Rift via Telkom: Latency went from 200 to 600

Hi,

I have been playing Rift for a few months now, and get an average ping in-game of 200-230ms, with some spikes of 300ms. Generally, the game has been quite playable.

Recently however (last couple days), I have been getting an in-game ping of 550ms at best, and mostly 650ms-700ms, with spikes of 1250ms. The game has suddenly become unplayable. Trying to investigate this through Telkom has so far proven fruitless, as their call centre operator didnt even know what Latency or Ping was, and kept telling me that she could see I was sync'd and online and therefore my line must be okay. I insisted she log a fault and escalate it, but so far have had no further feedback.

Is there anyone here who can shed more light for me, or has experienced the same?

Thanks in advance.

try another isp , see if telkom is the issue, like a free webafrica trail or afrihost account.

Using webafrica for rift. Getting 180-230 latency must be your ISP

190ms average on Telkom. Must be a localized problem....

Thanks so much for the replies. I will try another ISP.

Follow Up

Telkom eventually closed my case, because for a couple days my latency dropped to under 300ms. Now, this weekend it is over 700ms again to Rift, on both my telkom subscription, and the new axxess unshaped subscription I signed up for.

The problem seems to be the first hop, which I assume to be my local exchange? Worth doing a new ticket with Telkom?


Tracert while signed into Telkom

Tracing route to www.l.google.com [165.165.38.147]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 483 ms 447 ms 457 ms dsl-242-172-01.telkomadsl.co.za [41.242.172.1]
2 528 ms 527 ms * 196.43.11.202
3 528 ms 516 ms 530 ms 196.43.26.106
4 481 ms 487 ms 517 ms 165.165.38.147

Trace complete.


Tracert while signed into AxxessLite

Tracing route to www.l.google.com [196.23.168.147]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 508 ms 510 ms 486 ms 196-210-152-1.dynamic.isadsl.co.za [196.210.152.1]
2 512 ms 513 ms 538 ms cdsl1-rba-vl2460.ip.isnet.net [196.38.72.217]
3 538 ms 519 ms 530 ms cdsl1-rba-vl150.ip.isnet.net [196.38.73.17]
4 532 ms 540 ms 538 ms core1a-pkl-te-1-1.ip.isnet.net [196.26.0.60]
5 495 ms 481 ms 429 ms csw5-pkl-tg2-7.ip.isnet.net [168.209.1.188]
6 520 ms 537 ms 537 ms za196-23-168-147.cache.googlevideo.com [196.23.168.147]

Trace complete.

Some more info .....

Exchange: Crawford/Rondebosch East

During the day the ping to the exchange (first hop) is generally under 30ms, and I have fantastic performance gaming. In the evening the ping to the exchange is typically over 300ms, and sometimes over 500ms. Could it be that the exchange is oversubscribed?

Difficulty with communicating with Telkom on the issue is that their helpdesk contacts me during the day, when i have decent pings, but after hours when the pings suck, the helpdesk is closed. How about that?

Finally, some confirmation from Telkom .... the exchange I connect through is congested at peak times (evenings, weekends). Hopefully I will hear soon if there are any plans to upgrade the exchange . For the moment, it will make no difference which ISP I subscribe to as they all have the same issues. I have tried subscriptions at MWEB, Axxess and Telkom. All have the same issue.

Is there anyone else here who connects through the Crawford exchange in Cape Town? Having a few more people submit fault reports can only help.