Reducing lag

[Midway]

I followed these instructions.  Hope it helps.  Please let me know if any of these do not make sense for AH.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDrOxn0Qm1o

My lag is not a problem that I know of, but I would like to do all I can to reduce it.

Have Windows 7 64bit OS and using a wireless router (about 5 ft from my PC, an ES2000 Cisco router) and have cable modem to the router.

[Skuzzy]

I do not know what the video is about, but if you are on a wireless connection, you WILL get errors in the data stream which WILL induce stutters in the game.

[Midway]

I do not know what the video is about, but if you are on a wireless connection, you WILL get errors in the data stream which WILL induce stutters in the game.

Here is my pingplotter results.  Does this tell you I can do anything to improve lag?

Target Name: N/A
         IP: 206.16.60.41
  Date/Time: 12/12/2011 12:29:45 PM to 12/12/2011 12:30:57 PM

Hop Sent Err PL% Min Max Avg  Host Name / [IP]
 1    30   0 0.0   1  12   5  CLEAR [192.168.1.1]
 2    30   0 0.0  21  55  32  cpe-071-075-128-001.carolina.res.rr.com [71.75.128.1]
 3    30   0 0.0  12  52  20  cpe-024-074-252-025.carolina.res.rr.com [24.74.252.25]
 4    30   0 0.0  18  54  24  ae18.rlghncpop-rtr1.southeast.rr.com [24.93.64.4]
 5    30   1 3.3  23  87  38  [107.14.19.20]
 6    30   0 0.0  23 101  37  ae-2-0.pr0.dca10.tbone.rr.com [66.109.6.169]
 7    30   0 0.0  25  68  34  ix-3-2-1-0.tcore2.AEQ-Ashburn.as6453.net [216.6.87.53]
 8    30   0 0.0  27 100  40  [192.205.34.249]
 9    30   0 0.0  70  87  78  cr2.wswdc.ip.att.net [12.122.220.250]
10    30   0 0.0  70  97  78  cr1.attga.ip.att.net [12.122.1.173]
11    30   0 0.0  70 107  81  cr2.dlstx.ip.att.net [12.122.28.174]
12    30   1 3.3  65 133  79  ggr1.dlstx.ip.att.net [12.122.138.1]
13    11   0 0.0  69  90  78  [12.122.251.70]
14    30   2 6.7  69 106  75  mdf001c7613r0004-gig-12-1.dal1.attens.net [63.241.193.14]
15    30   0 0.0  66  86  73  [206.16.60.41]


Here is a 2nd pingplotter in case it tells you anything different:

Target Name: N/A
         IP: 206.16.60.41
  Date/Time: 12/12/2011 12:33:12 PM to 12/12/2011 12:34:25 PM

Hop Sent Err PL% Min Max Avg  Host Name / [IP]
 1    29   0 0.0   1  22   6  CLEAR [192.168.1.1]
 2    29   0 0.0  12  51  27  cpe-071-075-128-001.carolina.res.rr.com [71.75.128.1]
 3    29   0 0.0  12  44  20  cpe-024-074-252-025.carolina.res.rr.com [24.74.252.25]
 4    29   0 0.0  17  46  24  ae18.rlghncpop-rtr1.southeast.rr.com [24.93.64.4]
 5    29   0 0.0  23  66  32  [107.14.19.20]
 6    29   0 0.0  26  64  34  ae-2-0.pr0.dca10.tbone.rr.com [66.109.6.169]
 7    29   0 0.0  24  57  32  ix-3-2-1-0.tcore2.AEQ-Ashburn.as6453.net [216.6.87.53]
 8    29   0 0.0  28  87  38  [192.205.34.249]
 9    29   0 0.0  70  96  78  cr2.wswdc.ip.att.net [12.122.220.250]
10    29   0 0.0  69  96  79  cr1.attga.ip.att.net [12.122.1.173]
11    29   0 0.0  69 111  81  cr2.dlstx.ip.att.net [12.122.28.174]
12    29   0 0.0  67 148  84  ggr1.dlstx.ip.att.net [12.122.138.1]
13    11   0 0.0  68 143  81  [12.122.251.66]
14    29   1 3.4  67  97  76  mdf001c7613r0004-gig-12-1.dal1.attens.net [63.241.193.14]
15    29   0 0.0  68  84  73  [206.16.60.41]

[Skuzzy]

There is packet loss inside your own ISP's network as well as on the return trip.

That is not 'lag'.  It is simply packet loss, which can cause erratic positional updates in the game and thus the perception of 'lag'.

You need to contact your ISP about this, but not the first Tier support folks as they will only check your local connection and tell you everything is fine.  Technically, your packet loss is acceptable to your ISP, according to the terms of service, so they may not do anything about.

[Midway]

There is packet loss inside your own ISP's network as well as on the return trip.

That is not 'lag'.  It is simply packet loss, which can cause erratic positional updates in the game and thus the perception of 'lag'.

You need to contact your ISP about this, but not the first Tier support folks as they will only check your local connection and tell you everything is fine.  Technically, your packet loss is acceptable to your ISP, according to the terms of service, so they may not do anything about.

Thank you. 

[Tigger29]

Skuzz let me summarize that video up for you.  It's some kid wasting ten minutes of time explaining how to speed up a computer.  I should note that he sounds very inexperienced with computers and sounds completely clueless.  I should also note the video is from August '09 and he's running Vista.

He takes you through the following steps:

• Disabling AERO (not bad advice)
• Installing a program called CCLEANER to remove bad registry entries and to remove Temporary and unneeded files (potentially harmful)
• Running the Windows Disk Cleanup Utility (not bad advice)
• Setting the power settings to High Performance and disabling Hibernation (not necessarily bad advice)
• Raising your refresh rate for your display settings to it's highest option but he "doesn't really know what it does" (potentially dangerous advice)
• From the ATI or NVidia control panel setting the global video setting to Most Performance (which may help with performance)
• From the ATI or NVidia control panel setting each individual 3D setting to Most Performance (potentially dangerous advice especially if you don't know what each setting does)
• Running REGEDIT (which he pronounces REGuh Edit with a hard G sound) and adding a couple TCP/IP Paramaters - "TCPAckFrequency=1" and "TCPNoDelay=1" (DANGEROUS ADVICE)

All in all I wouldn't recommend anyone follow the advice in this video.  Don't even waste your time.  While some of the information could potentially help the biggest cause of the types of problems that he describes aren't even going to be addressed by following those steps.  If you really want to find helpful information then take the time to research what he does in each step and exactly why it's helpful or harmful.  Simply put if you spend ten minutes researching things instead of watching a pointless video then you'll learn a whole lot more.

[Midway]

Skuzz let me summarize that video up for you.  It's some kid wasting ten minutes of time explaining how to speed up a computer.  I should note that he sounds very inexperienced with computers and sounds completely clueless.  I should also note the video is from August '09 and he's running Vista.

He takes you through the following steps:

• Disabling AERO (not bad advice)
• Installing a program called CCLEANER to remove bad registry entries and to remove Temporary and unneeded files (potentially harmful)
• Running the Windows Disk Cleanup Utility (not bad advice)
• Setting the power settings to High Performance and disabling Hibernation (not necessarily bad advice)
• Raising your refresh rate for your display settings to it's highest option but he "doesn't really know what it does" (potentially dangerous advice)
• From the ATI or NVidia control panel setting the global video setting to Most Performance (which may help with performance)
• From the ATI or NVidia control panel setting each individual 3D setting to Most Performance (potentially dangerous advice especially if you don't know what each setting does)
• Running REGEDIT (which he pronounces REGuh Edit with a hard G sound) and adding a couple TCP/IP Paramaters - "TCPAckFrequency=1" and "TCPNoDelay=1" (DANGEROUS ADVICE)

All in all I wouldn't recommend anyone follow the advice in this video.  Don't even waste your time.  While some of the information could potentially help the biggest cause of the types of problems that he describes aren't even going to be addressed by following those steps.  If you really want to find helpful information then take the time to research what he does in each step and exactly why it's helpful or harmful.  Simply put if you spend ten minutes researching things instead of watching a pointless video then you'll learn a whole lot more.

Well in my case:

• Disabling AERO (not bad advice) Did that.
  
• Installing a program called CCLEANER to remove bad registry entries and to remove Temporary and unneeded files (potentially harmful)  Did that. removed a lot of files and registery entries.   Program was highly rated on cnet with many downloads
  
• Running the Windows Disk Cleanup Utility (not bad advice)  Did that.
  
• Setting the power settings to High Performance and disabling Hibernation (not necessarily bad advice)  Did that
  
• Raising your refresh rate for your display settings to it's highest option but he "doesn't really know what it does" (potentially dangerous advice)  60 is my only option so no change here.
  
• From the ATI or NVidia control panel setting the global video setting to Most Performance (which may help with performance) Did not do this.
  
• From the ATI or NVidia control panel setting each individual 3D setting to Most Performance (potentially dangerous advice especially if you don't know what each setting does) Did not do this
  
• Running REGEDIT (which he pronounces REGuh Edit with a hard G sound) and adding a couple TCP/IP Paramaters - "TCPAckFrequency=1" and "TCPNoDelay=1" (DANGEROUS ADVICE)  Did this... although don't understand it.   Researched it on internet some but the technical talk is above my head.  Can undo it if I see problems.  :uhoh
  
  He also said to defrag (did that) and to set computer properties / advanced settings to maximize performance.  (Did that.)
  
  Anything else I can do to reduce lag? :headscratch:
  

[guncrasher]

long cable to your modem?


semp

[Bino]

First off, this warning from Microsoft:

"Important
This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs."

Back on topic, from the Microsoft web site http://support.microsoft.com/kb/328890 :

"...
TcpAckFrequency
is a new registry entry in Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Windows Server 2003
that determines the number of TCP acknowledgments (ACKs) that will be outstanding before the delayed ACK timer is ignored.
..."

and also from Microsoft ( http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc783904%28WS.10%29.aspx ) :

"...
TCPNoDelay
...
Disables nagling. Nagling is a TCP feature that combines several small packets into a single, larger packet for more efficient transmission.

By default, Message Queuing (also known as MSMQ) enables nagling on the TCP sockets it uses. This improves overall performance, but it might briefly delay transmission of smaller packets. If the delay is undesirable or unacceptable, then you can add this entry to the registry to disable nagling
..."


Since Aces High uses UDP by default - and not TCP - I wonder if these would have any effect at all...?

[Midway]

long cable to your modem?


semp

Cable modem and router are next to each other.

[Midway]

First off, this warning from Microsoft:

"Important
This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs."

Back on topic, from the Microsoft web site http://support.microsoft.com/kb/328890 :

"...
TcpAckFrequency
is a new registry entry in Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Windows Server 2003
that determines the number of TCP acknowledgments (ACKs) that will be outstanding before the delayed ACK timer is ignored.
..."

and also from Microsoft ( http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc783904%28WS.10%29.aspx ) :

"...
TCPNoDelay
...
Disables nagling. Nagling is a TCP feature that combines several small packets into a single, larger packet for more efficient transmission.

By default, Message Queuing (also known as MSMQ) enables nagling on the TCP sockets it uses. This improves overall performance, but it might briefly delay transmission of smaller packets. If the delay is undesirable or unacceptable, then you can add this entry to the registry to disable nagling
..."

 

[The Fugitive]

Cable modem and router are next to each other.

I think he is saying to use a network cable to connect your.computer.and.get off the wireless. Wireless is going to be your biggest lag issue and it is easy to fix, just get a cable.

[Bino]

Since Aces High uses UDP by default - and not TCP - I wonder if "TcpAckFrequency" or "TCPNoDelay" would have any effect at all...?

[Midway]

Since Aces High uses UDP by default - and not TCP - I wonder if "TcpAckFrequency" or "TCPNoDelay" would have any effect at all...?

I thought it uses TCP unless there is a problem which is when it switches to UDP.

[Skuzzy]

The game uses both TCP and UDP.  However, those settings will not directly impact Aces High, but could have an adverse impact on other things, which then could have unintended negative side effects in Aces High.