Hoping some experts in networking could help me solve a puzzling problem:
Scenario:
Playing Civilization 5 in multiplayer: The first time I attempt a connection to a host, my ping is superb and the game is stable with no drop outs. Any subsequent connection after that is abysmal with pings swinging wildly between 100ms and 30s. Yup... seconds.... This results in the game dropping connection every time.
So, to figure out what was causing the issue, I hooked up the cable modem directly to my PC and have no problem connecting and keeping a very respectable (<25ms and stable) ping. I would disconnect and reconnect repeatedly to make sure it truly was stable.
Then, after putting the router (D-Link DIR-655) back into the mix (wired), my first connection is successful and stable, but as soon as I disconnect and reconnect, the latency swings wildly and game stability tanks.
I'm describing this to you in terms of Civ 5 because it is the only place where I can reliably test the results of my configuration and it is where the stability and packet loss are causing me the most apparent and measurable problem.
Question: Is this a settings issue or a straight up hardware failure issue... The reason I haven't immediately assumed the router is dead and dumped it, is because the fact of the initial connection working without any problem. Any ideas?
Thank you for taking the time to read that mess.