[TelstraClear] International Connection to WoW

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › [TelstraClear] International Connection to WoW

mattbush

784 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#31288 11-Mar-2009 19:54

Hi

I am an avid WoW player and tonight I am unable to play due to excessive ping/latency. I am a telstracable user in Khandallah area.

The following is a tracert to www.worldofwarcraft.com

Tracing route to worldofwarcraft.com [12.129.242.22]

over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 16 ms 11 ms 17 ms 203-97-110-1.cable.telstraclear.net [203.97.110.1]

2 13 ms 8 ms 8 ms ae0-840.ie4.telstraclear.net [203.167.223.114]

3 21 ms 25 ms 20 ms ge-1-2-0-843.ie1.telstraclear.net [218.101.61.105]

4 25 ms 24 ms 18 ms ge-0-2-0-1.xcore1.acld.telstraclear.net [203.98.50.251]

5 19 ms 18 ms 37 ms 203.167.233.10

6 144 ms 145 ms 144 ms i-4-0.wil-core02.net.reach.com [202.84.142.129]

7 145 ms 145 ms 146 ms i-7-8.tlot03.net.reach.com [202.84.251.238]

8 144 ms 159 ms 144 ms sl-gw16-kc-15-2-3-5-TS0.sprintlink.net [144.223.137.1]

9 145 ms 144 ms 146 ms sl-crs2-ana-0-14-0-0.sprintlink.net [144.232.9.250]

10 247 ms * 240 ms 192.205.33.189

11 240 ms 241 ms 247 ms cr1.la2ca.ip.att.net [12.122.128.10]

12 238 ms 239 ms 240 ms gar5.la2ca.ip.att.net [12.122.128.25]

13 238 ms * 235 ms 12.122.255.74

14 241 ms 242 ms 237 ms mdf001c7613r0003-gig-10-1.lax1.attens.net [12.129.193.242]

15 * * * Request timed out.

16 * * * Request timed out.

17 * * * Request timed out.

18 * * * Request timed out.

19 * * * Request timed out.

I called the help desk and was told that it is not a telstra issue even tho it is probably affecting hundreds of users as the issue seems to be international.

My question is......what can i do now other than change to ADSL2

stevenz

2802 posts

Uber Geek

#200696 11-Mar-2009 20:17

The ping time doesn't become a problem until it leaves the country, so TCL say that it's not their problem due to that, as mentioned in the thread in the TelstraClear forum below this one however, the reason it becomes a problem is because their routing is apparently broken (or at least sub-optimal) and they don't seem to be too worried about the fact. Looks to me like it's Australia's fault, but that's so often the case in life! ;)

If you know someone nearby with DSL then you could try them and if the result is better then you could try switching.

The entries from 15 onwards might just be blocking ping requests. Your results are also significantly worse than mine despite the fact I'm on TCL as well and getting the exact same addresses, not sure of the timing as apparently you posted your message 2 hours from now... Odds are my improved results are just because people aren't hitting the net as hard as they've gone home for the day.

Ping times under 300ms outside of NZ seem to be about "normal" from what I've seen for quite a while. If DSL is any better then I don't recall. If the timeouts are actual timeouts, then someone at AT&T probably knows about it by now.

Tracing route to worldofwarcraft.com [12.129.242.22]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1     1 ms     1 ms     2 ms 10.0.1.1
2    11 ms    19 ms    21 ms 121-73-51-1.cable.telstraclear.net [121.73.51.1]
3    11 ms    10 ms    10 ms ae1-947.ie4.telstraclear.net [218.101.61.54]
4    25 ms    21 ms    23 ms ge-1-2-0-843.ie1.telstraclear.net [218.101.61.105]
5    32 ms    33 ms    22 ms ge-0-2-0-1.xcore1.acld.telstraclear.net [203.98.50.251]
6    24 ms    29 ms    21 ms 203.167.233.10
7   149 ms   146 ms   146 ms i-10-3.wil-core02.net.reach.com [202.84.219.113]
8   147 ms   147 ms   146 ms static.net.reach.com [202.84.251.234]
9   148 ms   152 ms   150 ms 144.225.172.109
10   149 ms   154 ms   147 ms sl-crs2-ana-0-13-3-0.sprintlink.net [144.232.9.23]
11   149 ms   153 ms   147 ms 192.205.33.189
12   151 ms   149 ms   159 ms cr1.la2ca.ip.att.net [12.122.128.14]
13   147 ms   149 ms   148 ms gar5.la2ca.ip.att.net [12.122.128.25]
14   157 ms   149 ms   162 ms 12.122.255.74
15   149 ms   150 ms   157 ms 12.129.193.242
16     *        *        *     Request timed out.
17     *        *        *     Request timed out.

8d52797c436

264 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#200711 11-Mar-2009 20:57

One thing you might be able to try is ssh tunneling your WoW traffic to a server over in the US. I used to do that back when I was playing, and I really hate to link something I wrote, but here is a post I put up on my blog on how to do it.

The biggest problem with this is that you have to rent a server in the US to be able to do it, which at the moment is a little costly, but if you already have one for other reasons its a great little bonus. On top of that there is also a few companies that provide the service for a lot cheaper than renting your own server, but they have their own issues as last I heard a lot of the servers they used had become overloaded.

Hope that helps.

mattbush

784 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#200714 11-Mar-2009 20:59

I seem to recall this issue in the past and it seemed to coincide with other posts about Telstra routing issues.

One would think that any customer orientated commerical entity would be concerned if they indeed did have an issue such as this. There are thousands of wow users in NZ alone. I guess its probably techies not realising who actually pays their salaries.

PS
Tracerts also failing in the same way (outside NZ) to
www.microsoft.com
ibm.com
hp.com

etcetc

Behodar

10504 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#200743 11-Mar-2009 22:34

I can't speak for cable but I have TelstraClear ADSL in Whakatane and I usually get 180-200 ms to WoW (Bronzebeard; US west coast server). Many of my American friends have worse latency than that! It therefore doesn't appear to be anything inherent to TCL. Here's my traceroute:

traceroute to worldofwarcraft.com (12.129.242.22), 64 hops max, 40 byte packets
1 RTA1320.home (192.168.1.1) 3.162 ms 1.511 ms 1.238 ms
2 218.101.61.22 (218.101.61.22) 20.317 ms 21.611 ms 18.695 ms
3 218.101.61.161 (218.101.61.161) 54.112 ms 27.700 ms 18.096 ms
4 ge-0-2-0-1.xcore1.acld.telstraclear.net (203.98.50.251) 19.774 ms 19.923 ms 19.868 ms
5 203.167.233.10 (203.167.233.10) 18.924 ms 19.436 ms 19.810 ms
6 unknown.net.reach.com (202.84.141.21) 143.985 ms 143.480 ms 147.374 ms
7 static.net.reach.com (202.84.251.234) 142.077 ms 147.640 ms 145.072 ms
8 www.theregister.co.uk (144.225.172.109) 160.739 ms 145.832 ms 142.954 ms
9 sl-crs2-ana-0-14-0-0.sprintlink.net (144.232.9.250) 148.159 ms 147.664 ms 144.467 ms
10 192.205.33.189 (192.205.33.189) 145.772 ms 145.754 ms 148.000 ms
11 cr1.la2ca.ip.att.net (12.122.128.14) 147.436 ms 146.249 ms 145.683 ms
12 gar5.la2ca.ip.att.net (12.122.128.25) 146.045 ms 161.820 ms 147.670 ms
13 12.122.255.74 (12.122.255.74) 151.431 ms 145.648 ms 145.475 ms
14 mdf001c7613r0003-gig-10-1.lax1.attens.net (12.129.193.242) 152.262 ms 145.070 ms 149.682 ms

I would love to know why it went via theregister.co.uk!

mattbush

784 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#200755 12-Mar-2009 06:13

I reiterate that the issue is only with cable internet. Telstra adsl is probably fine as it uses Telecoms service.

Below is another ping at 6am this morning to microsoft.com

Tracing route to lb1.www.ms.akadns.net [207.46.19.190]

over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 10 ms 9 ms 9 ms 203-97-110-1.cable.telstraclear.net [203.97.110.1]

2 8 ms 7 ms 8 ms ae0-840.ie4.telstraclear.net [203.167.223.114]

3 18 ms 19 ms 19 ms ge-1-2-0-843.ie1.telstraclear.net [218.101.61.105]

4 18 ms 19 ms 18 ms ge-0-2-0-1.xcore1.acld.telstraclear.net [203.98.50.251]

5 18 ms 18 ms 19 ms 203.167.233.10

6 142 ms 143 ms 143 ms i-10-3.wil-core02.net.reach.com [202.84.219.113]

7 154 ms 154 ms 153 ms i-0-0.paix-core02.net.reach.com [202.84.143.62]

8 153 ms 153 ms 153 ms i-3-2.paix05.net.reach.com [202.84.251.70]

9 * * * Request timed out.

10 * * * Request timed out.

11 * * * Request timed out.

12 * * * Request timed out.

cyril7

9058 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Subscriber

#200762 12-Mar-2009 07:45

I reiterate that the issue is only with cable internet. Telstra adsl is probably fine as it uses Telecoms service.

That may not actually be correct, Telecom only provide a DSLAM port and clear transport of each ISPs traffic to a interchange point where it is handed over to the ISP, at no point does it touch a Telecom router, BRAS or other piece of kit, all traffic , routing, AAA is handled by the ISP on their kit where ever that may be.

Cyril

mattbush

784 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#200768 12-Mar-2009 08:47

If you see the thread below this one on TCL routing its beginning to make sense.

Thankyou Natasha on the call centre for telling me that because i can browse my service is fine. Its time I changed as TCL really has a lot of these issues. It seems we get great service for 6 months then it turns to custard eg ARP issues and then routing issues, and noone seems tho think there is a problem except your customers. Hmm.

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Ragnor

8219 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#200788 12-Mar-2009 11:22

Intermittant routing problems are part of the nature of the internet, ISP's rely on upstream providers bandwidth and routing to get to overseas servers. Sometimes things go wrong, hardware fails. loads are higher etc etc.

I second the earlier suggestion of using a ssh tunnelling service for playing wow, you get a way way better ping normally and it's only a couple of bucks per month. Man if I still played I wouldn't go back to playing without ssh.

I used to use www.wowtunnels.com back when I still played. They have 7 different servers on various different providers so chances are you will find at least one that has a decent route.

There servers are all named like below, if you want to tracert them:

tunnel1.wowtunnels.com
tunnel2.wowtunnels.com
tunnel3.wowtunnels.com
...
tunnel7.wowtunnels.com

mattbush

784 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#200796 12-Mar-2009 11:56

Thanks

I have tried connecting via the lowerping servers and get the same results.

It does seem many other Kiwi's are getting the same issues

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=15671258807&sid=1

mattbush

784 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#200876 12-Mar-2009 17:48

Seems to be only Telstra and vodafone/Ihug customers affected. I believe Vodafone get their international traffic via Telstra, which would make this a Telstra routing issue?

Buttonmash

361 posts

Ultimate Geek

#200920 12-Mar-2009 22:26

Another Telstra cable user here...
Same problems. I just can't stay connected during a raid. Only been occuring the last 2 nights.

mattbush

784 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#200923 12-Mar-2009 22:34

As you have probably seen, there is now 9 pages of complaints about this issue affecting Vodafone/telstraclear NZ customers. Must admit i feel kinda embarressed to be a NZer right now with such a crap service. I am also reading the Vodafone forums, and customers there are not getting any joy.

best suggestion for a fix so far is from the Blizzard forums from a TCL cable User here in Wellington.

I sympathise with fellow kiwis and Aussies who have this problem, but I'd like to add to the mix.

I'm on TelstraClear cable in Wellington NZ through paradise.net.nz, and I have no issues at all. I'm logged into Blackrock at the moment at 260ms. I usually log through a tunnel provided by pingbetter.co.nz, and with that login I have 160ms ping.

Someone suggested to me that only certain IP ranges are affected - a lot of my guildies are also with Paradise.net in Wellington and Christchurch, and they are having major issues. My contact said that they are all on the 202.xxx.xxx.xxx or 203.xxx.xxx.xxx IP range, whereas I'm on the 121.xxx.xxx.xxx range.

The fact that I have had no issues (and I'm on a lot) indicates that the problem is with international routing from NZ - USA, not at Blizzard's servers. I believe that some Australian ISPs also route through NZ via the trans-tasman cable.

I hope this helps somehow.

I am indeed on the 203.XXX IP range and havnt had a ping like 260ms for many many months.
I will investigate changing my IP as suggested tomorrow.

Quinny

885 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#200959 13-Mar-2009 09:16

Same problem, same issue. Can confirm that people affected seem to be on 202 and 203 and looking to be a problem in the USA with return traffic. 50 minutes on hold with TC last night just to get the first person and a yeah we know about it.

But I can say that some teckie types there are paying attention and looking into it - uber thanks to them. Somemust play wow themselves.

Still broken this morning. Junkie in a bad way as this hits day 3.

Quinny

885 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#201164 14-Mar-2009 09:33

Looks fixed. Junkies of the world your next fix is available.

mattbush

784 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#201166 14-Mar-2009 10:15

yes seems fixed and wowtunnels seems much better than lowerping.

It is sad that telstraclear seems to be at the forfront of a lot of these issues. Seems we have just forgiven them for the ARP issues when they develop international routing issues. As they supply vodafone with their international bandwidth, it seems vodafone put much pressure to bear on TCL by reading vodafone forums.

In the midst of this latest issue I did place a call to Telecome to change all my services to them (3 days ago now) and still havnt had a response.

Seems all these guys need a shakeup.