High packet loss and slow load times

Hello, I started experiencing connection issues while playing last evening (2022-08-09). I was in DSR and when a phase transition would occur my connection appeared to lag and my skill animations were missing (I noticed it the most on the transition from phase 5 to phase 6). Now zone transitions appear to take longer to load, and swapping jobs also has a noticeable lag/delay.

This thread is similar to what I'm experiencing: https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...nd-packet-loss

Performing a tracert shows there are several hops on the ntt.net network which appear to be dropping packets.

Code:

HOST: Loss% Snt Last Avg Best Wrst StDev 5.|-- lo0-0.gw2.cjj1.us.linode.com 0.0% 2 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.0 6.|-- ??? 100.0 2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 7.|-- be2073.ccr31.jfk10.atlas.cogentco.com 0.0% 2 2.3 2.4 2.3 2.5 0.0 8.|-- ae-13.r01.nycmny17.us.bb.gin.ntt.net 0.0% 2 2.3 2.3 2.2 2.3 0.0 9.|-- ae-2.r21.nwrknj03.us.bb.gin.ntt.net 0.0% 2 2.5 2.4 2.4 2.5 0.0 10.|-- ae-3.r22.chcgil09.us.bb.gin.ntt.net 0.0% 2 21.3 21.5 21.3 21.7 0.0 11.|-- ae-1.r23.chcgil09.us.bb.gin.ntt.net 50.0% 2 21.1 21.1 21.1 21.1 0.0 12.|-- ae-1.r24.snjsca04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net 50.0% 2 71.5 71.5 71.5 71.5 0.0 13.|-- ae-4.r00.scrmca02.us.bb.gin.ntt.net 0.0% 2 74.8 74.7 74.7 74.8 0.0 14.|-- xe-0-1-0-1-1.r00.scrmca02.us.ce.gin.ntt.net 0.0% 2 74.8 74.9 74.8 75.0 0.0 15.|-- 204.2.229.230 0.0% 2 74.8 74.8 74.7 74.8 0.0 16.|-- 204.2.229.95 0.0% 2 74.3 74.2 74.2 74.3 0.0

I tried to follow Xaysen's advice in the thread linked above and connect to a Seattle VPN, but still saw high packet loss from several ntt.net hops.

Code:

Hop Sent PL% Min Max Avg Host Name / [IP] 5 20 0 84.55 94.20 90.82 be2122.rcr21.sea03.atlas.cogentco.com [154.24.63.121] 6 20 0 86.27 100.49 93.01 be2895.ccr21.sea02.atlas.cogentco.com [154.54.83.169] 7 20 0 87.31 97.71 91.14 ae-11.r05.sttlwa01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [154.54.11.10] 8 20 0 87.34 92.40 89.94 ae-2.r25.sttlwa01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.2.94] 9 20 0 107.13 117.13 109.65 ae-3.r25.snjsca04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.3.124] 10 20 85 105.19 116.49 109.99 ae-5.r24.snjsca04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.3.146] 11 20 0 108.72 118.09 111.55 ae-4.r00.scrmca02.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.7.57] 12 20 0 108.51 121.63 114.38 xe-0-1-0-1-1.r00.scrmca02.us.ce.gin.ntt.net [192.80.16.2] 13 20 70 108.17 117.75 115.03 204.2.229.230 [204.2.229.230] 14 20 0 110.91 114.36 112.76 204.2.229.95 [204.2.229.95]

Yeah there always seems to be high packet loss regardless of what I'm using. The only difference is there seems to be more on my actual ethernet connection to the servers. As long as I'm on a VPN tho I don't have the freezing for 10 second slideshow chaos that happens on my regular connection. Its likely there is always going to be some packet loss regardless of what is used however it seems for some special players like us there is more on our routes that is causing issues to appear in game compared to most of the population.

Here's my actual connection with pingplotter, I omitted the first few hops for privacy reasons but there is no packet loss on the first four hops.
https://imgur.com/a/6HP15gd

You can see theres a string of NTT servers that smack me with packetloss right in a row. 3.8%, 32.4%, 56.7%, 55.0%, and another 77.7% right before the server.

Any VPN location will give me less than that but I think since I reached a certain threshold in PL in the duration of the trip its causing me to see issues but I'm no expert haha.

Greetings Adventurer!

We would be happy to assist with your concern. Please try the following troubleshooting to see if this helps with the connection issues you are experiencing. Configure the Internet Explorer web browser. Final Fantasy XIV will use the Internet Explorer web browser to connect to the internet. As such, it needs to have the proper configurations to avoid connection issues. Adjust the following settings in the Internet Explorer (not Microsoft Edge) web browser. Open the IE browser, open the "Tools", go to "Internet Options" and adjust the following settings:

- Under the "General" tab, please delete ALL browser history.
- Under the "Security" tab, please move the slider to the lowest possible settings or no higher than "Medium"
- Under the "Privacy" tab, click “Advanced” and select ‘Accept’ under both First Party and Third Party Cookies.
- Under the "Advanced" tab, please make sure that "Allow software to run or install even if signature is invalid" is CHECKED.
- Make sure that all SSL and TLS (EXCEPT SSL 3.0) are CHECKED. [SSL 3.0 should be UNCHECKED]
- Hit "Apply" to save the settings, and then "OK, to close the Internet Options menu.
- Reset the PC.

Once your PC has been reset, Right-Click the FFXIV launcher icon once more and select "Run as Administrator". This option can also be set permanently by Right-Clicking on the FFXIV launcher icon, selecting 'Properties', then under the Compatibility tab, check the box that says "Run this program as an administrator" and clicking 'OK'. If you do not see an improvement, please feel free to respond to this thread for further troubleshooting.

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