AT&T Routing My Connection To Washington

Please provide the evidence that shows you're going through Washington state.   If you're relying on whois information for internal ISP router hops, then you are probably getting bad location information.

Hi @lucianotechera,

We understand that you're facing high latency and ping when you’re trying to enjoy online games and streams. We hear you, and happy to assist you.

You mentioned that you disabled Active Armor, which is a good first step. However, let’s double-check to ensure it’s completely turned off.

IP addresses are often geolocated based on registration information, which might not always reflect your actual physical location. Sometimes, routing decisions are influenced by this geolocation data. It’s possible that your IP address is being misidentified as being in Washington due to geolocation databases. Just to confirm, are you located closer to the server in Utah?

Some games allow you to manually select servers. Make sure you’re connecting to servers located in Utah or nearby regions. If the game doesn’t provide server selection, consider using a gaming VPN service that allows you to choose specific server locations.

To make sure that you have acceptable ping and latency, please check out our article entitled: High Latency & Ping - What You Need to Know which will give you information and testing that you can do from your AT&T equipment. You can also use our article on Trouble Gaming & High Ping for more troubleshooting options. 

If you need help with anything else, let us know. We'll be happy to assist.

Thank you for contacting us on AT&T Community Forums!

Jennifer, AT&T Community Specialist.

Hello. Thank you for the quick response. Active Armor is 100% off as I have checked several times. My closest server is obviously the Utah one because I live in Salt Lake City. The thing is that it happens with every service and game. I tried using Geforce Now when I first installed the internet and ran the server test to find my optimal server and it kept jumping between NA west, NA mountain, and NA central. l got about 50 ping in all of them. Every time i use something like whatsmyip or an ip locator the location switches between Washington state, New York, or Arizona. When I play Valorant, I set my server to the closest one to me (San Diego) and I get about 80 ping, when I used to get about 20 ping with my old ISP. I also tried using my PS5 and it says I have 50 latency to my internet even though the connection is wired through Ethernet. I also tried the Ookla speedtest and it automatically connects me to what is supposed to be the closest server, a California server with 50 ping. With my old ISP it would always connect me to the server in Salt Lake City, so I'm certain it has something to do with AT&T. I have an average of 300 down and up connection so it isn't that the connection is slow, but the latency is terrible.

Was your previous ISP a cellular service such as T-Mobile or Verizon 5G Home internet or was the previous ISP a hardwired connection?

For cellular service latency of 50 to 100 is the minimum I would expect, hardwired ISP should be lower.

Hi lucianotechera! Thank you for reaching out to us. We understand that you're facing issue while gaming with the AT&T internet connection. We hear you, and are happy to assist you.

We recommend that you try optimizing your internet connection, this will help boost your internet speed.

You can also prioritize one of the connected device. For the steps please visit out article about use Smart Home Manager to control your devices.

Also, please try restarting your gateway or modem manually:

1. Unplug the power cord from the back of your gateway or modem. If you have: 
   • An internal battery backup, remove it
   • DSL, unplug the phone cord from your modem or gateway
2. Wait 20 seconds.
3. Put the internal battery back in if you have one. 
4. Plug the power cord back in. If you have DSL service, reconnect the phone cord.
5. Wait for the gateway or modem to restart and your Broadband light to turn solid green. This can take up to 10 minutes.

If issue persists, please ⁠reset your Wi-Fi gateway to original settings.

Please let us know the below details to help you better:

1. What is your AT&T Internet plan?
2. How many devices are connected?
3. In which device you're facing this issue?

For more information please visit our forum thread about Internet High Ping - Solutions & Things to Know.

Let us know how it goes!

For further assistance we're here to assist you.

Thank you.

Emma, AT&T Community Specialist.