Any malware that could cause unstable ping?

[illiquid]

I'm getting regular mini-spikes in ping (30---> 200) every 60 secs or so and am wondering if there is any kind of infection that could cause that? Or is it most likely just the overloaded node (confirmed with time warner) that I'm on?

 

[Lethn]

I don't think that would have anything to do with Malware, never heard of it doing stuff like that. It may well be your ISP being a bitch, I've been having to deal with a twitchy connection with my provider right now.

 

[GTS]

Quote from illiquid:

I'm getting regular mini-spikes in ping (30---> 200) every 60 secs or so and am wondering if there is any kind of infection that could cause that? Or is it most likely just the overloaded node (confirmed with time warner) that I'm on?

Instead of ping use traceroute to see where (which hop) the latency is coming from...I recommend PingPlotter for this, I believe they still offer a free version

The only way I could see malware causing this problem is if it was generating so much network traffic that it caused the ping latency (saturating your connection or NIC)... if you monitor your network connection (task manager) you should be able to see if your machine is sending a lot of data without your knowledge. I doubt it.

 

[psytrade]

Download malwarebytes -- http://www.malwarebytes.org/

for free and run it once. Its very good, and quick. Run the quick scan in about 1 minute. It would catch most of the obvious stuff right away without doing a detailed scan.

 

[jharmon]

Take a close look at any other computers on your network too. Anything running a P2P file sharing system (bittorrent etc.) will saturate your outbound bandwidth periodically.

Also, if you are using a wireless network, try wired instead. If you can't go wired, make sure your wireless router/access point has the latest firmware installed and you also have the latest wireless network card drivers installed on your PC.