ping!

[(TKC)-o]T3[o]

Better internet connection.

apparently it also has to do with your computer. maybe the ethernet card? I say this because one of my friends has 3 computers that all share the same internet from 1 router. One is this old dell that's basically the same thing I have, and the other is one of the newer dell models with vista on it. I noticed that my ping is different on each computer over there.

If you use wireless and you are getting only an okay signal, you can try using hardwire.

There are ways to tweak how much data your computer is sending to the server at a single time. Making the packet's smaller will help your ping go down, but it may cause you to lag very bad, not something you want to mess with unless your computer savvy.

Here are two things I do before playing hl2dm:
-If you have other applications using internet, close them.
-If you have another computer, and someone is using internet with it, shut down his application or... beat him up if he gets angry.

there you go. Good luck

There are ways to tweak how much data your computer is sending to the server at a single time. Making the packet's smaller will help your ping go down, but it may cause you to lag very bad, not something you want to mess with unless your computer savvy.

So the 'rate 12000' and cl_... commands i entered the other week will cause lag but reduce ping?
If so, what are the default settings, cause i get major lag spikes while playing.

Yeah I too, like Slevin, close any unnecessary processes. I have a program called Process Explorer to do so. It is basically an easier version of hitting Ctrl Alt Del and shutting down the processes there. Process Explorer shows you what is running and what company they are from as well as how much of your computer's RAM is being used up. That is how I know what to shut off. I close anything that has the words Apple (from a program my brother installed and I uninstalled but there seems to still be a process up when my computer starts), Hewlett Packard (my printer), and RealTime (not using that when gaming). I noticed less lag and a decrease in game crashes.

There are ways to tweak how much data your computer is sending to the server at a single time. Making the packet's smaller will help your ping go down, but it may cause you to lag very bad, not something you want to mess with unless your computer savvy.

So the 'rate 12000' and cl_... commands i entered the other week will cause lag but reduce ping?
If so, what are the default settings, cause i get major lag spikes while playing.

I don't know to be honest with you. Re-installing would probably be the best way to get back to the default settings.

Yeah I too, like Slevin, close any unnecessary processes. I have a program called Process Explorer to do so. It is basically an easier version of hitting Ctrl Alt Del and shutting down the processes there. Process Explorer shows you what is running and what company they are from as well as how much of your computer's RAM is being used up. That is how I know what to shut off. I close anything that has the words Apple (from a program my brother installed and I uninstalled but there seems to still be a process up when my computer starts), Hewlett Packard (my printer), and RealTime (not using that when gaming). I noticed less lag and a decrease in game crashes.

Lemme guess, is the process called AppleMobileDeviceUpdater.exe? cuz I deleted every trace of iTunes and anything to do with apple, and that still shows up

Yeah I too, like Slevin, close any unnecessary processes. I have a program called Process Explorer to do so. It is basically an easier version of hitting Ctrl Alt Del and shutting down the processes there. Process Explorer shows you what is running and what company they are from as well as how much of your computer's RAM is being used up. That is how I know what to shut off. I close anything that has the words Apple (from a program my brother installed and I uninstalled but there seems to still be a process up when my computer starts), Hewlett Packard (my printer), and RealTime (not using that when gaming). I noticed less lag and a decrease in game crashes.

Lemme guess, is the process called AppleMobileDeviceUpdater.exe? cuz I deleted every trace of iTunes and anything to do with apple, and that still shows up

Thats when your run 'msconfig' from the 'Run' program and make it so that any Apple programs don't start up.