Hi there,

I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction with these ping spikes I've been having. I'm with a business high speed company in Canada (Bell). The bandwidth usage is unlimited and they say they aren't doing anything to curb P2P traffic.

My ping at speedtest.net is a nice 18 ms usually. In an online game an average ping is 40 something. But after 5-10 minutes it will jump to the 700s and beyond. This will last for a few minutes, though exiting the game (and why not...I get a ping kick) helps it return to normal faster (~30 seconds instead of ~1-2 minutes). This happens with streaming video as well, though perhaps less often (which may have more to do with bandwidth demand). It seems to start up after 10-15 minutes and will return to normal as quickly as with the game if I pause the video. The spikes happen when surfing too, I just can't tell if the frequency is different since I'm not constantly using bandwidth as with the game or a video.

Things I've tried:

-new router (linksys E3000)
-updated router firmware
-changed MTU and channels
-new cable between modem and router
-new modem
-windows 7 (64 bit) tweaks
-updated all drivers (tried disabling sound)
-The spikes happen to me (PC, wired through router) and the wirelessly connected laptop (mac), even if there's only one computer on.

Things that are weird:
-I call my ISP and say test the line I'm having a ping spike, and they say the line is fine. (Maybe they just don't catch it in time? But that just never seems to be the case).
-The same thing was happening with the old router; I don't have a static IP nor have I played with the default settings other than the MTU and channel.
-If I take the router off and wire directly from the modem, the ping spikes sometimes happen less often, maybe once every 1-2 hours. I don't do this often, so maybe it's been just a fluke that that has happened a couple of times.

To me the problem must be in the line. Could there be a problem that the ISP wouldn't pick up? Something in the house? Something about electrical supply? My surge protector says that there's a building wire fault in all the outlets upstairs, but our building inspector tested them and didn't seem alarmed. Maybe they aren't grounded or something, I forget.

This is driving me batty. If anyone has any ideas I would be more than grateful.

Thanks!