Question About Playing Online

I've never been wired with the ps4. Only time i did wired was when i had to use internet sharing from my pc to my ps3 so i could play DRO. We didn't have wireless at the time and i had a weird router that went through usb instead of ethernet, so couldn't use it directly wired to the ps3.

In my current home, they are in the same room as each other. The only time it is spotty is when the internet itself is being spotty. Wired wouldnt fix it, cause I've tried already with my laptop. Actually had an engineer call out around two months ago after several complaints to Virgin, and they repaired some cable inside the wall. Turns out the cable that went into my router from the outside world was on it's last legs.

When i go back to my mum's, the wireless is iffy in my bedroom. I think they have it in a bad position but it works in the rest of the house and I'm not gonna go to the effort of getting it moved so i can play online. I just wait until the living room is free or play something offline.

I'm on wireless. I occasionally get issues on PS4, but I'm good for the most part. It use to be worse, but several factors have improved my internet within the last year. For one, we simply paid for a more expensive but better internet service. And two, having other people in the house with devices definitely has an effect. I had a roommate that just moved out, and my connection has improved dramatically. He had his phone, his own Playstation, and a laptop connected to our wireless and it would get bad at times. It's been almost flawless since he moved though. 

It also helps to change the channel of the router whenever it gets bad. Yes, that's a thing. A signal can get congested if other people in the area are on the same channel (or wavelength, so-to-speak) with their routers. Because even though everyone in your community is paying for their own internet, there's only so many frequencies in the air that signals can propagate through. And most people don't adjust the settings of their routers and will go with the default channel, which results in most people sharing the same channel/wavelength. However, you can adjust the channel of your router to a channel most people aren't using. 

All three of those factors have improved my wireless connection.

However, with all that said, my games lag more on my PC than they do on PS4 for some reason. I have Dark Souls 3 and Overwatch on both platforms, so I'm able to compare it with identical games. And my PC is probably about 3 feet away from my PS4 so they're both roughly the same distance away from my router, which it self is in another room completely (I'd estimate that it's probably 15 to 20 feet away from my gaming platforms). The thing is though, a game like Overwatch is unplayable for me on PC. It lags that badly and that constantly. Nothing I've done has improved it. Where as it's just fine on PS4. My PC is probably 3 or so feet further from my router than my PS4, so I don't know if such a small difference can do that. But it is what it is.

Alot of routers nowadays I think have an auto channel select, but that only works when you turn it off/on. It can't change channel while in use, unless you tell it to.

@Melee
Weird the PC has more lag. Maybe you just notice it more since PC generally has more smooth / sensitive controls and better frame rate?

No, it definitely lags more on my PC and the lag is constant. Meaning it never not lags. I bought Overwatch over a month ago and barely played two matches. That's how unplayable it is for me. Where as I play all the time on PS4 with minimal issue. 

Heck, a while back, someone sent me an invite to a community group on Steam that's dedicated to people with a shitty connection. This was when I was playing a lot of Dark Souls 3.

Damn, that's rough.