, a spikey ping in the game i play, f.e.a.r. multiplayer, and my ping jumps all over the place. It is never the same or close to the same ping for atleast 3 seconds. For example, the initial ping is 32. My ping will be 38, 29, 42, 23, 54. I have a cable connection and windows vista 64 bit. Anyone know how I can make my ping steady?

[mjc]

Yeah, take a pair of wire cutters and cut the cable to all your neighbors...

Ping is a totally, not user configurable item. With cable, it depends a lot on how many connections there are in your immediate vicinity (neighborhood), how many connections there are to your cable company (ISP) in general, distance to the gateway, and about a dozen more factors. With DSL, some of the conditions are the same but there are different ones that affect it.

[jlreich]

Yeah, take a pair of wire cutters and cut the cable to all your neighbors...
Haha! I like that solution. :D

[saphalline]

For example, the initial ping is 32. My ping will be 38, 29, 42, 23, 54. I have a cable connection and windows vista 64 bit. Anyone know how I can make my ping steady?Ummm... It IS steady!

Your ping is under 100 ms. That is outrageously bad@$$!! A good ping connection via the internet is considered to be around 150 ms. At 250, you need to start worrying. Anything above 350 ms should be labeled as RED IMO! Can't properly play shooters at that latency!

My point is that I've seen LAN players with pings like yours! Count your blessings that your neighbors aren't into gaming. ;)

[jlreich]

And don't forget that there are tons of wires and routers and switches, oh my!, your data is going to and fro in order to play the game. You may have a 10Gb connection but it doesn't matter if the network on the way there is slower for whatever reason. Saph is right, that is a good connection.

I still like the idea of cutting the neighbors cables though. :p :D