Launcher times out - unable to connect (Australia)

The message I get from every section of the launcher is "A connection error has occured. Please try again later." The username/password section of the launcher doesn't load, and neither do the news items.

However, from the launcher I :
- can connect to Online Store
- cannot connect to Lodestone, Patch Notes or Play Guide.

I have a EU version of the game, but wasn't sure if I should post to the EU thread because my ISP is Australian (Optus).

This problem only started occurring within the past 30 hours. When I use my VPN (ExpressVPN) routed through LA, California everything loads as normal. I don't generally game with my VPN on, however. When the launcher does load through VPN, I noticed there were some network issues that had been resolved that seem to coincide almost exactly with when my network problems started occurring. Please let me know where I can even start with troubleshooting this problem. To start, I've turned everything off and on again. :D

Good morning and thank you for visiting the Final Fantasy XIV Technical Support Forums.

When this error message occurs, is the computer connected to the router or is it running off of WiFi? Additionally does the game disconnect when the VPN is turned off?

Thank you for visiting the Final Fantasy XIV Technical Support Forums

I'm also having the exact same issue since yesterday and I am from Australia also. Playing on PS4. Even this forum does not load unless using a VPN that directs to another country.

Its been like this for two days. I tried using a vpn today, on Elemental. The moment I turned it off, disconnected immediately. I was also lagged badly, tried using wtfast and yep timed out and same issue

Cant connect to launcher, cant get to Mogstation, cant get to Lodestone. VPN works but am VERY loathe to use it in case it gets tagged...this isnt funny at all.

The OCE servers cant come too soon.

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When this error message occurs, is the computer connected to the router or is it running off of WiFi?

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Cable connection.

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Additionally does the game disconnect when the VPN is turned off?

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Yes. Instantly.

Caetie, its an NBN routing issue apparently...I have also been told that said NBN normally routes traffic from Australia to the Elemental servers via INDIA..which beggars belief.

I'm also having the exact same issue on PC. VPN is the only thing that will let me connect. I have a hard connection and it disconnects when I turn the VPN off

So apparently my problem is only on the launcher. Prior to this I have been able to swap between my wi-fi connection and hotspot from the actual game screen (where you can start, choose your data center, watch the trailers, configure etc.) without disconnecting. So today I turned my VPN on, logged in, clicked play to load the game, then turned off my VPN and was able to select start and login to my character as per normal through my standard ISP.

So whatever problem this is, it is solely a launcher problem. The game itself routes fine for me once I've gone through the initial login process.

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So today I turned my VPN on, logged in, clicked play to load the game, then turned off my VPN and was able to select start and login to my character as per normal through my standard ISP.

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Tried that. Instant disconnect.

It appears to be an issue with Optus NBN. Are you all using Optus? I can't even use my phone (telstra) to hotspot, my ps4 wont even connect to it for some reason.

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Are you all using Optus?

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Yes I am. Sadly.

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Originally Posted by Kentaro27

Are you all using Optus? I can't even use my phone (telstra) to hotspot

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Yes, and my phone is also through Optus and hotspots just fine.

Tried hotspotting to my brothers iphone and it worked. His provider is Optus, and it loads the game just fine. So yeah, its specifically Optus NBN, not their mobile network or broadband by the looks of it.

Ive called them again, and after a *sigh* lengthy conversation with one rep who was..not listening...I got onto a supervisor, gave them the case number and am now waiting on a callback. All he can tell me is that their "back end" is working on it...so now I wait 48 hrs.

Thanks for the hotspot advice, ill try and make it work.

Also on optus so hopefully this get fixed for all of us

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Originally Posted by VelKallor

Ive called them again, and after a *sigh* lengthy conversation with one rep who was..not listening...I got onto a supervisor, gave them the case number and am now waiting on a callback. All he can tell me is that their "back end" is working on it...so now I wait 48 hrs.

Thanks for the hotspot advice, ill try and make it work.

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Yeah I dread calling Optus. I just sent them a message via their app and have been chatting to one of their staff who seems to be reasonable and will look into it more. The more of us that call or send them a message about this issue, the quicker it will be resolved. Otherwise they will treat it as a minor thing only 1 or 2 people are experiencing and it may never get sorted. Mention this thread and also the one over on reddit if you can to raise more awareness.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comme...g_in/?sort=new

Good to see im not the only one facing this issue.

I have Reinstalled windows, Reinstalled the game. Tryed changeing my Iexplorer settings, changed the boot setting ect ect.

Closest i could get was the game loader opening with a hotspot but erroring when trying to start. When i downloaded a VPN it worked but im not going to pay exstra money to play a game.

I am a Optus NBN user also :*(

There are free vpn's, but they are...somewhat laggy.

Yeah and if you're playing in Aus where the ping is already terrible, this is the last thing you want.

I am hoping they fix this soon, I do NOT want to go into Endwalker on a laggy vpn.

So Optus is aware of it at least, official twitter account replied that they are looking into it and trying to fix it https://twitter.com/Optus/status/146...870812165?s=20

I was helping an Australian friend troubleshoot this issue, and it seems like this only affects connections from Optus to Square Enix servers in Japan, such as for the game's launcher/login screen, the Lodestone, and forums.

Doing a traceroute to the lodestone for instance clearly showed the traffic dropping after going from Optus through the Level3 network to Tokyo, whereas connection tests to the NA and EU datacenter worked without a hitch.

Unfortunately it seems that Final Fantasy XIV's login process requires passing through the unreachable Japan-based servers first before you connect to the datacenter servers elsewhere. We worked around that for now by switching to a phone hotspot or VPN to get past the launcher login, then switching back to regular internet before connecting to the datacenter to choose a character. Doing it like that retained the login session from the launcher and prevented a disconnect from the datacenter servers due to changing IP's/routes.

So it mainly seems like Optus needs to figure out why traffic routed to the Japan-based Square Enix servers is not working properly to get this fixed properly...

Having the same issue, it seems to be an NBN problem as I was able to log in here and my Mogstation on Optus 4G mobile

I have been getting the same message in every section, so I just turned off my router and was able to log into the Mogstation and Lodestone using Optus 4G mobile network.
So it maybe an NBN problem as if was Optus I wouldn’t be able to even do that.

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Originally Posted by Gawayne

I was helping an Australian friend troubleshoot this issue, and it seems like this only affects connections from Optus to Square Enix servers in Japan, such as for the game's launcher/login screen, the Lodestone, and forums.

Doing a traceroute to the lodestone for instance clearly showed the traffic dropping after going from Optus through the Level3 network to Tokyo, whereas connection tests to the NA and EU datacenter worked without a hitch.

Unfortunately it seems that Final Fantasy XIV's login process requires passing through the unreachable Japan-based servers first before you connect to the datacenter servers elsewhere. We worked around that for now by switching to a phone hotspot or VPN to get past the launcher login, then switching back to regular internet before connecting to the datacenter to choose a character. Doing it like that retained the login session from the launcher and prevented a disconnect from the datacenter servers due to changing IP's/routes.

So it mainly seems like Optus needs to figure out why traffic routed to the Japan-based Square Enix servers is not working properly to get this fixed properly...

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This is good info, thanks for sharing. So the issue lies in the login screen being based in Japan, and Optus NBN having some sort of issue with the traffic being sent there, before being rerouted to NA or EU.

So I just got a message from Optus saying they have finally put this on high priority and acknowledged the connection error to Tokyo. Fingers crossed this gets fixed today or tomorrow.

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So I just got a message from Optus saying they have finally put this on high priority and acknowledged the connection error to Tokyo. Fingers crossed this gets fixed today or tomorrow.

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Excellent.

All we can do is wait..but great news. Thank you :D.

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Originally Posted by Dynratygus

Good morning and thank you for visiting the Final Fantasy XIV Technical Support Forums.

When this error message occurs, is the computer connected to the router or is it running off of WiFi? Additionally does the game disconnect when the VPN is turned off?

Thank you for visiting the Final Fantasy XIV Technical Support Forums

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Hello, can Square Enix technical support look into this as well? This is a very niche problem for Optus and they cant really be blamed for not detecting a very specific loss of connection to a server in Japan, as the general population using their network are having no issues at all with their internet.

Greetings fellow Eorzean,

Please reply back with the following information so we may further troubleshoot the issue:

Platform (Steam/Mac/Windows/PlayStation):
Any error message(s) received?
Wired or Wireless connection:
Other programs being used when running FFXIV:
When error occurs/How often:
Techniques used to solve problem:
Internet Service provider:
Location/Region:

We look forward to your reply back.

Thank you for visiting the Final Fantasy XIV Technical Support Forums!

Platform (Steam/Mac/Windows/PlayStation): Win 10

Any error message(s) received? A connection issue has occurred please try again later

Wired or Wireless connection: cable

Other programs being used when running FFXIV: None. WTFAST for ping.

When error occurs/How often: All the time since Monday

Techniques used to solve problem: Full reboot / hard reset on modem / ipconfig release / renew

Internet Service provider: Aust NBN - Optus as RSP

Location/Region: Sydney Australia

Time: 316pm 25/11/21, call from Dav at Optus , suggested try launcher, connects, try mogstation, connects, try lodestone, connects.

Issue appears to be resolved, but will wait 24 hrs to see if this is the case or if its a temporary fix / respite.

Optus has incident number ( ref:24327977 ) on file as current incident , if issue recurs, he advises call Optus and quote incident number for further investigation. Dav also confirmed issue was due to packet loss / loss of connection level 3 servers in Tokyo ( Gawayne, nailed it, thanks heaps ) , why he didnt say, as I dont think he knows.

He noted that they had received a huge number of calls and had a list of ip ranges affected.

Optus NOC team will continue to monitor for full 24 hr period to ensure issue does not recur and to ensure stability.

Hope this helps.

- Vel.

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Originally Posted by VelKallor

Issue appears to be resolved,

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This problem has also resolved for me, as of this morning.

For SE support in case it's not a permanent fix:

Platform: Windows 10
Any error message(s) received? A connection error has occured. Please try again later.
Wired or Wireless connection: Wireless
Other programs being used when running FFXIV: I've tried with none, with Brave (browser), ExpressVPN (until game is launched from launcher)
When error occurs/How often: Every time
Techniques used to solve problem: Restarted everything, started using ExpressVPN to login
Internet Service provider: Optus
Location/Region: Melbourne, Australia

Caetie, Optus took pains to advise that they WILL be keeping an eye on it, and will only consider it resolved after a 24 hr monitoring cycle.

Just fyi.

Excellent news, looks like we are finally back in business! Thanks to everyone in this thread and over on Reddit who continued to give feedback and contact Optus about this. Goes to show that things change when you take action :)

On a closing note, Id rather be held in a dungeon with 100 angry lalafells singing "Im a little teapot" off key than ever having to call Optus ever again.

*goes looking for a stiff drink*

Good morning, thank you for the updated replies everyone!

I understand you all mentioned the issue has gotten better on your end. If this is not the case, could you try disabling background applications and do a clean boot by opening the task manager and selecting the “Start up” tab. Then, disable everything under this tab and restart the PC. Additionally, please be sure to have the Operating System and Internet Explorer most up to date as well. Please note, the game will use the Internet Explorer web browser to connect to the internet through the launcher. If anyone is still experiencing an issue, please feel free to reply back to this thread.

Thank you for visiting the Final Fantasy XIV Technical Support Forums!