Please can someone explain this to me!!??

[joethetfrod]

I live in Taiwan. I have been testing ping times to different servers in preparation for my new gaming rig.

So far I can get ok ping times to the west coast of the US (150ms)

But when I try to connect to a Korean server it still routes me all the way to the US and back to Korea a few hundred miles north of Taiwan! Resulting in higher ping times in the region of 210ms

This doesnt seem logical to me.

Please can someone explain or offer any advice on what I can do to lower ping times. Also how much would a gaming network card help if at all?

And if a gaming network card doesnt help wth is a gaming network card suppose to do?

Proxy trace to
korea.com
26 hops / 3.1 seconds

1. kbronet.com.tw
2. kbronet.com.tw
3. kbronet.com.tw
4. kbronet.com.tw
5. tfn.net.tw
6. tfn.net.tw
7. tfn.net.tw
8. pccwglobal.net
9. comcastbusiness.net
10. comcast.net
11. comcast.net
12. comcast.net
13. dreamhost.com
14. dreamhost.com
15. dreamhost.com
16. comcast.net
17. comcast.net
18. comcast.net
19. 112.174.80.78
20. 112.174.88.101
21. 112.174.87.153
22. 112.174.84.73
23. 112.174.82.145
24. 112.174.61.2
25. 112.188.240.118
26. 119.205.213.227

 

[RealBeast]

I doubt that a different network adapter would help.

I would contact my ISP and ask why connections to Korea are not going over one of the undersea cables to Korea (there are many from Taiwan), and are instead going first to North America and then to Korea. If you are lucky enough to get a tech support person with any knowledge, they could possibly help you.

 

[joethetfrod]

Yea that's what I thought.

I'll have to ring them and see what they say then.

Cheers anyway.

Joe

 

[eibgrad]

A tech support person at the ISP has no more control over the situation than the OP. We've been through this already, yet the OP insists on pursuing it.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/40794-42-socks5-gaming-taiwan

You can't control it! It’s like riding the public transportation system in any major city. You hop on board a bus/train and hope for the best. But you don't have any say in the route the driver takes, how many stops he makes, how long those stops are, whether the driver might be diverted/delayed by accidents/construction/detours, has a governor on the pedal that limits him to 35 MPH, etc.

On the internet, you're only a passenger, not the driver! You can jump up and down and complain all day, but the driver doesn't hear you. He does what he decides needs to be done to get you from point A to point B. Sometimes he's efficient, sometimes he's inefficient. His only objective is to get you there safely.

That's why if you MUST have guaranteed performance, you need a DEDICATED PRIVATE connection, such as a dial-up to a private network (that’s what the old CompuServe and AOL systems used to be). Now you have an EXPRESS LANE on a PRIVATE ROAD w/ a PERSONAL DRIVER, one who’s willing to listen since you're paying a premium for the privilege. Of course, almost no one wants to pay for such a service. They'd rather use the public transportation system to minimize costs. But that comes at a price -- you give up control! You take whatever they're willing to give. So if you choose to use the public transportation system under circumstances that require the fastest, most reliable means (e.g., getting your loved one who’s having an emergency to the hospital), you’re probably not going to be happy w/ the results.

That’s why gaming is less than ideal over the internet. You need a responsive connection, yet the internet makes no such promises. And worse, you can’t force it to be more responsive either.

I know, I know, it sucks. But no amount of inquiry is going to change the calculus here. That’s the way the *public* transportation system called the Internet works. At best, and as I’ve suggested previously, you *might* get better results by choosing a different bus/train (e.g., VPN, ISP). Because the VPN/ISP will necessarily use a different route, it *might* be faster and/or more responsive, esp. if that VPN/ISP is closer to your ultimately destination. But you still ride the public avenues, just different ones. So it may even be worse, or only better sometimes and not others. But that’s about the only thing you can do. Change bus/trains and hope for a better experience. Maybe the new route will avoid all that up-town traffic that’s making you late to work everyday. But then again, maybe not.

 

[joethetfrod]

This thread is asking why I'm being routed to the US and back to connect to a Korean server and whether this kind of massive rerouting is normal or could possibly be solved by some action.

As appossed to the other thread. "can I use socks5 to limited internet hops." As similar as they are, not quite the same. This is much more specific.

I take it from your slightly exsasperated and mildly condescending post, that again even this massive kind of rerouting is normal for servers and my only option is the lottery of ISPs I use.

 

[eibgrad]

No condescension intended, whatsoever. Sometimes ppl need analogies, particularly ones they can identify with. Didn’t seem to me you appreciated why this can’t be done. But by all means, you should seek second opinions. I just don’t think this board in particular is going to generate any new and profound ideas. Let’s face it, the number of ppl offering any help at all is quite limited. Most ppl are lucky to get one or two replies, often none. I would try DSL Reports or some other boards that are a bit deeper into the technology. Even boards dedicated to gaming where ppl face the same problems.

Anyway, hope you find what you’re looking for.

 

[joethetfrod]

All valid points.

I'll search on some other boards and see what comes up, although I'm pretty sure your correct in your analysis on gaming latency I still need to find out if there is anyway I can stop my ISP routing me all the way to the US and back.

Oh and not that it makes any difference but I have tested most countries now and connecting to a Chinese sever is the only time I'm not routed to the west coast. In every other situation I'm sent straight to the US west.

Suppose I'm just venting now. Time to try a new ISP I think.

Anyway thanks for your help I do appreciate it.

Joe

 

[allennnn]

Out of interest i did tracert as well and to my surprise after it left Paris it then did 3 Washington hops and 4 LosAngeles hops. instead of going over land a direct route it went over 2 very long under sea cables, i would have thought there would be a land 'back bone' and take the shortest to the destination.

http://gigaom2.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/underseacable.jpg

 

[john-b691]

It may actually be worse than you think. Traceroute only shows you the path from you to them. In the world of the internet the path coming back could be completely different. You can find lots of interesting stuff by using "lookingglass" sites provided by most ISP. It lets you do traceroute from all over the globe and see the differences from ISP to ISP.

The path selection on the internet has no concept of link speeds or distance. It mostly uses a pretty much arbitrary list of numbers called a ASPATH and selects the shortest. But this is just the shortest LIST of numbers not the shortest path for data to take. You would think the ISP would work so that this always represented the most effective pathing but when their is money involved business contracts will always override the technical. There are all kinds of silly rules between ISP about how much traffic is allowed to pass between them and in which cities the traffic is allowed to flow.

Pretty much this is only good for understanding why something works the way it does it is unlikely you would ever get anything changed