USB Tethering 5GHz Wi-Fi ping spikes while gaming recently

Troubleshooting Ping Spikes While Gaming on USB Tethering

If you’re a gamer who thrives on a stable connection, you know that even a slight hiccup in your ping can affect your performance. I’m an avid player of League of Legends, and I’ve been relying on a specific setup for a while now to maintain low, consistent ping. However, recent changes have led to some unexpected challenges.

In the past, I’ve utilized my trusty A70 smartphone for USB tethering, which allowed me to connect to my home’s 5GHz Wi-Fi network, providing a reliable ping of around 25 ms throughout my matches. My gaming setup is optimized for this as my modem uses separate bands for 5GHz and 2.4GHz, ensuring I remain connected to the faster network.

However, after upgrading to the Samsung S25+, I’ve encountered a frustrating issue. Despite setting up the tethering in the same manner, my ping has become noticeably unstable. Every few minutes, I experience spikes to 45 or 55 ms for several seconds, something I rarely faced with my old device.

To address this, I’ve performed a few troubleshooting steps, such as clearing the cache partition on my new phone and confirming that I am indeed connected to the 5GHz band. Unfortunately, these measures haven’t resolved the ping instability.

I’m reaching out for advice on what to try next. While I’m considering the option of a Wi-Fi dongle as a potential solution, I’ve found the convenience of phone tethering to be significantly beneficial. The USB port on my laptop is quite compact, and some dongles are just too bulky to fit.

I would greatly appreciate any suggestions or insights from the community. Your expertise could be invaluable in helping me restore that seamless gaming experience I had. Thanks in advance for your help!

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One Comment

  1. Hi, thank you for sharing your detailed experience. USB tethering over a 5GHz Wi-Fi network can sometimes introduce latency issues, especially with newer devices or network congestion. Here are some troubleshooting steps that might help improve your stability and reduce ping spikes:

    • Check USB Connection Stability: Ensure that your USB cable is high quality and securely connected. A faulty or low-quality cable can cause intermittent connectivity issues.
    • Update Device Firmware and Drivers: Make sure your Galaxy S25+ firmware is up-to-date, including any carrier-specific updates. Also, update your laptop’s network drivers to ensure optimal compatibility.
    • Network Settings Optimization: Verify your network settings on both your phone and PC. Disable any potential bandwidth-intensive background applications or updates that could be causing network congestion.
    • Use a Dedicated Network Monitoring Tool: Tools like PingPlotter or Wireshark can help identify where latency spikes originate—whether on the phone, the USB connection, or the PC network adapter.
    • Consider Quality of Service (QoS) Settings: If your router supports QoS, prioritize gaming traffic or tethered devices to ensure they get sufficient bandwidth and lower latency.
    • Test Different USB Ports: Sometimes, switching to a different USB port (preferably USB 3.

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