Valorant Packet Loss: How to Diagnose and Fix the Problem
Is your Valorant game lagging? If so, the problem might be related to packet loss—here's how to fix it.
Updated June 22, 2023.
When playing an online game like Valorant, our PCs need to communicate information about what we are doing locally to Riot's game servers. This information is communicated in groups of data called packets. And sometimes, a percentage of these packets don't make it all the way from your computer to the game server, resulting in your computer needing to resend the same information, otherwise known as packet loss.
Most often, you will notice that you're experiencing lag spikes or rubber banding (when your character jumps or teleports from place to place out of your control). Here's how you can fix that.
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1. Restart Your Internet Connection
One of the simplest ways to possibly fix the issue is to reset your internet connection. Unplug your WiFi router, leave it off for at least 30 seconds, and plug it back in. Ideally, you should have a wired Ethernet connection from your PC directly to your router. However, if you are gaming on WiFi, try to get closer to the router for a more stable connection.
2. Update Your Drivers
Sometimes, your drivers can be the issue. When there are new updates to the game, some parts of your hardware may no longer be compatible without a driver update. The quickest way to check for driver updates is to navigate to Device Manager on your PC and right-click on different hardware devices to update drivers.
A more thorough way of updating drivers is to use a program like Driver Easy, which dives deeper into the drivers that you can't normally access through the Device Manager.
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3. Flush and Renew DNS Cache
When interacting with a game server, your DNS turns domain names into an IP address. Sometimes these IP configurations can be outdated, expired, or conflicting. By flushing your DNS, you can resolve these issues.
To do so:
- Search for the Command Prompt on your PC.
- Run it as an administrator.
- Type ipconfig /flushdns into the terminal.
- Close the Command Prompt.
- Restart your PC.
4. Contact Your Internet Service Provider
Lastly, if none of the above works, contact your internet service provider. Hopefully, they can let you know if the issue is on their side and fix it. If that doesn't help, perhaps you can change your internet provider and opt for a better one.
Smooth Connection for More Wins
Facing problems like packet loss will make winning gunfights and ranking up near impossible. Rather than trying to brute-force your way through an unplayable experience, set aside some time to get the problem fixed!
» Interested in Valorant Tracker? Read how to use Valorant Tracker safely
