Hi Everyone,
With Valve’s recent changes to how packet loss is calculated, many players are realizing their home network might be the issue. I encourage everyone to try the Waveform Bufferbloat Test.
This test helps determine if your lag is caused by your network or modem/router. It measures latency while downloading or uploading data. If you don’t have a decent router, your latency will spike when your network is active. Ideally, you want a bufferbloat score of at least an “A” for consistent gameplay.
Here’s how to zero in on the issue:
- Disconnect all devices except your PC and run the bufferbloat test. If you still experience bufferbloat, the issue is likely your router.
- Most bufferbloat issues arise when multiple devices fight for bandwidth, and the router struggles to manage it.
- If you get a good bufferbloat score but still experience packet loss in-game, it’s probably your ISP. Unfortunately, there’s little you can do about that.
Possible fixes:
- If your ISP isn’t the problem, consider using CAKE Smart Queue Management (SQM) on a router running OpenWRT. CAKE prioritizes traffic, similar to a supercharged QoS, and can significantly reduce or eliminate packet loss in CS2.
- If the game felt fine before the update and still does, the packet loss/jitter might not be a real issue for you. It could just be placebo from seeing the red packet loss graph. In that case, just turn off the graph and enjoy the game.
For context, I play CS2 on 5G mobile internet (the worst in the world), and my bufferbloat score is an “F” by default. My latency increases by 80ms on download and 300ms on upload, making the game unplayable without CAKE.
2 Comments
Here is mine, okish for ~14usd/month, I guess. [https://www.waveform.com/tools/bufferbloat?test-id=f8ae7495-a5ab-460a-a814-e4fd8d480dde](https://www.waveform.com/tools/bufferbloat?test-id=f8ae7495-a5ab-460a-a814-e4fd8d480dde)
For those that fixing bufferbloat at the router side is not an option,
[they can try out a powershell script that will improve it at pc level](https://old.reddit.com/r/GlobalOffensive/comments/1fvhveg/quick_guide_on_how_to_potentially_reduce_jitter/lq7v6e7/)
People should also take what a single valve employee states with a grain of salt, as it is known to stroke his ego blaming anything but the game – external software, os, pc hw, and now routers. It’s usually crickets when it comes to flaws within the game, that later on magically get fixed sans the public shaming bit.
It took more than a year to officially acknowledge that the hl:alyx shitty animations are also not networking well – maybe they should have based cs2 on a proven esports-ready Source 2 then..
Valve software is the only one releasing products so deeply affected by external factors from ram timings and oc settings to av and in-game overlays. Devs are doing something wrong, repeatedly, and they don’t have to answer to anyone or fix it in a timely manner, when hoping on more interesting projects reflects better on the yearly bonuses on top of already huge paychecks.