Spiral Knights - Enormous connection problems.

Enormous connection problems.

12 replies [Last post]

Wed, 10/05/2011 - 18:53

Orii

So - long story short, I started playing Spiral Knights months ago - I love the game; but every now and then I get terrible lag. Not just a little rubberbanding - I mean "everyone runs off the screen, chat takes minutes to post, can't see my HP update in realtime" lag. This has been an ongoing thing, but for a long time it was rare - when it'd happen I'd just not play for that night and not worry about it.

Lately (roughly the last two weeks) this happens pretty much every time I'm on. It ONLY happens in the Clockworks, Haven, for whatever reason, is a lag-free zone.

So here's the thing:

I don't know where the problem is - is this Spiral Knights' server just not being able to handle the load?* Is it my connection? (Cable, through Comcast), Something else I haven't thought of?

Freely admit I am not particularly network savvy, which is why I'm here; since well... I'd really like to play the game again and of late haven't been able to. Any help would be immensely appreciated.

*I'm guessing not, none of my friends have this issue. Still maybe there's something weird going on there.

Thu, 10/06/2011 - 01:12

Starlinvf

I would start by doing a

I would start by doing a speed test. Its best to run from 2 different sites, one recommended by your ISP to help check the line, and another one to check the ISP network for congestion during different times of day. Generally as long as your within 10% of your Bandwidth it should be working right, otherwise we'll have to investigate whats wrong.

These are the best resources for finding external speed test servers.

http://www.internet2.edu/performance/ndt/ndt-server-list.html
http://www.dslreports.com/speedtest?more=1

Thu, 10/06/2011 - 06:08

Orii

I feel terrible saying this

I feel terrible saying this but - I actually don't understand how to do this ><; I'm trying - but most of the links on those pages appear to be dead/redirects to ad sites; the few I've gotten to try the results have generally suggested* about 3mb/s though one said as high as 10mb/s. That's pretty quick and I have no problem with any of my other games** - but as I said, I'm not too network savvy and I don't 100% understand what you're asking ><;

Does that help or is there something else I need to be doing/telling you? (Really appreciate the help btw, this is driving me nuts and it's really the only thing stopping me from spending money on SK, I can't justify shelling out on a game I can't play heh >.<)

*I've tried primarily testing California servers, since that's where most game servers tend to be - I'm in IL if that matters.

**I feel like I should have said this up front: I've run CO, STO, World of Tanks, SWG, DCUO and others, all without a hitch. SK is the only game where I get this kind of lag.

Thu, 10/06/2011 - 13:15

Starlinvf

The servers are based out of

The servers are based out of the Amazon EC2 cloud somewhere around the Virgina/DC area. Since your out of IL, this server would be a good place to check since its in Chicago.

Granted there are issues just being hosted in the cloud itself, but with your proximity it shouldn't be anywhere near as bad as your describing. Network congestion (overloaded) could explain the problem, especially during peak hours and weekends, but you have to kind of catch it in the act to figure out where the slowdown is happening. If you share a connection with others, you also have to pay some attention to their usage. Download bandwidth is pretty ample, but upload bandwidth can be chewed up by filesharing programs. And once you run out of upload bandwidth, everything suffers because of it.

Now the servers do see a drop in performance during Power Surge weekends, or any other event that might cause a large spike in players. It also has issues during events in the EC2 (which pretty much hurts everyone), but there hasn't be a major incident in awhile. As for Haven vs Clockworks, activity in haven is very more passive, so it tends to be very stable even with a large number of knights occupying it. Clockwork instances on the other hand have a lot of activity due to monster AI, and breaks in data flow has obvious effects on reaction time and things either stopping or drifting around the map.

Thu, 10/06/2011 - 14:01

Orii

I ran a test on one of the

I ran a test on one of the Virginia servers they listed (I didn't see one specific to Amazon or anything >< sorry), 60ms ping, 4.04mbs upload, 9.03 mbs download.

As to when this happens... it seems to be whenever I log in - even really late (like 3 am Central); though I do notice it's usually worse if I'm trying to play in prime-time. So maybe it is load related... but if it is, why aren't any of my friends having this problem? < . .> One of them is out in California and to my knowledge he's never had the problem at all. It seems to just be me. (Part of why I'm so baffled.)

Oh, another detail that may or may not be useful - while the lag can hit at any time, it's especially common when enemies spawn. To be clear this is definitely network lag - not a framerate problem - it's just that if we say... Step on a party button in an arena, everyone else will suddenly go running off - through walls or over cliffs, my chat won't post, and I can't see the mobs that just spawned.

Again, really appreciate the help >< as I said I'm network-ignorant and just giving me a direction to look is more than I had before. ><

Thu, 10/06/2011 - 17:20

Starlinvf

Wow.... that is actually

Wow.... that is actually really weird. Doesn't even make sense..... How many bars to you get on the connection meter?

Fri, 10/07/2011 - 04:50

Orii

Yeah, it's a really weird

Yeah, it's a really weird situation. I mean it'd be one thing if my friends were also having the problem, it'd be easy to say it was the server... but this is just bizarre.

I played for an hour this morning before maintnence with no problems - maximum bars. I'm tempted to blame Comcast, but I'm not sure how they'd be screwing it up since my other games all run fine ><

Fri, 10/07/2011 - 05:17

Starlinvf

The only thing I can think of

The only thing I can think of is Comcast filtering traffic based on traffic properties. They've done dumber things in the past to fight P2P, and SK does use UDP with an unlabeled payload.

You could try using a proxy server to test, but I don't know of any free ones off hand.

Fri, 10/07/2011 - 05:58

Orii

Hrm... if that happens to be

Hrm... if that happens to be the case, is there anything I can do about it? Or am I basically SOL? >.<

Fri, 10/07/2011 - 07:42

Starlinvf

If you can get a good proxy,

If you can get a good proxy, the extra latency might be manageable. But for the most part, Comcast is a crappy ISP in general unless you only browse the web and check email. Switching ISPs is rarely an option, and even if it is, the other ISP is usually just as bad.

But before you start doing anything major, I would see about borrowing someones laptop and check if the game still acts weird on a different system behind the same connection. Then you'll pretty much know its Comcast or the router.

Fri, 10/07/2011 - 13:03

#10

Orii

Sadly that's not really an

Sadly that's not really an option ><; However... what if I just plug the connection directly into the comp instead of going through the router? Would that give me the same general feedback as trying through a different machine?

Sat, 10/08/2011 - 02:10

#11

Starlinvf

That could tell if the router

That could tell if the router is the cause, but doesn't eliminate the computer from the list. May as well try it.

Sat, 10/08/2011 - 05:59

#12

Orii

I'll give it a try tonight

I'll give it a try tonight then < . .>b I don't think it's the comp since I have no connection issues with anything else; it's literally just SK. Hope it's just the router, that's an easy fix.

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