Packet Loss During Peak Hours

[pchp]

I'm still having this issue, but thank you for closing my original thread without any follow up.

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...ing-Peak-Hours

Can we do better this time?

[Einmimiria]

Good afternoon and thank you for posting on the Final Fantasy XIV Technical Support Forums.

I apologize for not getting to your other thread sooner.

As for your issue, it sounds like you are running into some sort of congestion along your route to the server, especially since this happens at peak hours. Unfortunately, you don't have much control over anything beyond your own network. Because of this, I'd suggest trying some of the following to reduce any connection issues within your own network:

1)The game will use the Internet Explorer web browser to connect to the internet. Open Internet Explorer, then open the "Tools" setting, go to "Internet Options" and adjust the following settings:
- Under the "General" tab, please delete ALL browser history.
- Under the "Security" tab, please move the slider to the lowest possible settings or no higher than "Medium"
- Under the "Privacy" tab, click “Advanced” and select ‘Accept’ under both First Party and Third Party Cookies.
- Under the "Advanced" tab, please make sure that "Allow software to run or install even if signature is invalid" is CHECKED.
- Make sure that all SSL and TLS (EXCEPT SSL 3.0) are CHECKED. [SSL 3.0 should be UNCHECKED]
- Hit "Apply" to save the settings, and then "OK, to close the Internet Options menu.
- Right-Click on the FFXIV launcher icon and select "Properties"
- Go to the "Compatibility" tab, and change the compatibility mode to "Windows 7"
- Hit "Apply", then "OK" to save the changes.
- Please RESTART your PC now. Once your PC has been restarted, Right-Click the FFXIV launcher icon once more and select "Run as Administrator"

2)Make sure your anti-virus/firewall has the appropriate exceptions for Final Fantasy XIV.

3)You might want to check if the following port ranges are open in your router. You can contact your ISP and request that they open them for you:
▼TCP
54992 through 54994,
55006 through 55007,
55021 through 55040

4)Change DNS to 8.8.8.8 or 1.1.1.1
- Go to the Control Panel
- Click Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center > Change adapter settings
- Right-click on the connection you are using and select Properties
- Under the Networking tab you will see a long list of available options
- Scroll down and doubleclick on Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)
- Select 'Use the following DNS server addresses'

5) You can also try a clean boot. Simply open the task manager and select the 'Start up' tab. Disable everything here and restart the PC.

We hope we can be of assistance in helping you enjoy the exciting world of Final Fantasy XIV!

[Mesarthim]

And the cycle continues. This really is going to persist until 5.0 isn't it?

[Zephanoa]

Looking at your trace it's the same as many of us have encountered and we finally gave up. I use a VPN when it comes to important things because that is the only way to get a route change if you aren't a commercial customer to your ISP. Granted, it's not your ISP's problem in the first place. NTT which is SE's ISP and DC provider should be looking in to the issue.

[Daniolaut]

Yup you will need WTFast or just not raid during peak hours like I do.

It’s a routing issue by NTT.net in Dallas TX and San Jose CA. Nothing you can do about it unless you have NTT.net as a ISP. In which case please ride them until the break.

It’s an ongoing issue for east coast players since 4.0/server relocation.

[pchp]

Good afternoon and thank you for posting on the Final Fantasy XIV Technical Support Forums.

I apologize for not getting to your other thread sooner.

As for your issue, it sounds like you are running into some sort of congestion along your route to the server, especially since this happens at peak hours. Unfortunately, you don't have much control over anything beyond your own network. Because of this, I'd suggest trying some of the following to reduce any connection issues within your own network:

1)The game will use the Internet Explorer web browser to connect to the internet. Open Internet Explorer, then open the "Tools" setting, go to "Internet Options" and adjust the following settings:
- Under the "General" tab, please delete ALL browser history.
- Under the "Security" tab, please move the slider to the lowest possible settings or no higher than "Medium"
- Under the "Privacy" tab, click “Advanced” and select ‘Accept’ under both First Party and Third Party Cookies.
- Under the "Advanced" tab, please make sure that "Allow software to run or install even if signature is invalid" is CHECKED.
- Make sure that all SSL and TLS (EXCEPT SSL 3.0) are CHECKED. [SSL 3.0 should be UNCHECKED]
- Hit "Apply" to save the settings, and then "OK, to close the Internet Options menu.
- Right-Click on the FFXIV launcher icon and select "Properties"
- Go to the "Compatibility" tab, and change the compatibility mode to "Windows 7"
- Hit "Apply", then "OK" to save the changes.
- Please RESTART your PC now. Once your PC has been restarted, Right-Click the FFXIV launcher icon once more and select "Run as Administrator"

2)Make sure your anti-virus/firewall has the appropriate exceptions for Final Fantasy XIV.

3)You might want to check if the following port ranges are open in your router. You can contact your ISP and request that they open them for you:
▼TCP
54992 through 54994,
55006 through 55007,
55021 through 55040

4)Change DNS to 8.8.8.8 or 1.1.1.1
- Go to the Control Panel
- Click Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center > Change adapter settings
- Right-click on the connection you are using and select Properties
- Under the Networking tab you will see a long list of available options
- Scroll down and doubleclick on Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)
- Select 'Use the following DNS server addresses'

5) You can also try a clean boot. Simply open the task manager and select the 'Start up' tab. Disable everything here and restart the PC.

We hope we can be of assistance in helping you enjoy the exciting world of Final Fantasy XIV!

didn't work

[Plastic_Fork]

It's an ongoing issue for central players as well. This has been going on for a year for me on Exodus. C'mon, Square. When are you going to address this problem for everyone?

C:\Users\xxxxxx>tracert 204.2.229.96

Tracing route to 204.2.229.96 over a maximum of 30 hops

  1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  192.168.0.10
  2    10 ms     9 ms    19 ms  96.120.52.65
  3    24 ms    11 ms    12 ms  ae104-rur02.xxxxxxxx.ky.nash.comcast.net [68.86.150.125]
  4    14 ms    15 ms    14 ms  ae-32-ar02.goodslettvll.tn.nash.comcast.net [162.151.23.26]
  5    24 ms    23 ms    23 ms  be-22909-cr02.56marietta.ga.ibone.comcast.net [68.86.91.245]
  6    23 ms    22 ms    24 ms  be-11486-pe03.56marietta.ga.ibone.comcast.net [68.86.85.254]
  7    22 ms    22 ms    23 ms  50.242.151.58
  8    28 ms    22 ms    23 ms  ae-11.r03.atlnga05.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.5.57]
  9    29 ms    23 ms    29 ms  ae-3.r21.atlnga05.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.5.211]
 10    42 ms    43 ms    41 ms  ae-6.r23.dllstx09.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.4.116]
 11   198 ms   202 ms   193 ms  ae-8.r23.snjsca04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.4.154]
 12     *      192 ms     *     ae-41.r02.snjsca04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.6.119]
 13   204 ms   193 ms   205 ms  ae-3.r00.scrmca02.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.7.11]
 14   199 ms     *      213 ms  xe-0-1-0-1-1.r00.scrmca02.us.ce.gin.ntt.net [129.250.195.46]
 15   200 ms   204 ms     *     204.2.229.234
 16   202 ms   204 ms   202 ms  204.2.229.96

Trace complete.

C:\Users\xxxxxx>tracert 204.2.229.96

Tracing route to 204.2.229.96 over a maximum of 30 hops

  1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  192.168.0.10
  2    10 ms    10 ms    10 ms  96.120.52.65
  3    11 ms    10 ms    11 ms  ae104-rur02.xxxxxxxx.ky.nash.comcast.net [68.86.150.125]
  4    15 ms    15 ms    16 ms  ae-32-ar02.goodslettvll.tn.nash.comcast.net [162.151.23.26]
  5    24 ms    22 ms    23 ms  be-22909-cr02.56marietta.ga.ibone.comcast.net [68.86.91.245]
  6    30 ms    23 ms    23 ms  be-11486-pe03.56marietta.ga.ibone.comcast.net [68.86.85.254]
  7    24 ms    22 ms    21 ms  50.242.151.58
  8    23 ms    23 ms    22 ms  ae-11.r03.atlnga05.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.5.57]
  9    23 ms    22 ms    22 ms  ae-3.r21.atlnga05.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.5.211]
 10    41 ms    42 ms    41 ms  ae-6.r23.dllstx09.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.4.116]
 11   203 ms   196 ms     *     ae-8.r23.snjsca04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.4.154]
 12   198 ms   194 ms   204 ms  ae-41.r02.snjsca04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.6.119]
 13   194 ms   198 ms   202 ms  ae-3.r00.scrmca02.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.7.11]
 14   200 ms   197 ms   198 ms  xe-0-1-0-1-1.r00.scrmca02.us.ce.gin.ntt.net [129.250.195.46]
 15   194 ms   193 ms   198 ms  204.2.229.234
 16   204 ms   201 ms   204 ms  204.2.229.96

Trace complete.

[Mesarthim]

Probably never. Talking to their ISP isn't in the script of the mods that make up this section. The only response they ever give to us is "Talk to our isp and open ports".

They literally will not (or perhaps even cannot) go beyond the scope of their job which is to give us the same responses, ultimately leading us nowhere. Sweeping the NA connection data center thread under the rug is just a slippery slope. Now there will be more threads every so often about this very same problem. Especially since they still have not addressed the core of the matter.

[Einmimiria]

Thank you for the reply.

I understand your frustration with this, however, we can only give suggestions about how you can stabilize your home network. Aside from the Data Center itself, we do not have control of your connection. If you have tried the troubleshooting, then there is likely nothing wrong with your personal network. This leaves the route in between you and the server. It is likely that you are running into some sort of congestion or interference, resulting in the packet loss many of you are seeing. Unfortunately, we don't have control over this aspect of your connection.

Thank you for visiting the Final Fantasy XIV Technical Support Forums.

[pchp]

This is on your end. Square-Enix absolutely has culpability for their choice of data center location and provider. The game was designed and tested in a densely-populated, 300mi width country. Right now the game is operating without multihoming at the extremities of a country ten times that size. The poorly designed infrastructure also created a single point of failure, which has become incredibly apparent to everyone given the number of service interruption since the relocation. To see a company the size of SE feign ignorance and cry crocodile DDOS every time the server has issues is frankly insulting. You could have chosen to split your infrastructure regionally. You could have set up load-balancing and redundant peering to increase availability and reliability. Instead, you went with the cut-rate option and moved the servers into a datacenter owned by a company with which you've previously partnered. I'm not asking some underpaid, low-level forum jockey to fix the mistakes of an entire organization. I just want my grievances aired and be given proper recourse instead of being stonewalled with copy-and-pasted responses. Does the support team not have any way to effect change on behalf of the NA player base? Judging by the other responses on this forum, I'm not alone on this issue. SE needs act responsibly on the issue and deliver an adequate response. If you continue to mistreat your customers
they
are
going
to
leave.