rec.autos.simulators

I have P3 550, 128M RAM, Diamond Viper non-Ultra (32).
USB ADSL modem, 2 miles from end office.  25 year old
neighborhood.

I can usually download a test file at 800-1000 kbps.
My DSL connection *was* dropping every 15 minutes
but after unplugging cordless phone (15-20 ft away)
this seems to have stopped (again - ??? - maybe
a coincidence).

Problem:  Can't race N3 online!  I join servers
with pings of 40, 50, 60, and quality of 110,
and latency of 0.03 - it doesn't matter.  When
the host goes to qualify, I get "bad connection
losing connection" then booted.  If I manage to
make it through qualify - I usually get booted
on the starting grid (bad! bad!).

Last night I had a good race on BLKoch server.
Superb connection.  But I was booted out of two others.

When should I start to suspect it is the game?
(I have the latest patch.)

Does anyone out there have flawless N3 online
with DSL?  How about your experiences with other
on-line games and DSL?

Thanks

--
Doug Appleyard
"Got us a Dirt Track Date - demolition derby figure 8"

Sent via Deja.com http://www.racesimcentral.net/
Before you buy.

Have you completely erased (uninstalled N3) and installed everything
cleanly?  If not, I would start there.

Hope that little bit helps....just be patient...you'll get it worked
out.  

Lee

PS: My DSL is with Cincinnati Bell, no BellSouth but it shouldn't
matter.

<SNIP>

On Tue, 09 May 2000 13:31:33 GMT, Doug Appleyard

They do have solid connections to the large dedicated servers
found on Won but then most of us do.

--
Rich Koehler
rgkoehler(at)lucent(dot)com
killerk(at)home(dot)com

I am a Unix user at work.  Not that familiar with
Win98.  So could I ask a couple more basic questions:

1. How can I determine the hostname or IP address
   of a race server listed in one of the N3 arenas?
2. Is there a Win98 traceroute, ping, ypmatch etc.?
   What are they called (if not those same names)?
3. Bonus clueless question:  How do i iconify N3
   in order to run these tools on a race server
   I'm thinking of joining?

I'd like to see if there is a correlation between the
route employed, and my getting booted.

Thanks again.

--
Doug Appleyard
"Got us a Dirt Track Date, demolition derby figure 8"

Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.

After going to DSL I have been having flawless N3
online play. I was hosting and everyone that connected
had 56K. No warping to speak of...

However to get my DSL going required some complaining
to the DSL provider(s). It took some trouble shooting by
some high level engineers to sort out my particular problem.
Apparently 3 small network route settings were mis configured.

Everyone with DSL is at the mercy of this...

--

--

You are not using WON.NET???

You can probably find shareware versions of these
programs on the web.

You cannot config N3 to do any of that stuff. N3 does
have a function to click on a race and then ping the
host. This is when you are connected on WON.NET.
I don't know about TCP/IP independant races.

You guys might be better off going to WON.NET and
setting up passwords for all of your races.

--

(Maybe this could help when I have the BellSouth techs
on the line.)

Then I would try this while on Mindspring (dial-up)
and compare the route.

With DSL, I usually see 12 hops to get anywhere.
But this was similar to Mindspring, so maybe this
info won't help me very much.

I still have Mindspring (planning to disconnect IF
I get DSL working satisfactorily). With Mindspring,
and my 56K modem, it is very rare that I get booted out
of races for bad connections.  The ping is longer
(100-150, otherwise I don't join the race).  But
the connection is more stable.

With DSL, my pings are 40-70.  But the connections
are very unstable;  I get booted almost every time
the host takes the race to Qualify. Even with BL Koch;
Brick Onecall, etc.

I kill every application except systray and explorer.
I even kill ZoneAlarm sometimes; but no help.

I tried to *host* a race a couple nights ago.  I thought
maybe I couldn't join any, but would be able to host.
Well as soon as someone else joined, and I clicked on
"Practice", my connection dropped.

Ah well, it looks like its time to call BellSouth
again.  I guess if they can't help me I should try
RoadRunner?

Thanks to everybody for their advice.

--
Doug Appleyard
"Got us a Dirt Track Date, demolition derby figure 8"

Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.

Tell me about it! My DSL connection sucks recently. Not connecting to
servers on a continual basis. When I get my email, most of the time I
have to attempt to connect twice to retrieve it. Same with usenet and
many web pages do the same thing. It's not a consistent problem though
or I would suspect something at my end. My ISP also uses a piece of
software called Access Manager, which gives me a new IP everytime I
connect just like a dial-up account, but since using this software
(forced) I find that when connecting to usenet I get freezes of up to
a  minute sometimes until it connects. The acccess manager also takes
a long time to disconnect sometimes. Except for download speeds I
would rather be back using a dial-up account because  of this ***
sevice I'm getting. Time to complain and give some aggro.
--
Nos

Wow that sucks. It sounds like your guys are farting around with
so-called new technology with all of that fancy Access Manager
stuff.

--

Yes, but it does add a layer of security that most DSL providers don't
give. BTW, just bought F1 2000 based on your recommedation. So it
better not suck. :-) Where's the patch though? I thought I read there
has been a patch released, but can't find anything at the EA website.
--
Nos

I doubt it would help.

You might want to call bell south and ask that they drop
your DSL speed one notch. My DSL sync'd up at 420K
but had too many bad packets. They dropped me to
320K and it has been great. I only was able to host 2
races but it was great.

Maybe you should reinstall the game... BTW, here are my
tips to try...

1) Call bellsouth and ask them to drop your speed. You may be
getitng too much packet loss. However they should  know what
your packet loss is and drop it accordingly. Unless they are
clueless.

2) Never JOIN any races unless you are 100% certain the
host is using a fast DSL link. It does no goo to join a race
where the host is at 56K. That is why I put DSL in my racing
handle. So people would know it is a decent speed connection
for the host.

3) Start HOSTING more until you get up and going. BTW,
what is your CPU speed? I have a P3-600 and it was
awesome. It is possible you need a fast CPU to keep
up with the accelerated network connections.

4) Are you using the 1.24 (or whatever) patch?

--

Meaning that alot of other DSL providers use static IP addresses???
I would think in those cases, BlackICE or ZoneAlarm is good enough.

I didn't think there was an official EA F1 2000 patch. And hey... Even
if you think it sucks I will still like it so there :-)

Umm... What CPU and memory are you using?

--

Yes.

I use Zone Alarm too. Black Ice is OK, but from what I've read it's
not up to the Zone Alarm standards and ZA is free.

Dang! I've been searching the net for an official patch and there
isn't even one available. I even emailed EA and gave them heck because
their F1 2000 link is broken and i can't get the patch. Hehe. But,
just before answering this post I did find out there is no patch, but
lots of tweaks at BHMotorsports site. Tome to go install it and see
how it is.

P3 500 /128mb ram.

--
Nos

By this time it was 12:00.  I tried one race (not identified
as a DSL host), and it worked, no disconnects.  Also my
error count seems to be down.  But this was just for 15-20
minutes or so.  I will give it more of a workout tonight,
and if I still have problems I'll call BellSouth back
and ask about dropping the speed a notch.

BTW I have a P3 550, with 128 M RAM.  How big a race do you
think I could host?  When you host 2 races do you set one up
as a server, then actively host and race in the other one?

Oh yeah, I'm on the latest patch too.

Thanks again

--
Doug Appleyard

"Got us a Dirt Track Date, demolition derby figure 8"
   -- Southern Culture On The Skids

Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.