Throughout the last 5 months I've been dealing with latency issues on my school's network. After talking to the network administrators at least 4-5 times I've come to the conclusion that either they can't help me, or the problem is something I'm not even considering. Posted below are the logs of our most productive interactions: http://pastebin.com/4E2gPiNp
For those not willing to read the entire log, it boils down to this:
I have tried eliminating and replacing all variables on my end. I have
- Changed, replaced, and switched every ethernet cord from the wall outlet to my machine
- Added and subtracted network switches
- Ran virus, malware, and adware scans
- Reformatted and reinstalled windows
- Tried multiple VPN's that didn't help
- Talked to the owners of private servers to see if they identified an issue, to which they responded that the only interference they were having was from my ISP (school network)
They have (or so they say)
- Placed priority on "all gaming ports" via QoS
- Told me it's not their fault
I'm wondering if there is anyone that knows more about this than I do that could help me with this issue. The easiest way to contact me would be through my email: hattrick1130@gmail.com
Thank you in advance to anyone that is willing to help or look at my problem.
Throughout the last 5 months I've been dealing with latency issues on my school's network. After talking to the network administrators at least 4-5 times I've come to the conclusion that either they can't help me, or the problem is something I'm not even considering. Posted below are the logs of our most productive interactions: http://pastebin.com/4E2gPiNp
For those not willing to read the entire log, it boils down to this:
I have tried eliminating and replacing all variables on my end. I have
- Changed, replaced, and switched every ethernet cord from the wall outlet to my machine
- Added and subtracted network switches
- Ran virus, malware, and adware scans
- Reformatted and reinstalled windows
- Tried multiple VPN's that didn't help
- Talked to the owners of private servers to see if they identified an issue, to which they responded that the only interference they were having was from my ISP (school network)
They have (or so they say)
- Placed priority on "all gaming ports" via QoS
- Told me it's not their fault
I'm wondering if there is anyone that knows more about this than I do that could help me with this issue. The easiest way to contact me would be through my email: hattrick1130@gmail.com
Thank you in advance to anyone that is willing to help or look at my problem.
Just get a VPN subscription--sounds like shit routing. msg me on steam and I'll help you out fam
Just get a VPN subscription--sounds like shit routing. msg me on steam and I'll help you out fam
I've tried 6 different VPN's, and trace routes and the servers admins suggest that the issue isn't routing
Sorry will add to OP
I've tried 6 different VPN's, and trace routes and the servers admins suggest that the issue isn't routing
Sorry will add to OP
Well what do trace routes and the server admins do suggest that the issue is?
Well what do trace routes and the server admins do suggest that the issue is?
But from the hours of around 9pm-12am it is really hard to play. Last night my ping to a Chicago server (generally pinging 9-20 to Chicago) was never less then 130, and would spike to 300-400 ping for varying amounts of time. At one point I had 400 ping for maybe a minute and a half.
TECHSUPPORT:
At this time there is nothing more we can do to improve your gameplay in the evening. We have given priority to all gaming traffic on the network. At night, during the times you play, the bandwidth is maxed out.
This sounds like that during those peak hours a lot of people are doing bandwidth intensive things in your floor/dorm/school and gaming can have problems if you are being squeezed out by other users. QoS settings aren't a perfect fix, I'm not sure they can provide QoS for the entire campus network, QoS is usually on a switch or router level. (EDIT: maybe the college should start throttling heavy users. not all plebs need 1080p netflix)
This was worse back in the day when torrents were the only way to get things--now with everyone using Youtube/netflix/Hulu, it's not surprising that a campus internet gets saturated at night. Network admins priority is usually for staff and faculty and if the bandwidth is good enough for them during the day, they're not going to pay tons of money to increase the pipe in the evening.
What tools have you used to test things? It's been a while since I've tested network connections with traceroutes but running a tool like this throughout a day could show interesting things: https://www.pingplotter.com/download.html
More simply, if you're noticing severe lag at night, run a ping test to anywhere in command prompt with ping <server> /t which will run the ping continuously. Make a friend in your dorm and try that on their computer while you're seeing lag. If they see it too, it's campus network related, not you. You could also try running pings from campus computers.
[quote] But from the hours of around 9pm-12am it is really hard to play. Last night my ping to a Chicago server (generally pinging 9-20 to Chicago) was never less then 130, and would spike to 300-400 ping for varying amounts of time. At one point I had 400 ping for maybe a minute and a half.
TECHSUPPORT:
At this time there is nothing more we can do to improve your gameplay in the evening. We have given priority to all gaming traffic on the network. At night, during the times you play, the bandwidth is maxed out. [/quote]
This sounds like that during those peak hours a lot of people are doing bandwidth intensive things in your floor/dorm/school and gaming can have problems if you are being squeezed out by other users. QoS settings aren't a perfect fix, I'm not sure they can provide QoS for the entire campus network, QoS is usually on a switch or router level. (EDIT: maybe the college should start throttling heavy users. not all plebs need 1080p netflix)
This was worse back in the day when torrents were the only way to get things--now with everyone using Youtube/netflix/Hulu, it's not surprising that a campus internet gets saturated at night. Network admins priority is usually for staff and faculty and if the bandwidth is good enough for them during the day, they're not going to pay tons of money to increase the pipe in the evening.
What tools have you used to test things? It's been a while since I've tested network connections with traceroutes but running a tool like this throughout a day could show interesting things: https://www.pingplotter.com/download.html
More simply, if you're noticing severe lag at night, run a ping test to anywhere in command prompt with ping <server> /t which will run the ping continuously. Make a friend in your dorm and try that on their computer while you're seeing lag. If they see it too, it's campus network related, not you. You could also try running pings from campus computers.
Thanks for the info Shun,
As far as them throttling, I agree. I think if they analyzed network usage they'd find that most users are just streaming very high quality Netflix, ruining the connection for the rest of us. During peak hours I can't even watch a 30fps 720p twitch stream without constant buffering.
Testing on our network is very limited. Due to security they've disabled all ping/traceroute related testing within the cmd prompt. I can run a trace route provided by their website, but the chances of that thing lying are very high. I'll be running them over various points this weekend, as well as testing pings in different games during my lag times.
Thanks for the info Shun,
As far as them throttling, I agree. I think if they analyzed network usage they'd find that most users are just streaming very high quality Netflix, ruining the connection for the rest of us. During peak hours I can't even watch a 30fps 720p twitch stream without constant buffering.
Testing on our network is very limited. Due to security they've disabled all ping/traceroute related testing within the cmd prompt. I can run a trace route provided by their website, but the chances of that thing lying are very high. I'll be running them over various points this weekend, as well as testing pings in different games during my lag times.
They haven't "disabled all ping/traceroute related testing within the cmd prompt" unless it's a school pc. They are probably just blocking ICMP. UNIX traceroute defaults to UDP and you can set it to use TCP if that doesn't work. If you've only got Windows there's programs that can do the same (e.g. pingplotter).
You won't be able to fix the problem if you don't know where it is and can't even prove it exists at all. Point your finger at them all you want, but do you really think without any evidence this is going to help? They won't go "Oh well, I guess our network is fucked, we should definitely do something about this", they'll go "Ok, it's only a single student complaining and we can't reproduce the problem. Chances the problem isn't our network, instead his pc or the gameserver: >99%. Case closed."
In fact they pretty much said that.
The fact that you have any lag issues in the morning is a red flag to me that the problem exists outside of our network. In addition to that, we've received no complaints from other gamers who have similar low latency requirements. If this happens on all of the servers you connect to, the biggest issue could just be how the application is written to use the network. At this time, there is nothing we can do to improve the experience.
Right now to them you're just looking like a clueless student playing on a shitty gameserver crying that the internet is broken and they must fix it.
Sorry if this is all a bit harsh. My points are:
-Blaming people without proof is never a good idea.
-Just guessing what the problem is and then only trying to fix that even though there's a lot of other options what the problem could be, because "surely this must be problem" is never a good idea.
->Find what's causing the problem first.
They haven't "disabled all ping/traceroute related testing within the cmd prompt" unless it's a school pc. They are probably just blocking ICMP. UNIX traceroute defaults to UDP and you can set it to use TCP if that doesn't work. If you've only got Windows there's programs that can do the same (e.g. pingplotter).
You won't be able to fix the problem if you don't know where it is and can't even prove it exists at all. Point your finger at them all you want, but do you really think without any evidence this is going to help? They won't go "Oh well, I guess our network is fucked, we should definitely do something about this", they'll go "Ok, it's only a single student complaining and we can't reproduce the problem. Chances the problem isn't our network, instead his pc or the gameserver: >99%. Case closed."
In fact they pretty much said that.
[quote]The fact that you have any lag issues in the morning is a red flag to me that the problem exists outside of our network. In addition to that, we've received no complaints from other gamers who have similar low latency requirements. If this happens on all of the servers you connect to, the biggest issue could just be how the application is written to use the network. At this time, there is nothing we can do to improve the experience.[/quote]
Right now to them you're just looking like a clueless student playing on a shitty gameserver crying that the internet is broken and they must fix it.
Sorry if this is all a bit harsh. My points are:
-Blaming people without proof is never a good idea.
-Just guessing what the problem is and then only trying to fix that even though there's a lot of other options what the problem could be, because "surely this must be problem" is never a good idea.
->Find what's causing the problem first.
I know you mentioned CMD pinging not working and being blocked, but you could try other methods as well or use a VPN to do the pings.
I would try running a free program called WinMTR. It basically acts like a continuous ping tool, and can be set to basically do 100's or thousands of trace routes. You can pick an IP such as a TF2 server IP that you game on sometimes. It will tell you the average latency of each hop, including the hopes on your local network. Then you can maybe identify if there are any specific hops that seem to be problematic, and trouble shoot the issue further.
You can find the steps and download link for WinMTR on NFO's site here. If you want you could copy and paste the results into a site like paste bin and share the results here.
I know you mentioned CMD pinging not working and being blocked, but you could try other methods as well or use a VPN to do the pings.
I would try running a free program called WinMTR. It basically acts like a continuous ping tool, and can be set to basically do 100's or thousands of trace routes. You can pick an IP such as a TF2 server IP that you game on sometimes. It will tell you the average latency of each hop, including the hopes on your local network. Then you can maybe identify if there are any specific hops that seem to be problematic, and trouble shoot the issue further.
You can find the steps and download link for WinMTR on NFO's site [url=https://forums.nfoservers.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=4272]here[/url]. If you want you could copy and paste the results into a site like paste bin and share the results here.
Sry for unhelpful post but
TECHSUPPORT: Student refuses to let us do our job so we can not help him. DK
wat
Right now to them you're just looking like a clueless student playing on a shitty gameserver crying that the internet is broken and they must fix it.
Sorry if this is all a bit harsh. My points are:
-Blaming people without proof is never a good idea.
-Just guessing what the problem is and then only trying to fix that even though there's a lot of other options what the problem could be, because "surely this must be problem" is never a good idea.
->Find what's causing the problem first.
Also no. As someone who pays for internet as a product, it's not up to him to search for the reason for the problem at all, it's up to the people who receive the money for the product they provide.
Sry for unhelpful post but [quote]TECHSUPPORT: Student refuses to let us do our job so we can not help him. DK[/quote] wat
[quote]Right now to them you're just looking like a clueless student playing on a shitty gameserver crying that the internet is broken and they must fix it.
Sorry if this is all a bit harsh. My points are:
-Blaming people without proof is never a good idea.
-Just guessing what the problem is and then only trying to fix that even though there's a lot of other options what the problem could be, because "surely this must be problem" is never a good idea.
->Find what's causing the problem first.[/quote]
Also no. As someone who pays for internet as a product, it's not up to him to search for the reason for the problem at all, it's up to the people who receive the money for the product they provide.
Actually it is. Your provider has no influence on the performance of the network the server is hosted on nor the customer domain. Investigate those two, if they get excluded then you have a case to present to the provider to aid with an investigation
Actually it is. Your provider has no influence on the performance of the network the server is hosted on nor the customer domain. Investigate those two, if they get excluded then you have a case to present to the provider to aid with an investigation
kKaltUuYour provider has no influence on the performance of the network the server is hosted on nor the customer domain. Investigate those two, if they get excluded then you have a case to present to the provider to aid with an investigation
I have tried eliminating and replacing all variables on my end. I have
- Changed, replaced, and switched every ethernet cord from the wall outlet to my machine
- Added and subtracted network switches
- Ran virus, malware, and adware scans
- Reformatted and reinstalled windows
- Tried multiple VPN's that didn't help
- Talked to the owners of private servers to see if they identified an issue, to which they responded that the only interference they were having was from my ISP (school network)
[quote=kKaltUu]Your provider has no influence on the performance of the network the server is hosted on nor the customer domain. Investigate those two, if they get excluded then you have a case to present to the provider to aid with an investigation[/quote]
[quote]I have tried eliminating and replacing all variables on my end. I have
- Changed, replaced, and switched every ethernet cord from the wall outlet to my machine
- Added and subtracted network switches
- Ran virus, malware, and adware scans
- Reformatted and reinstalled windows
- Tried multiple VPN's that didn't help
- Talked to the owners of private servers to see if they identified an issue, to which they responded that the only interference they were having was from my ISP (school network)[/quote]
I will say that when knuckles was having this issue and I was playing with him, I noticed nothing different or weird on my (vps) server.
On the flip side, I used to play on the exact same network that knuckles is now (same university) with no issues. I'm not sure what the deal is.
I will say that when knuckles was having this issue and I was playing with him, I noticed nothing different or weird on my (vps) server.
On the flip side, I used to play on the exact same network that knuckles is now (same university) with no issues. I'm not sure what the deal is.
Shun[What tools have you used to test things? It's been a while since I've tested network connections with traceroutes but running a tool like this throughout a day could show interesting things: https://www.pingplotter.com/download.html
More simply, if you're noticing severe lag at night, run a ping test to anywhere in command prompt with ping <server> /t which will run the ping continuously. Make a friend in your dorm and try that on their computer while you're seeing lag. If they see it too, it's campus network related, not you. You could also try running pings from campus computers.
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dollarlayerI know you mentioned CMD pinging not working and being blocked, but you could try other methods as well or use a VPN to do the pings.
I would try running a free program called WinMTR. It basically acts like a continuous ping tool, and can be set to basically do 100's or thousands of trace routes. You can pick an IP such as a TF2 server IP that you game on sometimes. It will tell you the average latency of each hop, including the hopes on your local network. Then you can maybe identify if there are any specific hops that seem to be problematic, and trouble shoot the issue further.
Show Content
I'm willing to try more, just let me know. Would a VPN allow me to run pingplotter (or WinMTR)? My only fear with any VPN usage for testing is the inevitable "You clearly aren't having any issues as we discussed earlier, but the VPN you are using is now causing your lag and instability"
edit: any traceroutes I run have to be run through their website.
[quote=Shun][What tools have you used to test things? It's been a while since I've tested network connections with traceroutes but running a tool like this throughout a day could show interesting things: https://www.pingplotter.com/download.html
More simply, if you're noticing severe lag at night, run a ping test to anywhere in command prompt with ping <server> /t which will run the ping continuously. Make a friend in your dorm and try that on their computer while you're seeing lag. If they see it too, it's campus network related, not you. You could also try running pings from campus computers.[/quote]
[spoiler][img]http://puu.sh/my2Wp/4f5a17d3ec.png[/img][img]http://puu.sh/my357/ecdacb391f.png[/img][/spoiler]
[quote=dollarlayer]I know you mentioned CMD pinging not working and being blocked, but you could try other methods as well or use a VPN to do the pings.
I would try running a free program called WinMTR. It basically acts like a continuous ping tool, and can be set to basically do 100's or thousands of trace routes. You can pick an IP such as a TF2 server IP that you game on sometimes. It will tell you the average latency of each hop, including the hopes on your local network. Then you can maybe identify if there are any specific hops that seem to be problematic, and trouble shoot the issue further.[/quote]
[spoiler][img]http://puu.sh/my0VT/914717ae9e.png[/img][/spoiler]
I'm willing to try more, just let me know. Would a VPN allow me to run pingplotter (or WinMTR)? My only fear with any VPN usage for testing is the inevitable "You clearly aren't having any issues as we discussed earlier, but the VPN you are using is now causing your lag and instability"
edit: any traceroutes I run have to be run through their website.
No, it wouldn't work through the VPN.
Just use UDP or TCP instead of ICMP. Even WinMTR can do that.
No, it wouldn't work through the VPN.
Just use UDP or TCP instead of ICMP. Even WinMTR can do that.
tbh I had the same issue for a long time (I would get ~700 ping during peak hours and ~400 ping during the day) due to my uni having insufficient bandwidth ($80/mo in IT fees to SHARE a 300mbit line with a few thousand students was horrible) and all that helped was badgering the head of IT (the ppl who managed funding) and sending them videos of how bad it was. Just recently, they finally upgraded and now I have been having stable ping and dl speeds this whole semester.
tldr: your uni probs needs more bandwidth and the likelihood they'll actually upgrade is slim. Unless they start doing some serious throttling on things like netflix etc (a lot of ppl in uni binge watch), you're not going to get any better.
What I did in the meantime was I played via my cell phone connection through tethering. I'd get ~80ping but it'd be stable-ish and still playable.
tbh I had the same issue for a long time (I would get ~700 ping during peak hours and ~400 ping during the day) due to my uni having insufficient bandwidth ($80/mo in IT fees to SHARE a 300mbit line with a few thousand students was horrible) and all that helped was badgering the head of IT (the ppl who managed funding) and sending them videos of how bad it was. Just recently, they finally upgraded and now I have been having stable ping and dl speeds this whole semester.
tldr: your uni probs needs more bandwidth and the likelihood they'll actually upgrade is slim. Unless they start doing some serious throttling on things like netflix etc (a lot of ppl in uni binge watch), you're not going to get any better.
What I did in the meantime was I played via my cell phone connection through tethering. I'd get ~80ping but it'd be stable-ish and still playable.