Online gaming lag

[Suzie10]

Hello,

So I've been dealing with a troubling issue on a game I play for around a year now (can't remember when it exactly started, but it's been a while). The game is called "eFootball 2024". 

The problem I am experiencing is the game feels sluggish/heavy online. The players in-game move like they're stuck in mud. They all turn like trucks even when they shouldn't. Passes are much weaker/go the wrong way. It looks as if I'm not in sync with the server. Everything is just off. This makes it incredibly difficult to play against people as those fast reactions I need to make aren't possible because of the heaviness of the game. 

The issue came out of nowhere one day and has never gone away. I cannot identify if the problem is with my connection, or the game itself. Other people play the game without constant issues, so this makes me suspect something could be wrong on my end.

I play the game using an Ethernet connection. I'm directly connected to the router. I've ran several continous ping tests to things like 8.8.8.8, BBC and a Runescape server (old game I used to play), the ping seems stable with barely any large spikes. Packets don't get lost either. I do these checks mostly while playing the game to see if anything is happening on my network (e.g. it's busy). Ping stays stable with no packet loss.

The game itself connects mostly through something called "peer-server-peer". It uses both the UDP and TCP protocol. Performance is said to be best on UDP (according to other players).  The game apparently uses Google Cloud servers for matches. Most matches are ran on the UDP protocol (a tool someone developed for the game confirms this).

Here's my router statistics:

I also have been running thinkbroadband's Broadband Quality Monitor.

This is the result for today 

I've tried playing at numerous times during the day and even night. It doesn't make a difference. It performs the same way. I've tried multiple PCs so that rules out a PC-specific problem. It seems to be a network issue, but I don't know if it's my own connection or issues with all the servers I connect to on the game.

Does anyone have any idea what might be going on? What could be causing the gameplay to feel heavy? Appreciate any insight. 

[Chrisee]

@Suzie10 it maybe worth rebooting your Sky hub as it has been running for 3 weeks but honestly there doesnt seem anything wrong with your line from the stats you have posted. If the game is run peer-to-peer you are relying on other players connections so if someone has lousy wifi or a dodgy line could that be the issue?

[TomThumb5ive]

@Suzie10  Not intended for long term use, more for short term / troubleshooting.

If active? disable sky's broadband shield.

Then test how the game runs with the firewall(s) turned off: pc / then router / then both (ipv4 & ipv6)

Just remember to re-activate after a short test on each.

Also there is no harm trying an alternative dns server away from sky's offering, it's easy enough to do & to switch back if needed.

 Googles 8.8.8.8 is a good benchmark to test.

 
Then let the forum know how you get on.

Tom...

[Suzie10]

@Chrisee 

Unfortunately, router reboots don't solve the issue. I've tried that in the past and it makes no difference. 

The IPv4 address has also changed a few times since the issue began which made no difference either.

The game used to run solely with peer-to-peer, (did not have constant issues with this), but now has changed to peer-server-peer. The game uses Google Cloud servers for matches.

When the game first made this change, I did not have issues. Performance was fine. The issue started suddenly many months ago and has been there ever since.

I did think other people's connections could be impacting my performance, but every single match plays like it. I'd expect to at least encounter some good connections. They can't all be bad. That's the experience others have. They do have bad matches, but they also have good matches too. For me, it's zero good matches since the issue began.

I'm absolutely stumped by this issue. Could it be a routing issue? That's the only thing I can think of. 

[JimM1]

@Suzie10 

Have you tried switching your phone off when you are playing the game, looks like you

have something going on with the 5ghz band, worth a try....

[Suzie10]

@TomThumb5ive 

Sky Broadband Shield is off. It's been off for a while.

In the router itself, I only see the ability to turn off the IPv6 firewall. Nothing about IPv4. If it was a firewall issue, wouldn't the router logs show something?

I currently use the Cloudflare DNS for both IPv4 and 6. Unfortunately, that did not make a difference.

I've also tried disabling IPv6 and UPnP. It did not help either

[Suzie10]

@JimM1 

Yeah, I tried with no phone connected to any socket. No change unfortunately.

[Chrisee]

@Suzie10 one thought Sky's hubs are not the most powerful routers and have no way of prioritising gaming data so can cause issues if they are dealing with a lot of traffic at the sametime. Setting up a Broadband Quality Monitor should show if that is an issue on your unit see https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality

[Suzie10]

@Chrisee 

I've been running that monitor for a while. I've linked the latest result in the opening post. I'm not sure if what I'm seeing is normal or not. 

[Chrisee]

@Suzie10 sorry missed that link but.that trace looks pretty normal assuming your connection is in use. To be honest I am stuck to know what your issue could be. That trace pretty much rules out anything within Sky's network. Have you looked at the route to the server is that somewhere obscure outside the UK? 

[Suzie10]

@Chrisee 

I'm baffled by this issue as well. Nothing seems wrong with my connection based on all the current tests I've done. My latency is fine, seems to be stable and packets rarely ever seem to be getting lost. Yet the game is behaving like my connection is bad which causes the game to become sluggish and heavy. 

I've tried to run a traceroute to the game servers used in matches. Unfortunately though, the servers seem to block ping requests. If I try pinging any of the servers I connect to, the requests all time out. When trying the tracert command on CMD to the game server IP's, requests all time out after it leaves Sky's network.

Someone developed a tool that can check UDP traffic to the game servers. It shows you the server IP, port, server location, the latency and how many matches the server is holding. That tool shows my latency to the servers closest to me is anywhere between 7-35ms ping. It appears to stay stable during matches. Yet still, the gameplay feels sluggish and heavy and it shouldn't. It should be fluid and smooth. 

Given the way the game works (connects with peer-server-peer), I'd expect maybe sometimes to have bad connections as other players complain about. Sometimes you'll just encounter someone on a bad connection (e.g. Wi-Fi or mobile Internet). However, I never seem to get any good connections and I have played the game for several hours a day since the issue started. I'd expect to have at least encountered some good connections. 

It's the only reason why I am trying to identify if the reason I never experience good matches is because of some complex/rare issue on my end that this particular game is picking up on. 

The game also recently introduced co-op matches where you can play 2v2 or 3v3 with randoms/friends. The heaviness is far worse in this mode. It's a struggle to play in this mode. This again makes me think something is going on with my connection because the gameplay feels even more heavy than in solo mode (1v1).

[Chrisee]

@Suzie10 I am no expert on this type of game but I am 95% certain the issue isnt the connection via your hub - the BQM tester sits in one of the main internet exchanges in London near where Sky traffic will be linked from. Obviously it cant test the connection to the game server but if that is in the UK you wouldn't expect high latency from there but it appears there is. 

Sorry I am stuck @jamesn123 any thoughts?

[Suzie10]

I'm wondering if doing a full hard reset of the router would be worth trying? Nothing seems wrong with the router or its settings which is why I haven't considered doing it. However, could the router be doing something that's hard to detect to cause the heaviness I experience in the game?

[mae-3]

@Suzie10 

Looking at the router stats the broadband line is a short one with quite a bit of cross-talk, eg: about 160 metres to the cabinet, so I'd expect a maximum speed of 80/20Mbps which it isn't achieving with that cross-talk and slight noise it will impact performance and latency. When the broadband line is loaded and because the noise margin is 3.4dB and only achieves just under 69Mbps downstream it is a poor cooper pair that there is likely little you can do about until full-fibre becomes available, unfortunately.

[jamesn123]

@Suzie10 

What is the mobile signal like in your area? Can you test the same using a mobile hotspot from your phone to PC?