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Ping / Latency in Steam

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DFenn   04-14-2005 at 02:34:35 PM

Anybody got any good ideas for getting a really low ping on the Steam network. Some games I am down in the low 50s and others I can be up in the 250s! Is it a problem with my system or just that I sometimes pick crappy servers to play on??

K7S5A, XP2200, 768RAM, 9600XL, 120HDD
(Grumpy Old Gamer)

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sh1ft3d   04-14-2005 at 04:49:54 PM
- 0 +

Probably just a bad connection to the server. When I filter servers in steam, I use the <100 ping filter so that way when I join a server, I know it'll be a fast server.

--------------------------------------------
In just two days, tomorrow will be yesterday.

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bjpatrick   04-15-2005 at 02:36:44 AM
- 0 +

I agree. I use the 50 because the 100 ping can be quite laggy.

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jihiggs   04-15-2005 at 07:56:22 AM
- 0 +

the farther away from the server you are the more likely you are to get high ping. theres a million other reasons for high ping.

go tell your alien brothers, that ronnie cordova says they're gay!!! <A HREF="http://sockbaby.com" target="_new"> sock baby </A>

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addiarmadar   04-19-2005 at 01:46:19 AM
- 0 +

Most likely the "pathway" to the server. One does have to go though many hops to get to that specific server and you try to go on a server that has a bad hop to that server, thus increased pings.

<i><font color=red>Only an overclocker can make a computer into a convectional oven.</i></font color=red>

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DFenn   04-19-2005 at 01:37:31 PM
- 0 +

Is there any way of finding out how many 'hops' between you and another server?

K7S5A, XP2200, 768RAM, 9600XL, 120HDD
(Grumpy Old Gamer)

Reply to DFenn
bjpatrick   04-19-2005 at 03:24:35 PM
- 0 +

trace to the servers ip

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addiarmadar   04-19-2005 at 04:01:52 PM
- 0 +

You can tracert to the server's ip address. There you can find a hop with high pings and the probably cause of the lag. This command is through DOS.

<i><font color=red>Only an overclocker can make a computer into a convectional oven.</i></font color=red>

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mrface   04-19-2005 at 04:52:42 PM
- 0 +

virtual dos in xp...

Remember <font color=blue>flies</font color=blue> lead to <font color=green>diseases</font color=green>, so keep <font color=red>yours</font color=red> closed.
<A HREF="http://www.cameronwilliamson.com" target="_new">-={Psychotic Sociopath.}=-</A>

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addiarmadar   04-19-2005 at 05:42:46 PM
- 0 +

Is there an echo in here?

This dude should know how to get does in windows...

<i><font color=red>Only an overclocker can make a computer into a convectional oven.</i></font color=red>

Reply to addiarmadar
mrface   04-19-2005 at 05:45:13 PM
- 0 +

and he should probably know how to get to it in windows.

Remember <font color=blue>flies</font color=blue> lead to <font color=green>diseases</font color=green>, so keep <font color=red>yours</font color=red> closed.
<A HREF="http://www.cameronwilliamson.com" target="_new">-={Psychotic Sociopath.}=-</A>

Reply to mrface
addiarmadar   04-19-2005 at 05:48:25 PM
- 0 +

Naturally!!!

<i><font color=red>Only an overclocker can make a computer into a convectional oven.</i></font color=red>

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Lonewolf19   04-20-2005 at 11:29:11 PM
- 0 +

Strange thing I've noticed... I have no problems with lag while playing CS source or HL2 at home (P4, 2gig RAM, ATI x800, DSL) but when I play on my friends computer (P4, 512 RAM, ATI 9800, DSL) there is significant lags on the same servers. My friend lives literally 5 minutes away so I don't think its the DSL service (we use same company). I would expect lag differences since my friends PC isn't as decked out as mine. Whats interesting is that the ping is consistently worse on my friends computer playing on the SAME servers. I wonder if the software is somehow calculating ping not just by connection but by hardware limitations as well. Don't know, it's just strange, but you may want to try upgrading your RAM or vid card.

Reply to Lonewolf19
folken   04-21-2005 at 11:48:24 PM
- 0 +

The ping could also be affected by the houses distance from server, bad/noisy wireing, etc. My friend lives less than 5min away, has the same connection as me, and gets way worse pings. He is just slightly farthur away from the station than me and has an older house. I think that is the only factor bec I get the same pings as him with my computer at his house and he gets my pings when he is at my house.

<A HREF="http://www.folken.net/myrig.htm" target="_new">My precious...</A>

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Lonewolf19   04-22-2005 at 01:11:49 AM
- 0 +

Now that you mention it, my friend does live in a dated apartment complex. It would make sense to have lag difficulties if the wiring is defective or poorly insulated from ambient electrical noise.

Reply to Lonewolf19
vagabond   04-22-2005 at 07:20:40 AM
- 0 +

Hey Folken,

I did that thing with tracert and could you give me a hint as to what I'm seeing here:


Tracing route to www.t-online.de [194.25.134.153]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 * 1751 ms 63 ms 217.0.116.87
2 61 ms 60 ms 61 ms 217.0.70.42
3 78 ms 75 ms 74 ms ulm-eb1.ULM.DE.net.DTAG.DE [62.154.58.106]
4 76 ms 74 ms 73 ms quixote.sul.t-online.de [62.156.139.38]
5 78 ms 76 ms 75 ms www.t-online.de [194.25.134.153]

Trace complete.


<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/myanandtech.aspx?member=120067" target="_new">My System</A>

Reply to vagabond
folken   04-22-2005 at 05:09:17 PM
- 0 +

What ms do you average ingame? Do you get that 1700ms spike every time you tracert? Other than that the route looks fairly reasonable.

<A HREF="http://www.folken.net/myrig.htm" target="_new">My precious...</A>

Reply to folken
vagabond   04-22-2005 at 08:16:58 PM
- 0 +

Hey Folken,

No, I just did another one before I posted this:

1 * 474 ms 62 ms 217.0.116.87
2 63 ms 60 ms 61 ms 217.0.70.34
3 74 ms 73 ms 74 ms ulm-eb1.ULM.DE.net.DTAG.DE [62.154.58.106]
4 77 ms 76 ms 75 ms quixote.sul.t-online.de [62.156.139.38]
5 75 ms 75 ms 76 ms www.t-online.de [194.25.134.153]

Trace complete.

E:\>

Maybe the initial route has something to do with the way my system is set up. I'm still dual-booting. Maybe that has something to do with the initial high latency.

One thing I have noticed with CS Source, When I log on to a game server I get a + 75-100 ms ping rate. After say about 5 minutes of playing, depending naturally where the server is, it sinks back down to within 50-75ms of the lowest ping. Never had this in CS 1.5 or 1.6. Maybe has something to do with STEAM.

I'm still trying to figure out how most of these guys I play against have 20-50ms pings? Is this their DSL setup maybe? In Germany, you can opt for 1000DSL, 2000DSL, and 3000DSL flatrates. I'm a poor bastard. I can only afford 1000.



<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/myanandtech.aspx?member=120067" target="_new">My System</A>

Reply to vagabond
folken   04-22-2005 at 09:56:34 PM
- 0 +

Ping depends on how far you are from the server. I get 15ms pings on a local server I play on and about 25-30ms pings on a server I play on that is at stanford (about 280 miles south of me). I'm currently on a 3mb dsl but I got the same response times with my old 1.5mb dsl. I too get the small ping spike at the begining but it goes away very quickly, within seconds.
That first point of the route is very strange. The first hop is usually from your computer to your router, since I don't see a usual lan address I'm assuming you dont have one. That would take out the possibility of having a failing router.
See if you can find a server that you know is very close to you. Have a friend start a server that lives near by or something. 50-75 isnt THAT bad but it could certainly be better.

<A HREF="http://www.folken.net/myrig.htm" target="_new">My precious...</A>

Reply to folken
vagabond   04-22-2005 at 10:44:53 PM
- 0 +

I'm not hooked up through a LAN. I'm directly wired to my DSL modem. From there to the relay then to the server. Maybe that's where my latency lies. I live in a sort of valley. That might have something to do with it.

Oh well... Can't afford more bandwidth. I'm SOL. Thanks for the info though. It's cool with the tracert. :lol:

<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/myanandtech.aspx?member=120067" target="_new">My System</A>

Reply to vagabond
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