Warping

[SectorNine50]

Alright, for some reason I'm warping really badly.  Seems to be somewhat erratic.  I did the PingPlotter thing, and found that I was getting some packet loss.  Just for good measure, here are my computer specs:

HP DV2000t
Intel 2Duo 2.0Ghz
2gb RAM
128mb Nvidia GeForce GO 7200
80Gb 7200 RPM HD
Comcast Cable Internet

I get a more-or-less constant framerate of 50 FPS in-game.

Here is what I get from PingPlotter:

Host Information
1,,-
2,ge-1-2-ur01.corvallis.or.bverton.comcast.net,68.87.219.105
3,te-9-1-ur01.salem.or.bverton.comcast.net,68.87.216.54
4,te-7-1-ar01.beaverton.or.bverton.comcast.net,68.87.216.5
5,pos-0-7-0-0-cr01.portland.or.ibone.comcast.net,68.86.85.206
6,COMCAST-IP.car1.Seattle1.Level3.net,4.79.104.106
7,te-3-2.car1.Seattle1.Level3.net,4.79.104.105
8,ge-2-0-0-54.gar1.Seattle1.Level3.net,4.68.105.105
9,att-level3-oc48.Seattle1.Level3.net,4.68.127.110
10,tbr2.st6wa.ip.att.net,12.127.6.173
11,cr2.st6wa.ip.att.net,12.122.23.213
12,cr1.sffca.ip.att.net,12.122.28.33
13,cr1.la2ca.ip.att.net,12.122.3.122
14,tbr1.la2ca.ip.att.net,12.122.19.146
15,tbr1.dlstx.ip.att.net,12.122.10.49
16,gbr6.dlstx.ip.att.net,12.122.12.70
17, -------------- ,12.122.89.85
18, -------------- ,12.116.144.38
19,beta.hitechcreations.com,12.193.161.229

Sample Information
"4/3/2008 10:40:52 PM",*,7,11,N/A,17,N/A,25,20,19,108,98,101,105,110,104,104,105,128,110
"4/3/2008 10:41:07 PM",*,8,9,11,20,15,33,18,17,99,97,99,100,101,109,101,100,112,107
"4/3/2008 10:41:22 PM",*,9,8,10,17,17,16,35,N/A,102,97,99,102,101,101,100,101,106,106
"4/3/2008 10:41:37 PM",*,7,9,*,17,17,17,15,16,98,99,107,104,102,101,103,99,106,104
"4/3/2008 10:41:52 PM",*,8,8,10,17,*,15,15,N/A,98,97,98,101,136,102,103,100,103,104
"4/3/2008 10:42:07 PM",*,8,7,*,18,17,17,17,N/A,99,100,97,100,101,102,101,103,103,105
"4/3/2008 10:42:22 PM",*,8,8,11,16,16,22,16,119,99,98,98,101,101,102,99,102,104,105
"4/3/2008 10:42:37 PM",*,8,8,13,17,17,15,18,N/A,100,98,98,102,102,105,275,100,105,105
"4/3/2008 10:42:52 PM",*,8,7,*,17,16,17,69,N/A,100,99,97,102,100,102,100,105,103,104
"4/3/2008 10:43:07 PM",*,22,9,12,16,15,20,19,N/A,100,98,100,109,102,100,101,101,104,103
"4/3/2008 10:43:22 PM",*,16,7,10,19,16,17,15,18,100,99,97,101,101,102,103,101,105,105
"4/3/2008 10:43:37 PM",*,6,9,10,18,16,16,16,N/A,98,98,99,101,101,101,100,303,105,104
"4/3/2008 10:43:52 PM",*,6,8,14,18,18,17,20,N/A,121,102,97,103,105,101,275,100,108,109
"4/3/2008 10:44:07 PM",*,39,7,*,18,18,160,25,17,100,99,101,105,102,102,101,102,105,105
"4/3/2008 10:44:22 PM",*,7,9,11,17,17,17,17,29,98,98,99,102,102,102,100,100,107,106

Seems that several times through out the route I get packet loss.



Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks guys.

[Skuzzy]

That one is pretty easy as hop number 4 in your ISP's network is having the issue.  Keep in minf your trace/ping plot went to our WEB server and not a game server.  Try using 206.16.60.38 as the destination and let it run for 5 minutes, or so.

[SectorNine50]

Oh okay, I'll run that IP now and I'll post it up in as soon as I can.

[SectorNine50]

Alright, looks like the same IP is having issues on this destination address as well:

Host Information
1,,-
2,ge-1-2-ur01.corvallis.or.bverton.comcast.net,68.87.219.105
3,te-9-1-ur01.salem.or.bverton.comcast.net,68.87.216.54
4,te-7-1-ar01.beaverton.or.bverton.comcast.net,68.87.216.5
5,pos-0-7-0-0-cr01.portland.or.ibone.comcast.net,68.86.85.206
6,COMCAST-IP.car1.Seattle1.Level3.net,4.79.104.110
7,te-3-3.car1.Seattle1.Level3.net,4.79.104.109
8,ge-1-0-0-51.gar1.Seattle1.Level3.net,4.68.105.9
9,att-level3-oc48.Seattle1.Level3.net,4.68.127.110
10,tbr2.st6wa.ip.att.net,12.127.6.173
11,cr2.st6wa.ip.att.net,12.122.23.229
12,cr1.sffca.ip.att.net,12.122.28.33
13,cr1.la2ca.ip.att.net,12.122.3.122
14,tbr1.la2ca.ip.att.net,12.122.19.162
15,tbr1.dlstx.ip.att.net,12.122.10.49
16,gar5.dlstx.ip.att.net,12.123.16.209
17,mdf1-gsr12-1-pos-7-0.dal1.attens.net,12.122.255.82
18,mdf1-bi8k-2-eth-2-3.dal1.attens.net,63.241.192.222
19, -------------- ,206.16.60.38

Sample Information
"4/4/2008 10:03:47 AM",*,7,9,9,16,15,16,16,33,100,100,98,100,98,97,96,98,N/A,98
"4/4/2008 10:04:02 AM",*,7,9,*,17,18,122,17,16,97,101,98,100,99,98,99,100,100,97
"4/4/2008 10:04:17 AM",*,7,7,9,17,16,17,16,N/A,99,100,99,100,100,97,98,100,357,99
"4/4/2008 10:04:32 AM",*,6,8,10,17,15,16,17,19,99,100,98,100,99,97,98,97,99,97
"4/4/2008 10:04:47 AM",*,6,9,9,17,15,16,15,16,97,104,100,100,100,98,98,98,99,97
"4/4/2008 10:05:02 AM",*,7,9,9,17,16,16,15,N/A,97,101,97,100,99,98,99,98,*,97
"4/4/2008 10:05:17 AM",*,7,9,10,19,18,17,15,17,97,102,97,101,98,99,96,101,100,98
"4/4/2008 10:05:32 AM",*,8,7,10,15,15,18,16,N/A,100,105,98,104,103,99,98,98,100,98
"4/4/2008 10:05:47 AM",*,8,8,11,15,17,15,17,18,98,101,98,103,101,99,99,99,98,98
"4/4/2008 10:06:02 AM",*,8,8,*,16,16,16,16,N/A,98,99,98,99,99,99,107,99,98,99
"4/4/2008 10:06:17 AM",*,8,8,11,17,17,15,17,16,98,100,98,102,99,97,121,99,377,99
"4/4/2008 10:06:32 AM",*,6,8,11,17,17,16,18,N/A,99,100,99,100,99,97,98,99,99,97
"4/4/2008 10:06:47 AM",*,6,11,9,17,*,16,18,16,100,100,100,100,99,97,101,97,99,105
"4/4/2008 10:07:02 AM",*,9,9,*,17,18,16,15,N/A,102,102,97,100,100,101,99,98,99,105
"4/4/2008 10:07:17 AM",*,10,9,9,18,16,151,15,17,97,102,98,102,99,98,186,98,172,98
"4/4/2008 10:07:32 AM",*,7,9,9,18,16,17,16,N/A,97,107,100,101,97,98,97,98,575,98
"4/4/2008 10:07:47 AM",*,8,7,10,17,*,14,16,17,98,101,98,102,99,98,97,100,98,98
"4/4/2008 10:08:02 AM",*,8,8,11,18,17,15,17,N/A,100,101,98,102,98,99,97,99,*,98
"4/4/2008 10:08:17 AM",*,8,8,*,16,17,15,17,16,98,100,98,99,98,99,98,99,98,99
"4/4/2008 10:08:32 AM",*,8,8,11,16,17,18,16,16,99,100,98,99,99,99,99,97,98,99

[Sincraft]

ROFL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Welcome to Comcast.  My pingplotter looks like yours however, add another 10 % on that one hop and add another hop with 15-20% loss.

Don't even BOTHER calling Comcast about it.  Trust me.  Just change ISP's.  They will send doofus techs out to your house to 'check your line', they will blame your router/modem and make you swap those out.  They will even have you swap NICS.  (of which I did, even though I know I was just going through the useless hoops)

I thought if I finally went through all of this I would eventually be able to talk to a REAL tech with REAL power and REAL decision making abilities. 

NOPE.

I've written to the SR. VP in charge of Field Ops and several others both in email and writing.  It has been over a year now.

And they wonder why everyone leaves their VOIP service??????  The TWO are connected! 

You see prior to VOIP Comcast could simply say - "yer browsin'...and getting ok speeds...all good...bub bye"

But since the competition has moved in with VOIP, deregulation etc - competition breeds competition.  Thus, Comcast released VOIP service. 

Eventually the dinosaur they are, refusing to evolve will face extinction. 

And I will be there laughing 

EDIT: BTW don't mention PingPlotter - if you do get escalated to their upper tiered 'techs'...they will laugh at Pingplotter as being 'flawed'.

[SectorNine50]

Yeah that's weird, when I ping via command prompt I get no drops at that same hop.

Is it possible to just avoid that hop and re-route around it?  Like can I download a program that blocks that IP or something if I can't fix the issue?

[Skuzzy]

You cannot change the routes.  Only Comcast can and they can only do that on multi-homed routers.

Comcast has been one of the more problematic ISP's of late.  Sincew they went to a new packet shaping scheme which does more than it should, they have been a pretty problematic ISP.

[Sincraft]

Skuzzy - you should be a politician.  You said that in the nicest way I think anyone could possibly do so.

For what it's worth they were also 'fapping' (fair access policy) people that downloaded torrents.  They received such a backlash from this they stated they would drop this policy which will only put further loads on the servers.  Peer to peer downloading has that effect.

 

[SectorNine50]

Doesn't fapping also mean something else...?   Haha

So when they do FAP, does that mean that it doesn't allow people who download torrents to download them at full speed?

[Sincraft]

Sector: It doesn't allow them to download at full speeds.

This way you don't call and say HEY - wtf.

There is a way around this but moot at this point.

Your ISP may FROWN on this behavior btw. 
Google Comcast open ports for torrents
or something like that.

You can also scan ports physically or with a port scanner.

They only control a certain range of ports.  So you have to switch it to one they don't 'fap'.  You will have to find which ones they do...cause I dont have it readily available.  Probably could find all of this info at DSLREPORTS.com
A note on FAP. (at least that's what I call it from back in the days of direcpc and their fap policy - years before broadband was available readily)

Personally I think that if a company has to fap hardcore, they are going down or at least that service is.  Think of it this way.  Sure if suddenly 10% of the people start using 100% of the service available to them, it could strain your system.  You have to do something about it.  Research it.  Is it a trend. Temporary or Perm.  What to do about it.  The answer of CONTROL and RESTRICT is pretty lame imo.  Conversely, the 10% that use almost NO bandwidth other than to check their grandkids email once a week...they don't get a refund do they?

Can you imagine logging into Aces High 2 - suddenly there is a message from Skuzzy saying "Greetings kind sir, you are spending too much time online and hogging all the space/bandwidth...we are restricting you to 2 hours of gameplay per day until further notice.  Thanks for your patience" 
Probably won't happen.

Now there are always exceptions to the rule too.  Obviously is someone is doing nothing but running an illegal warez ftp server that is busy 24/7 - something needs to be done about it.  The company knows it, or at least has a VERY good idea that's what is going on.  But they can't really try your ftp ports and anon logins because that would cross into some very slippery legal boundaries.  So they have to develop a policy.

The thing that pisses me off about Comcast is, they have decided not to upgrade their infrastructure and force as much through their pipes as they possibly can.  The only people being hurt by their fap policies and inability to resolve issues is eventually themselves.  I have a bad taste in my mouth from Comcast and this experience and have been seen flipping the bird to the comcast employees outside smoking cigs (the devil's helpers are still spawn of the devil - I know it's childish and low but damnit Ima techie geek since the 'real' bbs days and have been granted an all access pass on this by al gore himself!)

btw does anyone know what old al is going to invent next?  I heard he is working on an international consortium that would require all companies to enlist in a carbon credit system whereas you must pay for carbon credits lead by...yes you guessed it.  They are investing something like 300 million into this venture.  (but I thought they were worried about the planet..) please...pftt.. as if.  If anyone knows what is going to be next please let me know so I can invest.

Signed,

Highly caffeinated Sincraft

[Estes]

As mentioned above, most ISP's have the most commonly used ports for torrents throttled down. More specifically, the 6000-7000 area of ports (at least that is what I've found with my ISP which is suddenlink) and for what its worth I only download LEGAL torrents. It's not a big deal as you can change ports to one that isn't throttled down, but that is ISP's answer to attempting to thwart torrent downloading.

Suddenlink is the only cable provider here, and luckily they are good. Have never had any problems with them.

[SectorNine50]

So there is pretty much nothing I can do?  This is my favorite game and I'd really hate to not be able to play because my ISP isn't up to par...

[Sincraft]

Well as I said, don't bother with trying to get comcast to do anything.
You may have other problems beyond the packet loss causing your issues.

My ping is only about 65. That helps my packet loss some. 

You can also check your packet loss at dslreports.com.  It will tell a much glossier picture of your packet loss but I'm not sure that is a good thing.  Comcast generally 'listens' to dslreports.com as a tool whereas they find pingplotter a bit skewed.

Hey maybe they will listen in your area.  In mine however, they could care less.  FIOS is PLOWING through and all are jumping the comcast ship like um....rats on er um a sinking ship!

Upper management knows of the issues for sure.  They will lay some people off, figure the problems will go away when some user's leave - and their bonus will not be THAT great this year at a paltry $100,000k.