Bad lag again with NTT's NA server network

[Janyd]

Okay, so browsing r/FFXIV (for what it's worth) did yield some promising results. One user said they spoke with someone from NTT about it, and here's what was posted. (Edit: Link to the r/ffxiv thread for proof: https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comme...on_east_coast/ )

"This is in relation to a prime-time congestion issue when AT&T's network hands traffic over to NTT which is the last provider in the hop before anyone in AT&T's network will get to the game servers. I contacted NTT's NOC about this several hours ago and received the following reply:
This is due to a known congestion issue between us and AT&T which is already being investigated. Efforts are ongoing to alleviate the congestion but due to NDA, the GIN NOC is unable to disclose any specific details.
So take heart that the folks responsible for the network are already aware of this, and the problem is wholly out of Square Enix's hands."

TLDR; NTT and AT&T are aware of the node's issues and working on it, but cannot elaborate further due to obvious NDAs.

At least they are aware of it, but we should keep the reports coming.

[Kwehvehpeh]

Is there a specific vpn service and connection point that people recommend while we wait to have this congestion fixed?

I'd love to be able to pvp with my buddies today and the last couple days have been a nightmare with connection while they aren't feeling any of the lag. Thanks!

[Dragoonhuntz]

Is there a specific vpn service and connection point that people recommend while we wait to have this congestion fixed?

I'd love to be able to pvp with my buddies today and the last couple days have been a nightmare with connection while they aren't feeling any of the lag. Thanks!

Any of them that provide a free trial so that you can verify it actually solves your issues first.

I personally used the 7 day free trial you get on Nord through google play store.

That being said, my goal was a very narrow "play ff14 on AT&T connection and hope the problem goes away shortly so I can cancel this trial". So if you are looking for a more permanent solution you should probably put more thought into it than I did.

[Tomoken]

Does VPN actually avoid this issue? I was not having any such luck with Private Internet Access.

If there's any other service/setting I can try I WILL so please let me know what I can test!

[Krojack]

Does VPN actually avoid this issue? I was not having any such luck with Private Internet Access.

If there's any other service/setting I can try I WILL so please let me know what I can test!

It can yes.

The idea of a VPN here is to change the route that your connection is entering into the NTT network on. If you can find a VPN node that doesn't enter NTT's network on that AT&T link then your lag should go away.

I have a PIA (Private Internet Access) VPN account and just tested maybe 5 nodes from the US, none of them got around the problem. I didn't try any from Canada though. I'm sure there are a few that would work, I just need to find them. I'll try some later if I get time and post here if I find any that work.

PIA's node list for NA: https://www.privateinternetaccess.co...#servers-table
There is no telling if one of them gets around or not. Takes maybe 60 seconds to swap from one node to another to test them.

[NodIfYouCanHearMe]

Does VPN actually avoid this issue? I was not having any such luck with Private Internet Access.

If there's any other service/setting I can try I WILL so please let me know what I can test!

I've had moderate success using Mudfish to get around these NTT issues (AT&T fiber connection from the east coast). But it's not guaranteed. So maybe give them a shot.

My entire static had issues last night, and I'm currently seeing the below packet loss (without VPN). As always when this occurs, it's just the NTT network having issues. The rest of the route is solid (ignore the 100% losses--those aren't true packet loss; just servers set not to respond to ping requests):

[Krojack]

Anyone using PIA (Private Internet Access) VPN, I've found the following nodes get around this problem:

• USA
  • US Michigan
  • US Iowa
  • US Chicago
  • US Wisconsin
  • US Indiana
  • US Ohio
  • US Minnesota
  • US Honolulu (0% loss - Minimum = 74ms, Maximum = 76ms, Average = 75ms)
  • US West (1 lost packet out of 146 - Minimum = 81ms, Maximum = 85ms, Average = 82ms)
• Canada
  • Sorry all 4 nodes failed.
• Argentina (Seems no packet loss but average ~120ms pings)

Edit: Removed US Silicon Valley as I started getting a lot of lag and packet loss on that node. I don't think it's related to the ATT problem though.

One thing to note. I was NOT able to get PIA's split tunneling working with FFXIV. This is a system where you can set only FFXIV to use the VPN while all other programs on your Windows doesn't. Reason I tried this is because some of these IPs are dirty. Google.com makes you verify via CAPTCHA. Imgur.com has blocked the Michigan node. Stuff like that.

Edit for split tunnel. You can enable it but set your web browser and other programs to bypass the VPN while FF14 uses it. I sorta explain more here with a screenshot.

So yeah, either PIA host almost everything at ATT datacenters or ATT just controls to much of the backbone. I'm guessing the latter.

[Etterna]

I've also been having this issue the past couple or so weeks, but not as bad. Comcast/Florida and ping is about 15ms higher with some packetloss where people with periodically microteleport. Even doing something like say, standard step moves or double weaving would have notable delays. Using a vpn fixes it, but here's to hoping it gets resolved soon

[ArsalanRehman]

ATT user here in Houston - Very bad rubberbanding and other bits of lag that has rendered the game unplayable for me at home. I hope this gets fixed before the 6.4 patch drop.

[Tomoken]

Okay Krojack you're AMAZING! This is a very lovely workaround (and probably the best use of my paid PIA account to date haha).