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Frequent lag when playing online

LittleReggie
Grafter
Posts: 54
Registered: ‎20-11-2008

Frequent lag when playing online

hi,
i know its a recurring problem, so apologies for starting another topic about it. but...
i only play 2 online games at the moment - "isnooker" and "virtual pool 3". quite often, i have so much lag when playing these games online that they become almost unplayable. this happens usually, but not always, during peak hours (ie 6pm to 11pm for me). the usual symptom is long delays between playing shots, while you wait to get control of the game back again. but other aspects of the games are affected.
now these are hardly fast action games, so why are they so badly affected? sometimes, they run like lightning - no problem at all, but other times - not. any ideas about how i can find out whats going on, and how to fix it?
some thoughts i have had, things i have tried:-
1. web browsing does not seem to be affected while this game lag is going on.
2. i connect through a wireless router. i have tried switching from wireless to ethernet cable connection - still the same.
3. i live a long way from the exchange, and my "up to 8 meg" connection usually connects at about 3 to 4 meg. could it be a contention problem due to where i live?
5. neither of these games appear to be on the plusnet list of optimised games.
6. ping tests to isnooker during bad sessions appear to show occasional dropped packets.
i have to assume that this is an issue with my internet connection, rather than my computer/network. can anyone help please?
thanks in advance.
17 REPLIES 17
dvorak
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 29,473
Thanks: 6,623
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Registered: ‎11-01-2008

Re: Frequent lag when playing online

If these games are running on a PC you could do a wireshark capture to make sure that the traffic is been prioritised correctly.
Have a look here http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/troubleshooting/wireshark_video.shtml
Once you have your wireshark capture you can raise a ticket and have it looked at.
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James
Grafter
Posts: 21,036
Thanks: 5
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: Frequent lag when playing online

I'd definitely echo what Adiewoo has said.
A wireshark capture would help us identify whether or not we were prioritising your gaming traffic properly.
I'm so going to have a look into iSnooker when I get home tonight Cheesy
LittleReggie
Grafter
Posts: 54
Registered: ‎20-11-2008

Re: Frequent lag when playing online

thanks for the replies. i will try the wireshark utility and see what happens.
how do i get these games onto the plusnet list of defined games? i think i know the port / ip details of the isnooker server, but virtual pool 3 is played via gamespy arcade - there is no server as such, its peer to peer i think?
James
Grafter
Posts: 21,036
Thanks: 5
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: Frequent lag when playing online

http://portal.plus.net/support/broadband/broadband_gaming/game_signatures.shtml
If you have a read of the above link, it'll tell you what details we'd need to add the definition to our list.  The Wireshark captures would really help.
LittleReggie
Grafter
Posts: 54
Registered: ‎20-11-2008

Re: Frequent lag when playing online

right,
ive run wireshark on isnooker, logging in to gamespy arcade (to play vp3), and actually playing a game of vp3. how do i get someone to have a look at the results for me? i have tried to interpret the results myself, but its confusing. interestingly, i tried logging isnooker 3 or 4 times. on 2 occasions i could see some 0xa0 packets, but other times they seemed to be marked as 0x80 or 0x40. to be honest, im not sure whether i was looking at the right packets at all.
yesterday was a typical evening. games working fine when i tried at about 6pm. at 9pm running like treacle, and just about playable at 11pm. (i wasnt on them all that time of course 😉
thanks.
dvorak
Moderator
Moderator
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Registered: ‎11-01-2008

Re: Frequent lag when playing online

Depending on your product it should all be 0xa0 or 0x80 for gaming so it does seem it isn't profiled correctly.
Raise a ticked through the member centre and add your trace to it to help them identify the traffic.
Link on looking at the wireshark log here:
http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/troubleshooting/wireshark.shtml#analysing
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James
Grafter
Posts: 21,036
Thanks: 5
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: Frequent lag when playing online

Yep.
Raise a ticket please and our Network guys will look at your wireshark capture and then assign the game traffic accordingly if it isn't being done so already.
LittleReggie
Grafter
Posts: 54
Registered: ‎20-11-2008

Re: Frequent lag when playing online

ok, i have raised tickets for both games. lets see what happens.
one thing i'm not sure about though - virtual pool 3 is accessed via "gamespy arcade", where players meet up before creating/joining a game. but there is no server for the game, i assume it is played on a peer to peer basis (if thats the correct terminology). does gamespy arcade traffic need to be optimised too? i did a wireshark capture of logging in to gamespy, but wasnt able to attach this to the help ticket as well as the vp3 capture.
cheers.
LittleReggie
Grafter
Posts: 54
Registered: ‎20-11-2008

Re: Frequent lag when playing online

i am not in any hurry, but how will i know if / when my requests have been processed?
the current state of my tickets is "[Internal] Please review port request." i'm not sure what this means, or if i am supposed to be doing something. the tickets will be closed after 14 days i believe, so is that within the usual timescale for this kind of request?
_CN_
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 385
Registered: ‎11-06-2007

Re: Frequent lag when playing online

Hi,
I have asked for this to be looked at today, your ticket will be updated at the same time, HTH
cp:quote
James
Grafter
Posts: 21,036
Thanks: 5
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: Frequent lag when playing online

Hiya,
Just an FYI - Internal tickets don't close.  They'll only close after 14 days if they have been passed back to you.
markrach
Grafter
Posts: 311
Registered: ‎22-10-2008

Re: Frequent lag when playing online

I had the same problem (different games though) you could try setting your MTU to 1468 and tweaking your RWIN  and , this cured my problems , dslreports http://www.dslreports.com/tweaksthen tweak tester to see where or if anything needs attention
LittleReggie
Grafter
Posts: 54
Registered: ‎20-11-2008

Re: Frequent lag when playing online

actually, i have lowered the mtu on my router from the default of 1458 (iirc) to 1430 (iirc). i cant remember how i arrived at that figure, but it seems to pass the ping test for fragmented packets. but do i have to change the mtu in xp too? where is the rwin setting and what should that be set to? does the dslreports tweak tester tell you this? so many questions... Smiley
one of my game requests has been accepted now, so thanks for that guys. i'm sure the other one will be following shortly. Smiley
James
Grafter
Posts: 21,036
Thanks: 5
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: Frequent lag when playing online

I'd generally go with 1430 too.
The link below will tell you a rough guide of what to set your rWin as.  It varies depending on your sync speed.
http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/troubleshooting/rwin_guide.shtml
If you need any help working uit out, tell me what speed you're connected at and I'll work it out for you Smiley