for my explanation, im going to assume most are using a docsis 3.0+ modem and get at least 100+mbps down/10mbps up w 4 locked upstream channels

valorant is the only non-subscription based game, and one of incredibly few free to play online game options running servers at 128 tickrate. that means valorant is incredibly sensitive to your internets upload capabilities. if youre finding yourself often rubberbanding from packet loss, suffering from strange ping spikes with associated fps drops, or just otherwise feel the game plays like shit: this guide is for you

here were my signal values broadcast from my modem after i moved to a new place and noted intermittent connectivity issues/packet loss in valorant. https://i.imgur.com/Fvbrn3g.png

over a ~20 min slow as hail cmd line ping test, id see results like this:

Ping statistics for 172.217.5.78:

Packets: Sent = 1477, Received = 1475, Lost = 2 (0% loss),

Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds: Minimum = 11ms, Maximum = 132ms, Average = 17ms

thats horrible. but according to my isp, nothing was wrong! when they pinged me, everything was good. i guess they ignored my clear explanation of it being intermittent connectivity issues, but whatever. i knew i was on my own.

my upstream power values were waaaaaaaaaaay too weak. i was losing packets from my downstream signals being too hot and basically overpowering any chance of simultaneous high bandwidth download and upload. (like say, valorant) in my example: my upstream power was 35db. in my (and most peoples) situation, you want to aim towards 40-45db upstream power, with a minimum of 37db. check out the following links for more information on how to best evaluate your own signals.

https://pickmymodem.com/signal-levels-docsis-3-03-1-cable-modem/

https://motorolacable.com/whitepapers/cable-connection

by making some changes to my setup, i was able to now achieve these values https://i.imgur.com/E47rP9a.png

the power values for downstream are the smallest bit too low for my taste, (-7db to 7db is supposedly optimal, but i have so much extra bandwidth it doesnt matter, just suggested to not drop below -15db and my SNR is still great) but it was a necessary amount of hot signal dampening required to get my upload to "speak up" to the CMTS and hit that beautiful 45db average power value.

since then i did an extended packet loss test through a webRTC browser app and https://iperf.fr/ of overwatch size packets at 128/sec totaling literally over 1,000,000 packets, and i lost ZERO. there was some jitter, yea, the internets not a perfect machine, but some packets were only LATE never LOST.

this is why some connections feel like shit. people need to empower themselves, figure out what their modem is telling them, and demand their isp solve this issue.

ive bolded the most important parts of this thread. i dont expect everyone to invest the 100+ hours of effort i did into independently training themselves to be a cable technician and solving their own problems. dont expect to solve this on your own so easily, there are several issues and nuances i encountered on the path to here not included for brevity. if you can identify, or at least think you have these issues, speak to your isp, demand someone who knows what theyre talking about, and explain your modems upstream power is too low and you want a tech out to attenuate your signal, or ask them to give you the readouts for your modems upstream power over the phone, then let them know. thats it. unless you are interested in spending a week and a half on an issue that youll convince yourself youve fixed 5 times already

merry christmas