Bogus IP Header Length Packet Sniff

[towbes]

I am currently in Asia and have always had issues connecting here during working hours. This is mostly due to a terrible internet connection. In order to determine if my connection has been dropped from the server, I run wireshark to watch the IP traffic. Since the patch earlier today there has been a change in the traffic flow and new behavior in the client. After pressing Play Everquest from the server select screen, the loading icon appears on the cursor but the screen never changes. Wireshark spams the traffic pictured below. Eventually the client returns to login screen. I will try back later outside of working hours when my connection improves to see if the same results occur. This was enough of a deviance from the baseline that I wanted to share. It would be great to get a collection of packet logs from people who have similar connection issues (blank server select, crashing on zone, timeout at login, failure to load from char select) so we could compare.

Update: Was able to login after a few more tries, still curious to know what could have changed to see that new message though. Have not seen that occur in over a month of sniffing when I log in

[Vandy]

Most likely a change relating to this patch note.

Rogean: Possible improvements to zoning reliability (EQEmu Community).

[Wisteso]

Yep. They implemented an enhancement from EQEmu to improve reliability of zoning.

Your client will attempt to connect many times now instead of only getting one try.

Unfortunately your connection seems too unreliable to work even with that improvement in place.

[demonstar55]

If you post your Logs/dbg.txt (or just a snippet of connection failing) I can take a guess if it's the client giving up or not.

[towbes]

Interesting. My login issues seem to have gotten worse since this patch but haven't had long enough to really determine. I will start collecting the dbgs for crashes, I currently only have ones from before the patch was implemented.

Edit: Haven't done enough zoning to reliably tell if there is a difference in performance. Once I get connected my network meter sits at 100% / 375ish ms

[towbes]

dbg.txt from getting to char select, pressing enter world with a character and character never loading, have to close window


2015-06-13 10:14:08 Initializing precipitation system.
2015-06-13 10:14:08 World initialized: clz
2015-06-13 10:14:08 load done.
2015-06-13 10:14:08
2015-06-13 10:14:08 Starting char select.
2015-06-13 10:14:08
2015-06-13 10:14:08 Clearing display buffers.
2015-06-13 10:14:08
2015-06-13 10:14:08 Display buffers cleared.
2015-06-13 10:14:08
2015-06-13 10:14:08 Initializing character select UI.
2015-06-13 10:14:08 Resetting game UI.
2015-06-13 10:14:18 Item done, MSG_WEATHER_EVENT received.
2015-06-13 10:14:18
2015-06-13 10:14:48 Item done, MSG_WEATHER_EVENT received.
2015-06-13 10:14:49
2015-06-13 10:15:06 Item done, MSG_WEATHER_EVENT received.
2015-06-13 10:15:06
2015-06-13 10:15:37 Item done, MSG_WEATHER_EVENT received.
2015-06-13 10:15:37
2015-06-13 10:15:44 D3DXCreateTextureFromFileEx() failed to create texture spelma.png for particle system.
2015-06-13 10:15:44 D3DXCreateTextureFromFileEx() failed to create texture spelma.png for particle system.
2015-06-13 10:15:54 D3DXCreateTextureFromFileEx() failed to create texture spelma.png for particle system.
2015-06-13 10:15:54 D3DXCreateTextureFromFileEx() failed to create texture spelma.png for particle system.
2015-06-13 10:15:54 D3DXCreateTextureFromFileEx() failed to create texture spelma.png for particle system.
2015-06-13 10:16:04 D3DXCreateTextureFromFileEx() failed to create texture spelja.png for particle system.

[towbes]

First a successful zone into steamfont mountains. From here I was ported to West Commons and disconnected on zone and had to close window:

2015-06-13 11:11:25
2015-06-13 11:11:25 Initializing zone.
2015-06-13 11:11:25 Initializing world.
2015-06-13 11:11:25 Attempting to load steamfont.EQG.
2015-06-13 11:11:25 Verifying world files.
2015-06-13 11:11:25 Loading zone specific files.
2015-06-13 11:11:25 Loading steamfont_obj2
2015-06-13 11:11:25 Loading steamfont_obj
2015-06-13 11:11:25 Loading steamfont_chr2
2015-06-13 11:11:25 Loading steamfont_chr
2015-06-13 11:11:25 Loaded cst.EQG.
2015-06-13 11:11:25 Loaded NPC with code cst from cst.s3d
2015-06-13 11:11:25
2015-06-13 11:11:25 Loading brc_chr
2015-06-13 11:11:25 Failed to open C:\Program Files (x86)\Sony\EverQuest\brc_chr.s3d.
2015-06-13 11:11:25
2015-06-13 11:11:25 Loaded NPC with code brc from brc_chr.s3d
2015-06-13 11:11:25
2015-06-13 11:11:25 Loading ccd_chr
2015-06-13 11:11:25 Failed to open C:\Program Files (x86)\Sony\EverQuest\ccd_chr.s3d.
2015-06-13 11:11:25
2015-06-13 11:11:25 Loaded NPC with code ccd from ccd_chr.s3d
2015-06-13 11:11:25
2015-06-13 11:11:25 Loading dru_chr
2015-06-13 11:11:25 Failed to open C:\Program Files (x86)\Sony\EverQuest\dru_chr.s3d.
2015-06-13 11:11:25
2015-06-13 11:11:25 Loaded NPC with code dru from dru_chr.s3d
2015-06-13 11:11:25
2015-06-13 11:11:25 Loading trk_chr
2015-06-13 11:11:25 Loaded NPC with code trk from trk_chr.s3d
2015-06-13 11:11:25
2015-06-13 11:11:25 Load NPC point 1 (qeynos_chr, qcm)
2015-06-13 11:11:25
2015-06-13 11:11:25 Load world point 3 (C:\Program Files (x86)\Sony\EverQuest\qeynos_chr.s3d)
2015-06-13 11:11:25
2015-06-13 11:11:25 Load NPC point 5 (1aa09d30, qeynos_chr.wld, qcm).
2015-06-13 11:11:25
2015-06-13 11:11:25 Successful read of NPC.
2015-06-13 11:11:26
2015-06-13 11:11:26 Load NPC end (1).
2015-06-13 11:11:26
2015-06-13 11:11:26 Loaded NPC with code qcm from qeynos_chr.s3d
2015-06-13 11:11:26
2015-06-13 11:11:26 Load NPC point 1 (unrest_chr, zom)
2015-06-13 11:11:26
2015-06-13 11:11:26 Load world point 3 (C:\Program Files (x86)\Sony\EverQuest\unrest_chr.s3d)
2015-06-13 11:11:26
2015-06-13 11:11:26 Load NPC point 5 (1aa09d30, unrest_chr.wld, zom).
2015-06-13 11:11:26
2015-06-13 11:11:26 Successful read of NPC.
2015-06-13 11:11:26
2015-06-13 11:11:26 Load NPC end (1).
2015-06-13 11:11:26
2015-06-13 11:11:26 Loaded NPC with code zom from unrest_chr.s3d
2015-06-13 11:11:26
2015-06-13 11:11:26 Load NPC point 1 (unrest_chr, zof)
2015-06-13 11:11:26
2015-06-13 11:11:26 Load world point 3 (C:\Program Files (x86)\Sony\EverQuest\unrest_chr.s3d)
2015-06-13 11:11:26
2015-06-13 11:11:26 Load NPC point 5 (1aa09d30, unrest_chr.wld, zof).
2015-06-13 11:11:26
2015-06-13 11:11:26 Successful read of NPC.
2015-06-13 11:11:26
2015-06-13 11:11:26 Load NPC end (1).
2015-06-13 11:11:26
2015-06-13 11:11:26 Loaded NPC with code zof from unrest_chr.s3d
2015-06-13 11:11:26
2015-06-13 11:11:26 Loaded tar.EQG.
2015-06-13 11:11:26 Loaded NPC with code tar from tar.s3d
2015-06-13 11:11:26
2015-06-13 11:11:26 Loaded dke.EQG.
2015-06-13 11:11:26 Loaded NPC with code dke from dke.s3d
2015-06-13 11:11:26
2015-06-13 11:11:26 Loaded rtn.EQG.
2015-06-13 11:11:26 Loaded NPC with code rtn from rtn.s3d
2015-06-13 11:11:26
2015-06-13 11:11:26 Loading steamfont
2015-06-13 11:11:27 Loading objects
2015-06-13 11:11:27 Loading lights
2015-06-13 11:11:27 Initializing cameras.
2015-06-13 11:11:27 Initializing lights.
2015-06-13 11:11:27 Initializing visual effects.
2015-06-13 11:11:27 Initializing target indicator.
2015-06-13 11:11:27 Initializing player path.
2015-06-13 11:11:27 Performing post-load operations.
2015-06-13 11:11:27 Initializing precipitation system.
2015-06-13 11:11:27 World initialized: steamfont
2015-06-13 11:11:27 Requesting zone data.
2015-06-13 11:11:27 Resetting cameras.
2015-06-13 11:11:27 Resetting vision.
2015-06-13 11:11:27 Resetting overlays.
2015-06-13 11:11:27 Zone initialized.
2015-06-13 11:11:27 Creating INI files.
2015-06-13 11:11:27 Requesting AA data.
2015-06-13 11:11:27 Requesting Skill rank data.
2015-06-13 11:11:27 Entering main loop.
2015-06-13 11:11:27 Loading game sounds.
2015-06-13 11:11:27 Requesting initialization data.
2015-06-13 11:11:27 DoMainLoop: just before first while(!ReadyEnterWorld).
2015-06-13 11:11:27 Zone Connect -- Received MSG_READY_ENTER_WORLD
2015-06-13 11:11:28 DoMainLoop: complete after first while(!ReadyEnterWorld).
2015-06-13 11:11:28 DoMainLoop: just before second while(!ReadyEnterWorld).
2015-06-13 11:11:28 Zone Connect -- Sending out a MSG_READY_ENTER_WORLD.
2015-06-13 11:11:28 Zone Connect -- Received MSG_READY_ENTER_WORLD
2015-06-13 11:11:28 DoMainLoop: completed second while(!ReadyEnterWorld).
2015-06-13 11:11:28 Setting up models.
2015-06-13 11:11:28 Setting up character.
2015-06-13 11:11:28 Activating music.
2015-06-13 11:11:28 Initialization complete.
2015-06-13 11:11:28 Entering main loop.
2015-06-13 11:11:29 Item done, MSG_WEATHER_EVENT received.
2015-06-13 11:11:29
2015-06-13 11:11:33 Item done, MSG_WEATHER_EVENT received.
2015-06-13 11:11:33
2015-06-13 11:13:31 D3DXCreateTextureFromFileEx() failed to create texture flare_blsp50a.png for particle system.
2015-06-13 11:13:31 D3DXCreateTextureFromFileEx() failed to create texture flare_blsp50a.png for particle system.
2015-06-13 11:13:35 D3DXCreateTextureFromFileEx() failed to create texture spelab.tga for particle system.
2015-06-13 11:13:35 D3DXCreateTextureFromFileEx() failed to create texture flare_blsp50a.png for particle system.
2015-06-13 11:14:03 D3DXCreateTextureFromFileEx() failed to create texture spelab.tga for particle system.
2015-06-13 11:14:03 D3DXCreateTextureFromFileEx() failed to create texture spelab.tga for particle system.
2015-06-13 11:14:06 D3DXCreateTextureFromFileEx() failed to create texture spelab.tga for particle system.
2015-06-13 11:14:06 D3DXCreateTextureFromFileEx() failed to create texture gena20.bmp for particle system.
2015-06-13 11:14:39 D3DXCreateTextureFromFileEx() failed to create texture flare_blsp50a.png for particle system.
2015-06-13 11:14:39 D3DXCreateTextureFromFileEx() failed to create texture flare_blsp50a.png for particle system.
2015-06-13 11:14:39 D3DXCreateTextureFromFileEx() failed to create texture spelab.tga for particle system.
2015-06-13 11:14:55 D3DXCreateTextureFromFileEx() failed to create texture spelab.tga for particle system.
2015-06-13 11:14:55 D3DXCreateTextureFromFileEx() failed to create texture spelab.tga for particle system.
2015-06-13 11:14:56 Networking: Connection Closed [0] with 0 pending bytes.
2015-06-13 11:14:56 Stopping world display.
2015-06-13 11:14:56 Attempt to send message 30546 on a void connection.
2015-06-13 11:14:56 Beginning EnterZone block.
2015-06-13 11:14:56
2015-06-13 11:14:56 Calling WorldAuthenticate. Countdown is 4
2015-06-13 11:14:56
2015-06-13 11:14:56 Networking: using port [53481].
2015-06-13 11:14:56 Networking: Connection Established [1]
2015-06-13 11:14:56 WorldAuthenticate: Initiating Login.
2015-06-13 11:15:26 Networking: Connection Closed [0] with 0 pending bytes.
2015-06-13 11:15:26 *** ERROR: WorldAuthenticate. My message arrival was NULL, the net has been shutdown.
2015-06-13 11:15:26 *** WorldAuthenticate. Checkpoint 3.
2015-06-13 11:15:29 Calling WorldAuthenticate. Countdown is 3
2015-06-13 11:15:29
2015-06-13 11:15:29 Networking: using port [53484].
2015-06-13 11:15:29 Networking: Connection Established [1]
2015-06-13 11:15:29 WorldAuthenticate: Initiating Login.
2015-06-13 11:15:30 WorldAuthenticate. I got a message of type 0xfa6 (4006).
2015-06-13 11:15:30 WorldRPServer message: server name P1999PVP
2015-06-13 11:15:30
2015-06-13 11:15:30 WorldAuthenticate. I got a message of type 0x3c25 (15397).
2015-06-13 11:15:30 WorldAuthenticate. I got a message of type 0x7cba (31930).
2015-06-13 11:15:30 WorldAuthenticate. I got a message of type 0x52a4 (21156).
2015-06-13 11:15:30 WorldAuthenticate. Access granted.
2015-06-13 11:15:30
2015-06-13 11:15:30 Check 1sa. 0x9141f657
2015-06-13 11:15:30
2015-06-13 11:15:30 Check 1x. 0x9e15bc94
2015-06-13 11:15:30
2015-06-13 11:15:30 Waiting to connect to zone... Character <censored>
2015-06-13 11:15:30
2015-06-13 11:15:31 Zone Connect -- 0 -- Received MSG_ZONE_ADDRESS
2015-06-13 11:15:31 Zone addr [108.61.129.184:28187] received...
2015-06-13 11:15:32 ZONING
2015-06-13 11:15:32 Networking: Connection Closed [0] with 0 pending bytes.
2015-06-13 11:15:32 Networking: using port [53487].
2015-06-13 11:15:32 Networking: Connection Established [1]
2015-06-13 11:15:42 Item done, MSG_WEATHER_EVENT received.
2015-06-13 11:15:42
2015-06-13 11:16:14 Item done, MSG_WEATHER_EVENT received.
2015-06-13 11:16:14
2015-06-13 11:16:32 Could not connect to 108.61.129.184:7022 [client:DisconnectReasonConnectFail,server:Disconne ctReasonNone]. Negotiation count: 595.
2015-06-13 11:16:32
2015-06-13 11:16:32 Networking: Connection Closed [0] with 0 pending bytes.
2015-06-13 11:16:32 Failed to connect to zoneserver (108.61.129.184, port 7022), result = 1, for MSG_ZONE_ADDRESS.
2015-06-13 11:16:32
2015-06-13 11:16:34 disconnected at C:\EQ\EverQuest\EverQuest.cpp:20223 (char. select) g_world == NULL
2015-06-13 11:16:34
2015-06-13 11:16:34 Character is <censored>.
2015-06-13 11:16:34
2015-06-13 11:16:37 Cleanup 1
2015-06-13 11:16:37
2015-06-13 11:16:37 Cleanup 4
2015-06-13 11:16:37
2015-06-13 11:16:37 Cleanup 5
2015-06-13 11:16:37
2015-06-13 11:16:37 Cleanup 6
2015-06-13 11:16:37
2015-06-13 11:16:37 Cleanup 7
2015-06-13 11:16:37
2015-06-13 11:16:37 Cleanup 8
2015-06-13 11:16:37
2015-06-13 11:16:37 Cleanup 9
2015-06-13 11:16:37
2015-06-13 11:16:37 Cleanup 10
2015-06-13 11:16:37
2015-06-13 11:16:37 Resetting UI.
2015-06-13 11:16:37 Resetting character select UI.
2015-06-13 11:16:37 Resetting game UI.
2015-06-13 11:16:37 UI Reset.
2015-06-13 11:16:37 Cleanup 11
2015-06-13 11:16:37
2015-06-13 11:16:37 Picking a default resolution, desktop is 1920 x 1080, 32 bits
2015-06-13 11:16:37 Ratio is 1.78
2015-06-13 11:16:37 Resolution was capped at 1280 x 720
2015-06-13 11:16:37 Resolution verified 1280 x 720, 32 bits ... diff was 1000 from 0 modes
2015-06-13 11:16:37 Resolution selected 1280 x 720, 32 bits
2015-06-13 11:16:37 CRender::InitDevice: Using 32bit mode.
2015-06-13 11:16:37 CRender::InitDevice: Using vsync 0.
2015-06-13 11:16:37 CRender::InitDevice: Using 24bit depth buffer with 8 bit stencil.
2015-06-13 11:16:37 CRender::InitDevice: HardwareTnL Enabled.
2015-06-13 11:16:37 Using hardware vertex shaders.
2015-06-13 11:16:37 Initializing render system.
2015-06-13 11:16:37 Trilinear Mipmapping available.
2015-06-13 11:16:37 Vertex Shader Version: 3.0
2015-06-13 11:16:37 Pixel Shader Version: 3.0
2015-06-13 11:16:37 Initializing engine internals.
2015-06-13 11:16:37 CRender::InitDevice completed successfully.
2015-06-13 11:16:37 Parsing INI file ./eqlsUIConfig.ini
2015-06-13 11:16:38 INI file ./eqlsUIConfig.ini loaded.

[towbes]

If someone used to have issues crashing on zone, and has been 100% since this no patch. Please post here.

If no one can say that they are now 100% zoning. Please for the love of god roll this patch back.

[Whiteberry]

TBH man, looking through that dump.. It looks like its trying to load the spell particles but is unable to find / load them, and that's what is closing the connection.



2015-06-13 11:13:31 D3DXCreateTextureFromFileEx() failed to create texture flare_blsp50a.png for particle system.
2015-06-13 11:13:31 D3DXCreateTextureFromFileEx() failed to create texture flare_blsp50a.png for particle system.
2015-06-13 11:13:35 D3DXCreateTextureFromFileEx() failed to create texture spelab.tga for particle system.
2015-06-13 11:13:35 D3DXCreateTextureFromFileEx() failed to create texture flare_blsp50a.png for particle system.
2015-06-13 11:14:03 D3DXCreateTextureFromFileEx() failed to create texture spelab.tga for particle system.
2015-06-13 11:14:03 D3DXCreateTextureFromFileEx() failed to create texture spelab.tga for particle system.
2015-06-13 11:14:06 D3DXCreateTextureFromFileEx() failed to create texture spelab.tga for particle system.
2015-06-13 11:14:06 D3DXCreateTextureFromFileEx() failed to create texture gena20.bmp for particle system.
2015-06-13 11:14:39 D3DXCreateTextureFromFileEx() failed to create texture flare_blsp50a.png for particle system.
2015-06-13 11:14:39 D3DXCreateTextureFromFileEx() failed to create texture flare_blsp50a.png for particle system.
2015-06-13 11:14:39 D3DXCreateTextureFromFileEx() failed to create texture spelab.tga for particle system.
2015-06-13 11:14:55 D3DXCreateTextureFromFileEx() failed to create texture spelab.tga for particle system.
2015-06-13 11:14:55 D3DXCreateTextureFromFileEx() failed to create texture spelab.tga for particle system.

[towbes]

What would case this to happen? All of these are in my EQ install folder. It looks to me like I'm missing a packet or two in the zoning process and it's throwing off the entire load, anyone else have dbg logs from similar circumstances?

[Wisteso]

TBH man, looking through that dump.. It looks like its trying to load the spell particles but is unable to find / load them, and that's what is closing the connection.

I doubt that's the issue. Its far more likely that he just pasted an irrelevant portion of the log. His next post did have relevant errors.

towbes, if there's an issue it's likely nothing you can fix on your system. Its likely to either be an EQEmu bug or an issue with your ISP / your ISP's ISP (Tier1 networks)

[Haynar]

Too many missing files probably slowing down connecting too much.

H

[demonstar55]

2015-06-13 11:16:32 Could not connect to 108.61.129.184:7022 [clientisconnectReasonConnectFail,serverisconne ctReasonNone]. Negotiation count: 595.

That's the message the client gives when it timesout negotiating the session. For some reason your client never saw the reply from P99 and quit. The rest of the log is 100% irrelevant.

[towbes]

That's the message the client gives when it timesout negotiating the session. For some reason your client never saw the reply from P99 and quit. The rest of the log is 100% irrelevant.

I'll focus more on packet logs and see if anything turns up.

[Wisteso]

towbes, I've been having a very similar issue as you since yesterday. Took me about 20 attempts to get logged in on my character. NGREP showed that my packet loss was significant. Sometimes about 30% of the expected UDP packets never arrived.

I've been having the issue with both P99 and the loginserver, which suggests its not P99's issue, but instead possibly due to XO.net or NTT.net.

Failure packet dump (gist.github.com) (https://gist.githubusercontent.com/wisteso/0f2e2ea0cd302952fafc/raw/e7e9628109186a97eef37bb75020426bca62eb47/gistfile1.txt)
Success packet dump (gist.github.com) (https://gist.githubusercontent.com/wisteso/b9251588250b1204d777/raw/6b85a10cf8375ea01a791225a89a45bd02dcd20c/gistfile1.txt)

Heroes of the Storm has been having widespread problems for users that route through XO.net so this might be another game that is affected by XO's shitty network nodes.
http://us.battle.net/heroes/en/forum/topic/18000364944
http://us.battle.net/heroes/en/forum/topic/17564936329?page=2#23 (blue post on the issue)

Can you paste your results from WinMTR (http://winmtr.net/download-winmtr/) using host 66.55.145.2 to this thread?

Mine for example are...

|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| WinMTR statistics |
| Host - % | Sent | Recv | Best | Avrg | Wrst | Last |
|------------------------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|------|
| lolwat - 0 | 934 | 934 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| cpe-65-31-128-1.wi.res.rr.com - 3 | 934 | 912 | 9 | 76 | 4599 | 22 |
| tge7-1.brfdwifb02h.midwest.rr.com - 0 | 934 | 934 | 8 | 11 | 74 | 8 |
| tge1-6-0-9.gnfdwibb01r.midwest.rr.com - 0 | 934 | 934 | 12 | 16 | 37 | 14 |
|bu-ether16.chcgildt87w-bcr00.tbone.rr.com - 0 | 934 | 934 | 14 | 18 | 38 | 19 |
| 0.ae1.pr1.chi10.tbone.rr.com - 0 | 934 | 934 | 13 | 18 | 82 | 18 |
| 216.1.94.145 - 0 | 934 | 934 | 13 | 18 | 76 | 17 |
| 207.88.15.90.ptr.us.xo.net - 1 | 934 | 931 | 13 | 17 | 52 | 15 |
| 206.111.2.65.ptr.us.xo.net - 0 | 934 | 934 | 14 | 17 | 49 | 31 |
| ae-7.r20.chcgil09.us.bb.gin.ntt.net - 0 | 934 | 934 | 14 | 19 | 100 | 15 |
| ae-5.r23.nycmny01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net - 17 | 934 | 780 | 36 | 42 | 131 | 52 |
| ae-1.r06.nycmny01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net - 0 | 934 | 934 | 36 | 40 | 71 | 37 |
| ae-1.choopa.nycmny01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net - 6 | 934 | 887 | 37 | 45 | 138 | 45 |
| 108.61.244.50 - 5 | 934 | 891 | 37 | 42 | 206 | 38 |
| No response from host - 100 | 934 | 0 | 5000 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|________________________________________________| ______|______|______|______|______|______|
WinMTR v0.91 GPL V2 by Appnor MSP - Fully Managed Hosting & Cloud Provider

[Wisteso]

Would like to add that I suspected XO.NET to be the root issue. NordVPN has a server (US2) which allows me to entirely bypass ptr.us.xo.net with a slightly longer route. (still routes through ntt.net).

Issue resolved immediately after that. My ping is 15ms higher, sure, but I'm not disconnecting during almost every attempt to connect to 66.55.145.2; virtually zero issues at all so far.

[towbes]

Wisteso, thank you for that information, here's a dump of WinMTR, same exact servers, although I obviously have some issues before it crosses the Pacific Ocean as well. But having 27% loss at a server right before the gameserver is probably not helpful at all.

|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| WinMTR statistics |
| Host - % | Sent | Recv | Best | Avrg | Wrst | Last |
|------------------------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|------|
| me - 0 | 69 | 69 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| modem - 0 | 70 | 70 | 5 | 8 | 17 | 6 |
| 10.80.16.1 - 6 | 58 | 55 | 8 | 13 | 20 | 14 |
| 203.81.171.243 - 14 | 46 | 40 | 0 | 13 | 20 | 14 |
| 203.81.171.255 - 6 | 58 | 55 | 8 | 16 | 81 | 13 |
| 10.9.10.187 - 10 | 50 | 45 | 7 | 13 | 26 | 12 |
| 10.9.10.201 - 14 | 46 | 40 | 7 | 15 | 24 | 15 |
| 203.81.170.241 - 8 | 56 | 52 | 7 | 13 | 23 | 8 |
| 203.215.62.5 - 13 | 47 | 41 | 8 | 16 | 55 | 10 |
| 203.215.62.25 - 8 | 54 | 50 | 8 | 14 | 24 | 14 |
| 203.215.60.218 - 10 | 50 | 45 | 15 | 24 | 210 | 23 |
| 116.51.31.29 - 10 | 51 | 46 | 64 | 68 | 77 | 71 |
| ae-10.r20.sngpsi05.sg.bb.gin.ntt.net - 8 | 54 | 50 | 65 | 73 | 128 | 70 |
| ae-8.r22.snjsca04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net - 18 | 41 | 34 | 243 | 249 | 313 | 246 |
| ae-7.r23.asbnva02.us.bb.gin.ntt.net - 8 | 55 | 51 | 298 | 302 | 309 | 302 |
| ae-0.r22.asbnva02.us.bb.gin.ntt.net - 8 | 54 | 50 | 303 | 309 | 319 | 310 |
| ae-8.r23.nycmny01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net - 10 | 50 | 45 | 0 | 317 | 333 | 315 |
| ae-1.r06.nycmny01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net - 27 | 34 | 25 | 309 | 313 | 322 | 313 |
| ae-1.choopa.nycmny01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net - 8 | 54 | 50 | 316 | 335 | 367 | 334 |
| 108.61.244.50 - 6 | 58 | 55 | 308 | 315 | 331 | 315 |
| No response from host - 100 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|________________________________________________| ______|______|______|______|______|______|
WinMTR v0.92 GPL V2 by Appnor MSP - Fully Managed Hosting & Cloud Provider

[towbes]

And another when I utilize Singapore VPN, now it's 87% loss at that ae-8 node in NYC. However I am connected and successfully zoned twice. Still having some crashes on zone, and timing out past char select, packets showing my client sending data to server, but getting nothing back.

|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| WinMTR statistics |
| Host - % | Sent | Recv | Best | Avrg | Wrst | Last |
|------------------------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|------|
| singapore - 7 | 158 | 148 | 58 | 73 | 344 | 67 |
| 103.254.153.125 - 7 | 154 | 144 | 58 | 73 | 195 | 64 |
| xe-0-0-3.cr01.sin-11.leaseweb.net - 8 | 151 | 139 | 59 | 71 | 344 | 65 |
| te0-0-0-6.br02.sin-10.leaseweb.net - 6 | 162 | 153 | 58 | 72 | 195 | 67 |
| xe-0-3-3.singapore2.sin.seabone.net - 4 | 174 | 168 | 58 | 81 | 286 | 65 |
| ntt-verio.singapore2.sin.seabone.net - 8 | 150 | 138 | 58 | 73 | 204 | 64 |
| ae-1.r20.sngpsi05.sg.bb.gin.ntt.net - 16 | 122 | 103 | 58 | 73 | 301 | 66 |
| ae-8.r22.snjsca04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net - 11 | 138 | 123 | 238 | 248 | 423 | 242 |
| ae-7.r23.asbnva02.us.bb.gin.ntt.net - 8 | 151 | 139 | 293 | 308 | 670 | 299 |
| ae-0.r22.asbnva02.us.bb.gin.ntt.net - 11 | 138 | 123 | 300 | 311 | 491 | 307 |
| ae-8.r23.nycmny01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net - 87 | 44 | 6 | 311 | 331 | 417 | 417 |
| ae-1.r06.nycmny01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net - 10 | 142 | 128 | 299 | 316 | 524 | 300 |
| ae-1.choopa.nycmny01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net - 9 | 146 | 133 | 319 | 343 | 553 | 324 |
| No response from host - 100 | 39 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

|________________________________________________| ______|______|______|______|______|______|
WinMTR v0.92 GPL V2 by Appnor MSP - Fully Managed Hosting & Cloud Provider

[Ruien]

Guys,

There are idiosyncrasies (http://sysadminman.net/blog/2013/understanding-latency-and-packet-loss-with-mtr-5560) about the way that MTR (and, by extension, WinMTR) reports packet loss. 87% packet loss to ae-8.r23.nycmny01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.2.148) means nothing if you consistently get 9% to a node past that. It just means that the router is de-prioritizing ICMP ECHO but forwarding normally.

Here's my MTR report to 66.55.145.2:

root@RyanDesktop:~# mtr --no-dns -r -w -c100 --interval=0.2 -s 56 66.55.145.2
Start: Fri Jun 19 22:50:47 2015
HOST: RyanDesktop Loss% Snt Last Avg Best Wrst StDev
1.|-- 192.168.1.1 0.0% 100 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.0
2.|-- 100.68.128.1 0.0% 100 21.0 10.2 1.2 96.8 15.7
3.|-- 61.188.202.181 35.0% 100 5.3 4.4 3.1 44.3 5.1
4.|-- 171.208.203.13 0.0% 100 11.1 12.6 9.8 45.2 3.5
5.|-- 202.97.36.225 0.0% 100 44.8 47.1 44.7 49.6 1.0
6.|-- 202.97.33.238 86.0% 100 44.6 45.0 44.4 45.7 0.0
7.|-- 202.97.60.146 80.0% 100 46.5 52.3 46.0 80.4 11.4
8.|-- 202.97.58.230 2.0% 100 409.3 392.2 372.9 416.9 11.5
9.|-- 202.97.50.22 8.0% 100 216.4 217.8 214.9 220.1 1.1
10.|-- 129.250.9.9 8.0% 100 200.6 198.7 196.8 200.6 0.4
11.|-- 129.250.5.69 1.0% 100 218.5 220.1 215.7 249.8 5.5
12.|-- 129.250.3.188 5.0% 100 276.8 277.5 275.4 291.4 2.3
13.|-- 129.250.2.148 75.0% 100 314.5 291.7 288.6 314.5 6.9
14.|-- 129.250.4.149 1.0% 99 277.0 276.7 274.1 279.5 0.8
15.|-- 128.241.2.250 2.0% 99 285.0 292.7 283.7 349.5 11.2
16.|-- ??? 100.0 99 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0


We know that 66.55.145.2 doesn't respond to ICMP and speculate that it's hop 16. We can't know that for sure, since it could be 128.241.2.250 refusing to forward upstream ICMP to us. But presumably once we've arrived at 129.250.* network there won't be much additional loss to 66.55.145.2, so the average packet loss to the most reliable node in this network is our most accurate assessment of the packet loss.

I'll just use the farthest visible hop as it's about the same:

root@RyanDesktop:~# ping -i 0.2 -c 1000 -q 128.241.2.250
PING 128.241.2.250 (128.241.2.250) 56(84) bytes of data.

--- 128.241.2.250 ping statistics ---
1000 packets transmitted, 996 received, 0% packet loss, time 200776ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 271.787/301.339/509.617/37.038 ms, pipe 3


So the real packet loss here is 0.4%.

The problems I am seeing (http://www.project1999.com/forums/showthread.php?t=198426) are not caused by packet loss to the server. According to Wireshark, both Emerald Jungle and Trakanon's Teeth use 66.55.145.2, and I have problems only in TT. If I had a terrible connection to that IP, then I'd see the same issues in both zones.

Wisteso, you may have slightly more packet loss than I do, but not significantly so.

towbes, you are seeing packet loss issues, but the problem shows up very early in your network route. Run some manual pings like I did in my example; are you seeing any consistently low loss to any hops along the way? Either you're looking at an anomaly (maybe your VPN hates ICMP) or else you're getting loss at the third hop. Try pinging with TCP to an open port with tcping (http://www.linuxco.de/tcping/tcping.html) if you have access to linux.

[towbes]

I had the same issue with TT, after about 30s in zone ping spiked up to 4k then eventually d/ced me. I was however able to log back in eventually and make my way to the seb orb and zone in. That makes sense on the MTR analysis. I know I'm seeing packet loss, I'm not questioning that. I just think the server is severing the connection too quickly, and the client is missing the message that the connection was severed so it just keeps trying. What's especially frustrating is circumstances where the character client never loads into a zone (just sits at the previous zone screen with the busy cursor), however when you manually close the client and attempt to log back in, it says you still have a character in zone. So what's happening there? Why isn't the client being sent messages telling it that it zoned? Probably the only way to pinpoint the issue is to setup a local server, and monitor the connection to that local server to find out what it's supposed to look like, and use something like burpsuite to kill certain packets and find that one that is causing the problems. (Not even sure it would be capable of performing quickly enough to allow a game session to occur though, just theorizing)

[Latex]

I have been having issues since this last patch. Failing to zone, timing out on login, once logged in server list isn't populated, etc. It's incredibly frustrating. P99 has run smoothly for the past year until this last patch for me.

[Ruien]

I had the same issue with TT, after about 30s in zone ping spiked up to 4k then eventually d/ced me. I was however able to log back in eventually and make my way to the seb orb and zone in.

Yes, but with bad luck you can die on the way. You don't even know you're dead until you log back in and behold your own nakedness at the character selection screen.

Something about TT is really broken, and I have no idea what it is :(


That makes sense on the MTR analysis. I know I'm seeing packet loss, I'm not questioning that. I just think the server is severing the connection too quickly, and the client is missing the message that the connection was severed so it just keeps trying. What's especially frustrating is circumstances where the character client never loads into a zone (just sits at the previous zone screen with the busy cursor), however when you manually close the client and attempt to log back in, it says you still have a character in zone. So what's happening there? Why isn't the client being sent messages telling it that it zoned?


UDP is a connectionless protocol. When EQ was originally designed, UDP was the optimal choice, because it follows the logic that if you've missed a packet, you don't really care exactly where a PC or mob was, you just want the latest data as to where it is now. EQ was fairly aggressive in terms of what it was trying to do over limited bandwidth and the UDP model is particularly well-suited for the old days of dial-up connections. Specifically, it works well for limited bandwidth (recall that 6kB/sec was normal back then), and most of the time you didn't have much packet loss. Packet loss kills UDP. TCP at least knows when it missed something.

So, to answer your question, those messages are sent, and when a packet is sent, the sender implicitly assumes that it will be received. When the packet is lost, neither side knows what's going on. The game does do some work to try to survive packet loss but it's pretty inefficient to do so. To get a feel for how much of an issue this is, suppose that zoning requires the successful receipt and transmission of 10 packets, otherwise you freeze, and you're seeing 8% packet loss. You have a 57% chance of freezing on zone and crashing out with the server still wondering what's going on (saying you have a character in game). If it requires 20 packets, then that rises to an 81% chance. (57% = 1-0.92^10, 81% = 1-0.92^20)

So, as a result, you really need less than 1% packet loss to play EQ. TCP-based games will still perform sanely (if only more slowly), with higher packet loss.

It would be far more inefficient to try to work around this problem by implementing echo-check validation than it would be to re-implement the game in TCP. So, the underlying structure of the game necessitates the type of maddening problems that packet loss brings. I think it sucks, too. I also live in Asia and would much prefer TCP, but that's never going to happen with EQ and certainly not with p99 (which is locked to the Titanium Client even if by some miracle Live was migrated to TCP).

Probably the only way to pinpoint the issue is to setup a local server, and monitor the connection to that local server to find out what it's supposed to look like, and use something like burpsuite to kill certain packets and find that one that is causing the problems. (Not even sure it would be capable of performing quickly enough to allow a game session to occur though, just theorizing)

I doubt there are any packets that are causing problems. My guess is that the problem is caused by packets you're not receiving, but should have, and the infrastructure of EQ doesn't recover from every packet-loss situation gracefully. It can also result from packets that you send but the server never receives, and not even Wireshark can tell you which packets those are.

The only reasonable approach is to attack the packet loss, so I think the real way to solve your problem is to use a VPN from a server that both (1) you have a good connection to, and (2) has a good connection to p99.

So, go rent some linux VPSes (i'd suggest ubuntu, and note that most hosts have free trial periods specifically for free testing like this). Log in and ping the p99 servers from each. Find one or two that are good (that is, you have a solid connection to that server and it has a solid connection to p99), and install OpenVPN (ubuntu makes this easy). Now, use your normal VPN software that you've been using anyway but instead connect to the OpenVPN instance that you set up instead of renting VPN access from some large VPN provider. By choosing the VPS server yourself, you can hand-pick a viable location that meets the criteria you need.

Ramnode offers VPSes at $2/month and I believe that the basic 256MB RAM server is generally good enough for OpenVPN.

Finally, this is somewhat speculation, because I personally don't use a VPN for anything at all. I actually use Shadowsocks for HTTP traffic and don't use a VPN for EQ, because my direct connection is good enough (as my MTR traffic report demonstrated). But this might be the right solution for you.

[Ruien]

I have been having issues since this last patch. Failing to zone, timing out on login, once logged in server list isn't populated, etc. It's incredibly frustrating. P99 has run smoothly for the past year until this last patch for me.

I'm pretty sure that the latest P99 patch is 100% orthogonal to the connection to the login server. The only possible way that you could see issues such as a more frequent blank server select screen would be something related to the network. You might want to try the tests demonstrated earlier in this thread to see if you, too, are seeing packet loss issues. Given all the new issues I've seen pop up on the forums recently, it's very possible that some important router somewhere took a dump, some ISP pairings changed, some international connection piplines became saturated, or something of that nature. The timing of the latest patch is probably an unfortunate coincidence but unrelated if you're seeing issues related to the login server.

The zoning code on p99 did change, resulting in differences in the way that the zoning sequence looks in Wireshark. In theory it should only help, but might have unexplored implications. So, I'm not ruling out the possibility of problems being caused by that change, only saying that if you're seeing an increase in the frequency of issues connecting to the login server (even before connecting to p99) then the evidence suggests the underlying issue lies elsewhere.

[mdavis522]

Since this patch thing, i have crashed so many times ive lost count. I never had crashed before. And its always while zoning. So thats my exp. Id love to look at this dbg.txt thing. Where do i find it?

[towbes]

I'm pretty sure that the latest P99 patch is 100% orthogonal to the connection to the login server. The only possible way that you could see issues such as a more frequent blank server select screen would be something related to the network. You might want to try the tests demonstrated earlier in this thread to see if you, too, are seeing packet loss issues. Given all the new issues I've seen pop up on the forums recently, it's very possible that some important router somewhere took a dump, some ISP pairings changed, some international connection piplines became saturated, or something of that nature. The timing of the latest patch is probably an unfortunate coincidence but unrelated if you're seeing issues related to the login server.

The zoning code on p99 did change, resulting in differences in the way that the zoning sequence looks in Wireshark. In theory it should only help, but might have unexplored implications. So, I'm not ruling out the possibility of problems being caused by that change, only saying that if you're seeing an increase in the frequency of issues connecting to the login server (even before connecting to p99) then the evidence suggests the underlying issue lies elsewhere.

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by orthogonal, but when you watch wireshark as you login, you're sending packets to the same IP as the gameserver when you are logged into P1999. 66.55.145.2 The code is all related:

https://github.com/EQEmu/Server

[Ruien]

The IP of the gameserver vs loginserver (same in this case) isn't relevant, rather what parts of the code are used. Connecting to the loginserver to show the server selection screen shouldn't (I bravely assume!) use the zoning code.

From my understanding, according to the patch notes, it was the zoning code that was updated on p99, so if the problem includes an adverse effect on the loginserver, then it suggests the zoning code changes (that is, the latest p99 patch) aren't to blame.

I could be wrong and more changes were imported from github than just the zoning code, but I'm trusting that the patch notes provided by the devs are accurate in this respect. If indeed code was changed that substantially affects all of the areas that Latex mentioned, then it could be due to the patch and not just network problems.

Contrast this with the report by mdavis522, which could very understandably be a result of the changes to the zoning code.

In the past few days, the connection to this server has gotten progressively worse on my end. I'm having all of the problems you guys are reporting now, and I'm pretty sure it's due to network issues at least for me.

[Casey VII]

Went from a stable 36MS no crashing, to this patch where I can't even play the fucking game at all. Awesome.

[Stormfists]

Is there any "official" response to this thread? <3

[Caridry]

Went from a stable 36MS no crashing, to this patch where I can't even play the fucking game at all. Awesome.

My ping SIGNIFICANTLY jumped as well since last patch...I used to be consistent at about 18ms-22ms, now I'm 50-60 steady... Constant zone crashing, etc.:(

[dafier]

6Kb a sec? LOL! You mean 2Kb? 3.5 or 4 was the norm on a 56k baud connection. 28.8k was around 2Kb. I am talking average btw....

I have seen connection issues of late as well, but not that bad.

[Stormfists]

Cant zone or server doesnt think ive got internet for 15 minutes... worst. patch. ever.

[Caridry]

To add, logging in is even rough anymore. Timeouts, or it will hang and give you connection errors.

[Caridry]

I guess I just dont get... if its a huge issue and it sucks, why not just change it back?

[towbes]

I packed up all of my things and moved to Toronto. It seems like connecting from here has shown a significant improvement. Would recommend that others having similar issues also try Toronto and report back results.

[Proven Guilty]

Just to chime in, the troubleshooting information Wisteso and Ruien between ICMP prioritization, MTR returned results, and using TCP ports to 'ping' are all accurate.

In the problematic MTR, I see there are issues before traffic even reached a public IP address (using a 10.x.x.x subnet). It's very likely that the issue was always within the local area network.

[Proven Guilty]

I guess I just dont get... if its a huge issue and it sucks, why not just change it back?

end user's packet loss ≠ game server patch

[Caridry]

end user's packet loss ≠ game server patch

So with all this technical mumbo jumbo, why all of the sudden is this crap happening since last patch with everyone?

[Proven Guilty]

Probably the same reason we've had great weather in Phoenix since the patch.

[Nuggets]

Is there going to be a gm/dev response to this issue? Was fine before the "improvement" and is now horrible to unplayable for numerous people. 0 confirmed cases of any improvement. Whyyyy?

[towbes]

end user's packet loss ≠ game server patch


While the game server patch certainly did not have an effect on end user packet loss, it very well could have an effect on how the server handles the packets, hence the rise in issues that are being reported. There are just a lot of variables that make it difficult to determine where the problem is (and the same symptoms could be caused by many different problems).

We aren't trying to argue that the patch made our connections worse. What it did do was change the baseline behavior that individuals had witnessed before the patch. Post patch I started seeing the OP information in Wireshark, alongside more frequent login issues (blank server select, error connecting, freeze from char select) during times which previously did not usually have problems.

Yes my connection sucks, yes I had problems before the patch. I frequently monitored wireshark while logging in / zoning prior to the patch, and noticed a lot of differences post patch. When there is a patch note referring to net code, and a slew of other users reporting similar problems, there is reason to look for a correlation.

[Caridry]

I don't think this has anything to do with poor connection either...

I NEVER had issues in the past 5 years of playing. I consistently had roughly 18-22 ping every night, never got kicked, and zoned within 5-10 seconds.

Now I am steadily at 50-70 ping, takes me 30min + to log in, and I crash every zone looping me back to the30min login process (wineq2 seems to have fixed a lot of issues, but again never had to use this in the past).

I made no changes to anything on my end in the past few months at all, I literally just get on my computer to play EQ. I have 100mb down/75mb up service, and do not have issues with anything else, ever. I guarantee its not my "shitty" connection.

[Tasslehofp99]

My connection at work went from 30-40 MS ping to about 250-300 MS ping. Nothing about the connection has changed on my end, can't seem to figure out how to fix it either.


Sucks, was nice being able to log in to chat with people at work and do some stuff but now with this lag I've been limited to just chatting with pals!

[Mesnset]

Connectivity randomly adjusted with patches - It really is classic EQ!

GL to staff in hunting this one down... /salute

[Tiggles]

Is there going to be a gm/dev response to this issue? Was fine before the "improvement" and is now horrible to unplayable for numerous people. 0 confirmed cases of any improvement. Whyyyy?

Can we get an update/Revert of the patch for this issue?

It's affecting to many people now.

[rattrap17]

The game is getting close to unplayable at this point. I'm now crashing on zone the vast majority of time. Makes porting people around very difficult since whenever I disconnect it's a full on crash and it's taking me 5 to 10 minutes to get connected again. I now have to cross my fingers any time I hit that zone line. The game used to be so stable, I never had any issues in the past.

[towbes]

Sometimes from char select, my client will continue to send messages to the server but get no response at all. Is the server severing connections too early in the process due to loss?

Also the serverside port for traffic seems to change. What's the difference between 'iwg1' and 'dpservadmin' ?

[Stormfists]

Yesterday the login server thought I wasnt connected to the internet for 43 minutes.

Crux of the issue; how much do we need to donate to replace the faulty part?

Legitimate question even though it sounds trolly. If everyone donated $3 im sure this would be fixed sooner rather than later.

[daasgoot]

i am experiencing issues as well

disconnecting when zoning often, slow zone times.. currently can't even get logged into the server

[Docx]

this is just happening to me as well

[Rigid]

I've noticed my ping got significantly higher since the new patch, but it never caused crash issues, until tonight. Tonight i've crashed on every zone, and then i spend anywhere from 5-20 minutes trying to log back on.

[46290]

I am also experiencing significantly higher latency than usual, along with the inability to connect to the server.

I had to click though "An unknown error has occurred while trying to join the server." like 30 times.

[Liloqui]

Reporting similar issues here as well.

Problems: Can't login with name and password, server list won't load, unable to connect to server, crashing on zoning. Problems are intermittent.
Internet: Ping 13ms, 32 down 7 up, Comcast U.S west coast based

[Lenamas]

Same problems

Never had issues before, connection is legit as ballz

[Destron]

Constant Crashing.

Very hard time logging in.

Usually have none of these issues.

[fiveeauxfour]

I have no idea what the title of this thread means, but it sounds like one of Spinal Tap's albums.

[Gelroose]

Running off Verizon FiOS, northern VA. I don't have logs to attach, but I can confirm that I have recently been having a lot of zoning issues. Basically I will zone and it will hang for a long time. One time I zoned after 10 minutes or so. This doesn't happen too often, but it's completely random as to when it happens. Seems like 1/5 zones I will crash.

You can't simply just close EQ, because you still have to wait for your character to exit the server and by then you'd zone.

I also have been having issues connecting to the login server. Some times it will time out, but most of the time I will connect and no servers will appear on the Server Select screen. Last night was the worst of any time I've had trying to play.

-Saealorn

[Portasaurus]

I am also having long zoning times (seemingly randomly), and yea I crash a decent chunk of the time when I zone, too.

Started up like this with noticeable consistency within the past couple of weeks.

Once I'm in and in a zone, it seems fine, but definitely something screwy going on when zoning/logging in!

[Meiva]

I returned after a few weeks afk, and am having trouble getting the server list to populate. I can rarely get it to populate but when I can the program runs fine. If I decide to switch a char I will spend 10 min trying to get server list to populate without success and give up for the night. Havent had an issue in years.

I'll keep checking back for possible solutions. Let me know if there is any info I can provide to help. Not too tech savvy so you'll have to hold my hand through providing info.

[Ruien]

I'm still seeing this problem. Been going on a couple weeks now.

Can anyone who has a very solid connection to the p99 servers perform both the wireshark and MTR from earlier in this thread?

[Crawdad]

This has progressively gotten worse for me. Started taking longer to load after the most recent patch, but now I can't even get to the server select screen or log in once I do make it to character select. I'll try and post useful info shortly..

[Jezzabelle]

I'm still seeing this problem. Been going on a couple weeks now.

Can anyone who has a very solid connection to the p99 servers perform both the wireshark and MTR from earlier in this thread?

I know someone who has had zero issues. I'll direct him here and have him do it.

[Liloqui]

If any admins are reading this:

Is there anything we, the community, can do to help with this problem? Do you need donation support for more servers? Do you need an experienced network admin to take a look at your traffic routing?

Let us know dudes and dudettes. I want to help!

[demonstar55]

Keep reminding Rogean he needs to fix his implementation of OP_SessionRequest.

[Caridry]

Running off Verizon FiOS, northern VA. I don't have logs to attach, but I can confirm that I have recently been having a lot of zoning issues. Basically I will zone and it will hang for a long time. One time I zoned after 10 minutes or so. This doesn't happen too often, but it's completely random as to when it happens. Seems like 1/5 zones I will crash.

You can't simply just close EQ, because you still have to wait for your character to exit the server and by then you'd zone.

I also have been having issues connecting to the login server. Some times it will time out, but most of the time I will connect and no servers will appear on the Server Select screen. Last night was the worst of any time I've had trying to play.

-Saealorn

Exact same issues here. Verizon FIOS Mechanicsburg, PA

[dafier]

If any admins are reading this:

Is there anything we, the community, can do to help with this problem? Do you need donation support for more servers? Do you need an experienced network admin to take a look at your traffic routing?

Let us know dudes and dudettes. I want to help!

Yes you can help. Do you code? Are you a programmer? If so, volunteer your skills. They ALWAYS need help from good people if you are willing.

[Pinolian]

An official response would really, really be nice.

[Casey VII]

Rogean logged on to do simulated repops at like 4 am last week

I wonder if he even knows about this? Maybe his PM box is too full?

[Pinolian]

I know that I have spoken to at least 5 others with the same issue, and it turns out we all have Comcast. yes I know, Comcast is huge and therefore there is a higher probability of the people having problems actually using Comcast,but I wanted to pass it along.

Also, I paid for a VPN and now my problem has magically went away

[46290]

I know that I have spoken to at least 5 others with the same issue, and it turns out we all have Comcast. yes I know, Comcast is huge and therefore there is a higher probability of the people having problems actually using Comcast,but I wanted to pass it along.

Also, I paid for a VPN and now my problem has magically went away

I logged into my work VPN and the issue resolved itself as well. It was happening across 3 different computers at home. Each one resolved the issue by connecting to a VPN.

[Maligar]

I just started hitting this issue recently. Crash on zone, then difficulty logging in. Empty server list, connection errors, loading into an empty character select screen, etc. Located in MA.

[Pinolian]

Yep, same exact issues I was having until I went with a VPN
Located in VA, on Comcast. Have also heard Suddenlink people have been having problems

[Civenge]

I have Comcast and starting have connection issues last night and disconnects while zoning as well. Live on west coast.

[Jezzabelle]

In Texas on Verizon DSL.

So it's not Comcast related. I've always tried a VPN and had the same issues.

[Rogue305]

I got tired of the issue and called GTT.net. They said there was a hardware failure/routing issue "yesterday" (though they issue started for me a couple days ago) in NY and they are still investigating/working on the issue but no status at this time. I get in sometimes, but most of the time its been failing for several days. If it doesn't get better by tomorrow I will give Comcast a call to see if they are a partner.
My last hop:
10 45 ms 48 ms 49 ms as20473.ae7.ar2.nyc3.us.as4436.gtt.net [69.31.34
.78]
11 * * * Request timed out.
12 * * * Request timed out.
13 * * * Request timed out.

[Muggens]

Been getting this today: An unknown error occured while trying to join the server.
Im in Norway if that matters...