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Does this throttle traffic for MMOs?

keysplease
Newbie
Posts: 3
Registered: ‎02-10-2013

Does this throttle traffic for MMOs?

This is what I've heard BT do as I was hunting round to find out why FFXIV is unplayable a lot of evenings, and as Plusnet is something to do with BT (as I understand, anyway), I was wondering if this was the case for Plusnet.
Something about the ports used are treated as P2P? Is that right? All other online games are fine, it's just this. If this is the case, is there any plan to sort it?
11 REPLIES 11
Mattz0r
Rising Star
Posts: 620
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎21-07-2010

Re: Does this throttle traffic for MMOs?

Hey,
With the latest packages, Traffic isn't shaped like it used to be, it's just prioritised.
Have a read of this: http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/speed_guide/traffic_management.shtml
Expand the Traffic Prioritisation section
Cheers,
Matt
keysplease
Newbie
Posts: 3
Registered: ‎02-10-2013

Re: Does this throttle traffic for MMOs?

Well that seems to tie in to what I've heard; gaming for the unlimited fibre option is supposed to be 'titanium', and I've had no problems with any other game, but I'm getting big lag delays which must mean the traffic is being managed.
These are the ports it's apparently supposed to be using:
TCP/UDP: 54992-55551
TCP: 80, 8080, 443
Do they come under P2P? I haven't forwarded anything yet so maybe that will help, I'll check again tomorrow, unless anyone has a solution.
Chris
Legend
Posts: 17,724
Thanks: 600
Fixes: 169
Registered: ‎05-04-2007

Re: Does this throttle traffic for MMOs?

Quote
I'm getting big lag delays which must mean the traffic is being managed.

It's being prioritised as per the link Mattz0r gave you, there are no rate limits or speed capping on the Unlimited product.
Looking around the Internet it seems like it's a problem that a lot of people are seeing with FFXIV, just have a look at some of the results here:
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=FFXIV+lag&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=...

If you want us to double check that the game is being categorised correctly it'd be great if you could give us a Wireshark capture, starting before you launch the game up until you're connected online with it. http://community.plus.net/library/faults/using-wireshark-for-data-capture/
Former Plusnet Staff member. Posts after 31st Jan 2020 are not on behalf of Plusnet.
mikehiow
Grafter
Posts: 137
Registered: ‎17-03-2013

Re: Does this throttle traffic for MMOs?

I would dispute traffic management being on a per-line basis in my case.
I'm starting to see Usenet traffic heavily shaped more and more often.
Chris
Legend
Posts: 17,724
Thanks: 600
Fixes: 169
Registered: ‎05-04-2007

Re: Does this throttle traffic for MMOs?

That's odd as there are *no* rate limits on the Unlimited product. Do you see this at any particular times of day?
Former Plusnet Staff member. Posts after 31st Jan 2020 are not on behalf of Plusnet.
mikehiow
Grafter
Posts: 137
Registered: ‎17-03-2013

Re: Does this throttle traffic for MMOs?

I updated my thread which has been ignored for two days: http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,117987.0.html
It is mainly at peak times unsurprisingly. It appears to be getting worse and more consistent.
Chris
Legend
Posts: 17,724
Thanks: 600
Fixes: 169
Registered: ‎05-04-2007

Re: Does this throttle traffic for MMOs?

I'll point Matt back at that thread shortly to take a look.
Former Plusnet Staff member. Posts after 31st Jan 2020 are not on behalf of Plusnet.
Kelly
Hero
Posts: 5,497
Thanks: 380
Fixes: 9
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: Does this throttle traffic for MMOs?

This post is very telling:
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/75009-Regarding-ingame-server-lag-serious-issues?p=120215...
Kelly Dorset
Ex-Broadband Service Manager
keysplease
Newbie
Posts: 3
Registered: ‎02-10-2013

Re: Does this throttle traffic for MMOs?

I did a few Wireshark tests, and on the green highlighted items I'm getting 0x80 for downstream traffic, but 0x00 for upstream traffic. And on the official forums I found a post (ostensibly) from someone at Plusnet a few hours after I made this thread:
Quote
Plusnet
    Hey guys, a few of us at Plusnet in the UK have identified that there is defiantly a throttling issue on our side. Running wiresharks we have found that our Ellacoya traffic management system is picking up the connections as Peer-to-Peer usage due to how the launcher operates to download updates ect. We have passed this internally to our network team who are dealing with it.
    For others that think this is an issue, you can easily determine if it is incorrect throttling by running a wireshark capture.
    If you see the IP of 199.91.189.74 or similar numbers, the priority will show as (Differentiated Services Field: 0x00) which is basically the lowest priority.
    Me and a few others have asked our networks team to get this amended again as we had corrected the system for the original V1 release but appears to have returned as the servers will have changed.
    If SE can confirm if all IPs from 199.91.189.XXX are from the FFXIV servers (or the static IP range that the servers use) it may help us to contact our ISPs and ask them to re-adjust the traffic management systems.
    If you need any more info please let me know.

So is that the case, it will be/has been changed?
spraxyt
Resting Legend
Posts: 10,063
Thanks: 674
Fixes: 75
Registered: ‎06-04-2007

Re: Does this throttle traffic for MMOs?

0x80 for downstream is Gold which is correct.
0x00 for upstream is also correct (it's what your computer sets). Upstream is not managed by Plusnet since by the time the packets arrive there the bottleneck (the line from your premises to the exchange) has already been traversed.
David
Blim
Grafter
Posts: 462
Registered: ‎06-03-2012

Re: Does this throttle traffic for MMOs?

Quote from: Chris

Looking around the Internet it seems like it's a problem that a lot of people are seeing with FFXIV, just have a look at some of the results here:

FFXIV or p2p games in general?
Does BT shape the traffic PN use on the BT network?