kedobin
01-25-2010, 06:35 PM
Besides some things found in this thread (http://www.eqemulator.net/forums/showthread.php?t=23350), what are some other common things to look into for lan latency issues?
In the past, sometime between 6.0 and 7.0, I setup an offline emu server using minilogin, and had 2 accounts on 2 separate computers. They could log in, but the connection was unstable, especially when both characters were in the same zone, in that I would get progressively worse latency on either one or even both accounts, eventually going ld. I brushed this off, assuming there was an issue either with the emu or minilogin.
I tried this again recently, only this time using privatelogin instead of minilogin. I'm away from the computer with the server files on it, but my last test used source files from either late Dec '09 or early Jan '10, with the db and quests from the same time period. Playing via 1 client, it works very well, even surviving a mistmoore ldon using bots (and a couple #cheats :D)
As for a description of progressively worsening latency, I'll list what I observed in North Qeynos newbie yard in my most recent test. Both clients enter, using lvl 1 non-#gm characters and no bots, and each client has roughly 20-30ms latency. I grouped the characters, and tested email and chat commands like /say or /g - all worked fine. I also tested combat, with no problems with either melee or spells. After some time, which seems to be about 5 - 10 minutes, the zone launcher no longer displays the current zone in its titlebar, instead stating it's sleeping. I don't know, though, if the zone launcher thing is only relevant some of the time, or all of the time.
At this time, both clients show a connection loss, recovering at about 90-95% with the effect of either one or both clients getting a drastic increase in latency. If I'm lucky, it's only about 300ms, if I'm unlucky it goes beyond 2000ms. After each additional 3-10 minutes I get either another increase in latency on one/both clients, or I go ld on one/both clients. Obviously, higher latencies increase the chances of going ld.
While the latency is high, one client tends to lag behind the other. If I /say something, or even /sit on client A, it can take as little as 5 seconds, or as long as 5 minutes before client B sees this. While this is going on, though, things that happen on client B tend to appear right away on client A, though over time even this stops.
I don't specify which computer is the culprit, because one time the client-only went ld while the server/client stayed connected, and another time the client/server went ld while the client-only stayed connected. Yet another time, both clients went ld at the same time. In cases where one client stayed connected, the latency becomes a non-issue on that client, at least until the ld client reconnects.
It should also be noted that if either client changes zone, and doesn't go ld doing so (tends to be more frequent as latencies exceed 1000ms), then whichever client(s) zoned seem to always have the latency reset to regular levels (30-60ms, depending on zone), though the process begins again.
My setup is an offline netgear router connected only to 2 computers via 10/100 ethernet, supplying a static ip to each. 1 computer is client-only, the other is both client and server. The EQ client on both is SoF.
server/client computer specs:
WinXP SP3
Athlon XP 2500
2GB PC3200
128MB Radeon 9600 AGP 8
In case it's relevant,
client-only computer specs:
WinXP SP3
Sempron 3000
2GB PC2700
128MB Radeon XPress 200m (onboard, shared mem)
I lack any additional windows or linux computers that could be powerful enough to handle being a dedicated emu server.
Thanks for any help, and sorry about the wall of text...
In the past, sometime between 6.0 and 7.0, I setup an offline emu server using minilogin, and had 2 accounts on 2 separate computers. They could log in, but the connection was unstable, especially when both characters were in the same zone, in that I would get progressively worse latency on either one or even both accounts, eventually going ld. I brushed this off, assuming there was an issue either with the emu or minilogin.
I tried this again recently, only this time using privatelogin instead of minilogin. I'm away from the computer with the server files on it, but my last test used source files from either late Dec '09 or early Jan '10, with the db and quests from the same time period. Playing via 1 client, it works very well, even surviving a mistmoore ldon using bots (and a couple #cheats :D)
As for a description of progressively worsening latency, I'll list what I observed in North Qeynos newbie yard in my most recent test. Both clients enter, using lvl 1 non-#gm characters and no bots, and each client has roughly 20-30ms latency. I grouped the characters, and tested email and chat commands like /say or /g - all worked fine. I also tested combat, with no problems with either melee or spells. After some time, which seems to be about 5 - 10 minutes, the zone launcher no longer displays the current zone in its titlebar, instead stating it's sleeping. I don't know, though, if the zone launcher thing is only relevant some of the time, or all of the time.
At this time, both clients show a connection loss, recovering at about 90-95% with the effect of either one or both clients getting a drastic increase in latency. If I'm lucky, it's only about 300ms, if I'm unlucky it goes beyond 2000ms. After each additional 3-10 minutes I get either another increase in latency on one/both clients, or I go ld on one/both clients. Obviously, higher latencies increase the chances of going ld.
While the latency is high, one client tends to lag behind the other. If I /say something, or even /sit on client A, it can take as little as 5 seconds, or as long as 5 minutes before client B sees this. While this is going on, though, things that happen on client B tend to appear right away on client A, though over time even this stops.
I don't specify which computer is the culprit, because one time the client-only went ld while the server/client stayed connected, and another time the client/server went ld while the client-only stayed connected. Yet another time, both clients went ld at the same time. In cases where one client stayed connected, the latency becomes a non-issue on that client, at least until the ld client reconnects.
It should also be noted that if either client changes zone, and doesn't go ld doing so (tends to be more frequent as latencies exceed 1000ms), then whichever client(s) zoned seem to always have the latency reset to regular levels (30-60ms, depending on zone), though the process begins again.
My setup is an offline netgear router connected only to 2 computers via 10/100 ethernet, supplying a static ip to each. 1 computer is client-only, the other is both client and server. The EQ client on both is SoF.
server/client computer specs:
WinXP SP3
Athlon XP 2500
2GB PC3200
128MB Radeon 9600 AGP 8
In case it's relevant,
client-only computer specs:
WinXP SP3
Sempron 3000
2GB PC2700
128MB Radeon XPress 200m (onboard, shared mem)
I lack any additional windows or linux computers that could be powerful enough to handle being a dedicated emu server.
Thanks for any help, and sorry about the wall of text...