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Strangest thing ever... Basically what happens is if I have a lot of ethernet traffic, my mouse doesn't work properly anymore. It 'feels' like the mouse signal gets 'blocked' out by network traffic.

I haven't found any solutions on the internet, and hope I'm posting this question on the right page. Any suggestion is very welcome!

Details

System specifications:

  • Intel i3-4330
  • Asrock H87M Pro4 (Specs here)
  • Logitech wireless (USB) mouse.

The Intel gigabit adapter is wired to a network of 1 Netgear AV+-500 adapter (connected with this PC) and 2 TP-link adapters. The connection of the Netgear adapter isn't very good, about +/- 85 Mbit.

Latest drivers and latest windows updates are all installed of course. Default settings, nothing fancy. I have antivirus software installed and did some scans to be sure; that doesn't seem to be the problem.

How to reproduce problem

Start Windows. Generate a lot of network traffic. While generating the traffic, the mouse becomes practically unresponsive. Traffic gone = mouse works fine.

Please note that it's a wired connection, so there is no wireless interference going on.

Instead of using wired traffic, I've also tried using a wireless adapter instead. Strangely, this solves the problem immediately, regardless of the amount of traffic.

What I want to know

  • How on earth is this even possible?
  • How to solve it / what setting should I tinker with?

Hereby present all the tests + results that I've done based on your input.

Tests with results

Checked: Wired/wireless mouse
Found something. Wired mouse doesn't give the same issue.

Other tests

IRQ / memory conflicts. 
How: device manager -> resources by type 
Conclusion: NO CONFLICTS

Checked: process explorer / interrupts
How: Process explorer, check interrupts process with mouse, with ethernet, with both
Observation: Mouse only: +0.2%; ethernet test: +1.5% - +2%. 
Conclusion: Nothing fancy here.

Checked: BIOS / Overclocking etc.
Conclusion: Everything OC related is simply disabled.

Checked: Wireless mouse receiver 1m further away
Conclusion: Doesn't make a difference.

Checked: performance / system diagnostics of perfmon
Conclusion: Everything well in the green. Nothing fancy pops out.

Checked: different USB port
Conclusion: Tested with a completely different USB hub. No results.

Mouse information:

  • Cordless Optical Mouse
  • Model: M-RCE95

PS: I find buying a new mouse a viable solution; just at this point not sure if it will solve anything.

Didn't have time to test everything suggested here. As for all the settings requests, it's just the windows 8 defaults; the pc is intended as media player, so I didn't care about changing anything.

Yesterday I had my hands on a Logitech Wireless Mouse M525, which worked just fine regardless of the network traffic.

My conclusion so far is that the issue has to do with one of these two things:

  • It's a Windows / driver issue. I wouldn't be surprised, the mouse is pretty old. Can be tested by using an Ubuntu live USB. If this is the case, it's basically unfixable. (?)
  • It's an interference issue. I would be surprised, so it's interesting to know if this is the case. If so, it can be tested by disabling WLAN on the router. Just confirmed: disabling WLAN on the router (= only wired) - no changes.

I would be very surprised if the issue is the second point, which suggests something is wrong with my brand new Fritz!box 7490. I hope I have some time today to test this.

Results from netsh int tcp show global:

TCP Global Parameters
----------------------------------------------
Receive-Side Scaling State          : enabled
Chimney Offload State               : disabled
NetDMA State                        : disabled
Direct Cache Access (DCA)           : disabled
Receive Window Auto-Tuning Level    : normal
Add-On Congestion Control Provider  : none
ECN Capability                      : disabled
RFC 1323 Timestamps                 : disabled
Initial RTO                         : 3000
Receive Segment Coalescing State    : disabled
Non Sack Rtt Resiliency             : disabled
Max SYN Retransmissions             : 2
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20
  • It seems to me that it's an internal problem. Maybe the USB port and the Network port are sharing the IRQ or I/O memory space causing that a very busy network port render the USB port unable to access the system resources. You will need a hardware diagnostics tool to check that.
    – jcbermu
    Commented Jun 1, 2015 at 10:41
  • Have you tried connecting the mouse to another port ? Could be a USB 2/3 issue with your mouse.
    – Razvan Zoitanu
    Commented Jun 1, 2015 at 11:11
  • @TheConfusedDBA Yes, I tried that; didn't seem to resolve anything.
    – Stefan de Bruijn
    Commented Jun 1, 2015 at 11:29
  • @jcbermu I've attempted to check that using resource allocation in the device driver properties and didn't see anything special. Do you happen to have any link or information how I can check that / what information I should post?
    – Stefan de Bruijn
    Commented Jun 1, 2015 at 11:31
  • @Stefandebrujin Check this: makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-test-your-pc-for-failing-hardware
    – jcbermu
    Commented Jun 1, 2015 at 11:49

5 Answers 5

Reset to default
2
+100

Your mouse is the M-RCE95 aka. Cordless Desktop EX 100. It has no driver on Logitech for either Windows 7 or 8, so it should work with the generic Windows driver.

This is unlikely to be a software problem, unless Windows is corrupted. To check for such corruption, however unlikely, use the sfc /scannow command.
Detailed description can be found in the article :
How to Run "SFC /SCANNOW" Command at Boot or in Windows 8 and 8.1.

As you have tried getting the mouse as physically close to the USB receiver as possible, and also further away, and as you use a USB2 port, this is probably not a problem of interference or of port incompatibility. The cause can only be interference if your environment is heavily saturated with wireless radiation, which I hope is not the case.

This leaves hardware. Try to exchange the mouse, if still under warranty, or try a wireless mouse of another model. If no wireless mouse will work in your environment, then use a wired one, but better also in this case check your environment for radiation hazards.

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14
  • Tried sfc /scannow, nothing found. As for radiation -- I'm using wired connections, because not much gets through my concrete walls here. :-) It's not wireless radiation. :-) There is a direct line of sight between the receiver and the mouse of course. Hardware: wired mouse isn't an option, it works if no network traffic is there / if I'm using wireless. So to conclude, IMHO this leaves software -- either an issue in Windows or the driver.
    – Stefan de Bruijn
    Commented Jun 5, 2015 at 8:06
  • 1
    There is still the possibility of the mouse/receiver hardware being defective, which is why I mentioned swapping or trying some other wireless mouse. The driver cannot be defective because it is part of Windows. You can always try to reinstall Windows, but I suggest first checking for a hardware problem.
    – harrymc
    Commented Jun 5, 2015 at 8:22
  • Then Why would the receiver suddenly become defective if the Physical network connection has traffic? For me that doesn't make any sense at all. The driver cannot be defective because it is part of Windows -- I've seen bugs and misconfigurations in Windows before, I don't think that's a valid assumption.
    – Stefan de Bruijn
    Commented Jun 5, 2015 at 8:24
  • It might be that the mouse driver is experiencing mis-transmissions so is working hard to re-transmit and may be disturbed by intense network traffic. Check then if enable TCP Chimney Offload is enabled for the Ethernet adapter, and post in any case the results of netsh int tcp show global. The final test for software is trying it on a Linux live CD. What make is your Ethernet card?
    – harrymc
    Commented Jun 5, 2015 at 8:35
  • 1
    Why doesn't the fact that another wireless mouse worked perfectly well convince you that there is a hardware problem with the M-RCE95? You might try to enable TCP Chimney Offload, but I don't believe it will change anything.
    – harrymc
    Commented Jun 11, 2015 at 13:00
1

You are not alone in this.
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-hardware/windows-7-64-bit-mouse-freezesstutters-multiple/0dbeaa4a-1341-41c4-932c-3fc2c524b135?page=1&tm=1433162678183
Here are a few things you can try.

1. Interference

Believe it or not, the ethernet jack can interfere with the usb mouse receiver and reduce its range, during a period of high network activity. To test this get a usb extension, maybe a 3 or 6 footer, and move the mouse receiver away from the PC.

2. Software Incompatability

Many users have reported this to be caused by a specific program.
Skype and malwarebytes were two of them.
To test, shut down any non necessary background programs/services one by one.
Do this while experiencing the issue.

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7
  • Not sure if it matters, but I'm running Windows 8, not Windows 7. As for software, it's pretty much a bare installation, practically nothing is installed; I experience it regardless of the application - it doesn't matter if I'm running Netflix or downloading from IE/Chrome. The mouse receiver is about half a meter away from the UTP jacket.
    – Stefan de Bruijn
    Commented Jun 1, 2015 at 13:10
  • Ok, seems far enough, but i would try a bit farther to be certain.
    – Cosco Tech
    Commented Jun 1, 2015 at 13:57
  • I've tried to put it much further away; didn't make any difference at all.
    – Stefan de Bruijn
    Commented Jun 1, 2015 at 17:10
  • 2
    @Costco Tech ethernet jack can interfere with the usb mouse receiver and reduce its range .Twisted pairs "leaking" enough RF in the 2.4GHz band in order to impact the wireless mouse? Could you please include a verifiable source for this claim? It sounds SCI FI to me
    – Pat
    Commented Jun 8, 2015 at 11:49
  • 1
    @pvc I'm also an EE; an Ethernet jack interfering with the usb mouse receiver is just unrealistic. Your combination of factors on the other hand is highly unlikely and it should give other symptoms like i.e. Ethernet low performance or things like that but that has not been reported.
    – Pat
    Commented Jun 10, 2015 at 22:10
1

I'm resurrecting this old thread in case its useful for others. I've had problems with unresponsive mice and my Intel D975XBX2 motherboard for around three to four years. I tried four different mice across Windows 8 through to 10 and never found a solution... until today.

The solution was to disable the Ethernet Adaptor as shown here. On doing so my mouse instantly became fully responsive.

I don't use the Ethernet port as I have a WiFi wireless adaptor. If you use your Ethernet port I suggest temporarily disabling the Ethernet adaptor to see if mouse performance improves. If it does then at least you know the cause of the issue.

I always felt this was a problem with (probably Microsoft) software and there was nothing wrong with hardware. It looks like that was the case. Sorry to resurrect an old thread but I hope its useful for others.

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2
  • I moved the USB receiver for my mouse from the front of the PC Case to the back where there are multiple USB ports and the unresponsive behaviour returned. Moving the USB receiver back to the front of the case fixed the issue. It looks like there is interference between other parts of the PC and the USB receiver. Disabling the Ethernet adaptor with the USB receiver away from the other USB ports and I/Os resolves the issue. As a precaution I disabled all unused motherboard features in the BIOS to minimise the number of peripherals that could cause interference.
    – edwinbradford
    Commented Dec 28, 2017 at 14:15
  • I wanted to update this for the benefit of others experiencing similar problems. My hard disk failed a week ago and I had to replace it with a similar model. On replacing it the responsiveness of my mouse became near perfect. Consequently I now believe the unresponsive mouse problems I've been having for years were caused by other hardware somehow interfering with its normal operation with the greatest difference being shown by replacing the hard drive.
    – edwinbradford
    Commented Jan 22, 2018 at 12:57
0

If your wired traffic somehow triggers nearby wireless traffic you'll see your problem as your wirelesses mouse share the 2.4GHz band with regular WIFI APs.

  1. Even when you connect your PC to wired Ethernet are you sure the traffic is all wired til your ISP?
  2. Do you have a wireless APs connected to your network that might create wireless traffic depending on your wired traffic; i.e. lot of broadcast traffic, ARP requests, or even a faulty AP ?
  3. do you have a cordless IP phone connected to your network? Some cordless phones also work on the 2.4GHz band

Try turning all your APs off, confirming your Internet access has not wireless segments, and checking your cordless IP phones should solve your problem.

Edit:

  1. Please also check that when you connect to internet by cable you do not have at the same time your wireless card inadvertently "associated" to your AP. Your wireless card should be turned completely off.

EDIT:

Your next step would be to split the mouse and receiver (if you can) try the same mouse with a different receiver. probably the receiver is faulty and receives interference from the same computer. Also you can try putting the receiver after a USB hub and see if that makes any difference. the hub could add some decoupling layer that might solve the issue.

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5
  • interesting suggestion, but shouldn't that mean that it will work worse instead of better when switching from wired to wireless? If I connect the PC to wireless, the mouse will actually become responsive.
    – Stefan de Bruijn
    Commented Jun 8, 2015 at 9:11
  • good point. that tells me your problem "is" your AP. When you "connect" to it somehow the spurious traffic stops. Try as I said before controlling your surrounding EMF; Turn all your 2.4GHz devices connected to your network off and repeat the test.
    – Pat
    Commented Jun 8, 2015 at 9:36
  • Okay, let me think of a way to test that...: I have no way of turning off the wireless router or by-passing that, since it's locked to the ISP. Apart from that, all network traffic should be wired (powerline + ethernet). I can run also wireshark on my laptop to see if there's a lot of ARP requests etc and phones etc can be turned off... Or perhaps you have another suggestion how to test this?
    – Stefan de Bruijn
    Commented Jun 8, 2015 at 9:43
  • Most ISP routers let you access an Admin webpage (usually at 192.168.1.1) that allow you to turn the AP on/off. Wireshark will not really help you because you do not know if the AP is mistakenly creating spurious traffic. You could use wireshark attached to a wireless NIC (WIFI sniffer vercot.com/~jeoss/howto/WIFISniffer.html) but this test also has its problems... I think the best is turning the AP completely off
    – Pat
    Commented Jun 8, 2015 at 9:49
  • Just confirmed with the test: WIFI on completely off. No effect.
    – Stefan de Bruijn
    Commented Jun 11, 2015 at 10:46
0

I have a similar problem. I had a 30m UTP cable and everything worked fine. Then I bought the TP link 500mbps adapters to cut the cord running through my house and now my mouse is doing the same thing as you described - on high network traffic it freezes and barely works. Going back to the cable everything works again. I really want it to work through the TP Link adapters, but I haven't found a solution yet.

EDIT: I just found the solution to my problem. Connecting the TP link adapter far enough from the mouse USB receiver did the trick. Now it works even during high network traffic.

EDIT 2: Also I found out that on my power strip I had a special surge protector just for my pc, the adapter wasn't connected through it, but removing it helped the problem to disappear. So I can now have it close to my pc and mouse and everything works. Hope this helps someone.

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3
  • This does not fully answer the proposed question in significant detail. Please do not post answers, indicating you have the problem also, if you don't have the solution to said problem.
    – Ramhound
    Commented Oct 6, 2015 at 15:22
  • Sorry about that, I just found the solution to my problem. Connecting the TP link adapter far enough from the mouse USB receiver did the trick. Now it works even during high network traffic. This might seem counterintuitive to what this adapters are for, but you can still use them in the same room a few meters from the pc, hiding the cables behind a closet etc.
    – user505942
    Commented Oct 6, 2015 at 15:29
  • Instead of replying to my comment. Just fix your answer, so you answer the author's question, right now it is just a confirmation you also have the problem with no solution.
    – Ramhound
    Commented Oct 6, 2015 at 15:38

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