Server disconnects and perpetually loading opponents

[David Brooks]

Hi

Forgive me if this info is elsewhere (I have searched for it and found partial answers).

Just lately I have had problems with stability in online races. This seems to manifest itself by having a couple of competitors (as viewed in the lounge) reverting back to "loading" status. However it is clear from the chat that they are still fully present.

Furthermore, if I continue to proceed to track, I can't see those competitors on track. It's as if they aren't there. I don't think they can see me either, yet it is apparent that other people can see all of us.

In some cases I have tried exiting the lounge and reentering. Usually when I do this everything appears to be corrected but then 30 seconds later those same competitors go back to loading status.

I also have had server disconnects for some of those same races but i am not sure if this is related or coincidence.

To give you some background to my situation the following should be noted:

* Over the last 6 months I have had very little issue, but seem to have had a glut of it in the last 2 weeks

* It did occur to me today that most of my online racing over the past 6 months has been with one particular room host, and the last 2 weeks it has been one other particular room host, both based in Australia (I am in New Zealand). I will check with the second host what his connection is like, but as far as I know, he doesn't have any issues himself.

* The other competitors I mentioned who went to loading status I have previously raced in the past without issue.

* I am using wireless connection Nat2, 6.5Mbps up, 0.7Mpbs down, and 33ms ping to my ISP (I realise these figures aren't lightning fast but as I said I haven't changed anything and I used to be fine)

* The people I race with are from Australia, USA, Singapore, UK and Scandanavia (in the same race). Again, I have done this before without issue. Also just occurs to me as I type this the 3 guys that went to loading were from USA, UK and Scandanavia.

* The recent races where I have had trouble possibly had more competitors than my racing in the previous 6 months. It was typical for us to have 5 to 8 entrants, but as our group becomes more popular, we are up to 8 to 12 entrants. In fact, now that I think about it, one of those races I was second to join the room, and everything was fine. It wasn't until we got above about 9 people that I started to get the loading competitor issue.

Anyway, I am seeking explanation of possible causes. I have read the threads that talk about bandwidth and Ping time to the server that the host is using and I get that. However, I have also read that download speed is not so important, and upload speed is important if you are hosting (agree/disagree??), which I generally am not. So I just wondered if the detail about competitors going invisible might offer some more clues as to the cause?

I am keen to do what I can to resolve, but I am not sure what that is. One thing is to run a cable and bypass my wireless router but that is not ideal and I am not sure it is the fix. (BTW, how long can a network cable be and still work? I estimate I would need it to be about 10-12 metres long to reach my PS3)

Any (serious) answers appreciated

Thanks

 

[Schwartz]

I hope you don't mind me saying that your grammar, sentence structure, and word choice are absolutely impeccable, sir.

 

[David Brooks]

Yes, no text speak here

 

[waynz]

G'day.. Or should I say 'Kia Ora'

Anyway, I am seeking explanation of possible causes. I have read the threads that talk about bandwidth and Ping time to the server that the host is using and I get that. However, I have also read that download speed is not so important, and upload speed is important if you are hosting (agree/disagree??), which I generally am not. So I just wondered if the detail about competitors going invisible might offer some more clues as to the cause?

You are not alone, week one of the AUS/NZ Vantage series was interrupted by lag, disconnections and invisible players. Even on the weekend there where reports of rooms just collapsing. We (my racing group) suspect that the recent PSN update has caused this recent instability.

I am keen to do what I can to resolve, but I am not sure what that is. One thing is to run a cable and bypass my wireless router but that is not ideal and I am not sure it is the fix. (BTW, how long can a network cable be and still work? I estimate I would need it to be about 10-12 metres long to reach my PS3)

Don't think that'll do much to be honest. Online I'm pulling ping of 10 and my wireless is faster than my wired connection. However when GT5 gets fired up I experience horrendous connection issues.

Only option is to wade it out and hope things get better. Or PD upgrade their servers to accommodate for the AUS/NZ folk.

 

[esoxhntr]

You will see the 'loading status' issues disappear if you join rooms with a fixed host.

There is nothing wrong with your connection. It just happens to be incompatible with the people who appear 'loading' . Fixed host acts as an in-between and forces their info to go through the host then to you (I am simplifying greatly).

 

[David Brooks]

You will see the 'loading status' issues disappear if you join rooms with a fixed host.

There is nothing wrong with your connection. It just happens to be incompatible with the people who appear 'loading' . Fixed host acts as an in-between and forces their info to go through the host then to you (I am simplifying greatly).

Thanks for the advice, but what do you reckon about the fact I have raced these same people before successfully? Also, I should have mentioned all these races are in private lounges rather than open lobbies. They don't have an option to be fixed host do they?

Thanks again.

 

[waynz]

They don't have an option to be fixed host do they?

Sadly they don't.

 

[esoxhntr]

Thanks for the advice, but what do you reckon about the fact I have raced these same people before successfully? Also, I should have mentioned all these races are in private lounges rather than open lobbies. They don't have an option to be fixed host do they?

Thanks again.

Something changed. Perhaps their connections, perhaps yours, perhaps you were in a fixed host room, perhaps a solar flare up

Basically, with a fixed host room, you are guaranteed to see everyone. The nature of how it works is that people who are not 'compatible' with the room host will not be able to enter the room (they will get incompatible with host error). As long as the host can get their info and pass it on to you (and vice versa) - which he/she can because you got into the room - you will be golden. In a non-fixed host room, the information does not flow through the host but rather from participant to participant and if there's a breakdown in communication between two of them they will not see each other.

This is what I have observed - I don't have any documentation I can point you to. However, without fail, the people who I cannot see in non-fixed host rooms, I can see in a fixed host room.

Provided the host has a decent connection (unless we're talking dial-up or an environment where there are many users sharing the internet connection simultaneously, speed really is not *that* important because you are not transferring TONS of data however, reasonably low latency is), FH generally seems to provide a more stable room overall, not just in regards to this issue. The only real downside is the room closes when the host leaves.

 

[watermelon punch]

Yes, that is one of the most well-presented & well-organized OPs I've ever seen in the Q&As.

At any rate, I've seen all of what you've been talking about.
Most of the time I just can't get into the lounge settings, and other people report the things you describe.
I don't know why this happens, but it's been happening a lot lately.

We also used to NEVER have problems. And now we sometimes have game freeze ups in lounges/lobbies, and occasionally I get a string of disconnects from lounges/lobbies.
And we have wired connection directly from ps3 to modem.

Sorry I don't have anything useful to add.

Except to just say I've heard that wireless is more likely to result in problems than wired.
And it does seem as if people with wireless are the ones reporting problems more frequently & more severe (among my racing pals).

 

[bs13]

I'm also wired with a 30ft. cable and see these people just as you described. Nothing I do will resolve the issue either. I'm 99% sure it's not my connection as I race every night with the same people with no problems. I only see the problem with certain people.

I have seen the issue fixed sometimes if the person will back out and come back in the room. One time changing the host to me fixed the issue for one person.

If I see one person with the loading lines/stripes sometimes a few people under him show the same thing. One thing I do notice is that the person will 'lag' or disconnect out of the room more often than not. This tells me it's a problem on their end.

One unproven theory (more of a guess) I have is some of them may start going into the options or try to enter the course before they are fully loaded in the room. I usually wait for the 3 track options to turn blue in the lower right hand corner before clicking anything.

 

[Third Reign]

I'm also interested in a resolve to this matter. It happened to me as well, I was racing in a Private lounge with 7 people of which two didn't appear to be there (at least in my results). They couldn't see me either. The host was able to see everybody in the race. Since i just got into online racing recently i thought it was a problem on my end, but seeing as others share this problem, i guess something else could be up.

My NAT2 wire connection should not be the source of the problem.

I've already seen a "Bug test race" in the Online Competition section, maybe they will get some results or pointers to this problem.

 

[paulwilko10]

If it helps, I run a small league within my group of freinds and we had an issue with 2 guys that could not see others.
As host I could always see them, this is in a lounge not open lobby.

On of them no longers plays but the other was on O2 and now on Sky BB and all is fine
He had Nat 2 and was wired I believe on O2, yet same set up but with Sky, he can see and hear everyone

Maybe there is an issue with the ISP ?

HTH

Paul

 

[Rockspeny]

Happens a lot unfortunately, we had a room last night with five people local to each other geographically speaking, and it was still unstable and showing drivers loading etc.
Blame it on the solar mass ejection event, nudge nudge.

 

[bs13]

It seems that the host will see everyone all the time.

Last night I was racing with people I normally race with. The host decided to go to another track and the room locks up as it's loading. We had a few people drop out to free the room and it finally loads. After that I saw one of the guys that stayed in the room had loading lines under his name (I wasn't the host). We had him back out of the room and come back in and everything was fine.

 

[watermelon punch]

This happened again in one of our club lounge races. With one person as host (at top of list), 2 others couldn't even join the room.
This person (at top) says they have a wired connection.
With 3 different people as host, another person kept getting dropped from the lounge.
That person as not host, could stay in the room, but couldn't see half the other cars.
Once that person left, the person who kept getting dropped was able to join the room, stay, and see the cars on the track.

I don't get it.

Same lounge, same settings, me & one other person the same... the night before, people were using mics, in different countries, and there were zero problems.

Why? I don't know.

 

[tlsuth41]

Sony has server issues and has not admitted it. Simply put the problems we all are seeing are not caused by us. Wish they would admit it and fix the problem.

 

[Barra333]

The OP almost perfectly describes the problems I have been having...

- people constantly loading
- leave/re-enter room fixes problem til I join the track again
- some people constantly dropping out

These problems have only really been happening in the last few months - everything else has more or less been the same (similar group of drivers, all in Aus, same connection setup etc). I really wish Sony/PD would fix this, it really stops me from wanting to play the game.

Also, I run a 10m ethernet cable to my PS3, and have never had a problem

 

[David Brooks]

Thanks for all the replies people.

I am now tending to agree that it is the gamer servers as opposed to my connection. Another piece of evidence that leads me to this conclusion is that last night I got disconnected from my own private lounge when I was the only one in there, and I wasn't even on track. My bandwidth and latency would surely not have caused this as there would have been virtually no data transmission going on.

Then I went on to join another private room and raced a couple of people without any issues whatsoever!

I'm still partially tempted to try a wired connection, but I am not hopeful this will fix things based on all of the above.

 

[watermelon punch]

A wired connection definitely helps with a lot of things... from what I've heard from people who've made the switch.

But it's not going to help it if the problems you're having have to do with other people's problems with their connections.

For example, I could have the best hard wired connection possible.
Won't help that 2 people in my race are on wireless & have spouses or siblings downloading or streaming movies at the same time they're racing.
My connection being good won't help their problems. So then I'll still have to deal with that.