High Pings with 3G

Venom

Venom

New member
Last night I tried COD4 on a local server with my 3G modem , I was getting pings between 200 and 260 ,
You can only imagine I was being slaughtered .
Now I dont always use my 3G but if I did is there anyway to get decent ratio?

Oh and I have a wireless network at home , that should factor in I think.
 
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200-300ms is actually pretty good for 3G.

There isn't any way to really improve it though, wireless = packet loss = spiking = high latency. The wireless network isn't helping either, but the main culprit here is the 3G connection, wireless is pretty bad for gaming.
 
I did alot of reading on this subject. overall wireless and 3G connections is not good at all for online FPS. it works better with RPG's but it still sucks when you do PVP (almost the same thing as deathmatch). Rather get a fixed line. Also a couple of people told me I burst works ok...but its your choice.
 
Thats what I taught....nuts I have a chunk of bandwith that I could use for gaming with my 3G

I do have fixed line thou.
 
The only game that works ok on my 3G is windslayer and its a 2d side scrolling RPG. Im renting so there is no use of me wasting 1k for a fix line if I move in a year.
 
Are the iGame servers not optimized for wireless connections? You might have a better chance there, assuming that you weren't using those servers already.
 
I used to play COD: WAW using my 3G and I used to get 140 pings. It must make a difference where you live.
 
Sockmonkey said:
Are the iGame servers not optimized for wireless connections? You might have a better chance there, assuming that you weren't using those servers already.
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You can't optimize servers to deal with packet loss.

To simplify, you shoot your gun, that information needs to get sent to the server in the form of packet. In a wireless situation, interference/obstruction/bad weather/distance from tower/someone spitting in your general direction etc. may cause the information inside the packet to become corrupted or simply never arrive at all. This information then has to be resent, your latency just doubled, it may fail again or even multiple times, each time requiring a resend and doubling your latency.

While wireless tends to even out at a certain latency, the random (but frequent) packet loss associated with it often results in spiky connections. ie. You play for a few seconds, then BAM "No response from host" for 5 seconds (packets going missing/becoming corrupt), you play for 10 more seconds, then the same thing again etc. etc.

If you want to quickly measure your packet loss. Go to www.pingtest.net. Try it on a fixed line, then your 3G connection. Your fixed line should be 0 packet loss, your 3G would be wildly spiking and dropping packets.
 
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Blackhand said:
In a wireless situation, interference/obstruction/bad weather/distance from tower/someone spitting in your general direction etc. may cause the information inside the packet to become corrupted or simply never arrive at all. T
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Bastards!! Now I know why I've been having so many issues lately. The Vodacom rep told me this morning that something was interfering with my signal.

On that note, and seeing iBurst mentioned (I know wireless will always be a bit dodgy) - since a fixed line isn't really an option for me - would I have better luck with an iBurst modem over a Vodacom 3G modem? Keep in mind that I rarely play FPSs online, mostly RPGs.
 
RPG's are no problem with 3g. I have HSUPA in my area and get very 150ms pings on international servers which for RPG is more that good enough
 
Gradius said:
RPG's are no problem with 3g. I have HSUPA in my area and get very 150ms pings on international servers which for RPG is more that good enough
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MMORPGS tend to be very lag tolerant, mostly because some minor spiking or a high latency doesn't ruin the gameplay. I played WoW for years with 500ms+- without a problem, so do most SA WoW players.

Still, for wireless, this requires you to have a very good connection to the tower (at least good for wireless) to avoid any major spiking, which will affect your gameplay.
 
I didn't have too many issues with Guildwars - I was usually in the 400 - 600ms range - which was fine for PvE - but murder in PVP.

Aion hangs around the 600 mark most times - according to the interface, which I don't believe for a second because I can count a second between clicking a skill and it starting to activate.

This is on HSDPA as well - and I connect at full speed most times.
 
Blackhand said:
While wireless tends to even out at a certain latency, the random (but frequent) packet loss associated with it often results in spiky connections. ie. You play for a few seconds, then BAM "No response from host" for 5 seconds (packets going missing/becoming corrupt), you play for 10 more seconds, then the same thing again etc. etc.
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Well that didnt happen last night but I swear I shot Solitude point blank a few times and some how I ended up dead,And MH looked like he was teleporting lol.
Seems a shame thou I have extra bandwidth to play games but not enough to get TV series.
 
Blackhand said:
MMORPGS tend to be very lag tolerant, mostly because some minor spiking or a high latency doesn't ruin the gameplay. I played WoW for years with 500ms+- without a problem, so do most SA WoW players.

Still, for wireless, this requires you to have a very good connection to the tower (at least good for wireless) to avoid any major spiking, which will affect your gameplay.
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Unless you're playing an interrupter in Guild Wars ;)
 
Venom said:
Well that didnt happen last night but I swear I shot Solitude point blank a few times and some how I ended up dead,And MH looked like he was teleporting lol.
Seems a shame thou I have extra bandwidth to play games but not enough to get TV series.
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While you weren't getting a "No response from host" message, that is in reality exactly what was happening, this is made pretty clear by the "teleporting". Server sends a packet to you telling MH has moved, it gets lost, server retries sending a few times, finally it arrives on your side intact. By then, he has actually moved quite a bit, so your client catches up by "teleporting" him to the new location.

At 200ms, on a fixed line, you would actually be able to play (although at a disadvantage) because of lag compensation, but with the packet loss from wireless, a FPS is just hopeless.

This is not a "OMG internets in South Africa is so rubbish!" thing though. This is a wireless thing. Wireless in SA is about as good as international offerings (not in terms of pricing), but with international fixed lines being so cheap and fast to set up (and just fast in general), you can get one set up every time you go to a coffee shop and whip out your laptop :D Wireless isn't very popular overseas because of all the problems with it.


And yes, 500ms+- is going to put you at a hefty disadvantage in PvP in an MMORPG. He who's packets arrive first wins, lag compensation or not.
 
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