Official forums for BZFlag.org

I have a major issue with my lag. Every 5 minutes or so my lag will "jump". What happens is it goes up about 200ms and I lose packets. On my screen, everyone goes NR for a few seconds, then goes OK. People also jitter on the radar when my lag jumps.

This is a huge problem for me and the people I play against, especially in leagues. I am on wireless internet. If anyone has any suggestions on how to fix this issue, I would be very grateful.

Also, if you need any more information just ask.

Slime

A guess: perhaps another application is periodically sending something out/checking for something via the internet? Perhaps anti-viral or update software?

It might help if you tell us more about your system. OS, for example? I take it your wireless is WiFi from a school/campus/similar?

Actually, I am on Windows *Cringe* Vista, and I'm running my wireless at my house, if this helps.

Try adjusting the frequency (a.k.a. channel) that you are using for your wireless access point.

Try using a cable, they're much better. If it works without problems using a cable then you know at least whether it's your wireless connection or your ISP.

Blast - I am extremely dumb about anything to do with computers and internet. Would you care to explain how I would go about doing that (pm or post would be fine)

ts - I am fairly sure it is my wireless that is the problem. My router has been causing me problems since day 1, although when it works properly it is amazing (130.0 Mbps and full signal strength). But sometimes the ethernet will quit working for a while, and sometimes my signal strength will randomly go from 5 bars to 1.

You'll have to read the user manual for your router. They are all different. Updating the firmware (the router's internal software) might be something to try as well.

I've done all the suggestions and still no go. I cannot think of what else there could be. I've changed the channel, updated firmware, etc.

There is one thing though that has nothing to do with my wireless. Funnily enough, my computer will not let me install updated drivers from NVIDIA. My video driver is a NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GS. There are updates for it, and it downloads OK, but whenever it tries to install it using the NVIDIA Installation Wizard, an error message comes up saying "The NVIDIA Setup Program could not locate any drivers that are compatible with your current hardware. Setup will now exit."

Anyone know what that means?

That happens with laptop graphics a lot. The manufacturer of your laptop could have made customizations to the driver, so nVidia's official drivers typically won't install on laptops. I got around that by using laptopvideo2go.com, but I can't guarantee the stability of the drivers they post. One thing I noticed with my system after using other drivers is that I can no longer control the display brightness using the function key combination.

But back to your lag jumps, the issue might just be a crappy router...

Slime, like Ts said, try hooking it up via ethernet. Also, make sure that you indeed are running on the same "channel" (you can see what channel you are supposed to connect to by connecting to your router's IP and going to your wireless settings).

blast, I'm pretty sure that changing the channel would not help, especially if he has a crappy router. This would mean changing each computer's settings, and it could lead to more connectivity problems, since you would have to cross your fingers and hope that the computer connects properly.

My next suggestion is to get a better router....

that exploding tank wrote:Slime, like Ts said, try hooking it up via ethernet. Also, make sure that you indeed are running on the same "channel" (you can see what channel you are supposed to connect to by connecting to your router's IP and going to your wireless settings).

He said that his router has issues through Ethernet as well.

Slime wrote:But sometimes the ethernet will quit working for a while, and sometimes my signal strength will randomly go from 5 bars to 1.

that exploding tank wrote:blast, I'm pretty sure that changing the channel would not help, especially if he has a crappy router. This would mean changing each computer's settings, and it could lead to more connectivity problems, since you would have to cross your fingers and hope that the computer connects properly.

You don't have to reconfigure each computer when you change the wireless channel. Each wireless client automatically detects which channel the network is using. And yes, it could help if the issue was interference with other wireless networks or devices on the same frequency. You seem to lack an understanding of how wireless networking works.

I'm not sure if it is just a crappy router or not. I was recommended to get this router when I was buying my laptop. It was also made for Windows Vista, so that shouldn't be the problem. I have a linksys Wireless N Broadband Router, WRT300N, version 1.1 . It is supposed to be a great router.

FYI, I have a lot of computers in my house. I have a main desktop computer (crappy dell, ~years old) that everything is hooked up to. I have my main laptop, which I play bzf on. I also have 2 others, another desktop and another laptop, in different floors of my house. All of them run off the same router. However, the 2 other computers are hardly used at all, but still needed. This new router has, IIRC, 3x the signal strength, so it can reach all my computers.

Oh, and the channel it is on is 6, which is a non overlapping channel.

I had problems with Vista network tuning... not sure if that is your issue but BZFlag was not playable for me until I turned off the network tuning. You can read up on it here (no guarantees):

http://robgarrett.com/cs/blogs/software ... twork.aspx

You may find a few utilities from here useful:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysint ... fault.mspx

Process Explorer and Process Monitor to keep
an eye on what's running when you lag:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysint ... lorer.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysint ... nitor.mspx

If it's network clogging, then a network analysis tool or
two may help. Something for stats, and something to see
what is on your LAN, e.g., this:

http://www.wireshark.org/about.html

If the lag is periodic, what is the interval? Is it exactly every
5 mins to the second? If so, that hints at some process on a
timer. Think about what it might be. E.g., is it your email
program checking for new mail that triggers it?

The good thing is it's intermittent. That gives you a chance to
compare the good periods and the bad and diagnose it.

Good Luck,

Snick.

Snick: No, it is not every 5 minutes to the second, I was just giving a time frame of how often it was happening.

What makes me think it is my router that's the problem is this; There are really 2 instances that happens. One is my lag will jump, and everyone on the screen will go NR for a second or two, then go back to normal. Then there is a problem that happens less often than that (once a day usually, so still kind of often). That is when my signal strength collapses to 1-2 bars (out of 5). I can join a bzflag match and play for about 5-10 seconds, then everyone goes NR but don't go back to normal, so I must rejoin.

So the same kind of thing is happening both times. The latter makes me know that it is a problem with my wireless in some way, not the processes on my computer.

Just wondering, is this normal?

I´ve have some really big probelms with wireless too.
Here some annotation of what i`ve tried or i was close to try.

1) The wireless dongle should be made by the same company which made your router. My old longshine dongle didnt really fit to my AVM fritz box.
If you use an integrated dongle in your laptop, maybe you should buy a good external one (AVM stuff is way better than everything i had tried before).

2) Use a password and make sure other wireless connections to your router are impossible. If your router shows wireless connections you dont need any more or you dont know off, delete them and create a WPA password.

3) Make sure your wireless driver doesnt swapp from RAM to your harddrive. ( if you have 1 GB RAM or more it should be ok)

4) make sure there are there are no IP conflicts. Either disable your driver software or the general windows wireless driver. If both are enabled at the same time, ive had the problem that suddenly the IP gets "lost" and it takes about 20 sec until the network got reconnected. Very often a crappy router or dongle can create IP problem too.


If that doesnt help:

Some weeks ago the new n (2.0) wireless standard with three antennas and 300 mbit/sec has been released. Maybe you should give that a try if theres a huge distance or thick walls between your comp and your router.

Whatever, for my problem a fitting dongle with g++ standard instead of b/g was enough, even if someone uses cellphones.

Hope that helps you, i know how annoying wireless problems are.

dt

Slime wrote:That is when my signal strength collapses to 1-2 bars (out of 5). I can join a bzflag match and play for about 5-10 seconds, then everyone goes NR but don't go back to normal, so I must rejoin.

Well then it might be an issue with your wireless router. However, you seem to have already stated that you believe it has problems. If you haven't tried this already, try disconnecting your router and plugging directly into your cable/dsl modem. If that works (some ISPs don't allow you to switch MAC addresses, so it might not), and the lag jumps stop, then you have problematic network equipment.

deviltank wrote:4) make sure there are there are no IP conflicts. Either disable your driver software or the general windows wireless driver. If both are enabled at the same time, ive had the problem that suddenly the IP gets "lost" and it takes about 20 sec until the network got reconnected. Very often a crappy router or dongle can create IP problem too.


If that doesnt help:

Some weeks ago the new n (2.0) wireless standard with three antennas and 300 mbit/sec has been released. Maybe you should give that a try if theres a huge distance or thick walls between your comp and your router.

Whatever, for my problem a fitting dongle with g++ standard instead of b/g was enough, even if someone uses cellphones.

Hope that helps you, i know how annoying wireless problems are.

dt

Devil, you may be on to something here, lol. I sometimes get a popup when my wireless quits that says there is an IP address conflict. I admit, I am totally dumb about computers. Where can I go to disable my driver software or the general windows wireless driver?

Also, any idea how much that new n (2.0) costs? May be something to ask for for Christmas

Since xp service pack 2 windows supports all common wireless dongles, so that no more driver software is required. The most easy thing would be to remove your wireless driver and look if it works fine with the windows driver (which is alomst the same). Im sry i cant tell you how to disable the windows driver as i dont use vista and as i am german and dont know most of the words of the path in english. Maybe some of the experienced americans can help here.
If you find the file network settings (might be named different), make sure you disable your ethernet connection if you dont need it and try some different wireless settings.
Wireless is learning by doing, just try as long as it takes to fix your problem.

The new n standard harware is quite expensive, so only buy that if youre sure your wireless is too weak beacuse of long distance or thick walls.

If you change your provider you get the n-router for about 50€, if you buy it without a new contract it will cost something like 150-250€. It depends massively on where you live and when you buy it. I bet after christmas it will be much cheaper.

One note: Look in the taskmanager for the network graphic. There you can see if background software influences your wireless network. Normally bz flag requires about 1-2 % only of the total network capacity.

dt

PS: If this advice helps you, you owe me a pillbox match