Server locations, Latency & Australia - Page 4

Dave Lister · 11/08/07, 10:00 PM

Thank you. When things are going ok with no horrid red bar I enjoy my role, it's not so much fun though when I have a delay of up to one second between pushing a button and the required ability being activated.

Yes, under 'ideal' conditions I generally have a ~350-500ms ping which I've become used to but it often shoots up during the evenings here up to and during the beginning of our raids.
Uther has had something of a history of reliability issues, however, as far as I know Blizzard had sorted out this out.

Ngita · 11/08/07, 10:13 PM

Originally Posted by squiffy

Latency has gone up in TBC from prior, looking at old screenshots of things like Nef kills shows a 300ms latency, whereas now 400 is more the norm.

Can't really confirm that. My best ping to USwest Diablo used to be around 220, my best ping to wow when it first came out was around 220 and my best ping now still tops out around 220. I just had a quick look through a number of old screenshots and while the old Blackrock shots seem higher they are all various shades of green.

Note I have been on the same very good Sydney connection the entire time.

Larisroth · 11/08/07, 10:28 PM

Originally Posted by pewsey

@DaveLister: One of our DPS warriors (and I think Thelyna our new BB approved pally recruit) are both on Xtra, and their connections go to shit in prime time as well.

I can say that on Dragonblight the server oriented "lag" has actually gone down since TBC released and where I was getting a constant 450+ ms ping, I'm now at a 350+ ms ping.

I've heard that adding a /stopcasting to the end of instant cast spells gets around the GCD delay problem for what it's worth. However, you've only got 5 more days to worry about that until 2.3 (please, please)

Actually they're on Orcon. I'm on telstra-clear asdl and while we had several problems a year or so ago we seem pretty good now. If you can get it then cable appears to be the best way to go.

Bael · 11/08/07, 11:05 PM

While the thread is on the topic of people's connections, has anyone had any luck with ADSL 2+ and playing WoW? For the uninitiated, it is relatively new technology in Australia, and there have been all kinds of reports of enormous lag spikes at primetime and frequent disconnects during online games.

What kind of experiences have you had with newer Broadband in Australia? Does it solve the latency crisis?

ter · 11/09/07, 12:04 AM

Originally Posted by Bael

While the thread is on the topic of people's connections, has anyone had any luck with ADSL 2+ and playing WoW? For the uninitiated, it is relatively new technology in Australia, and there have been all kinds of reports of enormous lag spikes at primetime and frequent disconnects during online games.

What kind of experiences have you had with newer Broadband in Australia? Does it solve the latency crisis?

ADSL2+, while being relative new, has matured in Australia for the most part. Myself, and many other people I know use adsl2+ and WoW together. Any lag spikes your are hearing about are probably issues with the ISP, not ADSL2+.

To be honest, however, it is unlikely you'll see any performance increase in WoW if you make the switch. Standard 1500/256 ADSL as it is is too fast for just WoW alone. If you wish to do other things at the same time, such as heavy bowsing/downloading ect, then it will be worthwhile for you. Otherwise, just go with the cheapest option (adsl2+ usually is cheaper).

My only recommendation is to go with a decent telco. Internode is the prime choice, with iinet (my isp) closely after. In general, avoid the large telcos such as telstra/optus like the plague. Unfortunately, your location largely dictates your final decision.

Kcolraw · 11/09/07, 8:09 PM

new zealander here

what i REALLY don't get is why wow has an extra coupla hundred ms over EVERYTHING ELSE... sc, d2, war3, even ventrilo connected to us servers average 250ms ish, why is wow always constantly 500+?

Avengement · 11/10/07, 5:09 AM

Australian based WoW servers would be tops but I really don't see it happening anytime soon, as it’s been said a number of times its really about economics. For myself I play/raid/arena with about the same ping approximately 400-500ms on iiNet ADSL2.

PvE

For me (healer) I don't really have a problem with ping times as it makes very very little difference for me. But latency will differ from class to class and also what encounter you're doing. There really are only a handful of end game encounters that latency really matters, the rest of it really does come down to the player. Latency is such an easy excuse for someone dropping the ball.

PvP

Now I’m not someone who takes PvP to heart at all so I'm not the best person to pass comment on the issue. But in my own and very humble opinion latency does put Au/NZ player at a disadvantage when playing other teams with sub-100ms. But there is really nothing we can do about it so you just have to roll with it and do your best. Again some classes are more disadvantaged than others; rogues and warriors have major problems.

Bottom line for PvE content is you have to be lucky and hope you have skilled people playing the toons that have key duties that no other class can do, rogues & Reliquary of Souls is one of the most major latency affected encounters that I can point out. Sheer on warriors for Illidan has already been pointed out.
Without looking it up there is something like seven Australian guilds that have completed all the BC content, they have overcome “latency” problems and so can you. That statement is only true for PvE content, as I keep saying I’m not going to comment too much on PvP as I don’t know enough about it.

RunsWithScissors · 11/10/07, 6:29 AM

Originally Posted by Kcolraw

new zealander here

what i REALLY don't get is why wow has an extra coupla hundred ms over EVERYTHING ELSE... sc, d2, war3, even ventrilo connected to us servers average 250ms ish, why is wow always constantly 500+?

Really wish I knew. My vent ping sits on 250 (hosted in the states, no idea where) while my wow latency bar is red and it really irritates me.

A what is your isp and what is your ping thread would be relevant to my interests. I would have no problems changing my isp to improve my wow latency

Ruby Moon · 11/12/07, 8:07 AM

Latency got me killed in Lurker a big bunch of times, now I jump on the water when it starts, leave the water only when it finishes and swim deeper into water just to be sure. Dunno why being the vent in EUA, it has around 220 latency but WoW is always around 450.

Ragnor · 11/12/07, 9:29 AM

Ever seen a 500-600 ms warrior trying to catch a 40ms druid in 2v2 arena, not fun... even with joj on the druid and minor speed on the warriors boots the warrior can barely hit him.

Drunkmunky · 11/12/07, 6:30 PM

Originally Posted by Dave Lister

I think I'm getting something similar here; I'm noticing I get a problem whereby I effectively have to double or triple-click a button such as shield slam or revenge before the ability is actually performed. This annoys me no end when I'm trying to maintain a rotation and play whack-a-mole with my minor cool-downs.

I also have this when I play my warrior, the main offenders being shield block and revenge. I press the button, it's highlighted and I assume they've gone off but something cockblocks it somewhere and it doesn't go off, it usually takes me a few seconds to realise the cooldown hasn't started and I screw up my rotation/whack-a-mole concentration having to redo abilities I think I've used

On the topic of ADSL2 it probably has something to do with how ADSL2 works, inherantly it gets slower pings than ADSL1 because of interleaving (faster downloads but slower latency). The disconnections and dropouts might be because you're connecting at a speed that is too high to be reliable, most ISP's have an online toolbox where you can tweak your connection by lowering the expected connection speed (you will have slightly less bandwidth but it will be far more reliable) or even turn off interleaving if you desire better pings although that will probably reduce you to ADSL1 speeds.

Old Wolf · 11/12/07, 7:16 PM

Originally Posted by Trifle

Honestly I'm pretty sure most of the lag is server lag rather than internet lag; on Cenarius I generally get around 600ms (300-400ms in dead of night, up to 800ms during peak hours sometimes), whereas if I switch to a different server I can get around 300ms normally.

For comparing lag times you should disable all mods and have your characters in the same place. I find that I often log in and get the first two pings 200-250, but then after a minute or two it's jumped up to 300-400. (However, I think that most pings are still in the 200-250 region but there is the occasional spike, which is over-represented in the averaging method used by the client's latency meter).

Further, logging in an alt who's hanging out on Azuremyst Isle always gives a lower latency than logging the main in Ironforge. The amount of traffic on the port gives more opportunities for dropped packets, which will throw your latency meter off.

Old Wolf · 11/12/07, 7:19 PM

Originally Posted by Larisroth

Actually they're on Orcon. I'm on telstra-clear asdl and while we had several problems a year or so ago we seem pretty good now. If you can get it then cable appears to be the best way to go.

From my recent testing, I've found that TelstraClear has the best connection from NZ to California, by far. The worst is Global Gateway (Telecom's southern cross slice), and Asianetcom (used by Orcon) is in between those two.

Only thing stopping me from changing ISP to TelstraClear is that I need a static IP for work, and TC don't give out static IP to residential / home businesses on ADSL. (I live outside the cable coverage area).

jaske · 11/13/07, 1:14 AM

Recently some guild mates of mine have found a guy that redirects their connection or something to a server closer to blizzards HQ which in turn lower their pings somehow, they guy recently started a website and started charging for it.

LowerPing.com - lower ping for Australian gamers

Yonan · 11/13/07, 7:11 AM

Originally Posted by Ragnor

Ever seen a 500-600 ms warrior trying to catch a 40ms druid in 2v2 arena, not fun... even with joj on the druid and minor speed on the warriors boots the warrior can barely hit him.

Ever seen a 500-600 ms druid trying to get away from a 40ms warrior.... not fun. Hamstring has landed before being back in travel form has registered. Not to mention the mortal strike landing in caster form.

Oscarvil · 11/13/07, 7:00 PM

Originally Posted by jaske

Recently some guild mates of mine have found a guy that redirects their connection or something to a server closer to blizzards HQ which in turn lower their pings somehow, they guy recently started a website and started charging for it.

LowerPing.com - lower ping for Australian gamers

Erm is this legit? I can find nothing about it anywhere on the web and the site is relatively sparse.

edit: hmm maybe not, the programs they want you to install, Putty and Freecap seem legit, but I'd still like to know more. Domain first registered 5th of this month...

Stompnrun · 11/13/07, 9:47 PM

Hey this is Stompnrun from lowerping.com

Yes our website is newly Launched this week.
We plan to be adding more info to the website soon.

We have been in closed beta testing for a while, and results have been really great.
With the majority of users staying on a green latency during peek hour.

Why did we choose putty and freecap when there are more proffesional looking and easier to setup programs around?
We choose these because we found them to use verry minimal cpu time and memory while keeping a verry stable ping.

The guys at lowerping are in Australia and have been playing Wow for around 2 years, we know how first hand fustrating lag can be for both melee and casters.

Chuck them an email via the link on lowerping.com for a 2day no questions asked trial

We Strive to bring you the lowest ping possible.

Hope this helps,
Stompnrun

Acaila · 11/13/07, 11:01 PM

Originally Posted by jaske

Recently some guild mates of mine have found a guy that redirects their connection or something to a server closer to blizzards HQ which in turn lower their pings somehow, they guy recently started a website and started charging for it.

LowerPing.com - lower ping for Australian gamers

Ba ha ha.

If you reckon that helps I've got some replacement for that stale air in your tyres oh and a lovely bridge going cheap too.

• squiffy · 11/14/07, 1:36 AM

Certain traffic types are usually given priority over ISP networks, things like http, ssh, etc.

The "lowping" services merely tunnel the WoW game traffic through those protocols, resulting in a better QoS for the traffic, and hence improved pings.

It's real, it works, but your mileage varies from ISP to ISP.

Acaila · 11/14/07, 3:06 AM

Originally Posted by squiffy

Certain traffic types are usually given priority over ISP networks, things like http, ssh, etc.

As someone who works for one of the fastest/premium ISPs in Australia, that is fully in control of its National/International network I can tell you that this is *NOT* the case. We run QoS for our VoIP service and that is only on the rare occasions that our links reach capacity.

My connection goes from Adelaide, direct to LAX, and then directly in to my servers data centre. The last hop at the border is 235ms

C:\Documents and Settings\Acaila>tracert 12.129.225.43

Tracing route to 12-129-225-43.attens.net [12.129.225.43]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms home.gateway [192.168.0.254]
2 25 ms 25 ms 25 ms loop0.lns11.adl6.internode.on.net [203.16.215.184]
3 25 ms 25 ms 25 ms vl13.cor1.adl6.internode.on.net [203.16.213.166]
4 233 ms 233 ms 232 ms gi0-3.bdr2.adl2.internode.on.net [203.16.212.145]
5 258 ms 259 ms 259 ms pos3-0.bdr1.syd6.internode.on.net [203.16.212.142]
6 227 ms 226 ms 226 ms pos4-0.bdr1.lax1.internode.on.net [203.16.213.189]
7 235 ms 234 ms 234 ms 12.118.42.21
8 235 ms 235 ms 234 ms tbr2.la2ca.ip.att.net [12.122.86.18]
9 229 ms 227 ms 228 ms 12.127.3.189
10 237 ms 234 ms 235 ms 12.122.255.74
11 235 ms 236 ms 237 ms mdf001c7613r0004-gig-12-1.lax1.attens.net

235ms to the server farm is the fastest you will ever get to that server. Take it from someone that works in the business. My in game ping is 400ms on quiet times, 700ms during our "peak" time. This is server lag, nothing to do with my physical Internet connection.

Originally Posted by squiffy

The "lowping" services merely tunnel the WoW game traffic through those protocols, resulting in a better QoS for the traffic, and hence improved pings.

It's real, it works, but your mileage varies from ISP to ISP.

Yes, what you are doing is presenting to the game client a US based IP address. This is the sole reason you are seeing a lower in game ping on the game metre. The game client thinks your in the US. All you are doing is "tricking" the in game metre to present a lower number.*

Australians/Oceanics see ingame pings of 400-500ms because of server load plus the latecy due to the distance we are from the servers. There is no "magic" connection protocol or configuration that can reduce this in game latency. Hence, this is service snake oil, its not reducing the physical lag due to the servers being on the other side of the pacific ocean.

*. What I suspect but cannot confirm/prove other than this "service" is that WoW is doing a basic ping test to your clients public IP address to calculate your "latency". Using this "service" its simply pinging a shorter distance, which is why it looks like it has reduced your ping.

• squiffy · 11/14/07, 6:41 AM

Originally Posted by Acaila

As someone who works for one of the fastest/premium ISPs in Australia, that is fully in control of its National/International network I can tell you that this is *NOT* the case. We run QoS for our VoIP service and that is only on the rare occasions that our links reach capacity.

My connection goes from Adelaide, direct to LAX, and then directly in to my servers data centre. The last hop at the border is 235ms

C:\Documents and Settings\Acaila>tracert 12.129.225.43

Tracing route to 12-129-225-43.attens.net [12.129.225.43]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms home.gateway [192.168.0.254]
2 25 ms 25 ms 25 ms loop0.lns11.adl6.internode.on.net [203.16.215.184]
3 25 ms 25 ms 25 ms vl13.cor1.adl6.internode.on.net [203.16.213.166]
4 233 ms 233 ms 232 ms gi0-3.bdr2.adl2.internode.on.net [203.16.212.145]
5 258 ms 259 ms 259 ms pos3-0.bdr1.syd6.internode.on.net [203.16.212.142]
6 227 ms 226 ms 226 ms pos4-0.bdr1.lax1.internode.on.net [203.16.213.189]
7 235 ms 234 ms 234 ms 12.118.42.21
8 235 ms 235 ms 234 ms tbr2.la2ca.ip.att.net [12.122.86.18]
9 229 ms 227 ms 228 ms 12.127.3.189
10 237 ms 234 ms 235 ms 12.122.255.74
11 235 ms 236 ms 237 ms mdf001c7613r0004-gig-12-1.lax1.attens.net

235ms to the server farm is the fastest you will ever get to that server. Take it from someone that works in the business. My in game ping is 400ms on quiet times, 700ms during our "peak" time. This is server lag, nothing to do with my physical Internet connection.

Yes, what you are doing is presenting to the game client a US based IP address. This is the sole reason you are seeing a lower in game ping on the game metre. The game client thinks your in the US. All you are doing is "tricking" the in game metre to present a lower number.*

Australians/Oceanics see ingame pings of 400-500ms because of server load plus the latecy due to the distance we are from the servers. There is no "magic" connection protocol or configuration that can reduce this in game latency. Hence, this is service snake oil, its not reducing the physical lag due to the servers being on the other side of the pacific ocean.

*. What I suspect but cannot confirm/prove other than this "service" is that WoW is doing a basic ping test to your clients public IP address to calculate your "latency". Using this "service" its simply pinging a shorter distance, which is why it looks like it has reduced your ping.

You assume an awful lot. Take it from someone who works in the business in NZ, ISP's here _do_ give priority to different traffic types.

As for 235ms being the fastest you'll ever get, I also disagree. This is from my home connection:

1 222-155-64-1.jetstream.xtra.co.nz (222.155.64.1) 12 msec 44 msec 20 msec
2 * * *
3 202.50.232.205 60 msec 24 msec 16 msec
4 202.50.232.166 16 msec 16 msec 28 msec
5 so0-1-1.labr5.global-gateway.net.nz (203.96.120.78) 140 msec
so0-1-0.labr5.global-gateway.net.nz (202.50.232.26) 140 msec 168 msec
6 so-1-0-0.lebr6.global-gateway.net.nz (202.50.232.237) 176 msec
so-0-0-0.lebr6.global-gateway.net.nz (203.96.120.102) 208 msec
so-1-0-0.lebr6.global-gateway.net.nz (202.50.232.237) 152 msec
7 sl-st20-la-8-0-2.sprintlink.net (144.232.154.241) 180 msec
sl-st20-la-8-1-0.sprintlink.net (160.81.22.129) 172 msec
sl-st20-la-8-0-2.sprintlink.net (144.232.154.241) 212 msec
8 sl-bb21-ana-13-0.sprintlink.net (144.232.20.66) 224 msec 188 msec 164 msec
9 sl-crs2-ana-0-8-0-3.sprintlink.net (144.232.20.205) 140 msec 148 msec 148 msec
10 sl-crs2-ana-0-8-0-0.sprintlink.net (144.232.1.72) 184 msec 184 msec 212 msec
11 ggr3-p330.la2ca.ip.att.net (192.205.33.189) 148 msec 148 msec 148 msec
12 12.127.3.222 212 msec 184 msec 204 msec
13 12.127.3.189 144 msec 176 msec 144 msec
14 12.122.255.74 148 msec 148 msec 148 msec
15 mdf001c7613r0004-gig-12-1.lax1.attens.net (12.129.193.246) 144 msec 196 msec 160 msec

During off peak times sever and network wise, I've experienced sub 200ms pings on Blackrock.

This forum however, is hardly the place to debate the merits or lack thereof, of a lowping service.

bakus/reetskeet/heablz · 11/14/07, 8:45 AM

I am currently using lowerping.com's service and have nothing but good things to report from it. I have been using the service for around a month as i was part of the origanal test group for it and i will admit, when i first heard of it i was sceptical but after trying it i would recomend it to any1 who feels there latency is affecting there game play.

I stoped arenaing on my warrior due to my ping (i live in perth, W.A) always being 400+ and at peak playing times on my server 550+ constantly. Playing a melee class with that kind of delay was extreamly frustrating. Having to be standing infront of the person your chasing to be in range to attack them or even being in range to auto attack but not to use MS or hamstring was driving me crazy not to mention trying to interupt a cast while competing with the warrior gcd and my lag.

When i started to use lowerping.com's service i started to get sub 300 ping's currently im in AV with 224ms, and yes this dus make a huge difrence no it is not fake ping, The delay on your spells/abilitys is greatly reduced you get less LOS issues and things such as getting a charge off b4 being put incombat are so much easyer. Judging where a player actuly is becomes easy and you do not have to be inside of some1 to attack them it has made me actuly want to play my warrior again which once season 3 starts up im actuly looking forward to areaing on him competetivly again.

hear are some SS i just took in av on my pally

with lowerping.com's program running
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m...407_224008.jpg

without lowerping.com's program
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m...407_224303.jpg

regard bakus lvl 70 orc warrior barthalis