is anyone experiencing any server lag lately?

[Raist]

Have to consider a few things that also happened around the release of 2.38 that can be impacting internet traffic--things like new game releases (Destiny, among others), football season opened up (increased streaming from sports packages and such), seasonal change-over in the retail markets (increased online retail traffic, special sales and whatnot). Oh yeah... and a lot of people resubbed, they had a couple of free-to-play weekends promoting the game, they've been showing it at conventions, etc.---basically, a lot of people have recently hopped into the game either again or as new players.

The point is internet traffic is on the cusp of another big surge, and it is happening on multiple fronts. All of this traffic can and often does concentrate into identifiable corridors that can impact the route we are taking to the servers in Canada (hello, New York, Chicago, LA, Austin, Dallas, Atlanta, etc.). This could very well be in part due to this congestion. As I am typing this at lunch time, worldwide, internet traffic is at 36% above average (mostly centered on the UK): http://www.akamai.com/html/technology/dataviz1.html . Here is a visual for you.. a map of the TWC connectivity issues that will update periodically throughout the day:


Source: http://downdetector.com/status/time-warner-cable

The region peaking changes throughout the day... but it follows a pattern that can be easily seen if one just bothers to look. Right now it is showing the usual kerfuffle up around Ohio and the North East hot spots (note that most of the exchanges that get us into Canada are centralized in the North East--it's like almost a 3:1 ratio that go through NY/NJ/ME area over other areas). You can find similar maps and data for other services at the downdetector site:
http://downdetector.com/companies

As for those using multiple systems in the same location---quick question: Did you set up port forwarding? If so, try undoing it and letting your router's NAT manage the traffic. Port Forwarding is typically NOT needed for games in general (haven't had to do it for a single online game since I started in 1996--only ever used it for remote desktop)--that is more a test to bypass security that may be interfering with data flow, it should not be the solution because by assigning port traffic to be pushed to just one device (like the PS3), you may be loosing data intended for the other system (like the PC). This can periodically send your connection into a wait state for disconnect. If this resolved an issue for you at one time, that is a sign that your security is causing a problem that needs to be corrected (like a firewall and/or other routing setings). You may want to look into the security options for your router--some of them clamp down a bit too much and can cause issues. Your ISP or their partners could also be choking things down because of the increased flow of data for multiple systems that they are flagging as suspicious or otherwise less important traffic (in which case, this would in fact be something that your ISP would need to address).

So... don't just patently discount the idea that your stability issues may be related to problems in route. You really should flush it out--it may not be all of your problems, but there is a very strong chance it could be partially at fault.