5-6k ping in various online games

[King_Yoshi]

I currently am in a new apartment, and have bought a 2mgps internet connection with Comcast. I have already contacted them and they say that my internet connection is fine. I even had a tech come down, and comment on how my internet connection was "Above Average"

The good, I download 200 mg videos in 15-25 seconds.
The bad, I get 5000-6000 ping in varios online games!

I am not sure why this is?

I was told to check my ports, but the ones required to play the games are open, and even being port forwarded to my computer through my belkin router.

I used online websites such as pingtest.net and speedtest.net to check my internet connections.
I found that my download speeds are off the charts, but that I have lots of jitter. (For those of you who do not know what jitter is, it is the variation in the speed that packets travel to and from your computer to a specific server)

Does anyone have any possible solutions to my problem, or any suggestions?

Thank you for taking the time for reading through this post.

p.s. : all gaming is done on a computer seperate from my work computer.

[GR@PH;<'S]

King_Yoshi,

I get 5000-6000 ping in varios online games

Seems like the sort of things that some P2Ps would do sniffing for an open port.
It very rear that I play online games but if you play againest others would you need to log in if so make sure you log out or that site may ping you a few times ( but then not  5000/6000 times)

GR@PH;<'S   

[Aaron Hulett - MSFT]

You're download a 200 MB file in 15 to 25 seconds?  On a 2 Mbit/sec connection?  Huh?

Regarding pingtimes, having a fast connection doesn't necessarily guarantee a fast pingtime.  If you're bouncing all over to try and reach a server, then that'll impact things (the more hops, the more potential delay as you introduce overhead for hardware switching), and if you have to hop over a slower connection in your travels (are you crossing the sea to reach the game server?) then that'll slow it down.  Physical location won't matter either - the server you're talking to might be across the street, but the network might send you miles and miles away before looping back to that box.

Are these servers far away or over a bad connection?  Try a different server, preferably closer to you.  Otherwise, it's kind of up to the "internet weather" on how things will go.

//A

[King_Yoshi]

The 200 meg video in 30 seconds is 100% accurate. Its odd, I have off the wall download speeds.. I am currently connected through a  cable modem, however I believe that the physical line actually may directly or indirectly connected to the schools network. However the connection is not monitored by the school, nor does the school have any control over it..

Also, thats exactly my problem, I can't figure out how I am able to download things at such ridiculous speeds, yet at the same time not use a simple online application.

 And I am merely trying to play a game such as World of Warcraft, or Modern Warfare 2. I even have some lag problems with simple games such as the original Starcraft.

[King_Yoshi]

I flushed my DNS and ran a traceroute to this server: 206.16.23.117.  (Its a WoW server) I had to just pick one to test...

These are the results:

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\Yoshi>tracert 206.16.23.117

Tracing route to 206.16.23.117 over a maximum of 30 hops

  1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  192.168.1.1
  2     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  3     9 ms     9 ms     9 ms  68.85.153.201
  4     9 ms     9 ms     9 ms  po-10-ur02.absecon.nj.panjde.comcast.net [68.86.210.122]
  5     8 ms     9 ms     9 ms  po-20-ar01.absecon.nj.panjde.comcast.net [68.86.210.126]
  6    12 ms    11 ms     9 ms  te-0-2-0-4-ar01.audubon.nj.panjde.comcast.net [68.85.159.30]
  7    12 ms    12 ms    13 ms  pos-0-12-0-0-ar01.plainfield.nj.panjde.comcast.net [68.85.192.86]
  8    14 ms    14 ms    13 ms  pos-0-7-0-0-cr01.newyork.ny.ibone.comcast.net [68.86.90.29]
  9    14 ms    14 ms    13 ms  pos-0-3-0-0-pe01.111eighthave.ny.ibone.comcast.net [68.86.86.190]
 10    15 ms    14 ms    13 ms  75.149.230.170
 11    55 ms    54 ms    55 ms  cr2.n54ny.ip.att.net [12.122.81.70]
 12    56 ms    59 ms    55 ms  cr2.wswdc.ip.att.net [12.122.3.38]
 13    54 ms    55 ms    54 ms  cr1.attga.ip.att.net [12.122.1.173]
 14    60 ms    54 ms    54 ms  cr2.dlstx.ip.att.net [12.122.28.174]
 15    53 ms    54 ms    52 ms  gar23.dlstx.ip.att.net [12.122.138.153]
 16    55 ms    54 ms    55 ms  12-122-254-154.attens.net [12.122.254.154]
 17    55 ms    55 ms    54 ms  mdf002c7613r0002-tge-10-1.dal1.attens.net [63.241.193.38]
 18     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 19     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 20     *        *        *     Request timed out.

The only time that there seems to be a large spike is between hop 10 and 11, and then when the request times out between 17 and 18. Could this possibly be caused by my ISP?

[winchester73]

I got the same spike, only difference being the destination address was unreachable ...



Target IP: 206.16.23.117
Date/Time: 2/9/2010 1:20:17 PM to 2/9/2010 1:21:52 PM

Hop Sent Err   PL% Min Max Avg  Host Name / [IP]
 1      20   0   0.0   1  49   4 
 2      20   0   0.0  10  36  16 
 3      20   0   0.0  10 100  22 
 4      20   0   0.0   9  79  19 
 5      20   0   0.0  16  60  23  ae-3-0.cr0.dca10.tbone.rr.com [66.109.6.80]
 6      20   0   0.0  16 104  32  ae-1-0.pr0.dca20.tbone.rr.com [66.109.6.183]
 7      20   0   0.0  16  86  28  xe-4-1-0.edge2.Washington1.Level3.net [4.79.22.53]
 8      20   2  10.0  18  56  31  ae-3-89.edge1.Washington4.Level3.net [4.68.17.146]
 9      20   0   0.0  19  53  25  [4.68.62.26]
10     20   0   0.0  49  94  57  cr2.wswdc.ip.att.net [12.122.84.82]
11     20   0   0.0  52 112  60  cr1.attga.ip.att.net [12.122.1.173]
12     20   0   0.0  50 115  61  cr2.dlstx.ip.att.net [12.122.28.174]
13     20   0   0.0  49 285  71  gar23.dlstx.ip.att.net [12.122.138.157]
14     20   0   0.0  50 255  65  12-122-254-154.attens.net [12.122.254.154]
15     20   0   0.0  52 224  78  mdf002c7613r0001-tge-12-1.dal1.attens.net [63.241.193.150]
16     20  20 100.0   0   0   0   [-]

Destination not reached in 35 hops

[King_Yoshi]

After doing some reading, the reason the final jump isn't coming up is because the server I tried pining is not configured to answer back to pings. (I posted on WoW's forums and received this reply as well)

It is looking like it might be an ISP problem..

This is not going to be fun.. half the people I speak to when calling comcast are complete morons... (No offense to them)

[Aaron Hulett - MSFT]

If I had to guess...

Code:

  9    14 ms    14 ms    13 ms  pos-0-3-0-0-pe01.111eighthave.ny.ibone.comcast.net [68.86.86.190]
 10    15 ms    14 ms    13 ms  75.149.230.170
 11    55 ms    54 ms    55 ms  cr2.n54ny.ip.att.net [12.122.81.70]
 12    56 ms    59 ms    55 ms  cr2.wswdc.ip.att.net [12.122.3.38]

You're being peered off from Comcast's network to AT&T's between hops 10 and 11, and I'd guess that's causing the ping time increase.  But, your ping times actually seem reasonable.  Here are some traceroute results from Sprint.net's Looking Glass.

From Anaheim, CA:

Code:

Tracing the route to 206.16.23.117
  1 sl-crs2-ana-0-14-2-0.sprintlink.net (144.232.11.11) 0 msec 0 msec 0 msec
  2 sl-crs2-ria-0-3-0-0.sprintlink.net (144.232.18.57) 4 msec
    sl-crs2-ria-0-3-2-0.sprintlink.net (144.232.20.159) 0 msec
    sl-crs2-ria-0-3-0-0.sprintlink.net (144.232.18.57) 4 msec
  3 sl-st31-la-0-8-0-0.sprintlink.net (144.232.24.67) 4 msec 4 msec 4 msec
  4 192.205.37.57 [AS 7018] 4 msec 4 msec 4 msec
  5 cr2.la2ca.ip.att.net (12.123.30.190) [AS 7018] [MPLS: Label 16736 Exp 0] 36 msec 44 msec 36 msec
  6 cr2.dlstx.ip.att.net (12.122.28.177) [AS 7018] [MPLS: Labels 0/17300 Exp 0] 36 msec 36 msec 36 msec
  7 gar23.dlstx.ip.att.net (12.122.138.153) [AS 7018] 32 msec 36 msec 32 msec
  8 12-122-254-154.attens.net (12.122.254.154) [AS 7018] 36 msec 36 msec 32 msec
  9 mdf002c7613r0002-tge-10-1.dal1.attens.net (63.241.193.38) [AS 17227] 36 msec 32 msec
    mdf002c7613r0001-tge-12-1.dal1.attens.net (63.241.193.150) [AS 17227] 36 msec
 10  *  *  *
 11  *  *  *
 12  *  *

From Seattle, WA:

Code:

Tracing the route to 206.16.23.117
  1 sl-bb20-sea-6-0-0.sprintlink.net (144.232.6.9) 128 msec 8 msec 200 msec
  2 192.205.35.165 200 msec 108 msec 200 msec
  3 cr2.st6wa.ip.att.net (12.122.146.174) [AS 7018] [MPLS: Label 16367 Exp 0] 108 msec 236 msec 200 msec
  4 cr2.dvmco.ip.att.net (12.122.1.77) [AS 7018] [MPLS: Labels 20724/17300 Exp 0] 148 msec 200 msec 204 msec
  5 cr2.dlstx.ip.att.net (12.122.31.89) [AS 7018] [MPLS: Labels 0/17300 Exp 0] 68 msec 200 msec 200 msec
  6 gar23.dlstx.ip.att.net (12.122.138.161) [AS 7018] 104 msec 60 msec 64 msec
  7 12-122-254-154.attens.net (12.122.254.154) [AS 7018] 64 msec 60 msec 64 msec
  8 mdf002c7613r0002-tge-10-1.dal1.attens.net (63.241.193.38) [AS 17227] 64 msec
    mdf002c7613r0001-tge-12-1.dal1.attens.net (63.241.193.150) [AS 17227] 64 msec
    mdf002c7613r0002-tge-10-1.dal1.attens.net (63.241.193.38) [AS 17227] 64 msec
  9  *  *  *
 10  *  *  *
 11  *

From Orlando, FL:

Code:

Tracing the route to 206.16.23.117
  1 sl-crs2-orl-0-1-0-0.sprintlink.net (144.232.5.67) 4 msec
    sl-crs1-orl-0-1-0-0.sprintlink.net (144.232.5.65) 0 msec
    sl-crs2-orl-0-1-0-0.sprintlink.net (144.232.5.67) 0 msec
  2 sl-crs1-ffx-0-4-2-0.sprintlink.net (144.232.19.250) 12 msec
    sl-crs2-ffx-0-12-0-0.sprintlink.net (144.232.24.59) 12 msec
    sl-crs1-ffx-0-4-2-0.sprintlink.net (144.232.19.250) 8 msec
  3 sl-crs2-atl-0-4-0-1.sprintlink.net (144.232.20.86) 12 msec
    sl-crs1-atl-0-4-0-1.sprintlink.net (144.232.18.118) 16 msec
    sl-crs2-atl-0-12-0-1.sprintlink.net (144.232.8.172) 12 msec
  4 sl-st20-atl-1-0-0.sprintlink.net (144.232.18.133) 40 msec
    sl-st20-atl-0-0-0.sprintlink.net (144.232.20.115) 12 msec
    sl-st20-atl-1-0-0.sprintlink.net (144.232.18.133) 12 msec
  5 192.205.36.73 [AS 7018] 12 msec 12 msec 12 msec
  6 cr1.attga.ip.att.net (12.122.141.150) [AS 7018] [MPLS: Label 16736 Exp 0] 36 msec 32 msec 32 msec
  7 cr2.dlstx.ip.att.net (12.122.28.174) [AS 7018] [MPLS: Labels 0/17300 Exp 0] 32 msec 32 msec 32 msec
  8 gar23.dlstx.ip.att.net (12.122.138.157) [AS 7018] 32 msec 32 msec 32 msec
  9 12-122-254-154.attens.net (12.122.254.154) [AS 7018] 36 msec 32 msec 32 msec
 10 mdf002c7613r0001-tge-12-1.dal1.attens.net (63.241.193.150) [AS 17227] 36 msec
    mdf002c7613r0002-tge-10-1.dal1.attens.net (63.241.193.38) [AS 17227] 32 msec
    mdf002c7613r0001-tge-12-1.dal1.attens.net (63.241.193.150) [AS 17227] 32 msec
 11  *  *  *

From Springfield, MA:

Code:

Tracing the route to 206.16.23.117
  1 sl-crs1-spr-0-9-2-0.sprintlink.net (144.232.4.209) 4 msec 0 msec 0 msec
  2 sl-crs1-nyc-0-8-0-1.sprintlink.net (144.232.18.206) 4 msec 4 msec 4 msec
  3 144.232.4.89 4 msec
    144.232.4.87 4 msec
    144.232.4.89 4 msec
  4 144.232.4.83 4 msec 4 msec 4 msec
  5 144.232.9.78 4 msec 4 msec 4 msec
  6 cr2.n54ny.ip.att.net (12.122.80.238) [AS 7018] [MPLS: Label 16651 Exp 0] 48 msec 44 msec 44 msec
  7 cr2.wswdc.ip.att.net (12.122.3.38) [AS 7018] [MPLS: Labels 21215/17300 Exp 0] 44 msec 44 msec 48 msec
  8 cr1.attga.ip.att.net (12.122.1.173) [AS 7018] [MPLS: Labels 21215/17300 Exp 0] 44 msec 44 msec 48 msec
  9 cr2.dlstx.ip.att.net (12.122.28.174) [AS 7018] [MPLS: Labels 0/17300 Exp 0] 44 msec 44 msec 48 msec
 10 gar23.dlstx.ip.att.net (12.122.138.161) [AS 7018] 44 msec 44 msec 48 msec
 11 12-122-254-154.attens.net (12.122.254.154) [AS 7018] 44 msec 44 msec 44 msec
 12 mdf002c7613r0002-tge-10-1.dal1.attens.net (63.241.193.38) [AS 17227] 100 msec 44 msec
    mdf002c7613r0001-tge-12-1.dal1.attens.net (63.241.193.150) [AS 17227] 48 msec
 13  *  *  *

//A

[King_Yoshi]

Odd.. if they seem reasonable, I can't understand what would be causing the large amount of lagg..

[Temmu]

Odd.. if they seem reasonable, I can't understand what would be causing the large amount of lagg..

"cable modem"

your cable network shared amongst your neighbors.
they too may be greedily attempting to download (the whole) internet.

as far as ping times from place to place,
- it is never constant - varies with time of day, around 5pm it really picks up (long ping times) as everyone is home from work now downloading the internet
- varies with the load of each isp's routers
or worse, their horrible implementation of their idea of igrp

should you have a tool and know the number of a nearby igrp router, you may watch routes "flap" wildly thus dramatically lengthening or shortening your ping times, and being a gamer, ruining your day, so to speak.

further reading (bing, google...)
dsl vs cable, as far as how bandwith is or isn't shared amongst you and your neighbors
eigrp & igrp (see cisco...)
route flap

[King_Yoshi]

Do you have any suggestions for free tools that could be used for monitoring the igrp? Or something that could map the network I am connected to?

[Temmu]

bgp = border gateway protocol,
 was late, posted igrp.

http://bgplay.routeviews.org/bgplay/

you can watch routes change between routers.  frequent change is called flap.
if you have a lot of flap, complain to your isp.
you need to know your isp's bgp router number.  call them and ask for it.  also their ip address.

here is an example of some routers, their ip and number:

Code:

  ALPHARED                       EQIX                 206.223.115.109    19166
  HotNic                         EQIX                 2001:504:0:2:0:3:3437:1 33437
  HurricaneElectric              EQIX                 2001:504:0:2::6939:1 6939
  Netifice                       EQIX                 206.223.115.52     4565
  NEXICOM                        EQIX                 206.223.115.24     11666
  NTELOS                         EQIX                 206.223.115.156    7795
  NTT-A                          EQIX                 2001:504:0:2::2914:1 2914
  NTT-A                          EQIX                 206.223.115.12     2914
  RCN                            EQIX                 206.223.115.25     6079
  RealConnect                    EQIX                 206.223.115.26     16559
  SBC                            EQIX                 206.223.115.79     7132
  TDC Switzerland AG             EQIX                 206.223.115.7      6730
  Tiscali                        EQIX                 2001:504:0:2::3257:1 3257
  Tiscali                        EQIX                 206.223.115.19     3257
  WVFIBER                        EQIX                 2001:504:0:2:0:1:9151:1 19151
  WVFIBER                        EQIX                 206.223.115.47     19151

[King_Yoshi]

I tried bgplay, but it doesn't work properly. I tried using it with firefox and the most updated internet explorer. I also updated java, using the link it gave..

[King_Yoshi]

I managed to do a traceroute using this page from http://webtrace.info//traceroute/ from the website, http://www.traceroute.org/#USA.

It's a really nice site since it seems to supply both the ip and bgp for comcast.

Below are my results:



I still can't figure out why in the world I would be routed to LA and Dallas before I would be routed to one of the NJ nodes..

[King_Yoshi]

Well I ended up talking with a tech that had worked this area for over 15 years. He explained that the entire school network, and the internet connections from the apartments (Including the one I am in) connect to the same node. During school hours, there are too many people trying to get through the same node, which causes lag. Thus explaining my problem.

So in other words, I am screwed..