Connection Lag/Latency issue

[ReturnFromExile]

Good Afternoon forums

I have been having quite an issue with the lag on Masamune server. When I first started playing it was ok and bearable but now that I'm able to do group instances its becoming quite an issue.

Whilst I'm playing I can move around and cast/attack things fine and see other people moving about, But after a few minutes or so everything completely stops. I can still move and cast but nothing is received by the server. Eventually everything will come right, and speed forward rather rapidly.

For example: I was attacking a monster with "Stone" on Conjurer. When everything stops I can continue to cast maybe 4-5 times with no damage being done to the enemy. Likewise the enemy does no damage to me either. Once the "lag/latency" is over everything speeds forward and all 4-5 "Stone" spells that I cast inflict damage all at once on the enemy. At the same time all the enemies damage is inflicted on me.

It's quite an issue and when trying to be a healer its definitely not good. lol.

Sometimes when this "stopping" happens (more so then before) the game will quit with a 90000 error. This happened about 5 times during the run of Sastasha Seagrot. Luckily the people I was with were understanding and didn't throw me out haha.

At this stage I am unaware if the issue is at my end or the server end. However I noticed something extremely strange whilst running Sastasha Seagrot. When the "Stopping" happened, I was still able to send and receive message's from the party I was with in game through the chat box.
I have also a couple of times when this "Stopping" has happened minimized the game and opened the Internet and tried to open pages. Everything on Internet loads fine with no latency or any issue. Yet the game is still having the issue.

I hope this message isn't too long. And I hope it contains enough information. I also hope this is posted the correct place, please forgive me if it is not.

Thank you
ReturnFromExile


Edit* I am an Oceanic Player playing from New Zealand.

[Raist]

yeah.. these things are hard to track down sometimes, especially with how communications work with XIV. Your session is relying on a connection servers in Canada and Japan--not only just your system, but those servers are having to synch in the background as well. There are a few things you can try though, just to see if maybe you need to contact your ISP to get involved.

IF you are using wireless. STOP for a while. Run an ethernet cable directly to the router for a while and see if it improves. Wireless is prone to fragmentation, interference, ... all kinds of things that can interject lag. Even something as stupid as being too close to these CFL lights, or having overhead fluorescent light fixtures between you and your router can create problems. I once worked with TWC on tracking a problem down on business cable, only to find out it was a bad transformer on the pole outside causing problems.

On that same note, if you are running a router, try bypassing the router and connecting directly to your modem. I know, it kicks everyone else off the network for a bit--but there is a reason. Sometimes the router can be flaking out. This is more common when you are using Wi-Fi alot, especially in the hotter regions. As the capacitors dry out over time, voltages get skewed and it messes with signalling and such.

If you have a laptop/PC, and are familiar with using netstat, ping, and tracert, you can monitor your connections while logging in and playing to get the IP addresses of the servers it is connecting to. They should fall within two subnets: 199.91.189.XXX and 124.150.157.XXX (the 199 group is CA, 124 group is JP). You can then run ping/tracert to them to see how stable your path to them is. If you spot problems, you can forward your logs to your ISP so they can investigate.

Alternatively, you can just go to speedtest.net and drag the map to find servers in Montreal and Tokyo (where the servers physically reside) to get a rough idea on the quality of the path to those regions. If you see the speed and/or graph jumping up and down with big spikes (a little jitter is normal, but not a down speed jumping all over between 3MB to 16 MB, or an up speed bouncing around from 256kb to 1Mb and back to 300kb). If it isn't fairly steady throughout the test, there may be something going on and you might want to contact your ISP.

I know it sounds weird, considering you don't seem to be having issues with websites and all... but they use a different transmission protocol that puts safeguards in there to make sure the data is delivered in a timely fashion and in proper order. The game uses a protocol without such checks and balances... if the data gets there all is well, if packets get lost/delayed, there is no recovery at all and you just have to wait for the next push/pull to go through and then the game jumps to synch up. Sounds a bit like what you are experiencing.

[ReturnFromExile]

Thank you very much for your reply Raist!

I am using wireless although this hasn't caused any issues with any other MMO games before. (Was quite a frequent player of LoL and WoW)
However I will try see if it makes a difference anyhow. After all trying something is better then doing nothing really.

I tried the Speedtest.net and everything seems to be quite okay no strange fluctuations at all in the Download or Upload. (3.48Mbps = DL, 0.83Mbps = UL) That was to Tokyo.

I also pinged the server several times.
This is where I think the problem may lie.

First ping all packets were ok. Same with Second, Third and Fourth. However when I pinged for a Fifth time, I lost a packet.
Sixth ping ok. Seventh Ping, Lost 2 Packets. Eighth, Ninth and Tenth were all Ok however.

My First Tracert had 2 * appear instead of #ms. and the second had one *
I sadly cannot remember what these * stand for but my first guess would be a loss in packet perhaps?

Once again thank you for your reply.

ReturnFromExile

Edit* When in the game the "Send/Receive" at the top, I seem to nearly always have a send but the Receive is at 0 during these "stop/lag/latency" times.

[Raist]

yeah... sounds like you may be dealing with issues in route. What they could be can vary. It might be worth an email to your ISP's support, with the IP addresses you were tracing and pinging. Mileage can vary... once in a blue moon you will get a tech that actually terminals to your router and runs a few tests and finds something and is able to contact someone at the downed IP to get things moving. More often then not though, if you call in, you'll get a helpdesk that doesn't have the tools to properly diagnose the problem--why I say to email them if you can. Most will have a means for contacting support via email...just might be buried. Usually your best chance to get to T3 support. Used to be able to ask for it with Road Runner, but Time Warner has rebranded internet and it's like pulling your own teeth to get past the help desk on the phone.

Not saying this is the be-all end-all for your problem... but think you may have found something that has potential to be a problem. If not now, it may rear it's ugly head later.

[ReturnFromExile]

Yeah I know what you mean haha.

Thank you very much for your help, You were definitely a great help. Hopefully this can get sorted quite easily and I can be up to playing smoothly in no time

So far this game has probably been one of the best MMORPG's I've ever played if not best game I've ever played so well done SquareEnix!!! If I can't fix this issue I will be so sad, beyond belief lol.

ReturnFromExile

[KMarsara]

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...n-%28R0%29-lag
please post in here, trying to make one thread to get SE's attention

Also does it look like this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mdQ7gv7ptY

[ReturnFromExile]

Hello KMarsara

I shall repost my problem there thank you.

AH! yeah actually that's pretty much exactly what I have however mine does often last allot longer sometimes, and sometimes leads into a 90000 D/C