Help me figure out my intermittent internet lag spike issue...

[Comfortably Lomb]

So recently I've been getting severe lag spikes when playing games. The problem is that it only happens occasionally and when it happens it might happen for half an hour then go back to working just fine afterward. I don't notice any problems when doing typical internet browsing or watching movies or whatever (and have been pulling fairly decent ~15 MB/sec data rate). It might be occurring then but I don't need the same kind of instantaneous and uninterrupted data flow. When you're playing a game and you stop moving for half a second every few seconds, it's not a good thing. My apartment mates are experiencing the same problem so I doubt it is my computer.
 
I called Comcast and they did their usual tech support stuff: sent a diagnostic signal or whatever to my modem and everything looked good on their end. They had me wire my computer straight to the modem but since it is an intermittent issue of course it worked fine when I did that. My wireless router is four years old so maybe it is the culprit but I'd love to not spend on a new router and find the issue still there after I get it running.
 
This issue started popping up about a month ago and has been getting progressively worse. Any ideas?
 
Edit: Problem solved... it was the wireless router. Thanks folks!

 

[crystalline]

Check this
http://www.bufferbloat.net/projects/cerowrt/wiki/Quick_Test_for_Bufferbloat

 

[Lowrielicious]

Potentially interference on your wireless.
 
Do you have neighbors in close proximity?
Possibly they have recently started using wireless on the same channel , or some other source of interference that they use intermittently (cordless phone, microwave, baby monitor etc.)
 
If it's possible to do so I would stay wired and see if you experience the problems at all so you can rule that in or out. Or at least change your wifi channel to see if that can eliminate it.

 

[Marceline]

Agreed on the wireless suggestion. I had similar issues with ping times intermittently either slowing down substantially or just dropping packets, and it turned out to be wireless interference.
 
I ended up upgrading my router to a high end model (Asus RT-AC68U) and it solved all the issues I was having.

 

[Comfortably Lomb]

Potentially interference on your wireless.
 
Do you have neighbors in close proximity?
Possibly they have recently started using wireless on the same channel , or some other source of interference that they use intermittently (cordless phone, microwave, baby monitor etc.)
 
If it's possible to do so I would stay wired and see if you experience the problems at all so you can rule that in or out. Or at least change your wifi channel to see if that can eliminate it.

 
My desktop is actually wired into the router by a cable. I experience the issue wired in but someone else has issues via wireless on their laptop. I'm in the middle of Boston so there are tons of signals bouncing around but I don't think that is the issue.