Network boost?

[KnightFire]

Hey guys, I've been having quite a bit of lag recently on all types of online games that I play.

 

I've heard about network speed patches and am wondering if you guys have any experience with these? If I recall correctly, they're supposed to change stuff in the registry?

 

Anyways if you guys can give me any information that might help out my connection that'd be great. I might be trying to reset my router tonight.

[Asulynn]

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=55HIB158 - Requires .net framework 4.0

 

Taken from a mod site for WoW. It modifies how the network handles data acknowledgement on the Windows/registry level, though, so it works elsewhere.

 

By default, Windows handles network data acknowledgement from your computer by sending them in several bundles at a time to a server. Efficient for general usage, bad for gaming. Which you can only assume results in more packet loss as well. This changes the registry to send those acknowledgement's separately and individually, rather than in pairs. Not guaranteed, but usually helps latency, a lot.

 

May result in FPS loss for older computers, uses a slight bit more bandwidth.

 

---

 

If you want to try it manually..

 

windows key + r

regedit

Hkey_Local_Machine

System

CurrentControlSet

Services

Scroll down until you find 'Tcpip' > parameters > interfaces > click through the folders until you find your 'DhcpIPAddress' key

Right click in that folder, new > DWORD Value, name it 'TcpAckFrequency' (case sensitive), right click on it, modify, change value to 1

Restart

[KnightFire]

Thanks Sarah, I'm trying it out now!

[Bars]

If you have a compatible router check out http://www.dd-wrt.com/site/index

 

It contains QOS (Quality of Service) management settings that allow you to specify packet priority. A packet being the encapsulated way that data travels on the internet. By altering the priority of packets based on the specified network application you can even go so far as to run a torrent at as much as 95 percent of your maximum allotted bandwidth, with a maximum of about 20 ping gained.

 

Alternatively there are Windows, and Linux based traffic shaping applications that do the same thing, only on your computer, where QOS does it for every computer on your network. Most of them cost money to my knowledge.

[KnightFire]

When you say I can use 95% of my allotted bandwidth, do you mean the entire connection's bandwidth? Or just my computer's?

[Bars]

I mean the amount of bandwidth you pay for from your internet service provider. If you were to look on your modems control panel you would see a listed UP and DOWN speed in kbps, this is the maximum throughput you can use to the outside internet. What you see on your computer is LAN, and is generally 10, 100, or 1000mbps, and only applies to connections directly between two devices in your home.

 

If you apply QOS to a real scenario like talking on Skype over video chat you can look at it like this:

You tell Skype to have the lowest priority on the network

You tell uTorrent to have the highest priority

 

QOS manager makes a queue:

1. Skype video (medium)

2. uTorrent Connection 6 (high)

3. Skype voice (low)

4. Skype chat (low)

5. uTorrent Connection 3 (high)

6. uTorrent Connection 1 (high)

7. Skype voice (low)

8. uTorrent Connection 2 (high)

9. Skype chat (low)

10. Skype video (medium)

 

Each number being a chunk of data all coming to your computer at the same time. It then changes the order your computer will receive it based on how you prioritized it:

1. uTorrent Connection 1

2. uTorrent Connection 2

3. uTorrent Connection 3

4. uTorrent Connection 6

5. Skype Video

6. Skype Video

7. Skype Voice.

8. Skype Chat

9. Skype Voice

10. Skype Chat

 

so you would get the uTorrent data coming in first, and always being moved to the front of the line, the Skype Video chat coming in second priority, probably making it a little stuttery but viewable, and the voice, and text chat coming in last, making them stutter, slow, and sometimes lost in the stream. Now, the way you should do it is like this:

 

uTorrent (Bulk* Priority)

Skype Text Chat (Low Priority)

Skype Voice (Medium Priority)

Skype Video (High Priority)

 

Causing:

1. Skype Video (high)

2. Skype Video (high)

3. Skype Video (high)

4. Skype Video (high)

5. Skype Voice (medium)

6. Skype Voice (medium)

7. Skype Chat (low)

8. Skype Chat (low)

9. Skype Chat (low)

10. Skyle Chat (low)

11. uTorrent Connection 1 (Bulk*)

.

.

.

361. uTorrent Connection 350 (Bulk*)

 

*Bulk means send whenever there's unused bandwidth, but never go first.

 

Since most routers are programmed with a maximum connection limit of 4096, and depending on your bandwidth you can accept as many as 1,000 packets simultaneously from different connections, this does NOT make uTorrent slow, or even act differently at all. It only makes it go last at the end of every frame of packet sending. A frame being those 1,000 packets. So if you had 400 uTorrent connections, and 5 connections from Jedi Academy, you could run both happily with no lag.

[KnightFire]

Very interesting and appealing. I'd probably see if I could find one for just my computer alone as my wifi is shared among 3 other people.

 

I wouldn't want to hog all the bandwidth xD

 

Thanks for all the information Bars. Very informative.

[Bars]

No no no, you HAVE to do it on the router if there's more then one person using the internet, or else the other two people will hog it all. If you do QOS on the router, and prioritize media applications, they will always get smooth internet too (probably smoother then right now) while you do, too.

 

I have 4 people in my house, they always used to complain about slow internet (I'm the Homebrew IT guy), about low bandwidth, about other people telling them to slow their torrents etc. I implemented QOS for all of their various Media applications, and prioritized their various data and game applications so they wont lag even if all 4 of us are doing everything we could possibly want to, all at the same time.

 

I used to get between 200, and 500 ping (My normal on JP being 90-100) when a roomate would start loading a Youtube video, or for the entire time somebody had a torrent on. Now when my roomate is downloading at 550kb/s (my cap being ~615kb/s) I only creep up to about 120 ping. A gain of around ~25-35ms ping. From a torrent using over 300!! connections simultaneously. I only gain 30 ping.

 

Jedi Academy only takes up about 6-9kb/s of bandwidth. The reason it lags when other people use connection intensive applications is because all of it's packets get pushed to the end of the line, if you put it at the front of the line it can never take up all the bandwidth, or even make another application lag, because it's only 6-9kb/s of data that's going first, when you have hundreds left to spare in the same second of time.

[KnightFire]

Ohhhh I see now. Alright I'll see if my router is supported.