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Connection problem cause not cryptics fault.

jonkocajonkoca Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 2,586 Arc User
edited June 2014 in General Discussion (PC)
Something, maybe Verizon, is throttling cogent traffic in dispute. All cryptic games affected. You can stop fiddling with your pc settings now, it's got nothing to do with you.
No idea what my toon is now.
Post edited by jonkoca on
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Comments

  • zebularzebular Member, Neverwinter Moderator, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 15,270 Community Moderator
    edited June 2014
    . . . Yeah, I've been hearing bad things about congent and their throttling of users lately. Sadly, users first blame the game instead of getting a hold of their ISPs and asking the ISP to do traceroutes themselves. It can be understandable because they may not have the same issues in other games which is more of lack of understanding how the internet works than anything. Just because game connection to one game is fine and its not to another doesn't mean it's the game's fault. Most of the time, connection issues are caused by down Relay HUBs or some ISP that the data goes through is throttling users. The internet isn't a straight line to one's destination and even the route back can differ.
  • lewstelamon01lewstelamon01 Member Posts: 7,415 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    I've heard too that Verizon and Cogent are...well...let's just say not playing nice.
    ROLL TIDE ROLL

    Great Weapon Fighter: Because when is today not a good day to die?

    PC and PS4 player. Proud Guildmaster for PS4 Team Fencebane. Rank 5 Officer for PC Team Fencebane. Visit us at http://fencebane.shivtr.com
  • dnosrcdnosrc Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 122 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    zebular wrote: »
    . . . Yeah, I've been hearing bad things about congent and their throttling of users lately. Sadly, users first blame the game instead of getting a hold of their ISPs and asking the ISP to do traceroutes themselves. It can be understandable because they may not have the same issues in other games which is more of lack of understanding how the internet works than anything. Just because game connection to one game is fine and its not to another doesn't mean it's the game's fault. Most of the time, connection issues are caused by down Relay HUBs or some ISP that the data goes through is throttling users. The internet isn't a straight line to one's destination and even the route back can differ.

    Doesn't explain why some zones' instances are notorious for extreme rubberbanding and lag issues. Good Examples are GG T2 Dwarf King or Epic Pirate King. Either this zones are hosted on servers with even worse routing or instances of this zones are throttled in CPU speed. Both cases are in Cryptic/PW reach to fix.

    Tbh the mentioned zones feel like playing a pre-alpha version of the game.
  • eldartheldarth Member Posts: 4,494 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    dnosrc wrote: »
    Doesn't explain why some zones' instances are notorious for extreme rubberbanding and lag issues. Good Examples are GG T2 Dwarf King or Epic Pirate King. Either this zones are hosted on servers with even worse routing or instances of this zones are throttled in CPU speed. Both cases are in Cryptic/PW reach to fix.

    No, actually it could easily explain it. If those zones have more network packet traffic due to spell effects/number of users/auction-house usage/etc and Cogent and/or Verizon are throttling data it makes total sense. If "normal" zones are transmitting/receiving (for example sake) 15 packets/second, and the new zones, with increased users/usage is transmitting/receiving 30 packets/second -- then Verizon/Cogent "throttles" usage to a maximum of 15/second... bingo -- rubberbanding.

    If you want to investigate the gory truth, here are a couple of websites about detecting throttling:
    http://www.howtogeek.com/165481/how-to-test-if-your-isp-is-throttling-your-internet-connection/
    http://www.wikihow.com/Test-for-Bandwidth-Limiting-by-Your-ISP
  • tonyswutonyswu Member Posts: 223 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    zebular wrote: »
    . . . Yeah, I've been hearing bad things about congent and their throttling of users lately. Sadly, users first blame the game instead of getting a hold of their ISPs and asking the ISP to do traceroutes themselves. It can be understandable because they may not have the same issues in other games which is more of lack of understanding how the internet works than anything. Just because game connection to one game is fine and its not to another doesn't mean it's the game's fault. Most of the time, connection issues are caused by down Relay HUBs or some ISP that the data goes through is throttling users. The internet isn't a straight line to one's destination and even the route back can differ.


    When clients have issues connecting to your service, you need to take the initiative and resolve it if it's identified, because problem needs to be resolved regardless of whose fault it is. Simply coming back and say "it's not our fault" is simply irresponsible.
  • shurato2099shurato2099 Member Posts: 171 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    And if it's Cogent or Verizon doing the throttlng the best they can do is ask nicely for them to stop.
  • serowforsakenserowforsaken Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    No wonder I was having so many issues staying connected to NW over the weekend. It was very frustrating!

    "Server is not responding..."
    GRRRRR!

    But at least now I know it's nothing wrong with my PC.

    Can Cryptic switch over to Wildstar's ISPs or something?
    I don't have connection problems with WS, and their servers are *supposed* to be in the Texas area too.
    C'mon Cryptic, this is not some tab target MMO you have here!
    60 Hunter Ranger
    The rest still up-and-coming!
  • magoguitarristamagoguitarrista Member, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 105
    edited June 2014
    I dont understand this problem, sometimes when i login the game start with "server not responding" and lag problems, if I choose "change character" and get in again a few times, the game seems to start proper, and it doesn't bother .... :S
    When I change from map/instance the game start's giving problems again...
    Its wired :/
    I had played with 3 friends in this connection before with 0 lag, and now i can't even play alone so frustrating...
    Is Cryptic working in a solution?, Are they taking any look to this?, how long they think its gonna take? something like this happened once last year, I remember it...
    I hate to be in the dark, is there any info? Zebular/Lewstelamon? anybody xD?
    PSD: ISP ARNET, Argentina. (never had a problem, in exception for the last year when as i mention happened something similar)
  • magoguitarristamagoguitarrista Member, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 105
    edited June 2014
    prettycelt wrote: »
    This issue was at the root of a thread I started over the weekend (see http://nw-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?689051-Endless-crashes-come-and-go-anyone-else) and indeed in a few of the cases where I ran a tracert test, it was Cogentco at fault with high pings that seemed to be causing my connectivity problem.

    I knew it wasn't a problem with my wireless, and I really don't want to have to manually change my DNS to Google Public. Isn't there something Cryptic can do?
    Whats that about changing your DNS?
  • lewstelamon01lewstelamon01 Member Posts: 7,415 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    I dont understand this problem, sometimes when i login the game start with "server not responding" and lag problems, if I choose "change character" and get in again a few times, the game seems to start proper, and it doesn't bother .... :S
    When I change from map/instance the game start's giving problems again...
    Its wired :/
    I had played with 3 friends in this connection before with 0 lag, and now i can't even play alone so frustrating...
    Is Cryptic working in a solution?, Are they taking any look to this?, how long they think its gonna take? something like this happened once last year, I remember it...
    I hate to be in the dark, is there any info? Zebular/Lewstelamon? anybody xD?
    PSD: ISP ARNET, Argentina. (never had a problem, in exception for the last year when as i mention happened something similar)

    If your issue is being caused by the aforementioned throttling of traffic by Cogent, not much if anything that Cryptic can do.

    @serow: Changing ISPs for a business such as Cryptic isn't as simple or doable as a residential customer changing their ISP. For one, many ISP providers enjoy a regional monopoly in the areas they serve. Two, Cryptic needs pretty hefty bandwidth to be able to host multiple MMOs and providers that have that sort of bandwidth don't grow on trees.
    ROLL TIDE ROLL

    Great Weapon Fighter: Because when is today not a good day to die?

    PC and PS4 player. Proud Guildmaster for PS4 Team Fencebane. Rank 5 Officer for PC Team Fencebane. Visit us at http://fencebane.shivtr.com
  • jonkocajonkoca Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 2,586 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    http://johnsaucier.blogspot.com.tr/2013/08/corporate-greed-how-verizon-is-sticking.html

    Same kind of thing happened with star trek online last year apparantly.
    I have started playing this game called Star Trek Online, it’s an MMO, loads of fun for any old Trekker like me. But recently I began having issues when playing the game. You see inside the game when you transfer between maps, or load an instance for a battle, the game would suddenly time out and disconnect you. This happened to me last night, and I was unable to get back into the game. I had noticed some lag issues recently as well, but didn’t think much of them at the time. I shut down the game and decided to take it up this morning instead.

    So I start the launcher and log in, and of course I’m presented with a message indicating the last map I tried to play had a problem. This is what happens when you are disconnected. So I try to log back in, and everything works just fine again. I begin playing and everything is working when suddenly during another map change, I am timed out, disconnected again.


    Well, at least now I know why neverwinter's been unplayable for the last couple of days, sad, but I'll just wait it out I suppose.
    No idea what my toon is now.
  • lewstelamon01lewstelamon01 Member Posts: 7,415 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    jonkoca wrote: »
    http://johnsaucier.blogspot.com.tr/2013/08/corporate-greed-how-verizon-is-sticking.html

    Same kind of thing happened with star trek online last year apparantly.

    Given that the trace for STO is the same (our lag and rubberbanding sticky is actually just about copied word for word from the STO forums), it's not surprising.
    ROLL TIDE ROLL

    Great Weapon Fighter: Because when is today not a good day to die?

    PC and PS4 player. Proud Guildmaster for PS4 Team Fencebane. Rank 5 Officer for PC Team Fencebane. Visit us at http://fencebane.shivtr.com
  • jonkocajonkoca Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 2,586 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    Would have been nice if someone from cryptic had just made an announcement a week ago saying "do not adjust your settings guys, internet company X is throttling our traffic etc." Because a lot people have been banging their heads on their pcs for the last couple of days if you look at the forums, including me.

    Having a problem, and not knowing the cause makes me crazy.
    No idea what my toon is now.
  • mircalla83mircalla83 Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild Users Posts: 36
    edited June 2014
    One issue with connections is also: If you sit in the northern hemisphere, chances are VERY high that you WILL have to deal with Cogent anyway.
    Their NA based land mainframes go down to Mexico City (so they most likely scoop up the connections for Middle America into North America), and to Florida. In Florida, pretty much all of the Caribbean and South American underwater lines hit North American soil, which means you most likely get (via Landline) routed from Miami to Boston.
    If you connect from Asia, or NA; you MIGHT get lucky - only one line connecting Japan and NA belongs to Cogent.
    If you connect from Europe however.....at least 2 of the 'Mainland Europe' Lines going to the US belong to Cogent, and 5 Lines from the UK to US. In total, there are 15 known commercial underwater cables between Europe, counting both Mainland and those in the UK.

    By the way, even if you DO happen to cross the Atlantic on a Non-Cogent Line, Cogent seems to own the majority of the lines on the US East coast including the lines down into Florida and to Miami. Keep in mind, in the US, the net companies pretty much have monopolies in a given area.

    The TL;DR is: If you are in America or Europe, the chance is very slim that you are able to dodge Cogent.
  • jonkocajonkoca Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 2,586 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    I suppose there is no way to direct your route via japan..?
    No idea what my toon is now.
  • bioshrikebioshrike Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 4,729 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    jonkoca wrote: »
    Would have been nice if someone from cryptic had just made an announcement a week ago saying "do not adjust your settings guys, internet company X is throttling our traffic etc." Because a lot people have been banging their heads on their pcs for the last couple of days if you look at the forums, including me.

    Having a problem, and not knowing the cause makes me crazy.

    That's getting into a dicey situation, where Cogent or any other company that is "allegedly" throttling traffic could sue for liable or what have you.

    I truly wish there was some easy way to re-route the path your service takes. I suppose you could try a proxy service, bu you'd have to be sure not to use a proxy whose path also crosses the troublesome hop(s).
    <::::::::::::::)xxxo <::::::::::::::)xxxo <::::::::::::)xxxxxxxx(:::::::::::> oxxx(::::::::::::::> oxxx(::::::::::::::>
    "Is it better to be feared or respected? I say, is it too much to ask for both?" -Tony Stark
    Official NW_Legit_Community Forums
  • bioshrikebioshrike Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 4,729 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    Whats that about changing your DNS?

    It's sort of a shot-in-the-dark thing you can try, to see if maybe Google or Open DNS can provide a better route, instead of your local ISP. I tried this already, but sadly it resulted in the same path (for me)...
    <::::::::::::::)xxxo <::::::::::::::)xxxo <::::::::::::)xxxxxxxx(:::::::::::> oxxx(::::::::::::::> oxxx(::::::::::::::>
    "Is it better to be feared or respected? I say, is it too much to ask for both?" -Tony Stark
    Official NW_Legit_Community Forums
  • ambisinisterrambisinisterr Member, Neverwinter Moderator Posts: 10,462 Community Moderator
    edited June 2014
    tonyswu wrote: »
    When clients have issues connecting to your service, you need to take the initiative and resolve it if it's identified, because problem needs to be resolved regardless of whose fault it is. Simply coming back and say "it's not our fault" is simply irresponsible.
    Can Cryptic switch over to Wildstar's ISPs or something?

    Cryptic doesn't use Verizon or Congent. This is a user end problem more so than Cryptic's problem.

    That is to say, for instance, I travel through congent's ISP Network on my way to the Cryptic servers. They could up and move the servers anywhere and if you end up going through Congent's services you're still going to have the problem.

    Location really means next to nothing this day in age. "All the way to Texas" in terms of internet traffic today is really nothing even if you live in China. You won't notice any issues unless you go through an ISP that throttles traffic or is just plain saturated.

    If you aren't having problems with other games that is because other games likely aren't in a location which has you routed through Congent. And even if it solves the problem for you it is guaranteed by the laws of...something...to effect somebody else who isn't currently being routed through Congent.

    Dangit I wish I knew what that law was but here's a purely ficticious example:
    If users routed through, say, Chicago were put through Congent's service and Cryptic's servers were in New York that means users on the East Coast would not be effected by that particular section of Congent's service. However if the servers were in San Francisco all users on the East Coast and Europe were be effected by Chicago's Congent service.

    And if Cryptic calls and complains Congents going to say "okay, yeah...we'll put it with our complaints department...also known as the trash bin." Bottom line is...they have no reason to care. Cryptic doesn't pay them.

    Here, you guys may find this video comical yet frightening. It certainly is sensationalized but it's pretty true. Just in the last few months congress voted on a bill which actually legalized trafficking in the US. And for those who don't know what trafficking is imagine it like this...
    You pay to stream Netflix and your agreement says that for a fee you can watch unlimited movies/shows 24/4 for that fee. However after the first three movies/shows you watch suddenly Netflix says "woah you are using up a lot of our bandwidth" and stops providing you service equally to customers who paid for the same service. There are actually laws in the US against this...and for internet service it just got tossed out the window...

    Truth is...companies don't care about the companies that use a lot of bandwidth. In fact tey don't like them because as far as they are concerned those companies cost them money...

    The only people they will care about are the ones who sign the paychecks and the bills that say you can and can not do such and such. Problem is, as the US government proved a few months ago, they aren't representing us because what they did is legalized Congent and Verizon to treat customers unequally...
    If you really want to blame anybody...blame the suits who prove time and time again that they don't care or understand technology/games.
  • bioshrikebioshrike Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 4,729 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    ambisinisterr, I think you are referring to Net Neutrality.

    But, yeah, it can be annoying to deal w/ ISPs as they generally only care about "their customers".
    <::::::::::::::)xxxo <::::::::::::::)xxxo <::::::::::::)xxxxxxxx(:::::::::::> oxxx(::::::::::::::> oxxx(::::::::::::::>
    "Is it better to be feared or respected? I say, is it too much to ask for both?" -Tony Stark
    Official NW_Legit_Community Forums
  • mircalla83mircalla83 Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild Users Posts: 36
    edited June 2014
    jonkoca wrote: »
    I suppose there is no way to direct your route via japan..?

    Unlikely, unless you have a VPN sitting in Japan. And keep in mind, longer lines ALSO mean worse connection. Plus once you hit US West coast, the risk of hitting Cogent is there again, Since they own lines from the major termination points of the Japan-NA submarine cables.
    Cogent's own network map shows them having lines down the whole West coast, from Canadian Vancouver via Seattle and Portland, to Sacramento, Oakland, SF, Santa Clara, LA, Orange County, down to San Diego. Cogent's Japan-NA Line terminates in LA, the majority of undersea cables from Japan to NA terminates around Seattle and Portland.

    My deductions are from the following websites:
    http://www.cogentco.com/en/network/network-map
    http://www.submarinecablemap.com/
    So long thing short: You are DOOOOOMED.
  • drinnthdrinnth Member Posts: 227 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    Yes, with Net Neutrality dead, you are going to start seeing companies do these sorts of things and then offer terms for more pipeline to companies for money. And who is most likely to be hit first? Who uses the most network bandwidth? You got it, Online gaming. All online gaming companies are soon going to get fleeced to get better bandwidth and if you don't pay the fees, your users will get throttled.

    You can send upper tier complaints via your ISP, but they are likely to be ignored. Mostly due to the fact that those companies own those wires and if you don't like the service, you don't have to use it. At least that is how they view it since they are a monopoly of sorts.

    What I wouldn't give for some venture capital to put in lines in those areas and offer cheaper terms.
  • ambisinisterrambisinisterr Member, Neverwinter Moderator Posts: 10,462 Community Moderator
    edited June 2014
    bioshrike wrote: »
    ambisinisterr, I think you are referring to Net Neutrality.

    But, yeah, it can be annoying to deal w/ ISPs as they generally only care about "their customers".

    Indeed I am referring to Net Neutrality. The only reason internet trafficking is legal in the US is because a few months ago, right before Lowell McAdam made that asinine statement (funny how he says that as soon as it becomes legal), US congress voted against maintaining net neutrality.

    Thing is without net neutrallity they don't even have to care about their customers anymore.
    More or less what Lowell McAdam said is akin to an All You Can Eat Buffet charging more if you eat more despite the fact the prices are set at a rate so that the person who eats nothing balances out against those who eat a lot.

    It would have been perfectly legal to offer a pay as you go plan (pay per megabit used) even with net neutrality but now without net neutrality they can charge companies such as MMO developers more per megabit...for what? Greed is the only logical explanation.
  • jonkocajonkoca Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 2,586 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    S'funny, nwo is the first game of this type I've played. Never experienced my character getting nerfed before, wasn't nice. Getting rolfstomped in pvp, never happened before either. Crazy price fluctuations, bots, spammers, all new. Lol. Anyway, persevered, still enjoyed the game. Got better, joined legit, had fun. And what finally kills me off..?

    The goddammn internet itself.

    There should be a new epic dungeon where you fight CEOs, politicians and IT guys and finally for the ultimate prize, an artifact of stable connection speed, the internet dragon.
    No idea what my toon is now.
  • fusionawesomefusionawesome Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 121 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    jonkoca wrote: »
    There should be a new epic dungeon where you fight CEOs, politicians and IT guys and finally for the ultimate prize, an artifact of stable connection speed, the internet dragon.

    Sounds like a fun foundry mission :D
  • serowforsakenserowforsaken Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    Sounds like a fun foundry mission :D
    But..

    "SERVER NOT RESPONDING..."
    60 Hunter Ranger
    The rest still up-and-coming!
  • jonkocajonkoca Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 2,586 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    Er. No. To all of your post. None of those things have anything to do with the current problems of non US players. Or rather non-players atm.
    No idea what my toon is now.
  • mrgiggles651mrgiggles651 Member Posts: 790 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    Putting a server in the EU would solve the issue for all the EU folks, and everyone else outside ths US if you want to take the position that the speed of China-Texas routing is no problem, since asia-EU is about the same distance.
    I wasted five million AD promoting the Foundry.
  • lewstelamon01lewstelamon01 Member Posts: 7,415 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    Putting a server in the EU would solve the issue for all the EU folks, and everyone else outside ths US if you want to take the position that the speed of China-Texas routing is no problem, since asia-EU is about the same distance.

    Distance isn't being argued in this thread, though. It's the point that certain ISPs are throttling traffic based solely on its source. And I really don't feel like elaborating on why a regionalized shard isn't a cure-all for the issue either...whole thread got argued on that point.
    ROLL TIDE ROLL

    Great Weapon Fighter: Because when is today not a good day to die?

    PC and PS4 player. Proud Guildmaster for PS4 Team Fencebane. Rank 5 Officer for PC Team Fencebane. Visit us at http://fencebane.shivtr.com
  • mrgiggles651mrgiggles651 Member Posts: 790 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    Distance isn't being argued in this thread, though. It's the point that certain ISPs are throttling traffic based solely on its source. And I really don't feel like elaborating on why a regionalized shard isn't a cure-all for the issue either...whole thread got argued on that point.
    Distance is mentioned as 'not a factor' by a green titled poster in this thread, and specifically China to Texas, which is why I referred to the China-Texas route.

    A server in a place outside of cogents ability to throttle things would fix the situation for all the non-US posters that are having problems. Problem solved by Cryptic for them, and no more worries about net neutrality stuff.
    I wasted five million AD promoting the Foundry.
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