Online gaming issues

Stonker_99 · 05-01-2004, 07:42

Hi, I've just signed up to the board following a few problems. Basically, I signed up to the 1Mb service about 6 months ago, and had no problems whatsoever (apart from initally having the service from the STB, then changed to a modem)
The problem is, since I moved house 2 months ago, the service is not as efficient as it was. The download and ping times are still the same, but when I play an online game, I get very bad lag. I have done a complete re-install, and I only installed the minimum apps, and the game I play.
This happens on all servers worldwide, including my own leased server, based in the UK.

Is there any reason why this should be happening? I run ICS from a seperate laptop, as I have always done.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Neil · 05-01-2004, 07:50

Hi, & Welcome to nthw.

It sounds like you are now on a congested upstream with a lot of other people in the same boat.

Could you post a ping test to one of the servers you are having problems with, & also tell us a bit more about your PC's setup? (the more info the better)

Stuartbe · 05-01-2004, 07:53

Your problem could be down to an oversubscribed ubr though usualy your ping times get bad when this is the case. Is there any way you can connect the games machine to the net directly to check that the ics machine is not the problem.

You could also check for packet loss by going to http://www.dslreports.com/tweaks

This is supposed to be for tweak testing but it does give you a packet loss chart.

HTH

Welcome to the forum BTW

Stonker_99 · 05-01-2004, 08:22

Hi all, and thanks for your help and welcomes.

I will post a ping report later today.

As for the setup, the laptop running ICS is a P4 2.0Ghz with 256Mb RAM, and has the cable modem connected via USB (urgh) at the moment, and is running XP Professional.

My main PC is an Athlon 2400xp with 768Mb 333Mhz RAM, and is running XP Professional.

The connection runs through a Netgear 100mbps hub (cannot check details atm). As I said, the connection was perfectly fine, with more PCs connected at the previous address, so I'm assuming that it is a congestion problem. Can anything be done about this ?

I have connected my PC directly to the modem, and I get the same problem.

Thanks again.

Neil · 05-01-2004, 08:55

Well you've pretty much eliminated any issues on your side, which (as we suspected) leaves the problem on ntl's side (probably over-congestion)

PM me your post code & I will let you have a direct contact who will be able to help.

Stonker_99 · 05-01-2004, 09:32

Thanks Neil, PM is on it's way.

Zorilla · 05-01-2004, 11:30

I have also had similar problems - I signed up to NTL just over a year ago, so that I could play xbox live. Initially all was fine, but over the last 3 months or so, it's got gradually worse, and lately I just can't play xbox live in the early evening

I'm really really fed up, and need to get this sorted (1st New Year Resolution!!)

Initially I had to get NTL, as BT said that I was too far from the exchange - however they have now changed the description to a maybe (depending on tests that they will need to do).

So I'm seriously thinking of moving over. Especially when I look at this web-site BBC info page on Broadband As this clearly implies that Cable has the disadvantage of slowing down when several people in the same street are using the web. (It doesn't say this for ADSL!!)

Can NTL move my connection to a less used 'pipe', or is my only alternative to move to ADSL??

Yours in Desperation
Zorilla

PS: Can I PM you (Neil) my postcode too?

Neil · 05-01-2004, 11:35

Yes you can Zorilla.

threadbare · 05-01-2004, 12:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zorilla

I'm really really fed up, and need to get this sorted (1st New Year Resolution!!) <snip>
So I'm seriously thinking of moving over. Especially when I look at this web-site BBC info page on Broadband As this clearly implies that Cable has the disadvantage of slowing down when several people in the same street are using the web. (It doesn't say this for ADSL!!)

Can NTL move my connection to a less used 'pipe', or is my only alternative to move to ADSL??

Yours in Desperation
Zorilla

PS: Can I PM you (Neil) my postcode too?

contention ratios for ADSL are at the exhange level rather than street level on cable. Overall the contention ratios for ntl are lower than ADSL. ADSL is 25:1 (i think) whereas ntl quotes 20.1 it is often quite considerably lower

Dooby · 05-01-2004, 14:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by threadbare

contention ratios for ADSL are at the exhange level rather than street level on cable. Overall the contention ratios for ntl are lower than ADSL. ADSL is 25:1 (i think) whereas ntl quotes 20.1 it is often quite considerably lower

ADSL is 50:1 as 'standard' you can get 25:1 but afaik you have to pay more for it (or it might just be the business packages)

Zorilla · 05-01-2004, 19:04

It's Ok talking about all these contention ratio stuff, but unless you know how fat the 'pipe' is on the other side, then surely it's meaningless?

Anyone know what bandwidth these 50 or 25 ADSL / NTL customers are fighting for?

Am I missing something? (could be my own brain!)

Smilie · 06-01-2004, 23:23

i have a question to ask
does any1 know if NTL checks their load balance regularly???
cause i have the same problems as u guys (oversubscribed UBR)
this was my last thread
http://forum.nthellworld.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4960
i had it fixed after a week of the last post of that thread (aprox 15/12/2003)
and now its happening again
its not even over a month and the connection gets bad again
dont they have some1 to check the connections to make sure the load balance is alright????
do some1 need to call them before they check their network usage???

oh well
im off on holiday for 3 weeks from Sunday
so i dont want to to waste another hour to call their CS line (30mins on hold+30mins checking my hardware)
i just hope they fix it when i get back

Zorilla · 15-01-2004, 11:52

I phoned CS and told them my connection was bad (Thought I'd give them a chance to fix it before moving to ADSL).

After a lot of waiting:
Several questions came about file sharing software
Then questions about PC config etc
Eventually I convinced the person that I knew what I was doing and she agreed to check the connection (needed my MAC address)
More waiting ...
Then she asked me what software I was using to check my connection.
I gave her www.pcpitstop.com
more waiting (expected her to come back and say that site not representative of my true performance, but she didn't

).
Then came the classic "We've found a fault, and our engineers have been notified"

I asked how a fault could go un-noticed for 2 months, and she couldn't answer, just said it will be corrected.

I assume that they are told to say this - If they let the cat out of the bag that they can move customer's to a better connection, they will all be asking for it. (That's assuming that they are doing anything at all about it!)

Anyway - still waiting to see an improvement. Will leave it a couple of days and ring back again if it's no better

Mr.Moony · 15-01-2004, 12:32

Did they mention what they fault was Zorilla?

David25 · 15-01-2004, 12:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zorilla

Then came the classic "We've found a fault, and our engineers have been notified"

I asked how a fault could go un-noticed for 2 months, and she couldn't answer, just said it will be corrected.

Iit is a subscription problem, it has probably already been reported several times but there is no way for a tech to find this info out.

If the fault was oversubscription then the techs hands are tied.

All that can be done is to report it to the relevant people and cross fingers that it gets resolved. Sadly this process can take a long (and by long I mean long) time.