Packet Loss/Latency Galore! Yummy!

I don't know if any of you guys have been experiencing such thing, but it's getting to the point where I'm unable to even work in SL.

My problem is trying to stay online. I can login and view any website, with short delays and/or forcing Refresh/F5 often; within the first five minutes of being on, bandwidth meter goes to 0kbps and I'm forced to relog.

What is contributing to this packet loss? What tests should I run through to see where the problem is? I'm currently running SL under the following things:

o Windows XP Professional (Vista-capable)
o Mobile DualCore Intel Core Duo T2500, 2000 MHz
o Laptop with Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG
o Embarq modem & a Linksys wireless-G router
o ZoneAlarm Pro (medium-level security for everything, SecondLife = AllowAll)

I know the wireless has worked before, because I've been using it for about three months.

By the way, I just tried this out: a suggestion from a friend...

--------------------------------------------------
Pinging secondlife.com [66.150.244.130] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 66.150.244.130: bytes=32 time=1307ms TTL=45
Reply from 66.150.244.130: bytes=32 time=1440ms TTL=45
Reply from 66.150.244.130: bytes=32 time=1232ms TTL=45
Reply from 66.150.244.130: bytes=32 time=1176ms TTL=45
Reply from 66.150.244.130: bytes=32 time=960ms TTL=45
Reply from 66.150.244.130: bytes=32 time=1237ms TTL=45
Reply from 66.150.244.130: bytes=32 time=1532ms TTL=45
Reply from 66.150.244.130: bytes=32 time=1443ms TTL=45
Reply from 66.150.244.130: bytes=32 time=1345ms TTL=45
Reply from 66.150.244.130: bytes=32 time=1219ms TTL=45

Ping statistics for 66.150.244.130:
Packets: Sent = 10, Received = 10, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 960ms, Maximum = 1532ms, Average = 1289ms
----------------------------------------------------

I suggest you try with a wired ethernet connection and see if the problem goes away. (I am betting it will).

Wireless, though convenient when working, is notoriously unreliable. its affected by interference, your Neighbors' wireless connections, the position of Mars in the sky, the propensity of fish to swim upstream and other imponderables.

If your wireless router is in one corner, you might try buying a pointable antenna and aiming it at where you normally use your PC. (These work by, for example, taking the beam that points UP and focusing it horizontally across the floor.)

I agree with Sterling. I'm on a wired ethernet connection, 100Mbit line, averaging about 4.1% packet loss. UPGRADE YOUR DAMN HARDWARE / ROUTERS AND FIX THIS ISSUE!!!

I'm sitting on a private island at the moment, every person here, as well as other locations I've been at have been complaining of insane lag and packet loss. Hmmm, now I wonder what could be causing that.. *thinks* oh wait, I know. Not enough bandwidth? Outdated hardware? Misconfigured Routers?

See, I understand why the private island cost / tier rate is increasing. It's because new hardware *IS* needed, you know this. Now, if your admitting it in the rate hike, why can't the "support" people just be straight with people and tell them that the SL network is being flooded and just can't properly handle the amount of traffic.

Instead, support claims it to be people's video cards, internet connections, etc etc. Sure, some of the issues people are experiencing are on their end, but let's be realistic. There are some of us in-game that actually know what we're doing and can pinpoint issues fairly easily.

You weren't prepared for the massive flux of new accounts and traffic, so now your back peddling trying to release software updates to fix issues when the software isnt the biggest issue. Exceptionally unhappy with this "Product".

To clarify further:
{We still connect our cable boxes and rooftop antennae with wires. Have you noticed that no 'wireless' real time video works well? And yet, much of SL looks to me like full motion video :}
If connecting via Direct Ethernet cable cures your problem, then you know its the 'wireless' feature--and can take steps to fix the wireless.

If it doesn't cure it, then we've eliminated the most likely source of problems and can go to the next most likely.

As for network speed:

You don't specify how fast your internet connection is. But (assuming its adequate):
you might try setting your preferences for network speed at less than 'theoretical' network speed. Rough (rough) calculation, I have a '1.25 Megabit' DSl connection. I set the SL speed slider to 100 kbps.

Ooops. I slipped in a units conversion or two..Point is to lower the slider *just enough* that the RED speed indicator very rarely comes on. and the Packet loss Almost never comes on.

IF you have too much data coming at you from SL, and start to Redline, the data must be resent...this just makes traffic congestion worse...more duplicate data needs to be sent. Some routers can get overwhelmed. (this is much like a classic 'denial of service' attack--where someone floods a router with too much data and crashes it)

Ya know, I hate to burst your bubble, and must honestly thank you for the thought out response, however I do know what I'm doing.

I did specify my internet connection speed, 100Mbit. I'm on a gigabit internal network. So regardless, I'm not receiving too much data from SL and it's not causing timeouts having to make the packets be re-sent.

I haven't been on a more stable and speedy internet connection in quite a long time actually. I've done my share of research on the SL network, it's shaky at best from what I can see.

Dropping packets between routers and servers, latency time in general is shameful. It honestly makes me think they're running this game off a T3. Regardless, something needs to be done to eleviate the networking issues that have been plauging us all for some time now.

Miles05 bare in mind Second Life is a streaming technology. On some sims you may encounter what looks like a loss of bandwidth because the stuff being downloaded to your computer could be sucking up all available bandwidth. Just a thought to consider...

From your ping output, it seems likely that you are using satellite, right? Your ping times are like mine, and I use hughes.net.

if you are not satellite, your latency is seriously below par.

Also, try pinging the actual SL servers, not secondlife.com. the host name is something like agni.linden.com (from memory, prolly not right).

Your ping shows no packet loss. Therefore, if your client does show packet loss, it is probably not a network issue.

.

Stop blaming LL for your package loss -- It''s your own damn fault !!


This week I got five packages from Federal Express and I only lost one of them.

If you can't remember where you put your packages, tie a string around your finger or something! That's what I do.



.

I wrote #1 below and then went back and reviewed your posting. Let me apologize if you really are connected out the back door of your building to the global internet via a 100Mbit link. That's an awesomely expensive IP connection, and you deserve better response time than you're getting.
If you have this sort of connection--and the Ping times are representative--and you are NOT on Satellite--then you should absolutely call your Internet Service Provider and complain....there is something wrong with your IP connection. (It could be caused by routers, firewalls or proxy servers in your LAN/WAN configuration, as well as the network itself.)

But for those of you with more typical network connectivity...my original posting, which I stand by, follows:
1. The speed of your internal LAN is NOT the same as the speed of your LAN's connection to the Internet.
You may very well be on a 100 Gigabit awesomely stable internal LAN with all the latest backup power, optimal routers and gizmo-bangs within your building, and a 100Megabit Ethernet card in your very hot Dell Pentasium XX, but if your LAN is connected out the back door to the global internet with a 9.6kilobit dial up phone line, you will NEVER get SL to work.

2. The suggestion about hard wiring to the LAN was to eliminate the 'wireless' component as the most likely source of your connection dropping problem. Further help would have come if that HADN'T worked. The presumption I made WAS that you HAD the speed and that wireless interference was the most likely culprit. This is still my FIRST troubleshooting suggestion. Eliminate the obvious.

3. UDP streaming into your computer faster than your computer can handle the traffic--particularly on the video card--will just clog the ventilation holes and slow everything down. That is why I suggested you deliberately throttle back the Network Speed in preferences. You may very well have an internal LAN the size of a Fire Hose, but that does not mean your computer can swallow that fast. It might just drown trying. (and yes, that was a joke about the ventilation holes)

4. Next time include Trace Route output. The kinda response time you're getting is NOT good--but its in your network--NOT from the Lindens. For reference, here, from my crappy old computer with its 10 meg Ethernet connection to my 1.25Megabit DSL connection, are some PING times from the US East Coast to the Lindens in California.


64 bytes from 66.150.244.130: icmp_seq=1 ttl=47 time=115.502 ms
64 bytes from 66.150.244.130: icmp_seq=2 ttl=47 time=117.028 ms

For an undersea cable to Europe or Asia, add a generous 100ms.

Well, all I know is this:

Before the last update, normal packet loss, which is to say, occasional and even thennot too terrible.

Immediately after the last update (not the optional one, but the one before that)- horrible and persistant packet loss, spiking that red line all the way up to the top several times a minute.

I'm not on wireless anything.

Now you tell me, what is the big coincidence that happened to occur to my computer set up between the time that SL went down for the update and the time I logged on after the update?

coco

Great big ditto to that, exactly how i've experienced things. Before then everything ran sweet but since then it has been hell. Not on wireless either.

I agree guys, I, sadly to say, am so damn fed up with Second Life. I've been here since '05 and never ever ever has it been as bad as it is now. I was even in China for a year and while the lag was worse, it never disconnected me. Now I am on a wireless network, but I'm only 40ft away from my router and it's a clear shot, no walls, only windows. I play BF2142 / WOW and other games with very very little connection problems, so I have a hard time believing that it's MY wireless.

INSTEAD I'd offer the more likely cause that it's this damned LAST PATCH. Ever since this last patch my SecondLife has been worse than my FirstLife, I get randomly dropped to 0KBPS, seems sims go down constantly. It's just too damn frusterating.

I SAY WE STOP THE FREE ACCOUNTS. They're not helping one bit and rarely do they buy anything, only rely on free hand outs. If you don't have a credit card then you aren't even really human (since everyone has atleast 5) and don't belong on SL, esp. since people use free accounts to grief and crash sims, then make new IDs to get around bans. WTF LL????

hehe you can't stop the free accounts. A lot of time it is friends of paying customers and those paying customers spend money to help friends out until they do get a premium account.

~.~ Dont compare SL with online games please, they use tcp/ip, SL uses a more flaky udp...way crap...

(Firstlook viewer uses tcp to send textures,normal doesnt)

tcp/ip
sniper, dead on every time except if your firewall decide to block ;p

udp
more like a crappy shotgun some might actually hit you and GASP it might actually do something.

secondlife.com is the website. from the knowledge base on pinging you go to agni.lindenlabs.com

I wouldn't be so fast to blame the wireless.

I've been on wireless network here in my home for 2 years now and Second Life is running fine for me. I even play Half Life 2 CTF and Counter Strike Source over it with good ping times. Encrypted Wireless CAN be stable