tracert analysis

[Michahellis]

Hi Everyone,

I'm pretty new to all of this, so please bear with me here. I've been having some minor latency issues when playing online on my ps3 lately and I learned about trace routes etc. I ran this trace route on a laptop with a wireless connection, using a Siemens se567 router. At the time I was watching Netflix on my ps3, which is wired directly to my router ( not sure if this matters). I've been told that using the internet while gaming online can increase my ping time,so presumably streaming netflix, would impact my ping time here?

Anyway, I was wondering if someone could tell me of my tracert looks normal. Also, my download speed is about 6.8 mpbs and my upload is about .500 mpbs. Would improving those speeds ( particularly upload) have any positive effect on my ping? I have used all the tricks people recommend like enabling UPnP on my router. I have not manually opened ports but Ive been told that UPnP will automatically recognize the appropriate ports and open them?

Tracing route to speedguide.net [68.67.73.20]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 1 ms 1 ms 1 ms 192.168.2.1
2 8 ms 7 ms 7 ms loop0.48w.ba06.stjh.nf.aliant.net [142.163.63.11]
3 7 ms 7 ms 7 ms te-0-0-0-5-84.dr01.stjh.nf.aliant.net [142.163.37.50]
4 46 ms 27 ms 27 ms te-0-1-0-3.cr01.drmo.ns.aliant.net [142.166.181.74]
5 29 ms 28 ms 28 ms te-0-1-0-7.cr01.hlfx.ns.aliant.net [142.166.185.117]
6 41 ms 41 ms 48 ms be5.bx01.nycm.ny.aliant.net [207.231.227.90]
7 41 ms 41 ms 45 ms xe-5-3-0.edge2.NewYork1.Level3.net [4.71.230.101]
8 59 ms 42 ms 54 ms vlan70.csw2.NewYork1.Level3.net [4.69.155.126]
9 41 ms 46 ms 41 ms ae-71-71.ebr1.NewYork1.Level3.net [4.69.134.69]

10 51 ms 49 ms 49 ms ae-10-10.ebr2.Washington12.Level3.net [4.69.148.50]
11 51 ms 50 ms 49 ms ae-1-100.ebr1.Washington12.Level3.net [4.69.143.213]
12 64 ms 58 ms 64 ms ae-6-6.ebr1.Atlanta2.Level3.net [4.69.148.105]
13 81 ms 58 ms 58 ms ae-1-51.edge4.Atlanta2.Level3.net [4.69.150.13]

14 166 ms 210 ms 203 ms GORACK-LLC.edge4.Atlanta2.Level3.net [4.28.182.34]
15 64 ms 65 ms 65 ms speedguide.net [68.67.73.20]

Trace complete.

Anyway, any comments or advice would be much appreciated

Dave

ps: my average ping times run about 50-85 ms to servers in the NE and Great Lakes, which is where the servers I use for gaming are located.

[Philip]

Your trace looks ok (no high spikes or packet loss near you).

Downloading/uploading near your cap can have a very noticeable negative effect on latency/gaming, as the video streaming may hog all the bandwidth theoretically, you shold be especially mindful of the upstream bandwidth getting utilized 100%. It is also possible to overwhelm a residential router with higher bandwidth (doubtful with your cap). It is all very subjective though, it is also possible that it has no effect. You can probably test by monitoring your latency in-game while streaming.

Are you experiencing any problems/spikes ? Do the traces to your game servers look ok ? Is there latency difference at peak times ?

[Michahellis]

The game I'm referring to is NHL 12. They seem to keep the actual location of their servers a closely guarded secret, but supposedly its in the North East. I've heard from some credible sources its in NY, but who knows really. I've done ping tests from all over the eastern seaboard and my ping times are generally 50-75. There is a noticeable increase in pine to western North American (100-150) but perhaps this is to be expected since I'm in Newfoundland. I do experience increased latency if watching youtube or something while gaming online on my ps3,so I try to make sure that all my bandwith is devoted to the game. People have told me that getting a better upload time from my isp could help. Right now I get about .500 mbps, would increasing it to 1 or 1.5 mbps.

I've also noticed that when I do a ping test to a server in St.John's (like 10 km away) I'm getting a ping of 205ms,which seems odd,maybe this is something with the server that is used on speedtest.net,since I get faster pings to locations over 2000 mi away.

Dave