Packet Loss

[Bizman]

Upgrading may not be the best option. If you take that route, at least do a clean install. Most of the 7 to 10 upgrades I've seen so far have got some issues, worst of them having been mouse and keyboard not working at login.

Remember, you don't have to upgrade to 10. Microsoft will support 7 until 2020, over four years from now. At that date you might want to get a new computer anyway with the current Windows anyway. As for the updates preparing your computer for Windows 10, each of them is tagged as optional instead of critical, which means they aren't necessary at all for Windows 7 to work as it should. Actually if you were a Tech you might take even the critical updates under surveillance and decide one by one whether to install them or not. That's what large company Techs do to prevent conflicts with their installed programs.

I use Avast too. What I've done due to some issues in the past is that I've set both the C:\HitechCreations\* folder and aceshigh.exe on every exclusions list I could find in the settings.

As for the lease time, I suppose you used ipconfig /all to see it. What was the IP address there? Based on the images you sent I suppose it was 192.#.#.#  which means it's the lease time of the LAN of your modem. The 10.#.#.# which is the second hop on the images is also "private" address, probably the ISP's first server to shake hands with your modem, verifying you're their customer or something like that. You'd have to ask your ISP techies to check the lease time for the actual IP address they provide. You might also be able to set your modem to "Bridged" mode with all of the required reboots and such. You should then be able to see the real IP address by using ipconfig /all, probably the one starting 216.#.#.# (eastlink.ca).

[Jackle1]

Thanks Bizman.  There is a lot there to think about.

I am hoping that it is just a result of server overuse during the holidays, which will hopefully subside in a couple days.

[Chalenge]

Routers do go bad over time.

[Bizman]

Routers do go bad over time.

Indeed, and very seldom it can be verified as easily as happened at a customer's new house: It had worked in the previous apartment, so they believed there could be nothing wrong with it. I opened the case and noticed a brown spot the size of a fingerprint on the inner surface of the upper part of the case. On the relevant location on the circuit board I found another, darker brown spot the size of the head of a pin. One tiny surface mount capacitor had fried. - I seem to like stories more than just technical data, hope it doesn't tire you out...

Yet another thing to take into consideration: On today's news on the radio they told about storms and tornadoes in the USA, and that they haven't been able to do all repairing before new damage has occurred.

[MADe]

Network Interface Adapter, NIC.

go into device manager, look for the network card. it should have some advanced properties.
make sure that its set for full duplex, rss is enabled. disable flow control, any power saving option, disable any ipv6 options.
this stuff prolly set fine but........
your ISP might be doing some kind of optimization crap...............
luck

is the cable modem hot, is the cable attach point hot????????

[Bizman]

Good points, MADe. 

Usually the default settings work well enough for most situations. The easiest way to reset all NIC related settings is to delete it in the Device Manager, reboot and let Windows reinstall it. Just in case something goes wrong and Windows loses the drivers, it would be safe to download the latest drivers to a safe place before the operation. The only modification for the NIC settings I've ever used is to uncheck the "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" option. For what I've read tweaking the networking settings may improve one feature while restraining others. Thus a download accelerator may cause issues with online gaming etc.

After all these warnings about tweaking I find it tempting to disable some of the advanced features of the NIC. Features like Wake On LAN are never used, so they seem safe to disable. Leaving duplex and speed settings to automatic probably use some resources, but in my layman way of thinking it may improve stability in case of issues in the Internet.

[Jackle1]

I appreciate all of the advise I have gotten.  I am no tech person, and therefore am not comfortable going into the Network Card and enabling and disabling anything. 

I guess I am just confused as to why this is occurring now when I have never had this issue before, at any time while I've playing this game in the last 5 years.  Yes I was away for a few months and just got back on, but what would have changed to cause this.

i was on tonight and within a matter of 5 minutes I was kicked out 3X.  The few days before I was able to stay on for at least an hour before I gut the boot.

I do have an older modem and WiFi so maybe this need to be changed.  At this point I am not sure, and I would love to be able to go into my computer and figure this out; however without somebody standing over my shoulder to walk me through it I wouldn't be able to do it.

[MADe]

A pc has so many things you can adjust that it can be daunting.

Did you state in last post that you were using a wifi connection from pc to modem? Can you use a wired connection? If wifi, its possible that there are too many devices on that same wifi channel. ie: smartphones, home wireless phones, neighbors, new neighbors???????? this is something that can be adjusted if made aware.
the game uses UDP packets primarily. They are not monitored, and if lost, they just disappear. Your pc however sends them at a specific rate, all the time. I guess the game has a time out method on each pc incoming packet streams. times out udp, goes tcp, timesout tcp drops connection.
make sure modem is plugged with a quality electrical connection. Use an Ethernet cat 5 wired connection.
Make sure modem connection to service provider is tight, not hot.
Reminds me, your internet provider might have updated the FW in your modem??????? You might want to go into modem options for a look see??????????
Many modems have a DMZ option, you can set up a specific port/machine so that its outside the modems firewall. You loose protection but its a method to see if its the modems security that's at issue.

you said nothing was changed in machine. ie: is it set to auto update? if so its possible a driver got updated, or a security update is not working with something in your pc. If things are left on auto functions, if you you leave machine on 24/7................

its possible that you just need a different dns provider. this is something you can change in pc and/or modem but it does require a scan run by namebench. Quite simple if you care to look into it. Prolly the internet, out of your control but I learned to drive my pc at its optional level, not be driven, highly recommend it.
luck

ps: I'm no tech person either, but its easy at the level you need, read and google a lot.....

[Bizman]

Very few people are tech persons and truth to be said even they might not be the best in solving problems.

As MADe said, there's a gazillion things you can adjust in a PC. However, speaking about hardware, default settings work best for most people. A simple reset has saved my bacon in hundreds of cases during these eleven years I've been working as a self employed home techie. - Getting rid of unnecessary software is another thing, it can really boost your system. But that's another story.

Usually your ISP takes care of name servers, but sometimes the modem can't find the addresses automatically. That can be due to your ISP having changed something at their end, causing incompatibility with certain modems. Changing DNS servers might work and it's easy to do. You can set them manually, but you are not restricted to your ISP's servers. E.G Google's public DNS servers are free to use. The addresses are 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4. Tutorial: http://www.plus.net/support/software/dns/changing_dns_windows7.shtml

As for WiFi, the extra load has already been mentioned. There's other things, too, that can interfere with it. A microwave oven, lawn mower, your house cabling including extensions, cell phone base stations, power lines, Northern Lights, solar flares...

[The Fugitive]

Maybe another thought, are you having issues while surfing the web? When you are going from page to page are there sometimes long delays for pages to load, or do they just pop right up?

If so, you can rule out a game issue, like memory problems or corrupt files (id do a reinstall anyway just to be sure, install a fresh download right over the game). If the issue is still there while browsing you can be sure it is more likely a network issue.

You have rebooted the modem and router. Try unplugging the network cable from your modem to the router. Take the network cable from your computer off the router and plug it directly into the modem by passing the router. Check your connection again. In your case, load up the game and play. Seeing as you seem to drop out quick it shouldn't take long to see if it still does it.

If it still drops you out,you may have a bad modem, if it doesn't, you may have a bad router. Routers are easy to swap out. If you need to replace it just google the specs on your old one, and when looking for a new one match the specs.

If it looks like its the modem, you'll have to call your ISP (Internet Service Provider). They will most likely run a few test from their end to see what kind of response the modem will give. I know when mine was failing the cable company could see the drop outs, how often and how many. They may also have you do the by-pass test I mentioned above. Once they decide that there is an issue they will send out a repairman to replace the modem.

[Jackle1]

Well just as an update.  I guess I had not tried everything.  I did unplug my wifi and hard line my cable in.  That seemed to work better.  I was able to stay on for an hour or so before losing the connection.  I will try to get on later today and see how well it works.

Thanks for all the advise.  Everybody was great 

[MADe]

remember your wifi radio and the ethernet wired connect funnel to same place. Turn off the wifi and see how that affects things.

[Jackle1]

Well no real change other than time of day.  I can be in the game in the evening at I drop connections often, then during the day not as much, but it still happens. 

I have literally tried everything that has been suggested.  I think my next step is to get a tech out to look at my computer, although I'm getting the feeling it's my service provider.

This has to be one of the most frustrating things, especially since about 6 months ago I didn't have this problem at all.

Oh well.

[Jackle1]

Here is the most recent Ping Plotter pic.  It is a lot different than the one before. 

[Skuzzy]

That Ping Plot looks normal.  Although I noted the ALTER.net router in your path which has been a problematic router.