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[Luke]

So I started playing an old game ( Diablo II ) around 1 year ago. In the last 6 months I've been unable to play due to the ping being so high. I was with AOL Unlimited Broadband and everything was fine until AOL phoned one day telling us about their new offer. ( Wireless, 2x faster LIMITED and saving a few pounds ) So we switched and the latency is so high now I can only play this game in the morning-afternoon (I tested this at 7 AM GMT - 4 PM GMT) then I cannot play because of the latency.

I've been in alot of "live chats" with AOL and they have told me make sure I'm connected to the correct server in which she sent me an email with steps how to do this and my problem should be resolved in 48 hours. Of course nothing changed and she hasn't replied to my email after 1 week now.

I'm not very good with computers so I may have missed out some info you need, I'll check back here tomorrow evening if there is anything which will help you help me, let me know!

Thank you in advance.

Luke

[dave.m]

Hi Luke,
Welcome.
Midnight is not the best time to catch folks, as you will understand.
Check back in the evening when someone as had time to look at your problem. They may want more info and will tell you what they need to know to be able to help you.

dave 

[roseway]

I'm not a gamer, so I've never been bothered about latency. But perhaps you need to home in on where the problem is actually occurring. What do you get if you open a command line window and type:

ping bbc.co.uk
ping <the diabolo server address>
tracert bbc.co.uk
tracert <the diabolo server address>

[kitz]

You may also like to have a read through this thread.
It depends on how AOL provision your service, but if AOL are provisioning your service through something called IPStream (non LLU at your exchange) then I believe they have some serious issues and both speeds and latency are pretty bad for some users right now :/

Like eric says a couple of tracerts could help identify where the problem is occuring.
 

[Luke]

Hi Luke,
Welcome.
Midnight is not the best time to catch folks, as you will understand.
Check back in the evening when someone as had time to look at your problem. They may want more info and will tell you what they need to know to be able to help you.

dave 

Thanks Dave.

I'm not a gamer, so I've never been bothered about latency. But perhaps you need to home in on where the problem is actually occurring. What do you get if you open a command line window and type:

ping bbc.co.uk
ping <the diabolo server address>
tracert bbc.co.uk
tracert <the diabolo server address>

I'm not entirely sure on the diablo server address but I've done the bbc.co.uk.

Ping
http://i35.tinypic.com/fc2ov9.jpg

Tracert
http://i34.tinypic.com/mai3pg.jpg

You may also like to have a read through this thread.
It depends on how AOL provision your service, but if AOL are provisioning your service through something called IPStream (non LLU at your exchange) then I believe they have some serious issues and both speeds and latency are pretty bad for some users right now :/

Like eric says a couple of tracerts could help identify where the problem is occuring.
 

I looked through his thread but I got lost with words like MTU, RWIN etc.

IPStream / non LLU - What does this mean?

Thank you all for your help.

[roseway]

What we can tell from those results is that the latency problem isn't at your end or with your ISP. As far as I can see from Googling, the diablo 2 server is battle.regwizar.com (78.159.98.55).

[Luke]

What we can tell from those results is that the latency problem isn't at your end or with your ISP. As far as I can see from Googling, the diablo 2 server is battle.regwizar.com (78.159.98.55).

Where is the problem coming from then.   

Ping
http://i34.tinypic.com/2ibox2u.jpg

Tracert
http://i37.tinypic.com/20jpd75.jpg

[roseway]

I'm afraid I'm running out of ideas.

You can see an article about IPStream, LLU, etc. here but it's a bit technical. In simple terms, LLU refers to the situation where ISPs install their own equipment in BT exchanges and manage the connections using their own protocols (as opposed to the BT Wholesale protocols).

[Luke]

I'm afraid I'm running out of ideas.

You can see an article about IPStream, LLU, etc. here but it's a bit technical. In simple terms, LLU refers to the situation where ISPs install their own equipment in BT exchanges and manage the connections using their own protocols (as opposed to the BT Wholesale protocols).

Thank you for your help anyway. I just don't get it why it's fine in the morning - afternoon until it hits 4 PM GMT and it's fine around midnight again.   

[kitz]

When you did the tracerts was your gaming fine then?

Next time your latency starts playing up try doing another tracert to the diablo 2 server and seeing if anything shows up then.

[Luke]

When you did the tracerts was your gaming fine then?

Next time your latency starts playing up try doing another tracert to the diablo 2 server and seeing if anything shows up then.

Yes that was when I was able to play. I'll ping/tracert later on when I can't play.

[Oranged]

I just don't get it why it's fine in the morning - afternoon until it hits 4 PM GMT and it's fine around midnight again.

I'm guessing it's something to do with 208.69.34.132 being located in San Francisco where it's GMT- 8 hours.

So local time is 8am when the latency begins and 4pm when it resumes normal.

[mr_chris]

I'm guessing it's to do with some kind of AOL traffic management.

The command prompt ping and tracert applications work by sending a special type of request to the remote server.

The "ping" in a game is usually measured by sending a packet of regular TCP/IP data to the server and waiting for a response.

The times 4pm-midnight sound suspiciously like they are managing traffic between these hours, and could well be a symptom of the 'upgrade' you just signed up to.

Not convinced it's to do with the server being in San Fran, because their busy time would be later on when everyone gets home from work, not the other way around.

Unfortunately I strongly suspect that the problem is with AOL, especially if it coincided with your 'upgrade' going through. If so, I'm afraid there's not an awful lot that you can do about it, except complain bitterly enough in order to try and get a MAC code out of them and get out of your contract.

Not much else I can suggest, I'm afraid.