Wi-Fi MMO ?

MORDETH LESTOK · Post by **MORDETH LESTOK** » January 10th, 2008, 2:30

I think I got a crappy wireless net card in my laptop...but was wondering if any of yous ever played MMO's (CoX or EVE) on Wi-Fi? Does it kick ya out of game much or lag alot?

I moved to a city that has Wi-Fi city-wide...I have a weak connection and its slow a bit for surfing...so, was gonna get a new adapter and make a "cantenna" for a good signal. Or am I wasting time/money and need to get hooked up again ?

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » January 10th, 2008, 2:38

CoX should be doable on a fairly poor connection, as it's not PvP mostly.

ISTR Friz has done eve over mobile phone too.

But of course, a real connection would be considerably better and more secure.

bomberesque · Post by **bomberesque** » January 10th, 2008, 6:20

I've tried EVE on wifi through my home router and it wasn't stable, couldn't stay connected more than a fwe minutes at a time. Possibly more to do with my own setup than the game (I'm not really even an interested amateur when it comes to hardware setup), but I got frustrated and bought a long cat cable now it's OK

eion · Post by **eion** » January 10th, 2008, 9:17

bomberesque wrote:I got frustrated and bought a long cat cable

<img src="http://www.encyclopediadramatica.com/im ... ongcat.jpg" width="300">

?

Post by **fabyak** » January 10th, 2008, 9:36

bomberesque wrote:I've tried EVE on wifi through my home router and it wasn't stable, couldn't stay connected more than a fwe minutes at a time. Possibly more to do with my own setup than the game (I'm not really even an interested amateur when it comes to hardware setup), but I got frustrated and bought a long cat cable now it's OK

I think that is down to flaws in the current implementation of WIFI as I had the same problems and running a ping it would drop about every 10th packet which got highly annoying (This was on US Robotics and CISCO kit (I think)) so wired is definitely the way to go for now

Lee · Post by **Lee** » January 10th, 2008, 11:22

My own computer (if it wasn't currently broke) runs via an ethernet cable since the built in wi-fi is a load of crap and disconnects constantly.

My brothers PC connects via wi-fi with one of these, after having the antenna snap off every "traditional" one we tried. He has absolutely no disconnects and there's no noticable difference between my wired connection and his wireless one. I suppose it just depends on luck whether you get a decent wi-fi card and router to go with it.

Post by **deject** » January 10th, 2008, 16:24

MORDETH LESTOK · Post by **MORDETH LESTOK** » January 11th, 2008, 0:41

cool...ty all

gonna pick up a new adapter this weekend...test it out...if it sucks still...return within 30days ftw

Post by **FatherJack** » January 11th, 2008, 2:30

Most people's wireless problems they ask me to have a look at are due to someone else in the neighbourhood using the same channel number.

One day I plan to get a palm bandit set up with the appropriate scanning software to demonstrate this, but for now, selecting random ones until it works does the job - particularly since it's usually in my parents street, and I set up 70% of the internet connections there.

Fear · Post by **Fear** » January 11th, 2008, 2:52

FatherJack wrote:Most people's wireless problems they ask me to have a look at are due to someone else in the neighbourhood using the same channel number.

Every wireless problem I've had or been asked to fix has been this too.

eRabbit · Post by **eRabbit** » January 11th, 2008, 3:53

While at home I played Eve, CoD, TEEF etc over Wi-Fi with no problems at all, depends on your setup I think.

bomberesque · Post by **bomberesque** » January 11th, 2008, 15:06

Fear wrote:

Every wireless problem I've had or been asked to fix has been this too.

quick tutorial on how to do this change channel thingy?

and Eion, can't get that pic at work, but I can imagine

Fear · Post by **Fear** » January 11th, 2008, 15:38

bomberesque wrote:quick tutorial on how to do this change channel thingy?

It is configured in your wireless router admin pages. This is typically a website-based admin screen you view in your web browser. You'll need to RTFM to find out more here as each is different.

In the UK/Europe there are 13 channels to chose from, in the US there are only 11. Each different channel represents a different frequency block the wireless connection will use.

Most wireless routers have an 'auto' mode for determining its channel - in my experience these never work and even seem to home in on conflicting channels. Switch it over to a manual selection and begin, through trial and error, testing the connection. The test is simply a case of going to your PC and using it for networky stuffs. Also check the signal strength (normally an icon in your system tray) If the signal appears weak or intermittent then it is a good bet your neighbour is also using the same or an overlapping channel, so try the next one. Rinse and repeat until you find a channel you are happy with.

It's also worth pointing out that the 11 or 13 channels do actually overlap one another. For example:

Channel 1 2399.5 MHz - 2424.5 MHz
Channel 2 2404.5 MHz - 2429.5 MHz
Channel 3 2409.5 MHz - 2434.5 MHz
Channel 4 2414.5 MHz - 2439.5 MHz
Channel 5 2419.5 MHz - 2444.5 MHz
Channel 6 2424.5 MHz - 2449.5 MHz

Note that only channels 1 and 6 do not overlap. The preferred channel separation between the channels in neighbouring wireless networks is 25 MHz (5 channels).

spoodie · Post by **spoodie** » January 11th, 2008, 15:58

eRabbit wrote:While at home I played Eve, CoD, TEEF etc over Wi-Fi with no problems at all, depends on your setup I think.

Well I played some FPS games that were out at the time (CSS and Beef) over wi-fi, when redecorating the house. There was a split second pause occasionally but otherwise perfect. Of course this was with a very reliable and strong signal.

MORDETH LESTOK · Post by **MORDETH LESTOK** » January 11th, 2008, 21:36

just to clarify...I'm tryin to use the City's Wi-Fi(transmitter off a lightpost)...not a neighbors...I'm not even using a router...just connecting thru a wireless net adapter on my laptop...I'm going to pick up a USB 2.0 wireless G net adapter for my desktop.

i'm sure there's security risks...but, just tryin to see if the connection will be good enough for gaming or not for now...

Post by **FatherJack** » January 11th, 2008, 21:42

bomberesque wrote:quick tutorial on how to do this change channel thingy?

As Fear described, but generally:

Open a command prompt and type:

Code: Select all

C:\Users\FatherJack>ipconfig /all

You'll get a lot of info but the one you're usually interested in is:

Code: Select all

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

That IP is typically your router - type it into a web browser to access the config, if you don't know the default login, you may find it here: http://www.phenoelit-us.org/dpl/dpl.html (try both admin and Admin if it's not working)

On mine, this gives you access to a page like this - where you can set the channel number:

When you apply the change, you may be briefly disconnected and have to tell your PC what channel number you're now using - although it usually does this automatically when you examine the connection either through an icon in the system tray, or Network Properties.

Post by **FatherJack** » January 11th, 2008, 21:51

MORDETH LESTOK wrote:just to clarify...I'm tryin to use the City's Wi-Fi(transmitter off a lightpost)...not a neighbors...I'm not even using a router...just connecting thru a wireless net adapter on my laptop...I'm going to pick up a USB 2.0 wireless G net adapter for my desktop.

i'm sure there's security risks...but, just tryin to see if the connection will be good enough for gaming or not for now...

How well that will work for you really depends on how many other people are using it and what they are doing. Wireless bandwidth is always shared between all users, and while wireless 802.11g at 54Mbps is likely sufficient for a few users accessing a single lower-speed uplink it can quickly get swamped if a lot of people connect, or if they start file-sharing between computers.

Security-wise you're tied to whatever encryption (if any) they employ, but be aware of what you're transmitting (no bank or ebay logins, etc) make sure your firewall is on and turn off all file sharing, including Media Player and WinAmp, which function independently of the Windows file sharing system.

MORDETH LESTOK · Post by **MORDETH LESTOK** » January 12th, 2008, 1:55

ty FJ...I'm thinking I should just get hardwired...there's no encryption on this...so basically just good for surfing I guess.

I did buy a USB 2.0 Enhanced G, but I'm thinking my laptop might not be 2.0 enabled cuz the 54Mbps is dropping down to 5.5Mbps with a strong signal. I'll try it on my desktop once I get it setup again. But will end up getting cablemodem eventually.

Moving sucks...and I can't wait to move out again...

Post by **FatherJack** » January 12th, 2008, 4:07

MORDETH LESTOK wrote:I did buy a USB 2.0 Enhanced G, but I'm thinking my laptop might not be 2.0 enabled cuz the 54Mbps is dropping down to 5.5Mbps with a strong signal. I'll try it on my desktop once I get it setup again. But will end up getting cablemodem eventually.

Moving sucks...and I can't wait to move out again...

5.5Mbps is likely your share of the uplink, and actually rather good. Without knowing what it should be, it's hard to tell. It perhaps would have been a waste for them to fit 100Mbps kit to each and every node, but the next option down is usually 10Mbps.

Actual bandwidth is only really important if you're trying to download big stuff, like a game patch - for actually playing, your latency (which shows up in FPS games as your ping time) and reliability of connection are most crucial. Bad latency causes lag, and unreliability can cause you to be completely disconnected from the server.

I'm on 512kbps internet - which equates to a max speed of 64kB/s for downloads, but it's reliable, gives good ping times and is very uncontested so it's fine for gaming as long as I stop downloads and stuff first.

MORDETH LESTOK · Post by **MORDETH LESTOK** » January 12th, 2008, 16:30

The thing is...somethings not quite right. My cardbus G is working better with a weak signal than the new USB Enhanced G with a very strong signal. But whatever at this point...my roommate just ordered Comcast cable and is going to be installed this week.

So, new question

which router should i get? Linksys ? Hmm...still means I'm going wireless though heh...but atleast its just thru one thin wall. (maybe I'll just drill a hole thru the wall)