TP-Link router (TD-W8951ND) super high ping

I'm using the router mentioned in the title and I'm having a connection issue: from time to time my connection starts lagging very hard and becomes basically unusable. I'm connected through wi-fi. Further inspection showed that I can't access the router control panel at 192.168.1.1 but strangely enough I can ping it: during these high-lag moments I get very high ping.

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=254 time=3099 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=5 ttl=254 time=2511 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=6 ttl=254 time=1589 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=7 ttl=254 time=1792 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=8 ttl=254 time=1662 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=9 ttl=254 time=1970 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=10 ttl=254 time=2251 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=11 ttl=254 time=2005 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=12 ttl=254 time=2391 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=13 ttl=254 time=4967 ms

When the problem disappears I can ping it and get 1ms or even lower pings (I still can't access the admin interface). I'm almost sure the problem isn't on my end because other people experienced the same problem and we're all using different platforms. I'm also not sure if there is something triggering this, as of now it seems completely random.

The Coding Monk

Posted 2014-10-05T21:42:38.123

Reputation: 173

What do you mean by "I can't access the router control panel"? 404? Infinite loading? – gronostaj – 2014-10-05T21:43:48.727

Infinite loading – The Coding Monk – 2014-10-05T21:44:14.810

Infinite loading is typical to many routers based on Billion firmware, it's not necessarily associated with your issue. I have exactly that router model and I rarely can access panel on first attempt. Cancelling and trying again usually helps. (Btw it indicates that router is running out of RAM.) How many people are connected to this router? Is anybody downloading torrents? – gronostaj – 2014-10-05T21:47:47.947

Mmm, I tried several times and I was never able to access it. We are four people but I'm just connected with my computer, I guess everybody else has 2 (somebody maybe more) devices connected, so between 5 and 8 devices at any time. But apparently it seemed to occur even during low usage times, but I'm still not sure about it. – The Coding Monk – 2014-10-05T21:52:58.247

As for the torrents, it seems nobody is using it or downloading/uploading lots of stuff, just average usage: www, some streaming applications and maybe some games. – The Coding Monk – 2014-10-05T21:58:48.370

Are you using ESET antyvirus or ESET Smart Security by any chance? I had similar problem. – Diodak – 2015-01-04T12:19:05.467

1This doesn't seem to be correct. If the wifi signal is unstable, you'd expect a lot of lost packets as well as fluctuating ping times. Also, the computers would have to reconnect to the network when the signal came back, which would be very noticeable but the asker doesn't mention it. – David Richerby – 2015-01-04T12:22:36.257

"Unstable" wifi signal meant it's weaken and not necessary to disconnect the network. But I agree David, this is not the only possibility. He should consider updating firmware/driver of the modem also. – Minh Nguyen – 2015-01-05T20:56:41.703

TP-Link router (TD-W8951ND) super high ping

Answers