Bad lag again with NTT's NA server network

[Krojack]

As someone who is interested in trying Nord and knows not the first thing about VPNs, do you mind if I ask how it works? Do you just pay for the membership, install the app, pick a location and "turn it on?"

I donno about Nord but PIA is like that... Also I pay $40/year but I've had it for several years so I donno if I'm on some grandfathered plan or not.

Screenshot: https://imgur.com/a/xsLnRAe

I was using Chicago link today. Smooth going. even macro crafted all the new gear. You can also enable the "Split Tunnel" and add your web browser to bypass the VPN because some websites have been blocking PIA IPs. I posted a shot here: https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...=1#post6256020

[Strawberrycocoa]

The packet loss problem has been fucking up my crafts, right at the time when materials are most expensive. Someone please get this fixed, this is inexcusable.

[Allison_Grimvault]

So far so good. No lag whatsoever with Nord.

[Ruined-Childhood]

I found another thread with more information about this problem, this is an issue with peering ports on AT&T's side, not square or NTT, only AT&T has control over fixing it so if you've got complaints send them to ATT :/.

[Ahumaya]

I found another thread with more information about this problem, this is an issue with peering ports on AT&T's side, not square or NTT, only AT&T has control over fixing it so if you've got complaints send them to ATT :/.

What we can see with our own data from testing ourselves and from the many reports in these several hundreds of posts is that the issue occurs entirely once inside of NTTs infrastructure, when they are communicating from an NTT device to an NTT device.

While NTT could in theory claim that issues are caused by an issue from whoever provides their DC interconnect (Could be run by NTT, could be run on the global internet backbone (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, etc.), could be run via a dedicated inter/intraconnect company for dark fiber or metroconnect), the issue would still be internal. However, if NTT were to claim that the issue were caused by a "peering issue" caused by AT&T, and the issue could be easily located within the NTT network stack, that issue would affect every user who connects to the NTT network via whichever NTT DC is affected.

While AT&T (and Spectrum and other smaller regional ISPs) could in theory all use the same routing to this same bad DC, and every other ISP globally somehow avoids this bad DC, that seems unlikely due to pure numbers, as routing will generally take the "path of least hops" before getting to the "last mile", which is within the NTT network. It wouldn't make sense for a major ISP like Comcast to send your data outside of, say, Texas, when there is an NTT DC in Texas.

All this suffice to say that the issue is still within the NTT stack of infrastructure, and seeing that it is affecting primarily (though not uniquely) a single ISP, it is heavily implied that the issue is caused by faulty equipment (or equipment not up to the task) within NTT's footprint, and which is permanently assigned to a route that connects from the AT&T "in" line to the NTT DC in Dallas. Talking to NTT nodes within Dallas is fine and shows no issues, and it's only when traveling from the Dallas DC to the Los Angeles hop that the issue appears, as we can see in our own data.

Taking this to the AT&T forums will only move an issue that isn't necessarily Square Enix's fault from these forums, to a place where it isn't necessarily AT&Ts fault. This is an issue that is primarily NTTs fault, either in their own equipment, or in equipment which they have purchased or leased from another vendor (possibly AT&T, if they wish to claim so). However, even if that were the case, it would still be NTTs fault that the issue is still present if it is not affecting other major ISPs, as that would imply that there exist multiple inter/intraconnects between their Dallas and Los Angeles DCs, and they continue sending primarily AT&T customers down a known bad line.

In addition, regarding the thread you linked (which comes from a mailing list of no known repute), it alleges that this could be an issue with UDP peering. While there does seem to be some sentiment on the global backbone that UDP isn't a "modern protocol", there is no evidence to support that this could possibly be the issue at hand, as if it was a UDP issue, it
1.) wouldn't affect the ICMP protocol the ping command uses
2.) wouldn't affect the ICMP protocol the traceroute command uses
3.) if the issue was in the NTT network, WOULD affect all users
4.) if the issue was in the AT&T network, would affect ALL UDP traffic

As none of the above statements are true, the issue cannot be a UDP peering issue. As such, and until further information is provided by relevant and involved sources (specifically NTT or AT&T), the only true, factual, sourceable, and testable information we have points the finger squarely and solely at NTTs inter/intraconnect between their Dallas and Los Angeles DCs.

Peace love and happiness. I hope our days are great.

[Ruined-Childhood]

I dunno there's also a post on the ATT forums, unrelated to FFXIV, where OP's company uses NTT's services and is also being told it's a peering issue between ATT and NTT.

[Illyrian94]

I've posted over in the AT&T forums--not that I'm expecting that to yield any improvements for us. If this is actually a fight between AT&T and NTT, then we might be in for a very long wait.

[Elizara]

Huh. If it's still bad next week, I may actually try that on pc. We use Tmobile for cell service and I'll tell Neko (his ingame name is Shadowflame Neko btw) that Ryn. Anyway this morning no lag, but I'm not counting on it not lagging later. Oh and before ya ask; we have Uverse for our net. Yes, DSL. And my pc is on wireless anyway (yeah go ahead and laugh) so I can use my phone for net if I REALLY have to.

I think both our phones support tethering; I normally would NOT mess with that unless our net is down (happens rarely) but if I want to play during prime time, seems we have to get out our phones and make sure they are plugged in. And..we're gonna have to stop using Discord so we don't have to yell across the house for now. I guess it's call each other.

And..don't know if I can craft the new gear that way, tho I haven't melded my crafting gear yet (no snickering, wanted to be sure of my melds and make sure I had enough coweries to buy the materia) so that's moot. Maybe by the time I get it melded this'll be over..

[Ryn_Fiaryn]

Yeah, the Discord thing was just because the hotspot couldn't handle running both at the same time on my phone. Lag city. I don't know if there's another way to have them both work.

[Elizara]

Well, here's to hoping that it might be fixed soon. I hate not being able to play with my brother, since there's no easy solution for consoles.