Laggy instances for a month. Any trustfull solution?

[NITRO.3978]

So, it's quite simple. I've been laggin for a month or so (1st time from the beta 5 years ago), but not because of my internet conection nor my personal Hardware at some in-game instances.I've read every suggestion & topics at the forums like:

• https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/6253/latency-ping-fps-issues-merged/p6
• https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/16603/anet-switched-to-higher-ping-amazon-servers-since-2-weeks-ago/p3
• https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/14370/can-not-log-in
• Even a reddit thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/7doj1l/anet_can_we_please_get_an_actual_way_of_checking/dpzhpyd/

I've tried the following:

• Re-Installing/repairing the whole game.
• Deleting folders like %appgw2% and every gw2 related files.
• Updating my firewall/antivirus to give gw2 every permission posible.
• Adding google ports to my DNS
• Changing the game's launching properties (-clientport 80/443/-authsrv 64.25.38.54)
• I've tried a few more things but I cannot remember them all since it's been a lot for a month...

My average ping was in between "110 to 160", I was able to reach legendary at PvP or do CMs at every Raid Wing... Now, with spykes that go from 300 to over 3k, I can't even farm winterberries :anguished:

But like I said at the beginning of this post, this issue happens "at some" not "every" instance, so here you have some examples:

• https://imgur.com/8GuGO4o (Laggy Elon Riverlands)
• https://imgur.com/ipgvIpY (Laggy Bitterfrost frontier)
• https://imgur.com/HdsUpB6 (OK Mistlock Sanctuary)
• https://imgur.com/g0ovcBa (OK LA)
• https://imgur.com/3r4lM7c (Unplayable W4)

So, like the title says the reason for the post itself is TO ASK, if someone has found a 100% trustful solution for this issue?

[MonCroy.7281]

It happened to me and I have no answer for devs since HoT, even in ticket about Black Lion Chest bugs.

[MedievalThings.5417]

The servers are now hosted by Amazon on the east coast instead of by Anet themselves. The servers "suck" to put it mildly. I am sure they are saving money, but it is going to kill their game. Amazons servers are designed for cheap, bulk storage not for fast response times. The problem is that MMO's, especially those with competitive modes, can't afford to be 100-300 ms all the time, with spikes of up to 3k+ ms every minute.

[Healix.5819]

@Ubi.4136 said:I am sure they are saving money, but it is going to kill their game.

Unless Amazon is going to buy out ArenaNet, they're probably not saving any money by renting Amazon's servers instead of using NCSoft's, who owns ArenaNet.

Amazon's servers do seem to be slightly weaker judging by the in-game ping, since it's actually the ping + server processing time, but there's far more of them to work with and that's what GW2 really wants. Every map instance is its own virtual server, so GW2 was designed for this.

The problem with latency isn't the servers themselves, but rather the route you're taking to them. Your normal ping should only be around 25ms higher compared to the old servers, assuming you're west of Texas and thus having to go past the old ones. If you're more than double that, the problem is with the route, however, Amazon does have its own network across the US and one of the spiking nodes is under Amazon's control.

As for a solution, the only way to avoid a bad route is to bypass it by using a VPN to change your destination. One of the bad nodes is near Texas, so that's one you want to avoid. You can minimize the use of Amazon's network by finding a VPN near Virginia.

[MedievalThings.5417]

@Healix.5819 said:

@Ubi.4136 said:I am sure they are saving money, but it is going to kill their game.

Unless Amazon is going to buy out ArenaNet, they're probably not saving any money by renting Amazon's servers instead of using NCSoft's, who owns ArenaNet.

Amazon's servers do seem to be slightly weaker judging by the in-game ping, since it's actually the ping + server processing time, but there's far more of them to work with and that's what GW2 really wants. Every map instance is its own virtual server, so GW2 was designed for this.

The problem with latency isn't the servers themselves, but rather the route you're taking to them. Your normal ping should only be around 25ms higher compared to the old servers, assuming you're west of Texas and thus having to go past the old ones. If you're more than double that, the problem is with the route, however, Amazon does have its own network across the US and one of the spiking nodes is under Amazon's control.

As for a solution, the only way to avoid a bad route is to bypass it by using a VPN to change your destination. One of the bad nodes is near Texas, so that's one you want to avoid. You can minimize the use of Amazon's network by finding a VPN near Virginia.

The problem is EVERYONE I talk to in game is experiencing the same thing I am.My ping was 30-40 ms before. Now, my average is 70-300 ms.Rarely, I would get lag spikes in wvw or ability lag during very large battles. Now, I get spikes of up to 3k every other minute and ability lag fighting 1 npc on empty maps all the time. The solution is not "pay for an additional service" to make the game run the way it should/needs to. If Anet is interested in the longevity of their game, they need to listen to what players are saying about the change to Amazon hosted servers. The best amazon server seems to be 2x to 5x worse than anything we had before.

[Healix.5819]

@Ubi.4136 said:If Anet is interested in the longevity of their game, they need to listen to what players are saying about the change to Amazon hosted servers.

There's not much ArenaNet can do. The same problem could happen and has had happened regularly with the old servers. It's simply a different group of people complaining now. There's a reason why ArenaNet moved to Amazon, so moving back would only be a temporary solution. Assuming GW2 wanted more servers, the only option is Amazon or NCSoft supplying more, but surely NCSoft could have provided, so I'm guessing there's something else going on.

As for the ping spikes, you need to first identify where the problem is by running traces to identify where the spike is actually occurring. Run PingPlotter in the background or use the pathping command once you notice a spike.

[NITRO.3978]

@Healix.5819 said:

@Ubi.4136 said:I am sure they are saving money, but it is going to kill their game.

Unless Amazon is going to buy out ArenaNet, they're probably not saving any money by renting Amazon's servers instead of using NCSoft's, who owns ArenaNet.

Amazon's servers do seem to be slightly weaker judging by the in-game ping, since it's actually the ping + server processing time, but there's far more of them to work with and that's what GW2 really wants. Every map instance is its own virtual server, so GW2 was designed for this.

The problem with latency isn't the servers themselves, but rather the route you're taking to them. Your normal ping should only be around 25ms higher compared to the old servers, assuming you're west of Texas and thus having to go past the old ones. If you're more than double that, the problem is with the route, however, Amazon does have its own network across the US and one of the spiking nodes is under Amazon's control.

As for a solution, the only way to avoid a bad route is to bypass it by using a VPN to change your destination. One of the bad nodes is near Texas, so that's one you want to avoid. You can minimize the use of Amazon's network by finding a VPN near Virginia.

Well thats a solution I haven't tested out yet. Are there any guides or something about how to do that "VPN change"?Because Im planning on staying at least for a couple of weeks until I completely uninstall & quit this game since I'm only able to chill out at LA or do 3/5 Raid Wings + Flax farming @VB without having 3k ms spykes...

BTW, im from Perú & like I said, my "normal" ms goes in between 110-160 which was pretty good for T4s, Raids & Competitive PvP... :anguished:

Now... I can't even salvage decently cuz it takes like 3-5 secs to do so :astonished: :

[Shazmataz.1423]

Have run pingplot at Anet support request and tracert doesn't complete within the 30 hops that it runs for so I don't know where the route is going or where the issues are apart from there being a shit tonne of hops, in game ping ranges between 260-330ms. i'm OCX, could get a complete trace in max of 18 hops before this amazon server change at about 200ms which is playable. Amazon servers can't handle the processing required for all the condis and 3 zergs at once...performance seems worse than the old NCSoft servers for sure, that's without introducing a whole lot more hops on my route.....I cry. It's rapidly killing any enjoyment that I found in this game.

[ardhikaizecson.3697]

Yeah this lag makes me want to quit. I and along with my guildies have to play with 400-2000ms all the time whereas 2 weeks before ls4 release we have an all time low of 220ms and everything is fluid. We are from SEA and OCX by the way.

[Dragon.2046]

Did it get worse today? I am experiencing like 5-10 minute loading times per map and a guildie just mentioned fracs are not unplayable as every time they try to do a frac, he gets kicked out and can't seem to get back in.

From SEA and OCX too.

[NITRO.3978]

So, I found out a solution...I was checking my own antivirus (Avast Premier) & I noticed it has a "privacy setting" where you can activate something called "SECURELINE VPN". I chose the optimal location, which is Dallas, US (for me at least) & then I logged into the game (I had to authenticate the new IP 1st). Finally after a month, I got a DECENT PING!

I did some testing activating & deactivating this VPN setting & with it I have around 160 ms... & without it I have around 300-4k ms.

The negative part of it, is that it will cost me $80 a year for that service... so... FML :astonished:

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

There's never going to be a 100% solution because there's a huge variety of reasons that people suffer latency or disconnects. It's not the same for everyone, it's not even the same for the same person at different times.

The very first thing you should do is contact support. Include in the ticket all the steps you've taken so far (which are considerable). If the first respondent seems to miss all that,. then ask for someone more technical to help you out. There are some very good & clever people at ANet.

Second, run pingplotter or a similar program. Find out where your signal is dropping out: it might be your ISP or ANet's (or Amazon's) but there's a lot of internet in between.

Third, if you are able, try running the game from another computer and ideally from another network (options which aren't readily available to everyone of course). The idea is to see if the problem is associated with your PC and/or your network.

Fourth: keep a list of when & where this happens. That's useful information for ANet (and potentially the relevant ISP). You might spot a pattern that isn't obvious when just getting lagged out all too often.

And most of all, be patient. Latency issues are tricky at best; there's no silver bullet to resolve them. Our thirst for bandwidth keeps increasing and right now, that's at a faster pace than our Corporate Overlords are able (or perhaps willing) to grow the backbone to support it. Things are going to get worse.

[TheQuickFox.3826]

@"NITRO.3978" said:So, I found out a solution...I was checking my own antivirus (Avast Premier) & I noticed it has a "privacy setting" where you can activate something called "SECURELINE VPN". I chose the optimal location, which is Dallas, US (for me at least) & then I logged into the game (I had to authenticate the new IP 1st). Finally after a month, I got a DECENT PING!

I did some testing activating & deactivating this VPN setting & with it I have around 160 ms... & without it I have around 300-4k ms.

The negative part of it, is that it will cost me $80 a year for that service... so... FML :astonished:

I still wonder how a VPN, which always has some latency and data overhead, can IMPROVE pings. It should only increase them. Maybe unless your ISP uses some kind of traffic shaping which discriminates AGAINST your games traffic. (That's why we need net neutrality)

[b k.1648]

That can happen if the normal route from your ISP goes through some bad nodes, and the VPN route doesn't.

It's usually difficult for either ArenaNet or your ISP to fix this problem. Maybe slightly easier for your ISP to get a new route, but it's still a lot of work and in many cases the best they can do is try to contact the telco responsible for the problem somewhere in the middle.

If you can re-route the traffic through a VPN, that's by far the easiest solution to the problem from the user's end. Fixing the network problem at the source can take months.