Playing on Satellite connection

[Bamfbear.5028]

Hey all,

I'm reaching out in hopes maybe someone out there had this issue and was able to figure something out. I live in a rural area and it's a newer development so my internet options are mostly either LTE or Satellite. Verrrrry few if not any cabled options and there are no fiber optic options. From a google search and looking through reddit it seems people HAVE been able to play GW2 on a satellite or LTE connection without issues other than maybe slighter higher latency depending on ISP.

I've been getting random disconnects and after talking to GW2 support they tell me that satellite and mobile connections aren't supported and that as long as I use that connection I will have connection issues.Call it denial but I refuse to believe NOTHING can be done other than switching to cabled internet. Is there anyone out there that plays on a satellite connection without issues?

Thanks in advance for any help!

[KrHome.1920]

The latency is not just "slightly" higher with satellite internet. Internet satellites have to be geostationary, this means they have to be placed 36.000 km above the ground. So your data has to travel 2x 36.000 km to the satellite and back additionally to the distance to the server on earth and the computing time on the server. You can expect an accumulated ping / latency of a second or more.

Accessing a server in your neighbor's house via a cable around the whole world (40.000 km) has about the same latency as a satellite connection to your neighbor. :p

Satellite internet is okay for video on demand if you can get a data flatrate, but definitely not for gaming.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

Some players are getting random disconnects no matter if cable, satellite, or dial-up.
Could be the times, could be Tier 1 backbones, could be servers, or a number of things.

[TinkTinkPOOF.9201]

Just because "some" people might say it works doesn't mean it does. If they can provide trace route data to GW2 on a satellite connection, then I will believe them.

Ping times are going to be high, VERY high, for online gaming that is ping sensitive, you are going to have a bad time. Also, depending on what service, it might be bad enough that the connection is timing out. Satellite also have very low data caps, make sure you have not hit it, as they will throttle the service down to dialup levels when you do. LTE is going to be the far better option, though still worse than cable, also, what does fiber have to do with hardline? Forget that, basic DSL line would be better than satellite. I would take just about any hardline option over that, with LTE being 2nd and satellite 100th.

[Bamfbear.5028]

So would tethering to my phone as a LTE hotspot work better? Or should I get an LTE internet set up as there are LTE options around me for ISPs just not much for cabled internet

[KrHome.1920]

You could try that to check the ping at your location.

But it should definitely be better than a satellite connection.

The new 5G standard brings big latency improvements for mobile internet.

[TinkTinkPOOF.9201]

@Bamfbear.5028 said:So would tethering to my phone as a LTE hotspot work better? Or should I get an LTE internet set up as there are LTE options around me for ISPs just not much for cabled internet

Both should be better, if you can use hotspots on your phone, well, check it out yourself. Just be sure you have the data caps to deal with it. Also keep in mind most dedicated LTE hardware is better than a phone for connecting to, often having much better signal in remote areas and data is cheaper on them in most cases.

[Speedylord.2798]

@Bamfbear.5028 said:Hey all,

I'm reaching out in hopes maybe someone out there had this issue and was able to figure something out. I live in a rural area and it's a newer development so my internet options are mostly either LTE or Satellite. Verrrrry few if not any cabled options and there are no fiber optic options. From a google search and looking through reddit it seems people HAVE been able to play GW2 on a satellite or LTE connection without issues other than maybe slighter higher latency depending on ISP.

I've been getting random disconnects and after talking to GW2 support they tell me that satellite and mobile connections aren't supported and that as long as I use that connection I will have connection issues.Call it denial but I refuse to believe NOTHING can be done other than switching to cabled internet. Is there anyone out there that plays on a satellite connection without issues?

Thanks in advance for any help!

I think it really is worth getting the cable option, it gives a lot of flexibility for network configurations. From what I've heard about satellite, isn't it more expensive than cable (at least in the long run)? If you really do not want to invest in cable, a good LTE connection is your best bet on having the best possible connection.It could also be a serverside issue given it's been really busy and there might be server disconnect issues/crashes that need to be patched:).

[Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582]

@Bamfbear.5028 said:So would tethering to my phone as a LTE hotspot work better? Or should I get an LTE internet set up as there are LTE options around me for ISPs just not much for cabled internet

That works pretty well. It's the ONLY way I have played GW2 since launch. I use a car cradle for the phone with an attached antenna which I have located on the roof. The phone produces the hotspot and the laptop connects to that wirelessly. I usually get a ping average ranging from 250-350ms from a single bar of 4G.