Lag/Delay ONLY in Chat

[Almasaur]

So I have this strange problem that I haven't really been able to track down in search or anything. This is a constant problem that I have had since I started playing again (so about a week so far).

My game runs fine, I haven't run into any real lag, and I don't have any problems with delays of any sort while playing the game. But for whatever reason, I always get chat messages only after a significant delay. Needless to say, this makes it impossible to communicate properly with anyone ingame.

I'm not in a free company and don't really have any friends ingame yet, so I didn't really notice it until after doing a dungeon via duty finder. The party had disbanded, and I had been standing in town for at least a whole minute, and I started seeing things like "thanks for the party!" "nice heals!" in party chat, which made no sense since the party had been long disbanded.

I understand that games tend to have different "servers" for the actual game and the chat, so I guess my client is having a harder time communicating with the chat server?

Anyway, I have pretty solid internet connection: Suddenlink 75Mbps (cable), getting good ping in everything else (including actual FFXIV:ARR gameplay), so I'm about 80% sure it's not my internet connection. I'm connected to the modem/router unit (it's one of those modems that is also a router) via wifi, and due to circumstances I probably cannot get it wired. I get solid 55-60fps ingame maxed out, but that's not really related I guess.

So far I have tried:
1. Power cycling the modem/router and my PC
2. Opening ports 54992~55551, 3993~3994, 443
> Not sure if these are even the right ports, just found them in some help topics that said they are related to FFXIV. Possibly obsolete ports I guess
3. Leatrix Latency Fix
4. Running the game with or without steam
5. Checked windows firewall
6. Ran antivirus, deleted internet cache etc basic level 1 tech support

Things I have not tried, and don't feel too hot about trying:
1. Contacting my ISP
2. A VPN or something like WTFast that you have to pay for

If any more info is needed to help me, please do ask and I will provide. Would love to get this fixed, because party content just isn't as enjoyable when I can't really communicate with anyone properly

[Almasaur]

It appears to be only party chat. I can't say for sure, but it almost seems like normal Say chat works fine without delay.

[Almasaur]

So now I have also tried disabling both windows firewall and my router's firewall completely to see if it would help, and unfortunately it did not. I also tried doing something I read in another thread, which was to delete the contents of the FFXIV folder in My Documents>My Games, which also did not remedy the situation.

It seems to be party chat and free company chat that is suffering from delays. The delay seems to be random, anywhere between a 5-10 second delay to a 2-3 minute delay.

[Almasaur]

Discouraging that there have been no other replies, but I've been working through this as much as I could.

This time I tried connecting to the internet via tethering to my phone's mobile data, instead of the home wifi. So, basically a temporary change of ISP and taking the router out of the equation. And the lag was gone! Chat was no longer laggy!

Though of course, this is not really a solution to my dilemma. I can't be connecting my PC to my phone all day just to play FFXIV properly, and would like to figure out what is going wrong with my home wifi. So with this, I think it's safe to say that I have ruled out any client-side or PC-side issues, and now the issue is either my router or the ISP itself. Though, it's still a rather strange situation because nothing else at all lags, including chat in other games. FFXIV chat is the only thing that seems to not be able to get through my ISP right.

So with this information, any ideas? Maybe a port I need to open up on my router specific to chat? Faulty router? Or at this point do I need to actually call my ISP or get a VPN service?

[Raist]

Disable all port forwarding--it should not be needed in a normal setup (it is more for bypassing security typically found in the workplace or university environments). Disable UPnP on the router as well. The router's native NAT should be able to handle things just fine. Also, unless you have a specific need for IPV6, you can disable that for now as well--SE is not using it for the game (yet). Basically....trying to remove as many unnecessary layers from the network configuration as possible.

You may have some issues with interference in your wi-fi signal. You can try different channel widths if they are available (most wireless N/AC routers can use different channel widths between 20 and 80--options may vary based on your hardware in play). You can also try different channels as well to see if you can get a cleaner lock on signal.

May want to take stock on what types of wi-fi are in use too. If you don't have any devices using the B or G bands, you may be able to disable them on the router (run N/AC only). This will help expand your options for bandwidth and channel selection to help clean up signalling. Also take note of your router installation, and any kind of devices that may be between you and the router. You'd be surprised how easy it is to expose your connection to interference. Even something as small as a flourescent bulb (and yes, that includes the twisted CFL bulbs) or a fan can be a potential issue...it's not just the obvious things like the microwave or TV.


Oh yeah.. and undo that leatrix "latency fix". It can create a whole different kind of problem trying to address what is basically a non-issue for this game. You are potentially flooding buffers with extra overhead, and may be shooting yourself in the foot if you already have a problem with delayed, lost, or out of order packet delivery--potentially putting more strain on your wireless and internet connection than you should be.

[Almasaur]

Hey, I appreciate the reply!

Regarding the ports, yeah I was thinking that myself as well. I figured people should be able to play properly without ever opening ports, but I just wanted to try everything I possibly could to try and remedy the problem haha.

My modem/router box is a Hitron rented from the ISP; I tried fiddling with the settings, and there doesn't seem to be a way to turn of UPnP. Also, the router broadcasts two SSIDs, one is a b/g/n mix and the other is ac. However, it seems that the ISP has locked me out of the settings for those and won't let me change them :/. I did have a little netbook right next to the modem, hooked up via and ethernet cable. I suppose I could try getting that out of the equation for now. Otherwise, there's not between the router and my PC. I'll try disabling leatrix latency fix for now though. I had that installed from the start, so that's one thing I haven't tried going without.

When I get a day off from work I'll try fiddling around with the router some more and seeing what I could do. I appreciate the reply Raist.

I also have the PS4 client available, so perhaps I'll try testing that out? I suppose there could be a problem with the way my PC connects to the router itself as well. Will get back on that once I get a day off.

[Raist]

uggh...combo modem/router from the ISP. There have been a LOT of complaints on the Time Warner forums about those things. Even if you manage to figure out the admin password to set things up for better performance/stability--it eventually gets reset to how they want it configured.

The only solution was to either get them to put it in bridged mode so users could set up their own router, or to get their own standalone modem and router. For TWC and it's affiliates it is a good idea to bring your own if you can--can save something like $8/month in some markets. Think the rental fee was $6 here when I bought my own about 2 years ago. The modems may seem expensive--but if you compare it to the rental fee most ISP's are charging now, it often becomes a wash after around a year.

[Almasaur]

Yeah, I was thinking of getting one a while back, but in between just recently moving and getting a new job, I decided to hold onto every penny I had at the time. I'll probably try and get one as soon as I can now.

But as the situation stands right now, I've pretty much tried everything I could so far as well as all of your suggestions, and the delay is still going strong . I suppose I could just connect via my phone's data whenever I want to do anything that requires communication (which is pretty much everything that's fun ingame lol)

[Lum]

I have this exact problem with a Hitron combo also. I've tried just about everything also with no fix sadly =( The game is pretty much a solo game with this chat delay.