Hello, I get massive Input Lag when moving my character or when I use abilities.
This is happening in Quick Match and AI Match but not in Try Mode. It is also not happening in any other game. Only in HotS.
Thanks for providing that WinMTR test data. The test here shows 37% packet loss at the first “hop”:
This first hop is the connection from your computer to the router or modem (depending on what device you’re connecting to). Packet loss is somewhat common to see with WiFi connections, so if you are using WiFi, try testing a direct connection to the router or modem via ethernet cable. Note that we do not directly support wireless connections. If you find that WiFi is the problem, you can contact the support team for the WiFi device or the wireless router.
If a wired connection doesn’t fix the issue or isn’t possible, and the troubleshooting steps here have no impact, I recommend contacting your Internet Service Provider (ISP) for assistance determining what is causing the packet loss. They might need to adjust network-level security/firewall settings or temporarily replace the network devices in your home to narrow it down further. Additionally, I always recommend requesting to be forwarded to a “level 2 or level 3 technician” when contacting the ISP since the front-line representatives typically only have access to basic diagnostics and troubleshooting tools.
Hopefully this information has provided further insight into the situation and helps get things fixed up so you can get back to playing as normal! Let us know if you have any questions going forward.
Hello Skelgarer, thank you very much for responding,
since the big loss appears to be on the first hop to my router (which I am connected to via cable), would that not mean i’d get a minimum packet loss of 37% in every single online game?
Due to the fact that this kind of input lag or lag in general is only happening in HotS, I’m wondering if these two hops (which I think are Blizzard IPs) might be the cause of my problem, since they show well above average latency times.
You do bring up some valid questions about what the test shows and where a problem may be. Let’s go over what we can here since I know that’s the primary reason you’re asking about the results. This is going to get wordy, yet since these are common concerns, I want to be thorough for yourself and anyone else who may come across this post for a similar issue.
These results can look alarming and in fact are occurring in Blizzard’s network. Having latency spikes of 1000+ can definitely explain things however this area is also known to cause this type of alarming results. It has to do with network filters that look for game data vs ICMP packets. Since game data is important to keep everyone playing, the filter will sometimes make ICMP packets(what a Winmtr or Pathping test would send) wait while the other data passes through. This makes it so results in some areas of the network will show higher latency and sometimes packetloss. Generally we can rule out an issue in this area with 2 things. The first being if other players report a problem. The other being test results and what shows after it. Considering there is no widespread issue being reported and the lines after the ones pasted show more “normal” latency with no packetloss, it’s pretty safe to assume no problem is occurring here.
As for what the results do show, the first 2 lines in each test do look quite odd.
That’s just the last test ran but both show the same general pattern here with packetloss. It does not look to be true loss, yet it’s hard to tell when the first hop of the test shows different value for packets sent and received compared to the last hop. There is also a Best result of 9ms. That isn’t high, yet if this is a wired connection and that’s showing how data moves from your system to the network devices, then the distance traveled is relatively short and thus the result is much higher than it should be. Typically we’d expect a 0-3ms here for wired with possibly 0-5ms being seen for wifi.
A network issue still seems most likely considering the results here. Before going to the ISP with the results, you can try bypassing the router and plugging directly into the modem. Another method to narrow down the problem is trying an alternative connection like a friend’s or neighbor’s wifi. Many players have hotspot or tethering capability on their mobile device too which is also a worthwhile way to test. It isn’t meant to be a replacement for your normal connection since such is still wireless, yet it can be useful for troubleshooting temporarily. If you find changing the connection helps then talking to your ISP really is going to be best here.
If you have tried that and see no difference though, a connection problem is still likely but may be something on the system causing the problem instead. At that point submitting a ticket so we can check out what’s showing in an Msinfo file would be advised. Including what was done already and the Winmtr or just including a link to this thread is good so we can review the everything and avoid repeating steps or information already shared.
I do hope this information is useful and covers the concerns fully. Cheers friend!
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