17% packet loss to server 204.2.229.234 when connecting to Aether (204.2.229.9)

[Randomsel]

After randomly getting disconnected from the game server and extensive troubleshooting of my home network, and multiple other threads with inconclusive tracert reports, I dug up a better tool for reporting packet loss.

I'm consistently experiencing packet loss severe enough to kick me out of the game.

From VPN Silicon Valley, CA:

|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                      WinMTR statistics                                   |
|                       Host              -   %  | Sent | Recv | Best | Avrg | Wrst | Last |
|------------------------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|------|
|                               10.0.10.1 -    0 |  639 |  639 |   71 |   75 |  184 |   73 |
|                         199.116.118.254 -    0 |  639 |  639 |   71 |   75 |  192 |   75 |
|                           199.116.118.6 -    0 |  639 |  639 |   71 |   75 |  186 |   74 |
|            ae1-300.cr0-pao1.ip4.gtt.net -    0 |  639 |  639 |   72 |   77 |  193 |   78 |
|          et-0-0-43.cr6-sjc1.ip4.gtt.net -    0 |  639 |  639 |   73 |   78 |  186 |   77 |
|             as2914.cr6-sjc1.ip4.gtt.net -    0 |  639 |  639 |   72 |   77 |  179 |   76 |
|     ae-4.r00.scrmca02.us.bb.gin.ntt.net -    0 |  639 |  639 |   77 |   81 |  188 |   80 |
|xe-0-1-0-1-1.r00.scrmca02.us.ce.gin.ntt.net - 0 |  639 |  639 |   77 |   81 |  185 |   79 |
|                           204.2.229.234 -   17 |  389 |  326 |   77 |   81 |  175 |   79 |
|                             204.2.229.9 -    0 |  639 |  639 |   77 |   81 |  190 |   79 |
|________________________________________________|______|______|______|______|______|______|
   WinMTR v0.92 GPL V2 by Appnor MSP - Fully Managed Hosting & Cloud Provider

From VPN Toronto CA:

|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                      WinMTR statistics                                   |
|                       Host              -   %  | Sent | Recv | Best | Avrg | Wrst | Last |
|------------------------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|------|
|                              10.19.11.1 -    1 |  445 |  444 |   20 |   28 |  256 |   21 |
|                           172.98.67.253 -    0 |  449 |  449 |   20 |   28 |  255 |   24 |
|                           162.253.71.72 -    1 |  445 |  444 |   20 |   26 |  158 |   21 |
|             ae1-64.cr0-tor1.ip4.gtt.net -    0 |  449 |  449 |   20 |   28 |  249 |   21 |
|           et-0-0-5.cr9-chi1.ip4.gtt.net -    1 |  445 |  444 |   31 |   40 |  254 |   32 |
|             as2914.cr7-chi1.ip4.gtt.net -    1 |  441 |  439 |   34 |   41 |  219 |   37 |
|     ae-0.r21.chcgil09.us.bb.gin.ntt.net -    0 |  449 |  449 |   33 |   46 |  255 |   56 |
|     ae-5.r22.snjsca04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net -    0 |  449 |  449 |   85 |   94 |  264 |   85 |
|    ae-19.r01.snjsca04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net -    1 |  445 |  444 |   88 |   97 |  244 |   89 |
|     ae-4.r00.scrmca02.us.bb.gin.ntt.net -    1 |  441 |  439 |   89 |   96 |  269 |   90 |
|xe-0-1-0-1-1.r00.scrmca02.us.ce.gin.ntt.net - 1 |  433 |  429 |   89 |   97 |  243 |   92 |
|                           204.2.229.234 -   15 |  285 |  244 |   89 |   96 |  244 |   91 |
|                             204.2.229.9 -    1 |  445 |  444 |   88 |   97 |  270 |   89 |
|________________________________________________|______|______|______|______|______|______|
   WinMTR v0.92 GPL V2 by Appnor MSP - Fully Managed Hosting & Cloud Provider

Any other extra information needed for troubleshooting?

[Einmimiria]

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

It looks like you are having some trouble along your route to the server. Your post mentions using VPNs, how do the results differ if you don't use a VPN?

If you have already tried troubleshooting for your home network, then the issue may stem from outside of this network. In that case, I'd recommend contacting your ISP and making a report with them.

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

[Randomsel]

Had to use another tool to traceroute because my ISP (Verizon FIOS) does strange stuff to ICMP pings due to their ipv6 roll out. Same route but does not drop drop packets when connecting to 204.2.229.234.

Hop	IP Address	Host Name	Country	Time 1	Time 2	Time 3	Average Time	Error	ASN	Company Name	
1	192.168.1.1		Reserved	1 ms	1 ms	4 ms	2 ms				
2	204.2.229.9		United States	4 ms	5 ms	4 ms	4 ms				
3	100.41.139.114	B3344.PHLAPA-LCR-21.verizon-gni.net	United States	18 ms			18 ms				
6	140.222.1.59	0.et-5-0-5.BR2.NYC4.ALTER.NET	United States	13 ms			13 ms				
7	152.179.72.42	verizon.com.customer.alter.net	United States	13 ms			13 ms				
8	129.250.5.61	ae-3.r24.nycmny01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net	United States	13 ms			13 ms				
9	129.250.4.13	ae-4.r22.sttlwa01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net	United States	70 ms			70 ms				
10	129.250.6.30	ae-0.r23.sttlwa01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net	United States	70 ms			70 ms				
11	129.250.3.124	ae-3.r23.snjsca04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net	United States	80 ms			80 ms				
12	129.250.6.119	ae-41.r02.snjsca04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net	United States	83 ms			83 ms				
13	129.250.7.11	ae-3.r00.scrmca02.us.bb.gin.ntt.net	United States	85 ms			85 ms				
14	192.80.16.2	xe-0-1-0-1-1.r00.scrmca02.us.ce.gin.ntt.net	United States	83 ms			83 ms				
15	204.2.229.234		United States	85 ms			85 ms

I have also confirmed that the VPN connections are still dropping packets at the same NTT server (204.2.229.234).