Brick Posted January 28, 2002 Share Posted January 28, 2002 I think I just got a bit of a disappointment. I can't get a cable connection where I am right now, and I can't get DSL yet because there's not a server close enough. My only option to get away from 56k right now is to get a satellite connection, which, I hear, is not good for playing games. Is it actually worse than 56k for playing games online? About the same? I'm not looking for technical information -- I've got enough of that. I'm looking for experience... if anyone has used one of these connections to play a game and can tell me how well it works, I'd be grateful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wacky_Baccy Posted January 28, 2002 Share Posted January 28, 2002 This was discussed in another thread in the Swamp (which, BTW, is where this should have been posted - prepare to be moved!! ...when a mod comes by, that is ) The other thread can be found here. The gist of it is that they are good for browsing, but due to innate lag they are rubbish for gaming... I know how you feel, I'm stuck with 56gay too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agen Posted January 28, 2002 Share Posted January 28, 2002 That's what i heard too, i'm also on a 56gay but it does me fine for good netcode... like cs but bad for bad netcode *hisses at UT and AvP2* i'd stick 56k because it's cheaper than a sattelite and prob better. also StormHammer isn;t here so much now, and denise takes her new Tite: Moderator but flies away staright away. tho wilhuf is checking soon. you need someone who's on earlier in the day or morning to the americans.... like me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sarcastic Saint Posted January 28, 2002 Share Posted January 28, 2002 tite.....is that scottish for tit or something?? (j/k) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeathBoLT Posted January 28, 2002 Share Posted January 28, 2002 im having trouble finding an ISP provider over here.. right now im stuck on a 56k, but as soon as i can, im gettng a faster connection(either cable or DSL) and btw, this topic belongs here.. isn't connection a important issue concerning JKII MP? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bartolo_JCS Posted January 28, 2002 Share Posted January 28, 2002 I have connections Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Simpson Posted January 28, 2002 Share Posted January 28, 2002 Terminator, you think UT has bad netcode? When I was on 56k, I could easily get around 100-150 in ping when playing on a reasonably close server. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormHammer Posted January 28, 2002 Share Posted January 28, 2002 Originally posted by Agen_Terminator also StormHammer isn;t here so much now I have been known to lurk without posting. Though I must admit my 4am sessions cannot continue ad infinitum. 56k here as well...but then most of you already know my gripes, so I won't go into details. I will say that there is still a high proportion of gamers stuck with this speed connection, and this may continue for the next couple of years. Game developers certainly need to bear this in mind when developing titles, because from what I've heard and read, low bandwidth users are still very much in the majority. As for finding local servers with lower pings, that is sometimes easier said than done. Finding the right ISP also helps. I've heard that in the UK ISDN should be coming down in price in the near future, and although it can't hope to compete with DSL/Cable in terms of speed or price, it may become the only viable alternative for some of us in the short term. Unless this Mesh Radio trial in Cardiff (Wales) is successful... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wacky_Baccy Posted January 28, 2002 Share Posted January 28, 2002 Originally posted by StormHammer I have been known to lurk without posting. Though I must admit my 4am sessions cannot continue ad infinitum. I've noticed that little peculiarity of yours ... I often keep highly unsociable hours, too As for finding local servers with lower pings, that is sometimes easier said than done. Finding the right ISP also helps. I've heard that in the UK ISDN should be coming down in price in the near future, and although it can't hope to compete with DSL/Cable in terms of speed or price, it may become the only viable alternative for some of us in the short term. Unless this Mesh Radio trial in Cardiff (Wales) is successful... I'd heard nothing about ISDN coming down in price... are we talking vaguely comparable with DSL, or just less of a rip-off? Which ISP do you use, Stormy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormHammer Posted January 28, 2002 Share Posted January 28, 2002 I'm currently with BTInternet Anytime. But it's a pain, because they introduced a user verification applet that doesn't always work on initial connection. I'm also experiencing random disconnects...and they auto-disconnect after 2 hours anyway. As for ISDN, I just checked their site, and if you follow this link it should give you some indication of pricing. I'm not sure if this is before or after, though. :\ I know that they have been criticised by OFTEL over broadband, and the high cost of ISDN. I wish I could find the article I read...but it was in a PC mag, and I've read a lot of those recently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wacky_Baccy Posted January 29, 2002 Share Posted January 29, 2002 Thanks for the link... interesting stuff - shame they don't do monthly pre-pay for ISDN, or i'd prolly get it ... I don't really fancy going back to pay-per-minute, even for that... I use Tiscali.co.uk and the connection speed on my machine is always 45.3k (it's 10m from the main socket) and on my Mum's one (v. close to main socket) it varies between 48k to 52k. I almost always get connected the first attempt - maybe five in one hundred fail... Tiscali also kick you after 2hrs (LineOne gave you three, but that's the best I've ever seen). Tiscali also don't have a period of inaccessibilty after they kick you (meaning you have to wait a bit before you can get back on) I've seen so many horror cases of people trying to deal with BT (not just about net access ) that I'd never recommend it to anyone - not even my worst enemy I really feel for you, being stuck with such a dodgy, unreliable and unhelpful provider. Change to someone like Tiscali and pay 15 quid a month for flat rate anytime access. The only thing BT are good for net-wise (IMHO) is providing the actual cabling to connect you to your ISP, and they don't exactly excel at that! PS - Tiscali don't have any 'user verification applet' rubbish to slow you down Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Millions o' Monkeys Posted January 29, 2002 Share Posted January 29, 2002 well like many others here i am also on a 56k, ahh well. But the good news is i might be getting good ol' cable in the near future....ahhhhh from my experience if i find a bunch of fellow 56k'ers and get into a nice server then it is often very lagless. Depending on game of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormHammer Posted January 29, 2002 Share Posted January 29, 2002 Originally posted by Wacky_Baccy I really feel for you, being stuck with such a dodgy, unreliable and unhelpful provider. I wouldn't say I'm stuck exactly...I'm just weighing up the pros and cons of some other ISPs before I ditch BT. I'm also looking into paying a little extra to have an online domain host so I'm not tied to any particular ISP's web space. Change to someone like Tiscali and pay 15 quid a month for flat rate anytime access. I'll add them to my list of those under consideration. Thanks. The only thing BT are good for net-wise (IMHO) is providing the actual cabling to connect you to your ISP, and they don't exactly excel at that! I can't disagree with you there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brick Posted January 29, 2002 Author Share Posted January 29, 2002 Hmm... I guess you're right; this post does belong here. I put it in the Valley because my main concern is being able to play JK2 online... guess I'll be dueling it out with the bots, anyway, despite the faster downloads. Anyhoo, thanks for your quick responses! You guys rock! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUNNER Posted January 29, 2002 Share Posted January 29, 2002 I thought ISND was just about extict? cable is almost as good as DSL but with cable your speed is not gaurenteed like it is with DSL. So at times your speed will be less then optimal but still much better then 56. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Millions o' Monkeys Posted January 29, 2002 Share Posted January 29, 2002 you can always play it over LAN... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GonkH8er Posted January 29, 2002 Share Posted January 29, 2002 Jedi Knight had shocking netcode. Quake 3 and UT have very robust netcodes, but the most connection-friendly are the tribes netcodes. On most days I got sub 200 pings on a 33.6 easily. Nowadays it's more like sub 40 on my cable. Funny though.... JK over a lan is about 40. Well it was for us anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broode Posted January 30, 2002 Share Posted January 30, 2002 I too am stuck with 56k... I would pick up cable or DSL (even ISDN!) if they had it in our area... but no, I'm stuck living half an hour away from Perth, a backwater Autralian city with very little broadband coverage at all. A lot of people pretty much do not play online games on 56k, but i have always seemed to cope with the lag. Ive played AvP2, JK, Ghost Recon(2000+ ping) and many other games which people say are unplayable on 56k and enjoyed myself. If developers put enough effort into their netcode (pre- and post-release) like Valve have done, they would find that the majority of 56k'ers (who are the majority) would start to pay attention. I commonly play CS with sub 150 pings on local servers, and its for this reason (plus of course it a good game... although its been ruined by the retail release and there is now many more good mods out there *cough* *hack* *sneeze* ) that a lot of 56kers play it. At any one time there is 50,000 people playing Half-Life and its mods, so it would seem a good move by game companies to polish up their netcode to the point that 56kers enjoy decent ping. And of course good client-side prediction to remove that 'lagged' feeling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlowbieOne Posted January 30, 2002 Share Posted January 30, 2002 Funny though.... JK over a lan is about 40. Well it was for us anyway You're not the only one. My buddy and I used to play over a LAN on 2 great comps with plenty of RAM, yet JK still had lag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest toms Posted January 31, 2002 Share Posted January 31, 2002 are there any figures around about what percentage of the pc population has broadband access? Since new games don't seem to really support 56k i always assumed this was because everyone in the US had broadband (i KNOW almost no-one in the UK has it, but then BT sucks). But i thought i caught the end of a news article that said it was less than 10% even in the US. In which case, who are these games being marketed at??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormHammer Posted February 1, 2002 Share Posted February 1, 2002 You could try doing a search on Google.com for some stats. I found this interesting article, which indicates that in the year 2000 there were 5.2 million US households with broadband (around 9 per cent). The number of DSL (not cable) users worldwide in June 2001 hit 10 million. Other articles on other Stats sites seem to indicate that Cable is dominating the broadband market. Although everyone seems to be forecasting rapid growth in the broadband industry...a lot of broadband providers are going bankrupt due to the higher costs of implementation on a wider scale. So the nature of the Internet may be changing, and more people might be migrating to broadband services...but traditional dial-up connections are still...and will remain...prevalent in the short term (over the next few years). So as I've said before, games still need to support lower bandwidth users. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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