Connection Issues
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Connection Issues
Huge thanks to LMR Mad Friday -
I've noticed a lot of people are posting about connection issues lately and have been given mis-guided information of a cure, I searched the archives for a guide and only found one which was a little out dated, I could post something a bit more up to date and easier to understand if anyone is interested?
I've noticed a lot of people are posting about connection issues lately and have been given mis-guided information of a cure, I searched the archives for a guide and only found one which was a little out dated, I could post something a bit more up to date and easier to understand if anyone is interested?
THO Mad Friday- TORA Race Number : 808
Number of posts : 72
Location : Dorset, UK
Registration date : 2013-07-29
Reputation : 4
Re: Connection Issues
Part 1 below, i had done a complete guide but when i tried to post it most of it dissapeared, i dont know if there is a character limit per post or something?
THO Mad Friday- TORA Race Number : 808
Number of posts : 72
Location : Dorset, UK
Registration date : 2013-07-29
Reputation : 4
Re: Connection Issues
Right, a couple of people have shown interest so ill post a few things up, if what i write doesnt help let me know and ill try help sort it for you. Also, some of this information may be specific to the UK but broadband is broadband so should be of use.
Few basic things to check first:
1. Check you have a decent broadband supplier (ISP) first, you may think im joking here but most lag problems are down to what service the ISP is providing you with. For example, does your connection get laggy at peak times? Normally between 6pm and midnight. Most people think this is down to 'traffic management', not true. You need a steady 1mb connection for XBL to work well enough to be usable, so if you have 10mb download and your ISP throttle this down to 5mb at peak time XBL should still work properly, but it doesnt, this is down to 'traffic shaping'.
Traffic shaping is the process of either delaying or redirecting packets of information through a network, both of which cause lag for gamers. If you dont know what i mean imagine your in a Ferrari capable of 200mph, you want to go flat out down the motorway but you cant because there is so much traffic, you have 2 choices, either sit in the traffic until you get where your going or you take a diversion. In ping terms a 30ms journey can go way over a second over a busy network. If you have an old pc with windows XP try doing some pathpings to prove this.
Now, traffic shaping is obviously bad but there is a cure. ISP's realised there was money to be made out of charging customers more money to give them the service they should get anyway. Some ISP's offer prioritised connections for gamers and work well, some say there good for gaming (like virgin) but realy they are not, so a little research of what is best in your area is a good idea.
I use Plusnet Broadband for 2 reasons, first they offer prioritised traffic for gaming and second if you do have a problem you can call tech support free and actually speak to someone who knows what there talking about not someone in India reading from a script.
Below is a link to there traffic policy, for my package gaming is given Titanium status meaning there is no restrictions to any gaming traffic, and imho is pretty bloody good.
http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/speed_guide/traffic_management.shtml
So, as i stated at the start, the first step to having lag free gaming is to choose the right broadband supplier, if you have decent broadband and your having problems read on.
2. Check your micro filter is plugged into the master telephone socket, this normally has a BT logo on it but if you cant see it find where the telephone line comes into your house and trace the wire to the first telephone socket you find and plug the filter into it.
3. Disconnect any extension wiring plugged into the faceplate of the master socket, the extra wiring will reduce the bandwidth available, if your not confident in doing this read the guide below, or behind the faceplate is a BT test socket, plug your filter in here which will bypass all extension wiring but wont look as nice if the socket is in plain sight in the room. Also disconnect the ring wire in the socket (makes old phones ring so dont disconnect unless you have a modern telephone).
Guides for all this found here:
http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/socket.htm
4. For the best connection an ethernet cable should be used between the router and Xbox, this is not always possible so there are a few things you can do to improve your wifi signal.
First off get yourself some sort of wifi analyser for what ever smart phone you have. On Android i use Wifi analyser because its free and works.
Here is a snapshot of one of the views on the app, as you can see in my location (away from home atm) there are several routers in range and typicaly they are all on the same channel which can do all sorts of bad things to your connection. Most routers default to either channel 1 or 11, and this includes routers whos ISP's have based an advertising campaign on how there homehub (lol) channel hops to improve range and bandwidth.
Do this where your router is and pick a channel that is either furthest away from the other channels used or for a very busy area use a channel that has the lowest strength routers in range. Once you have got a channel you will have to log into your router as an administrator and change the broadcast channel.
Few basic things to check first:
1. Check you have a decent broadband supplier (ISP) first, you may think im joking here but most lag problems are down to what service the ISP is providing you with. For example, does your connection get laggy at peak times? Normally between 6pm and midnight. Most people think this is down to 'traffic management', not true. You need a steady 1mb connection for XBL to work well enough to be usable, so if you have 10mb download and your ISP throttle this down to 5mb at peak time XBL should still work properly, but it doesnt, this is down to 'traffic shaping'.
Traffic shaping is the process of either delaying or redirecting packets of information through a network, both of which cause lag for gamers. If you dont know what i mean imagine your in a Ferrari capable of 200mph, you want to go flat out down the motorway but you cant because there is so much traffic, you have 2 choices, either sit in the traffic until you get where your going or you take a diversion. In ping terms a 30ms journey can go way over a second over a busy network. If you have an old pc with windows XP try doing some pathpings to prove this.
Now, traffic shaping is obviously bad but there is a cure. ISP's realised there was money to be made out of charging customers more money to give them the service they should get anyway. Some ISP's offer prioritised connections for gamers and work well, some say there good for gaming (like virgin) but realy they are not, so a little research of what is best in your area is a good idea.
I use Plusnet Broadband for 2 reasons, first they offer prioritised traffic for gaming and second if you do have a problem you can call tech support free and actually speak to someone who knows what there talking about not someone in India reading from a script.
Below is a link to there traffic policy, for my package gaming is given Titanium status meaning there is no restrictions to any gaming traffic, and imho is pretty bloody good.
http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/speed_guide/traffic_management.shtml
So, as i stated at the start, the first step to having lag free gaming is to choose the right broadband supplier, if you have decent broadband and your having problems read on.
2. Check your micro filter is plugged into the master telephone socket, this normally has a BT logo on it but if you cant see it find where the telephone line comes into your house and trace the wire to the first telephone socket you find and plug the filter into it.
3. Disconnect any extension wiring plugged into the faceplate of the master socket, the extra wiring will reduce the bandwidth available, if your not confident in doing this read the guide below, or behind the faceplate is a BT test socket, plug your filter in here which will bypass all extension wiring but wont look as nice if the socket is in plain sight in the room. Also disconnect the ring wire in the socket (makes old phones ring so dont disconnect unless you have a modern telephone).
Guides for all this found here:
http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/socket.htm
4. For the best connection an ethernet cable should be used between the router and Xbox, this is not always possible so there are a few things you can do to improve your wifi signal.
First off get yourself some sort of wifi analyser for what ever smart phone you have. On Android i use Wifi analyser because its free and works.
Here is a snapshot of one of the views on the app, as you can see in my location (away from home atm) there are several routers in range and typicaly they are all on the same channel which can do all sorts of bad things to your connection. Most routers default to either channel 1 or 11, and this includes routers whos ISP's have based an advertising campaign on how there homehub (lol) channel hops to improve range and bandwidth.
Do this where your router is and pick a channel that is either furthest away from the other channels used or for a very busy area use a channel that has the lowest strength routers in range. Once you have got a channel you will have to log into your router as an administrator and change the broadcast channel.
THO Mad Friday- TORA Race Number : 808
Number of posts : 72
Location : Dorset, UK
Registration date : 2013-07-29
Reputation : 4
Re: Connection Issues
5. EMI, electro magnetic interference, the easiest way to try to prevent this is to keep your router and xbox away from your other electronic goods, mobile phones are are one of the worst for EMI so try setting your mobile phone to airplane mode when you have an important race. Strangely, any router broadcasting 802.11g or b produce a lot of EMI, so theres no real way to stop this other than upgrade to 802.11n (wireless N).
6. Before a race you should reset your Xbox's network adaptor, this should fix any internal errors and port issues, guide found here:
http://www.supercheats.com/xbox-360/how-to/how-to-reset-xbox-360-network-settings-to-default
7. Reset your router? this is a grey area. If there are actually any internal errors in the router of course this should resolve them, but..... if you do this too often your ISP may see this as a fault on your line and reduce your bandwidth to stabalize the line, if this happens it takes up to 72 hrs to return to full speed.
THO Mad Friday- TORA Race Number : 808
Number of posts : 72
Location : Dorset, UK
Registration date : 2013-07-29
Reputation : 4
Re: Connection Issues
8. Interleaving, Interleaving improves the quality of your broadband and helps stability on lines with problems. But it can add a small delay (lag) to the service and this may affect the broadband experience for gamers. You can ask your ISP to switch it off but switching off interleaving can reduce the stability of broadband (making it more prone to fluctuations and drops), so only do this if your confident you have a decent line with no issues.
Last edited by LMR Mad Friday on Thu 20 Mar 2014 - 20:35; edited 2 times in total
THO Mad Friday- TORA Race Number : 808
Number of posts : 72
Location : Dorset, UK
Registration date : 2013-07-29
Reputation : 4
Re: Connection Issues
9. NAT settings, this is a big horrible world of hurt, there are so many variables that can cause a strict NAT including what ISP your on, what router you have, whether the router has UPnP, what firmware the router is at etc etc. If your lucky enough to be on Forza 5 i believe there should be less problems now with dedicated servers but if your still on Forza 4 try the link below, but as i said there are so many different variables you may have to do some research into what kit you have and how to fix it. My ISP (Plusnet) have a list of defined games in there traffic management policy including which ports are required to be opened, and this is applied automatically meaning i never have any NAT issues, if your a serious gamer this is the sort of information you should be requesting from broadband suppliers when making your choice of which supplier to buy from.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/242961/how_to_open_up_nat_settings_on_your_xbox_360.html
10. Advice for lobby hosts (Forza 4). Obviously the host needs to have open NAT, but also they should have sufficient bandwidth to service up to 15 other players. Download shouldnt be a problem but upload is critical for the host. If a host has 10mb download they may have as little as 0.3mb upload, this 0.3mb has to feed up to 15 other connections.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/242961/how_to_open_up_nat_settings_on_your_xbox_360.html
10. Advice for lobby hosts (Forza 4). Obviously the host needs to have open NAT, but also they should have sufficient bandwidth to service up to 15 other players. Download shouldnt be a problem but upload is critical for the host. If a host has 10mb download they may have as little as 0.3mb upload, this 0.3mb has to feed up to 15 other connections.
THO Mad Friday- TORA Race Number : 808
Number of posts : 72
Location : Dorset, UK
Registration date : 2013-07-29
Reputation : 4
Re: Connection Issues
http://www.pingtest.net/
Some of you guys may have used this site before but if you havnt take a look, this is a very good tool for checking your line. When you test your line you will get 3 different figures afterwards.
1. Ping, no explanation needed!
2. Jitter, Jitter is the variance in measuring successive ping tests. For example if a server is pinged twice, one takes 30ms and one takes 50ms, the jitter is 20 ms meaning ping consistency is poor.
3. Packet loss, if 100 packets of information are sent but only 95 are received, 5 packets have been lost. This can cause the stuttering and 'time-warping' you may have seen during gameplay.
As you can see not all lag is caused by ping times, if your results are poor you need to investigate it and find the cause. Try doing this test with a wired ethernet connection first, if you get good results repeat the test using wifi. If you get a good result with ethernet and poor over wifi you know there is a wifi/router issue, if the results are poor with the ethernet cable then you may have either a line issue or a problem with the modem inside the router.
THO Mad Friday- TORA Race Number : 808
Number of posts : 72
Location : Dorset, UK
Registration date : 2013-07-29
Reputation : 4
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