CEONSS

Update: The former ISP is about to move their main router Thursday night. So it's likely that I'll switch the server back on Friday. Assuming, the connection checks will show better results there, of course.

Hi all,
the old ISP moved their main router yesterday night. Let's try whether lag is better there or worse. So I moved the server back to 195.140.210.78:7777.
Feedback is appreciated ;-)

Everything was running smooth tonight, no lag.

Ahhh great, that's encouraging good news for a change!

So you're a lucky one then by having no lag. Because unfortunately, some others (including my own bum) do have lags on the server. This is why I tried so many things during the last several weeks. Three ISPs, any kind of server setup (BIOS, NIC-hardware, drivers, driver settings ,network stack, firewall, application setup etc.). I've changed the server config bit by bit almost every single day since about 2 months.

Well, your statement combined with the fact that always the same players keep complaining points me to the assumption that "lag" is kinda related to client-side ISPs and their routings. But that's only one of the possibilities. There are way too many variables and parameters potentially causing a laggy gameplay. In fact, "lag" is just an umbrella term for several different phenomenons such as latency, packetloss, jitter, asynchronous routes and unordered packets.

Personaly have no lag!

gratz to you ;-)

But that's just confirming the assumption that the lag is a client-side ISP issue, meaning it's nearly impossible for me to improve it server-side or to chose the best ISP for all players. I simply am not able to check every client ISP or routes to the server to optimise the gameplay for everyone. And I certainly can not expect of any player to change the ISP, only to have a nice gameplay.

Yo folks, here's an update:

Obviously, there's still weird lag on the server. This is certainly not a bearable situation. After testing three different providers and excessively changing every potentially relevant server setting during the last weeks, the culprit still is not 100% clear. There are points hinting to the server's OS and other ones to the ISP. Since the gameplay was alright the last months, sometimes even very nice, but now being rather unacceptable without having changed anything serverside, I'm tending to blame the provider and his data centre move in the first place. That's why I'll try another provider soon and already am preparing the next machine to be sent off.

So don't be surprised when the IP changes again (likely in about 2 weeks).

Obviously, there's still weird lag on the server.

That "lag", at least in my case, is packet loss. Heavy packet loss. Now, it always dropped a few packets here and there since the last server move happened, and the F1 score board also shows up P/L values in the range of 0 to 10 for most of the other players, but generally, it has been bearable. Last time I played however, when the evening hours came, I was aimlessly jumping around on SpankJox and received no updates other than player locations, i.e. I couldn't see any projectiles, I couldn't see what weapons I have, switch weapons, or even fire... and the P/L counter went way over 200.

Now, the rather strange thing here, and the reason why I even bother telling this, is: stat net claims that it's outgoing packet loss, which might point to problems with the server's inbound connection. I'm also not experiencing this on other servers; to be honest however, I'd rather like to play on CEONSS since it's simply the best ONS server out there.

Kudos and good luck with those server headaches,
PonySlaystation

Thanks for feedback. I know the lag situation is not as it should to be.

Whatever it is ... I won't stop trying to improve it. By changing ISPs or whatever. ut2k4 Onslaught is simply such a nice game, couldn't be true not having it playable.

always lagged for me but the performance was improved when you have moved to the preciding ISP