UPC & Halo Reach

MiniNukinfuts

Hey,

I'm just wondering if anybody else using reach is getting a warning result for the upstream bandwidth test in game.

I'm currently on the 30mb upc connection, i can't see how my upstream bandwidth is warning.

Here is a speed test result.



Although the upstream bandwidth test says warning, i don't get much lag in games but the time it takes to look for a game is ridiculous. Is this a upc problem or is a bungie/MS problem?

Zeouterlimits

On 15MB UPC, Reach says my upstream is good.
Have you opened the correct ports? Is your NAT open? Do you have UPnP enabled? Do you share the connection with anything?

MiniNukinfuts

My nat is open, correct ports are all open, upnp enabled, connection is shared with 2 laptops, but both are rarely on at the same time as the 360 and on a 30mb connection that shouldn't be an issue.

I'm getting insanely long pings and poor DL speeds to anywhere but the Dublin server on speedtest.net. I've rang upc and had 4 technicians call over, none of them fixed it.

And if i do a tracert to my friend in kerry, my connection goes all over the world to reach him, it goes from me(cork) -> dublin -> netherlands -> austria -> new york - > washington DC -> kansas -> kerry
He lives less than 90km away yet upc decides to travel 100's of km's more.

DaveTwenty7

i have this constantly with UPC.
What effect dose it have?
I have played 100's of online games

MiniNukinfuts

well, for me, it's very long matchmaking search times, it can be anything from 20secs to 5 minutes to find a game.

Well, it's also annoying to see the warning message when i'm on a 30mb connection.

Trevor451

Try connecting the xbox to the gateway through Ethernet rather than wireless. Wireless is always unreliable and slow compared to a wired connection.

MiniNukinfuts

I'm on wired the whole time. :P

It's definitely a bungie/ MS problem

I'm on UPC 15mb, and it's perfect. It's worth noting that speedtest.net/pingtest.net will not give you an accurate report for UPC's service. I was getting stupid packet loss ratios for a fibre network(70%+) until i called their support line and they told me to use the speed test on their website, which is run off their own server.

For a quick fix you could try this. Go into your router's settings and try toggling the UPNP on/off setting, apply the changes, and test your xbox live connection in system settings/networking/test connection, and see if it makes any difference. Usually UPNP being on is good for XBL, but sometimes it's not, depending on the router, isp, etc. A guy i know was having strict NAT issues on XBL recently until i turned UPNP off on his router, and presto, it worked like a charm, he got fully open NAT settings immediately.

Also, connect your 360 to your router with a cable rather than wirelessly if you have the option.(EDIT-i see from your newest post that you already are on wired so ignore this)

Failing all of this stuff, you could try manually forwarding your ports for XBL, which is always a good idea anyway if you know how to do it, but you need to know how to set a static IP on your Xbox and configure your router's port settings the right way. Both steps are crucial, otherwise it won't work properly/permanently.

Take a look on portforward.com if you need help doing this. There are lots of good guides.

MiniNukinfuts

I had done everything you mentioned above previously, i've never recieved NAT issues, ports are forwarded correctly, static ip set up(took me a while to figure out that the console has to be off when you're assigning the static ip to the 360's MAC address), and I've fiddled with the UPnP option.

But this is weird, since i have another console on the same connection and it's upstream bandwidth is green. (EDIT - i just check the other console there and it's upstream bandwidth is now warning, i've tried switching ethernet cables also, no help)

manic mailman

I'm with Eircom (with netopa router) and it forced me to lower my firewall settings so that I could get games without lag, maybe you're experiencing a similar issue? Hopefully you'll get it sorted out.

Have you tried contacting UPC?

This is relevant http://tiny.cc/db2g0

MiniNukinfuts

I've just stopped playing reach at this stage. I've got back into left 4 dead 2. I've played too much reach now. I'm at brig grade 2 and i couldn't be bothered going for general.

I've contacted upc, they came to my house, they tried something, that didn't work. And i bought a new router and a new upc older version modem(scientific atlanta one) yesterday and i will set that up and see what the connection is like.

I don't necessarily get laggy games, it's just it takes a while, sometimes, to find a game.

MiniNukinfuts

MiniNukinfuts wrote: »

I've just stopped playing reach at this stage......I don't necessarily get laggy games, it's just it takes a while, sometimes, to find a game.

Did you ever think it might just be a halo thing? I have no issues with my UPC connection but reach gives me laggy choppy games very often, or games with only half the required amount of people in them, or just sits there looking for a game for ages till i get fed up.

I'm not playing it much either now TBH. It got to the point with me where for all the hassle you have to go through to find a decent game with enough reasonably skilled non-idiots in it to play it properly, it just wasn't worth putting up with all the laggy muppets voting rocketfight and quitting halfway through. Shame, it had such potential, i think they let ambition and deadlines get the better of them.

MiniNukinfuts

Deleted User wrote: »

Did you ever think it might just be a halo thing?

I was starting to believe that. Maybe it's just another bungie networking bug.

And i played 3 games yesterday and the matchmaking times were very fast. Like, i had a game within 10 secs of loading the search.

CrazyFish

Reach was always slow for finding games.

Turtyturd

Deleted User wrote: »

Did you ever think it might just be a halo thing? I have no issues with my UPC connection but reach gives me laggy choppy games very often, .

I actually think that is one thing that has been a vast improvement from Halo 3, I find that I rarely get a laggy game in Reach, although I rarely play firefight and have heard that is bad for lag...but compared to Halo 3 I think it's a vast improvement. It was impossible to play a game on Narrows or Isolation without at least one instance of lag.

MiniNukinfuts

yeah, halo 3 was brutal for lag, but then again, i was on eircom for most of halo 3. :P

Firefight will always be laggy due to the amout of enemies on screen at any one time. It's especially laggy on glacier since it's huge.

MiniNukinfuts

MiniNukinfuts wrote: »

Firefight will always be laggy due to the amout of enemies on screen at any one time. It's especially laggy on glacier since it's huge.

But then why release it like that? knock the frame rate or polygon count down 25% for online games or something, or just don't put it in the MP hopper in the first place, pick a different map. Firefight was was absolutely fine on ODST, and i would rather have the slightly grainier graphics than the noticeably sh1te connection.

Stoopid bungle, making no allowances for crappy irish internet speeds

MiniNukinfuts

Well, bungie did take into consideration the MP hopper for launch. But the had to eventually include more maps. Well, it's not bungie's fault that we have crap speeds (not me though ). The simple solution for playing lag/framerate free firefight is just to choose a smaller map, get a better connection or just play with friends living close to you to minimise ping.

MiniNukinfuts

MiniNukinfuts wrote: »

Well, bungie did take into consideration the MP hopper for launch. But the had to eventually include more maps. Well, it's not bungie's fault that we have crap speeds (not me though ). The simple solution for playing lag/framerate free firefight is just to choose a smaller map, get a better connection or just play with friends living close to you to minimise ping.

Bungie limited the FF maps so as not to give away parts of the campaign story mode. Although MP firefight was touted as a good thing for the release of reach, it's actually turned out to be a bad experience versus ODST firefight, cos as well as excellent maps (4 player on lost platoon was a total blast) you were playing with your friends there, usually on a connection you were happy with and actually chatting to people and using communication and strategy during the game and worrying about things like ammo and lives left and stuff.

Reach MP firefight is just a big rocket filled jetpacking radio silence lagfest on mostly poor maps. If anyone ever wants to play ODST FF then friend request me, my gamertag is my boards name.

To get back on topic somewhat, UPC sem to be upping their broadband speeds again. I got a txt from thm yesterday telling me that my 15mb package was now 20mb for no extra cash, just reboot my network to get the faster speed Woohoo!

Turtyturd

Ok after singing its praises last week I am getting some seriously bad games tonight...was perfect for the first couple then lag in every game since, also taking about 5minutes to find a game and constantly dropping people too.

Also is it my imagination or do swastikas appear at some points on the light display???

MiniNukinfuts

I used to have the exact same problem as you. I'd just power cycle my modem, and xbox and i would select the better connection option in the game search settings. That always seemed to help me.

Bout the swastika: Finally someone else has being seeing this. I think its a sign that i'm meant to do hitler's bidding or something like that.

Muppet Man

Going with the 30mb UPC this Friday, so will report back....

I was on 3mb with Eircom (3mb down, .25mb up) and the Upstream in Reach always said warning (fair enough I suppose )

Interested in seeing if the theoretical 12 fold increase in upload speed with UPC will make a difference. Watch this space.

I only play Reach with mates in the UK/US/Australia. Can be a nightmare when we all play together as inevitably one or two will lag REALLY badly, but thats just the geographical distances involved.

In cases like this, the person who is lagging really badly doesnt tend to charge hard across the map and tends to hang back and guard the basis... talking/tactics are critical and can work well...

Muppet Man

Muppet Man

Wow... just got UPC installed - 30mb down/3mb up.

Got the speed alright, but the Upstream warning in Reach hasnt changed a bit...

Just had a chance to play two games this afternoon, and maybe it was a placebo effect, but went 20 and 8 in SWAT and 23 in 10 in BTB... that is slightly unusal for me. Seemed to be able to find games a lot quicker too.

So not sure if the warning is legitimate, or a bad piece of code by Bungie for measuring network performance. Need to twiddle with the router settings a bit more on Monday to see if I can that upstream warning removed. I'll post back if I can find anything out.

Muppet Man

ADGOBE

i got the same problem

murphyaii

doesn't really effect my gameplay but i've only a 3mbps line through a wireless connection in laois
but yeah, when matchmaking players it is quite slow

Muppet Man

My upstreatm bandwidth warning has moved from "Warning" to "Average".

I think what happens is that Bungie take an average of your upstream bandwidth over a large number of games - say 50 games for example. So over time, with the more games that you play, the better your upstream average will work out, especially if you have moved to a new (better) broadband provider. It wont instantly pop to "average" or "good".

With a better average upstream connection over a large number of games, I suspect it would be easier to be selected to host the games.

Muppet Man.

MiniNukinfuts

Well, it hasn't changed for me still. And i've easily played a couple hundred games since. I'm not getting lag ever though. And my matchmaking times have kinda improved.