Regarding Reports on Recent Connection Problems with the NA Data Center

[Chortle]

Several posts we're from people in AZ, including the original poster. It is not limited to just people in California.


I pinged my server, which is 204.2.229.103. I assume 204.2.229.9 is the pinger's server. I don't know for certain

I was simply trying to say that the problem is likely an issue local to the user. If you are experiencing frequent disconnects and/or lag spikes over a number of days, call Cox and have them come out and do a line test. Try also checking your modem's web management server (if it has one). I believe it's usually found by typing "http://192.168.100.1" into a web browser. Lastly you can always reboot/reset/replace your router (if possible). Most people have already tried some of these already.

The last time I was experiencing frequent disconnects and lag spikes, it turned out that line that runs to my block was mauled on by some animal. And it wasn't discovered until they did a visual line check of the line. This was causing a dip in line signal power resulting in a poor connection. It took them two or three days to find and repair it.

ABSOLUTELY DO NOT DO THIS!

Cox will charge you fees for sending someone out.

Also, the issue is NOT on Cox's end as it has been stated multiple times. What time of day did you check your latency? Most of the people here have issues between 6-10pm (sometimes later) ONLY. Every other time of day there seems to be no issue.

Please do not give people advice that could potentially cost them money. When a substantial amount of players from the southwest are experiencing an issue... chances are it's not "a local issue to the user" and it's definitely not because our lines were "mauled on by some animal".

There are plenty more people having this issue than those commenting on this thread. Someone posted about it on reddit yesterday even.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comme...ghly_unstable/

[drebbe]

...
There are plenty more people having this issue than those commenting on this thread. Someone posted about it on reddit yesterday even.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comme...ghly_unstable/

Going to copy what was said at reddit here so SE can clearly see it.

This has been going on for nearly a month, and it looks like it's only recently come to light that the issue is dropped packets with the company SE contracts to host their servers. To quote one user,

"Cox got back to me. Confirmed on NTT.net's side, not a local network or Cox issue -- quite likely one of their several uplinks has has been designated for Cox users (perhaps, just for LA/OC) and is smaller than the real throughput traffic of Cox customers. Therefore, during peak times, it get's congested and drops packets and only users which have been assigned that particular route (based on ISP and perhaps geolocation) are affected and no one else.

Cox is unwilling to contact NTT.net directly, since they are the direct provider for SE. Cox urges users to pressure SE into getting their direct provider, NTT, to resolve the problem.

NTT.net is unwilling to investigate, unless a client directly requests it (AKA SE)-- per their Network Operations Team via noc@us.ntt.net.

Square Enix, please get your Network Engineers to validate based on provided data. I'm willing to cooperate further, and I'm sure other players will be willing to as well."

[Rahh]

Yesterday I called Square Enix to talk to them about the severe packet loss on NTT network causing lag that makes the game unplayable. I was shocked to be told that no one else is experiencing this problem, and it is probably just a problem I am having. And until more people report it, there is nothing they can do.

Therefore, I'm suggesting EVERYONE on this thread who is having bad lag issues due to packet loss on NTT's network should CALL IN AND REPORT THIS VIA PHONE. Here is Square Enix's support number: 1 (858) 790-7529.

I'm really surprised they say this issue is almost unheard of. I've seen multiple Reddit posts about it specifically to this game. This forum post has been going on for several weeks now too. I'll make sure to call to report it though. Thank you for the head's up.

I am very disappointed with how Square Enix is handling this issue. I cannot play any current content (Shinryu or Deltascape Savage, and of course Ultimate Coils are completely out). This will affect my ability to raid come 4.2 and if I lose my group due to it I will be canceling my subscription.

I couldn't agree with you more. I'm really hoping this issue gets resolved in the next few weeks because I am a raider as well and makes progression nearly impossible. I love this game to death and I appreciate everything SE, DEV and (of course) Yoshida but I just want to play the game

[Ladon]

Several posts we're from people in AZ, including the original poster. It is not limited to just people in California.


I pinged my server, which is 204.2.229.103. I assume 204.2.229.9 is the pinger's server. I don't know for certain

I was simply trying to say that the problem is likely an issue local to the user. If you are experiencing frequent disconnects and/or lag spikes over a number of days, call Cox and have them come out and do a line test. Try also checking your modem's web management server (if it has one). I believe it's usually found by typing "http://192.168.100.1" into a web browser. Lastly you can always reboot/reset/replace your router (if possible). Most people have already tried some of these already.

The last time I was experiencing frequent disconnects and lag spikes, it turned out that line that runs to my block was mauled on by some animal. And it wasn't discovered until they did a visual line check of the line. This was causing a dip in line signal power resulting in a poor connection. It took them two or three days to find and repair it.

Just to add what the others have already said, please don't do this, it is not good advice and shows a fundamental lack of understanding how to read trace route results.

The trace routes being posted here clearly show issues after the peering hand-off to NTT. If this was an ISP or last mile issue, you would see high latency and/or packet loss the first couple of hops.


With that said, just want to add supporting evidence that it clearly looks to be a capacity issue with NTT during peak hours. I had the opportunity to play some this morning PT, off peak, and saw no issues and my trace route is totally clean:




Compared to last night where issues start to ramp up around 6pm PT, and then hit unplayable levels around 7:30PM PT:

[Chortle]

Any updates on this Ariellendera?

Would you advise us to contact the SE support number to have a record of the issue?

[Kerwin]

- The kinds of connection issues you are having (lag, disconnections, etc.)
- Any potential error codes
- Your Internet Service Provider
- Frequency
- If you have the ability to perform a trace route, please post the details in full.

• Packet loss for upwards of 10-15 seconds (rubberbanding)
• In severe cases, 90k disconnection
• Comcast, Chicago IL
• Every day during prime time between 7:00pm till 11:00pm central time.

Round1:

Round 2:

Round 3: NTT gets noticeably higher in ms response time and packet loss is still constant.


Oh Yes. The big one....



NTT is the cause. Take a look at the blocks that contain "NTT". These guys must be running hamster wheels or something because everything starts going bad when I hit their nodes.

The game is rendered UNPLAYABLE. I cannot raid with friends because I'm not fighting a boss. I'm fighting the rubberbanding lag!

[Tsutla]

Round 1

Round 2

[DontTouchMe]

This has been happening to me on a nightly basis for about 2 months now. It's unplayable due to constant lag.
Cox

[drebbe]

Comcast, 11PM EST. NTT Hops like usual since server move.

>pathping 204.2.229.10

Tracing route to 204.2.229.10 over a maximum of 30 hops

0 DESKTOP-M42FG6C [192.168.88.233]
1 192.168.88.1
2 ***********
3 te4-2-ur02.shelby.mi.michigan.comcast.net [68.86.121.157]
4 96.108.21.142
5 be-8-ar02.pontiac.mi.michigan.comcast.net [162.151.127.181]
6 be-33668-cr02.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net [68.86.90.45]
7 be-10577-pe03.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net [68.86.86.2]
8 ae-26.a02.chcgil09.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.66.65]
9 ae-4.r08.chcgil09.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.4.157]
10 ae-0.r21.chcgil09.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.2.205]
11 ae-5.r22.snjsca04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.5.17]
12 ae-19.r01.snjsca04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.3.27]
13 ae-1.a00.snjsca04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.2.228]
14 xe-0-0-42-1.a00.snjsca04.us.ce.gin.ntt.net [129.250.195.42]
15 * 204.2.229.242
16 204.2.229.10

Computing statistics for 400 seconds...
Source to Here This Node/Link
Hop RTT Lost/Sent = Pct Lost/Sent = Pct Address
0 DESKTOP-M42FG6C [192.168.88.233]
0/ 100 = 0% |
1 0ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% 192.168.88.1
0/ 100 = 0% |
2 11ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% ***********
0/ 100 = 0% |
3 12ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% te4-2-ur02.shelby.mi.michigan.comcast.net [68.86.121.157]
0/ 100 = 0% |
4 13ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% 96.108.21.142
0/ 100 = 0% |
5 11ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% be-8-ar02.pontiac.mi.michigan.comcast.net [162.151.127.181]
0/ 100 = 0% |
6 18ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% be-33668-cr02.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net [68.86.90.45]
0/ 100 = 0% |
7 17ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% be-10577-pe03.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net [68.86.86.2]
0/ 100 = 0% |
8 20ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% ae-26.a02.chcgil09.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.66.65]
0/ 100 = 0% |
9 18ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% ae-4.r08.chcgil09.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.4.157]
0/ 100 = 0% |
10 20ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% ae-0.r21.chcgil09.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.2.205]
1/ 100 = 1% |
11 184ms 6/ 100 = 6% 5/ 100 = 5% ae-5.r22.snjsca04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.5.17]
0/ 100 = 0% |
12 185ms 4/ 100 = 4% 3/ 100 = 3% ae-19.r01.snjsca04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.3.27]
0/ 100 = 0% |
13 188ms 3/ 100 = 3% 2/ 100 = 2% ae-1.a00.snjsca04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.2.228]
0/ 100 = 0% |
14 188ms 2/ 100 = 2% 1/ 100 = 1% xe-0-0-42-1.a00.snjsca04.us.ce.gin.ntt.net [129.250.195.42]
0/ 100 = 0% |
15 187ms 1/ 100 = 1% 0/ 100 = 0% 204.2.229.242
3/ 100 = 3% |
16 186ms 4/ 100 = 4% 0/ 100 = 0% 204.2.229.10

Trace complete.

[XenoCranel]

I have not experienced much lag in the last two nights. Anyone else?