I'd like to pre-order Stormblood but...

[Rinuko]

Only get lesser frames when im in Idyllshire during peakhours. Not lag just alot of people in 1 place

[Callinon]

Have you tried using tunneling software? it seems to this for me. I use PingZapper.

I have not. Mostly because I don't live on the damn moon (sorry Australians), this should work without having to pay for an extra service to make this one function properly.

Only get lesser frames when im in Idyllshire during peakhours. Not lag just alot of people in 1 place

I'm actually not talking about framerate loss here. While the word "lag" is used to describe that phenomenon quite frequently, it isn't actually what "lag" means.

[matteoxyz]

I think tunnelling could help even if you are not particularly far from the server, if the issue is how your ISP routes traffic between you and Montreal. But yeah, the additional cost may make it not worthwhile.

[Lexia]

Idk if it a cable internet problem, but I'm on dsl and rarely have any problems.

[Callinon]

Idk if it a cable internet problem, but I'm on dsl and rarely have any problems.

In general I'm happy to blame Comcast for everything from network lag to hair loss but I don't actually think it's their fault this one singular time.

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

In general, if VPN tunneling fixes the problem its not on SE's end, but on your ISP for how they route traffic, and on the backbone providers for being awful.

[tymora]

You may remember it as v3.5 but it may be confirmation bias.
In any case, putting the obvious out of the way...
Wireless?
1. Try Wired.
2. Stuck with using wireless? Try the interference diagnostics apps and find a band with the least routers.
3. Reduce the number of IoT and other wireless devices. Routers can be overwhelmed by the number of connected devices.
4. Wireless extenders and network boosters can sometimes confuse devices in between zones.

If already wired...
1. Modems and routers need to be reset (by power cycling) once in a while.
2. Run diagnostics applications like Tracert. Look for packet losses and hops with long latency.
If losses occur before it reaches your cable company...then its your problem.
- Can be a noisy line (unshielded cables? moved your electronic devices?), degrading wires. Again, Tracert should pick these up.
- Living in apartments? Sometimes cable work by your neighbors can screw up your connection if all connections go through a common box. Redundant cable splitters can mess up your day really bad...This usually shows up as dropped packets at the closest hop in Tracert or poor signal strength if you have the appropriate tester.

---------------------
If all checks out green except the game, well...right after a major patch, expect connection issues.
- Returning players overwhelm servers.
- Buggy patch
It should improve with time.

[Altena]

I am an Aussie.

Tunnelling software is super cheap. I think it's worth it, even if you live in Montreal.

A number of my American friends use it as well and see a rather large benefit. The issue is less about ping and more about packet loss. A tunnel often helps reduce that.

[Callinon]

Just for funsies I've been running a continuous ping to the server all day while I was playing today.

I averaged <1% packet loss and that still gave me one flat out d/c (while I was tanking a dungeon... because of course it did). That's not TOO bad all things considered but so far this has been the best day as far as connection quality in a couple weeks.

Just to address some of the things that have been brought up without having to set up some 17-part multiquote of annihilation:

- I'm on a wired connection
- My ISP is Comcast but I consistently get about ~30Mbps down at any given time of day. Sometimes this flags a little but a quick modem reset usually fixes it.
- I don't have Windows 10 and it wouldn't help me with this as I am 100% certain the computer itself is not at fault here.
- I'm willing to try tunneling software if that's what it takes, though I still object to having an extra cost to play this game when I don't need it for literally anything else.
- If this kind of server issue is being caused by a handful of people returning for the patch, their expansion launch is going to be a disaster. I also tend to discount this possibility as if it really were a server issue, it would affect more people.

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

Its not server congestion! Server congestion is when there are actual queues on the server when you are logging in, not the 6-28 people ones, but the 300+ ones like after a server crash. Even then, as long as the servers are functional, you don't generally get a loss in performance unless your PC can't handle the number of on screen characters, which is a totally different thing. (this is for everyone)

Your download speed doesn't matter as long as it is higher than 5mbps. If you run netflix while gaming, be warned, it eats as much of your bandwidth as it can, and can bring XIV to a stuttering mess.

Things that matter are your route to the servers through your isp and through the backbones, and ping/packet loss. You have have 900 mbps internet and still have issues if your route is crap.

You dont have this problem with other games because those other games arent located in the same physical datacenter.

You can try WTFast for free, if it helps, then that tells you its your ISP routing. I used it when playing XIV off crappy hotel internet for a month while job hunting. It greatly reduced any network issues I was having.