Latency issues

[LYagami]

So a few hours ago ive gotten a noticeably larger ping and has still been a problem. Ive since done everything on my end to try combat it, and my ISP (dodo) says everything on their end says it should be fine. Ive since done several tracerts to several servers and the problem seems to lie with a 'telstraglobal' hop.
Here is a typical tracert to JP data centre (several tracerts and everytime the problem lies with this hop-10)

Tracing route to 202.67.53.202 over a maximum of 30 hops

1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms home.gateway.home.gateway [192.168.1.254]
2 27 ms 26 ms 26 ms 191.3.148.122.network.m2core.net.au [122.148.3.191]
3 27 ms 28 ms 29 ms be2-v547-bsr02-sydnmtc.syd.nsw.m2core.net.au [122.148.4.81]
4 28 ms 27 ms 28 ms TenGigE0-0-0-3.chw-edge902.sydney.telstra.net [139.130.197.141]
5 30 ms 29 ms 29 ms bundle-ether14.chw-core10.sydney.telstra.net [203.50.11.100]
6 28 ms 28 ms 27 ms Bundle-ether17.oxf-gw2.sydney.telstra.net [203.50.13.70]
7 28 ms 31 ms 28 ms bundle-ether1.sydo-core01.sydney.reach.com [203.50.13.38]
8 147 ms 147 ms 151 ms 202.84.140.138
9 150 ms 150 ms 149 ms i-0-1-1-0-peer.siko02.pr.telstraglobal.net [134.159.160.177]
10 235 ms 206 ms 640 ms kddi-peer.siko02.pr.telstraglobal.net [134.159.160.178]
11 147 ms 147 ms 147 ms otejbb205.int-gw.kddi.ne.jp [106.187.6.81]
12 153 ms 147 ms 147 ms jc-ote301.int-gw.kddi.ne.jp [118.155.197.178]
13 148 ms 147 ms 147 ms 106.187.28.198
14 147 ms 205 ms 147 ms 61.195.56.133
15 148 ms 148 ms 148 ms 219.117.144.78
16 148 ms 148 ms 148 ms 219.117.144.49
17 148 ms 149 ms 148 ms 219.117.146.129
18 148 ms 150 ms 150 ms 219.117.146.102
19 147 ms 149 ms 148 ms 202.67.53.202

Trace complete.

Now ive done a few tracerts to the this telstraglobal server and this is a typical tracert -

Tracing route to i-0-1-1-0-peer.siko02.pr.telstraglobal.net [134.159.160.177]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms home.gateway.home.gateway [192.168.1.254]
2 27 ms 27 ms 27 ms 191.3.148.122.network.m2core.net.au [122.148.3.191]
3 41 ms 28 ms 28 ms be2-v547-bsr02-sydnmtc.syd.nsw.m2core.net.au [122.148.4.81]
4 28 ms 27 ms 27 ms TenGigE0-0-0-3.chw-edge902.sydney.telstra.net [139.130.197.141]
5 28 ms 29 ms 29 ms bundle-ether14.chw-core10.sydney.telstra.net [203.50.11.100]
6 28 ms 27 ms 31 ms Bundle-ether17.oxf-gw2.sydney.telstra.net [203.50.13.70]
7 * 32 ms 31 ms bundle-ether2.oxf-gw1.sydney.telstra.net [203.50.6.85]
8 28 ms 28 ms 28 ms tengigabitethernet2-0.syd-core03.sydney.reach.com [203.50.13.54]
9 31 ms 31 ms 31 ms 202.84.223.41
10 150 ms 147 ms 147 ms i-0-1-0-7.siko-core04.bx.telstraglobal.net [202.84.141.193]
11 182 ms 148 ms 148 ms i-0-1-1-0-peer.siko02.pr.telstraglobal.net [134.159.160.177]

Trace complete.


There is at least 1 timeout per tracert, and it can be on any hop. This leaves me to believe that the problem lies with this server hop, which being telstra i assume is not to do with the game but an intermediate hop on the way to a server owned by telstra - in which case who would i speak to about this if it can even be fixed? Telstra will simply tell me to call my ISP which they will tell me its fine, as any test i do for them wont include this server. Anyone had this problem before? Anything that I can do?

[Raist]

It is the root of most of our routing woes...and something that is basically the result of your ISP's routing policies. They have to enter into peering/transit agreements with other ISP's to get you to other people's networks. So for them to direct you to your ISP is actually the correct path for you to take. It sounds like you may be dealing with a lower tier of support, most likely Tier 1 or maybe Tier 2 if someone came on site to check your lines and such. Typically you need to be dealing with Tier3, as they are usually the ones with the resources to conduct more thorough investigations and escalate things further upstream if necessary.

In most cases, it ultimately results in altering the routing path to bypass a problem segment if they can't get things improved through their existing agreements. It is often the result of not enough bandwidth at an exchange, which requires purchasing more hardware/bandwidth to properly address. If they can get away with tweaking the metrics so you get redirected, it is a much cheaper band-aid sort of fix. The point is, there typically is an "easy" fix for these problems. Unfortunately you are dealing with undersea cabling out of Australia, which may severely limit the options depending on how their peering/transit agreements are set up (here in the states, pretty much everyone has at least 3 ISP's they can use so it is much easier for them to flip us to an alternate route).

In the short term, you may get some relief using a VPN or Proxy service to basically put you on a slightly different path or at the very least put you on a higher priority slot by encrypting your data. That is often what triggers the delays--shaping rules are delaying delivery of packets for lower priority traffic in an attempt to stave off heightened congestion. Encrypted packets typically get around most of that, but if the nodes are just too borked even that doesn't avoid the slowdowns that much. The real beauty of a VPN service is that you can often pick different locations to tunnel to, which effectively alters the path you take and can get you around the troubled segment altogether. Overall latency may increase slightly in the process because you may wind up doing the "around the elbow to get to the thumb" thing, but it will stabilize things so you can adjust play style to compensate.

Many just go to the more popular battleping and pingzapper type services, but they can get a bit pricey for some folks. There are a lot of other services out there though. Most all services will offer at least a free trial period so you can see if the service is worth subscribing too. Others may offer an ongoing free use policy, but they may be limited in how much you can use them--perhaps a data cap, or so many hours a day/week, or they may be ad-supportted (get pop up adds periodically, which can disrupt gameplay). So, you may want to shop around. Here are some notes on a few I tinkered with here in the US back during the 2.0 launch fiasco. They helped me demonstrate the problem to a technician (another great thing about using one of these services--you can sort of flip the switch on your routing and demonstrate how the issue lies in their upstream routing to the server and not at your localized segments).

https://www.tunnelbear.com
500MB/month free. Has Canadian server.
$5/month or $50/yr for unlimited bandwidth.
****FFXIV:ARR WORKS, BUT CA CONX DROPPING, US SEEMS STABLE?***
****SPEEDTESTS WERE STRONG, 14/1, GOOD PINGS***

https://cyberghostvpn.com/en/product/purchase.html
No Canadian servers, New York and Washington are listed with their free service.
Free plan has a 3 hour connection limit, uses OpenVPN client.
Premium $7/mo, $40/yr, $70/2yrs (one device--Plus gives 5 for $11/70/110)
***Free plan had an ad when connecting, another popped up after @ 2 hours***
***NY connection timed out in tracerts, WA seems to respond well***
***FFXIV:ARR CONNECTS, WILL NEED TO TEST QUALITY, AS PINGS NOT AS GOOD AS TUNNELBEAR****
***SPEEDTEST SHOWED 6/3 SPEEDS, LOW PINGS TO MONTREAL--SHOWS AS A UK CONX??!!***

http://www.hotspotshield.com/
has free VPN, and free proxy--both ad supported.
Ads may pose issues with games if screen looses focus due to a pop-up?
Elite: $30/yr or $20/6 months.
***no Canadian server, and Free is US only.
***FFXIV:ARR CONNECTS WHILE IN 3-DAY ELITE TRIAL, BUT IS THROUGH LA AREA. MAY HAVE ISSUES?***

You can do some creative googling to find other services, or just check some of the lists at some of the gaming/PC magazine websites. They often do roundup articles and such on VPN services and such. There are also some listing services like this one as well:

http://www.bestvpnservice.com/vpn-providers.php

[LYagami]

Im using a 3rd party router - WTFast and my ISPs plan shapes nothing whether it be P2P data or bandwidth.
Its specifically only that telstraglobal server, and it seems its starting to do it every night now - fine during the day.
Im in contact now with WTFast hoping they have an alternative route but by fiddling with the settings manually it seems as though its an unavoidable step. My ISP cant do anything either as my net is perfectly fine and they have no control over an international server that isnt theirs.
Only been happening the last few days though so something has certainly changed...getting to the point where its unbearable and i cant do any dutys when im constantly spiking for 3+ seconds and getting hit left right and centre as a tank.

Also as ive stated Raist this is to the JP datacentre as i am in Australia and play on them for the best ping, US is far too high to play on. Any US/Canadian servers would be useless as we go through Malaysia up to Japan.

[Raist]

Im using a 3rd party router - WTFast and my ISPs plan shapes nothing whether it be P2P data or bandwidth.
Its specifically only that telstraglobal server, and it seems its starting to do it every night now - fine during the day.
Im in contact now with WTFast hoping they have an alternative route but by fiddling with the settings manually it seems as though its an unavoidable step. My ISP cant do anything either as my net is perfectly fine and they have no control over an international server that isnt theirs.
Only been happening the last few days though so something has certainly changed...getting to the point where its unbearable and i cant do any dutys when im constantly spiking for 3+ seconds and getting hit left right and centre as a tank.

Also as ive stated Raist this is to the JP datacentre as i am in Australia and play on them for the best ping, US is far too high to play on. Any US/Canadian servers would be useless as we go through Malaysia up to Japan.

I understood that you were from Australia and going to Japan...even pointed out that my examples/tests were done here in the states. But the key aspects of routing are universal and apply regardless of what region you are coming from--and one of those key elements is that ALL traffic is shaped. Note I said "shaped" and not "throttled". Your ISP may not be throttling P2P and such...but your traffic is indeed getting shaped. It happens by design within the networking model...your OS and the protocol stack even has mechanics that contribute, much less all the ISP's own policies and even the default configurations of our routers.

Throttling is often mistaken as the shaping mechanism at play, but in fact it is only one mechanic. Packet prioritization is another...which is basically why we run tracerts. As a standard rule, ICMP is flagged as a low priority--so low in fact that some routers will start moving them down the queue as low as 60% utilization. It's not uncommon for some routers to be configured to flat out ignore it. What we look for in a tracert is for highly erratic response times along the route, which is a pretty clear indicator of elevated congestion. When you see way too much jitter at a hop, it's pretty much a given that hop is about to or already has crossed that 70-80% utilization line and is in danger of approaching congestive failure if proper actions are not taken. If it gets too bad, the very protocol in play may start clamping down on the transfer windows (that happens client side, because TCP/IP error correction is detecting pending congestive failure). These are just some other things that get lumped under the shaping category---it is simply tactics at play to help prevent congestion build up within our network sessions. Without these flow control measures, the internet would be a complete nightmare compared to how it is now. Things HAVE to be assigned a priority, or nodes will get flooded with trash and the critical data simply won't get through properly. And as we become more reliant on the internet for voice and video, it is getting awfully crowded in there...which means we are feeling the impact of packet queuing more and more as time goes by and markets continually get oversold and poorly maintained.

I was under the impression that those traces were from your "bare" ISP connection and not through a VPN service. Didn't do a dig on any of the hops, was just going by the extensions to place you in Aussie territory. If that in fact is through a VPN, then there may be a large part of your problem--as it appears you are not taking full advantage of the VPN's ability to encrypt you as you cross the ocean, so you aren't avoiding some of the issues that may be present on an unencrypted line (encrypted packets usually default to elevated priority, as it is usually sensitive/critical data like financials and such). So, if that is via a VPN, you need to pick a tunnel to a different location. Most all services will have multiple locations to choose from. Some may be limited to local region, but when dealing with a worldwide group you have them all over the place. Cyberghost has something like 1400 worldwide. Even the Canadian upstart, TunnelBear, that I have kept an active account with for some business I do online has a tunnel to Japan amongst other countries. As stated earlier, you may want to shop around if you don't like how your service holds up under scrutiny. That listing service I provided earlier has an option to filter by country if you want to see ratings from your fellow Australians.

If those traces are in fact your "bare naked" line, then your ISP is the one assigning you to that path that is having issues and there SHOULD be something they can do about that. As I stated earlier, they could/should have alternate routing partners they can use. Telstra is NOT the only service linking Oceania to the rest of the world. Last I recall, there were at least 3 major ISP's running through the Southern Cross, and a handful of others fanning out to the west towards Asia. They should have options, just getting them to change the pathing typically requires that you deal with at least Tier3 support though, so if you haven't been dealing with them (sometimes referred to as simply Engineers or maybe Admins), you may need to push for an escalation.

Edit:
Just did a quick dig on your gateway. Came up as Dodo, which is part of some larger groups (iprimus, Commander, a couple others). They have a handful of agreements with other ISP's they may be able to use to get you out of there. Didn't pull up the network maps for them, but considering they have at least 3 players in the region like everyone else in the states, they SHOULD have options other than just Telstra.

AS1221 Telstra Pty Ltd
AS7474 SingTel Optus Pty Ltd
AS9443 Primus Telecommunications
AS9482 Platform Networks Pty Ltd





AS1221 Telstra Pty Ltd
AS9482 Platform Networks Pty Ltd



(sources: http://bgp.he.net/AS38285 )


Edit 2:
OK.. just for the h3ll of it I went to the Telecom Ramblings list just to see if there were any on the list that your ISP peers directly with that has a direct path to Japan so they don't have to slingshot TATA (AS6453 in the graphics) or something...and sure enough Sing Tel shows a fairly straight-forward path to Japan:

http://business.singtel.com/coverage/googlemaps/
http://business.singtel.com/coverage/flash/
(one is a google map app, the other flash. You can select starting/ending points and it will highlight the route for you)

So, there may in fact be something different your ISP can at least TRY to help resolve issues for you. The question is will they put forth the effort.....

[LYagami]

All of that is above my head...lol
Im getting a call back on thursday from dodo as the rep im dealing with is submitting my tracerts to the level 3 dept so that they can take a look and see if anything can be done. At least now i can tell them there is another way around the telstraglobal server with singtel.
I went to the flashmap and its telling me that the Singtel AJC cable (im assuming australia-japan cable?) would cover it. Would simply telling dodo to route me through this instead of the telstra line be understood by them/something they CAN do (seperate story if they will i guess)
Thanks for the in depth help - it is much appreciated.

[LYagami]

WTFast just took 2 days to tell me its not their problem, theres nothing they can/will do. Awaiting a call back tonight from a lvl 3 rep from dodo so i can ask them to switch me over. Last 3 nights at almost 6pm on the dot the lag starts so im almost 100% positive its telstra shaping instead of just congestion - its too on schedule for that dont you think? Either way hopefully theyll change me over or this game just got unplayable for the forseeable future...