Originally posted by Reynolds
Ping. big number= big lag
True in one way. The higher your own ping is, the longer the time to transmit/recieve data from the host server (in this case HTC). But when considering bullets, youll also have to take into account the OTHER guys connection, since he has to get his data to the server as well.
And then, theres not only ping, theres also the stability of the connect. When you go ingame and right click the map, you can bring up a window NET STAT. That also gives you an idea. Variance should be a flatline. If its spiking/having sawtooth patterns, you definitly have a connection issue. Also ideally there should be no packet loss.
For more info you can also check out the stickies in Tech Support Forum.
HTC Server: AFAIK, all the main arenas are on one server, the rest of the arenas on another one. Since they are not very far apart, usually the connect for both is more or less the same.
H2H servers: How the connection to those is very much depends on the hardware of the person thats hosting, his connect speed/ISP and where in the world he is relative to you. For example I am in Germany. When Furball hosts (in UK) my connect/ping to his room is usually better then to the main arenas... but theres also been hosts that had me warping all over the place.
All in all, i think well have to go with what we got. The internet is far from perfect, but unless we can change the physics, speed of light and resistance well always have net lag to deal with. Considering the amount of computers connected, data transferred and distances between us all, i find it amazing enough that it works at all. But i guess im easily impressed by technology
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