Jitter is variation in your ping over time. A consistent 50ms ping is better than a ping that fluctuates between 20ms and 80ms. Here's what causes jitter and how to reduce it.
What causes network jitter
Router QoS: if your router doesn't prioritize game traffic, a large download can spike your ping from 20ms to 200ms instantly. Enable QoS on your router, prioritize UDP game ports.
NIC interrupt moderation: your network card batches incoming packets before triggering an interrupt. This creates uneven packet delivery timing — packets arrive in clusters rather than steadily. Disabling interrupt moderation makes delivery more consistent.
Windows network stack buffering: AFD (Ancillary Function Driver) buffers introduce artificial variation. Tuning buffer sizes reduces this.
ISP bufferbloat: your ISP's routing equipment has large buffers that create variable latency under load. Test with DSLReports bufferbloat test. If bad, use an SQM-capable router.
Windows-side fixes for jitter
; Disable Nagle
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters
TCPNoDelay = 1
TcpAckFrequency = 1
; AFD buffer tuning
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\AFD\Parameters
FastSendDatagramThreshold = 1024
FastCopyReceiveThreshold = 1024
NIC interrupt moderation: Device Manager → your NIC → Advanced → Interrupt Moderation → Disabled.
Measuring jitter
Ping your game server repeatedly and look at the variance, not just the average:
ping -n 100 <server-ip>
Look at the min/max/avg line. If max is much higher than avg, you have jitter.
IzanagiOP's Scatter Pack applies all network jitter fixes. https://terweb.lt/
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