The lobby server connection has encountered an error (2002)

[Mgram]

Widespread issues for Australian players right now.

Connections to Materia DC seems to be problematic from certain regions, cannot reach servers in range:
- 153.254.80.75-82

I can ping the servers over a VPN but cannot reach anything when the VPN is disconnected, seems to be a major routing issue in/around the sydney datacenter.

Using a VPN can alleviate the issue by re-routing traffic through an alternative route, mixed results from multiple players I have talked too.

Issues began around 5:30PM AEST, still ongoing at 8:00 PM AEST

[Kougaiji]

I'm guessing weather/flood waters damaged lines/nodes somewhere in SYD. Route trace is fine until it hits somewhere in SYD, then it stops. That is most likely out of SE's control. VPN routed through JPN worked for me, hubby and most of my friends who couldn't get in. Aparently routing through NZ and NA also works.