Curse

Than · Jun 09, 2005, 08:46 AM // 08:46

Up until about two days ago Guild Wars has been playing fine on my computer, a lag spike here or there, maybe a err=7 at an unfortunate time, but such is to be expected as nothing is perfect. But since yesterday my experince with GW has been down right maddening. I can hardly play for five minutes w/o either terrible lag or a err=7 or some combination of the two with lag procedeing err=7. I can't see it being a heat issue as it happens(and at times more frequintly) when I just start the game up. I've contemplated my wireless card as the problem, but why the sudden and drastic rise in problems now and not the first week of ownership? My hardware meets or beats the recomended specs, the only thing that can be called into question is my vid card. But that again begs the question of why I was able to play fine up until now? I'm at a loss.

Computer, Dell Inspiron 1150(a Laptop)
Operating System, Microsoft XP
Processor, Pentium 4, 2.80 GHz
Memory, 512 MB
Graphics Card, Intel(R) 82852/82855 GM/GME Graphics Controller
Modem, Conexant D480 MDC V.9x Modem
Internet, DSL via a internal wireless card.
Wireless Card, Dell Wireless WLAN 1350 WLAN Mini-PCI Card
ISP, Grande Communications(its a local company)

Dirkiess · Jun 09, 2005, 11:22 AM // 11:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Than

Up until about two days ago Guild Wars has been playing fine on my computer, a lag spike here or there, maybe a err=7 at an unfortunate time, but such is to be expected as nothing is perfect. But since yesterday my experince with GW has been down right maddening. I can hardly play for five minutes w/o either terrible lag or a err=7 or some combination of the two with lag procedeing err=7. I can't see it being a heat issue as it happens(and at times more frequintly) when I just start the game up. I've contemplated my wireless card as the problem, but why the sudden and drastic rise in problems now and not the first week of ownership? My hardware meets or beats the recomended specs, the only thing that can be called into question is my vid card. But that again begs the question of why I was able to play fine up until now? I'm at a loss.

Computer, Dell Inspiron 1150(a Laptop)
Operating System, Microsoft XP
Processor, Pentium 4, 2.80 GHz
Memory, 512 MB
Graphics Card, Intel(R) 82852/82855 GM/GME Graphics Controller
Modem, Conexant D480 MDC V.9x Modem
Internet, DSL via a internal wireless card.
Wireless Card, Dell Wireless WLAN 1350 WLAN Mini-PCI Card
ISP, Grande Communications(its a local company)

Wireless is known for dropping signals quite a lot especially if the software and hardware are not up to scratch, and also if the Router is not placed in the right area.
Having a Wireless Router near certain other devices can cause them to fall over a lot. Also, even placing them near certain internal house walls can also cause problems.

My brother had a wirelss Router/ADSL modem. He placed it in a corner and it was falling over all the time. He moved it to the center of the wall, and it works fine. Very strange.

Check this website out. A lot of good details here. www.dslreports.com regarding all sorts of routers and wireless devices.

Personally, I don't think Wireless as it is at the moment is good for gaming. There will be a lot of people here who will complain about me saying that, but ask most hard core gamers and they will tell you, Cat 5 gaming is the way to play until wireless becomes more mainstream and a lot more stable.

On saying that, I used to have a Linksys Router. I sent it back after a few months of use. It was aweful. It was supposed to be top of the line, perfect for gaming and had a wireless feature. I tried wireless, but didn't work very well. The gaming option that is said it had, to give it a DMZ for gaming, just didn't work, and then it died. I had more trouble with that ROuter than the current one, which I had before i tried to upgrade.

I have since bought another Wireless Router as I like to work in the garden during the summer, and this Router is fantastic. The signal strength is constant, I think i have only had a few connection drops and they seemed to be resolved with a new FIrmware update. It really is that good.

Ok, I've not tried it with gaming yet, but that is my next test with my laptop, which I'm sure will help some people out if I end up with any problems, as being a techie, I should be able to find and problems if they arise.

With regards to your setup, I can only say, try and connect directly to your Router and see if you have the same problems. Try firmware updates if you can't connect direct. And being a laptop, you are quite possibly stressing the whole system, causing it to heat up which is causing problems for the Wireless device on the laptop.
A lot of people seem to think this game is causing excess heat due to more stress than other games. Not sure how that can be, as my machines heat doesn't change much, and I only have stock cooling.

This may not be a lot of help, but it just gives you a few ideas.

Night · Jun 09, 2005, 02:28 PM // 14:28

Also being wireless, is your connection secured and only being used by you? Sounds to me you may have found a "friend" that may have just discovered free internet. There is more to than just turning on and plugging in a wireless router to keep neighbors and wanders from free internet service. This so far from what I have seen from customer is the biggest issue when it comes to drop in performance of wireless routers.

There are a few ways to keep most off and more strigent ways of keeping more determined and savy folks off of your network. If you haven't secured your network, I would first check with the router's website for specific info dealing with this.

Dirkiess · Jun 09, 2005, 03:05 PM // 15:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Night

Also being wireless, is your connection secured and only being used by you? Sounds to me you may have found a "friend" that may have just discovered free internet. There is more to than just turning on and plugging in a wireless router to keep neighbors and wanders from free internet service. This so far from what I have seen from customer is the biggest issue when it comes to drop in performance of wireless routers.

There are a few ways to keep most off and more strigent ways of keeping more determined and savy folks off of your network. If you haven't secured your network, I would first check with the router's website for specific info dealing with this.

You'd be surprised how easy it is to access a fully secure Wireless Router. There are sniffers out there that can force there way on, no matter what security you use. There was an article I read on it, from a security website, and the stuff these guys were doing, made the security pretty much useless.

If someone knows how and wants in, he will get in. The security these Routers offer are really to stop joe public getting a free ride, but won't stop hard core hackers.

Night · Jun 09, 2005, 03:14 PM // 15:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dirkiess

You'd be surprised how easy it is to access a fully secure Wireless Router. There are sniffers out there that can force there way on, no matter what security you use. There was an article I read on it, from a security website, and the stuff these guys were doing, made the security pretty much useless.

If someone knows how and wants in, he will get in. The security these Routers offer are really to stop joe public getting a free ride, but won't stop hard core hackers.

True but that can be said for just about any system believe it or not and not just limited to wireless networks. Everything from Social engineering to brute force programs will get the hardest working hacker onto most site. Just look at the person in England who got onto the military's supposedly secure networks.

But closing an open wireless network will cut out about 99% of the hackers and interlopers out there and the remaining that have the tools and know how probably wouldn't waste their time unless they were attempting some new procedure and wanted to test on an easier target. By simply stopping broadcasting the SSID of the wireless network, you will probably cut out the vast majority of interloper/ISP borrowers out there.

Dirkiess · Jun 09, 2005, 03:18 PM // 15:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Night

True but that can be said for just about any system believe it or not and not just limited to wireless networks. Everything from Social engineering to brute force programs will get the hardest working hacker onto most site. Just look at the person in England who got onto the military's supposedly secure networks.

But making a wireless network will cut out about 99% of the hackers and interlopers out there and the remaining that have the tools and know how probably wouldn't waste their time unless they were attempting some new procedure and wanted to test on an easier target. By simply stopping broadcasting the SSID of the wireless network, you will probably cut out the vast majority of interloper/ISP borrowers out there.

Yep, totally agree, just didn't want to make the OP panic anymore.

Jahara Zeppelin · Jun 09, 2005, 03:21 PM // 15:21

You lot about breaking into Wireless Routers probably scared the s*** out of Than now, lol.

Dirkiess · Jun 09, 2005, 03:25 PM // 15:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jahara Zeppelin

You lot about breaking into Wireless Routers probably scared the s*** out of Than now, lol.

Don't blame me.

lol

Night · Jun 09, 2005, 06:22 PM // 18:22

lol maybe but a scared person is typically a paranoid person and will be more careful. If what we discussed scares him then I suppose walking across a street or driving a car must also since they pose a the greatest risk to his safety (at least in the US). Many criminal acts are committed due to people's lack of knowledge when setting up wireless networks. I'd rather scare him into being more careful then lull him into a false sense of security. Than should realize that a couple simple steps will keep his/hers network secure from the vast majority of people. If that scares him, maybe thats for the better.

Than · Jun 09, 2005, 10:58 PM // 22:58

My wireless net work is secure(least that's what it says). And if someone wanted to hack into a wireless network in my neighborhood they would have their pick. Three or four other networks overlap and are detectable by my laptop, including one unsecured network.

So I don't think its that, especially given the weird ass hours I keep and the fact that I have two roommates, both of which use the network, and I havn't had these problems before hand, even at peak hours.

Guess I have some trouble shooting to do tonight. Thanks for the suggestions.

Than · Jun 11, 2005, 02:28 AM // 02:28

Recently I've noticed I've been restricted to three districts. Could that have something to do with it?

Dirkiess · Jun 11, 2005, 11:26 AM // 11:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Than

My wireless net work is secure(least that's what it says). And if someone wanted to hack into a wireless network in my neighborhood they would have their pick. Three or four other networks overlap and are detectable by my laptop, including one unsecured network.

So I don't think its that, especially given the weird ass hours I keep and the fact that I have two roommates, both of which use the network, and I havn't had these problems before hand, even at peak hours.

Guess I have some trouble shooting to do tonight. Thanks for the suggestions.

Have you tried the Direct Cable connection I mentioned before to cut out using the wireless option and use a Cat 5 lan cable?

Try this first and see if anything improves.

With regards to the District restriction, which location in game are you talking about?

Gen0c1de · Jun 11, 2005, 01:03 PM // 13:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Than

My wireless net work is secure(least that's what it says). And if someone wanted to hack into a wireless network in my neighborhood they would have their pick. Three or four other networks overlap and are detectable by my laptop, including one unsecured network.

So I don't think its that, especially given the weird ass hours I keep and the fact that I have two roommates, both of which use the network, and I havn't had these problems before hand, even at peak hours.

Guess I have some trouble shooting to do tonight. Thanks for the suggestions.

you might be running into interference from a neighboring wifi network. you want to try changing what frequency your router is running on. Or use a tool to see what frequencies the other networks are on and move to a different one at least 2 channels above or below.

Example

they are running there wireless network on 2.4001

so you would run your network on 2.4003+

Than · Jun 11, 2005, 05:14 PM // 17:14

I think it might have been a heat issue. A/C was acting up(moree correctly, my roomates handling of the A/C temp was acting up) recently. Fix that and put some space between the bottom of my laptop and the desk to allow better airflow. Be playing fine all morning.

I hope that was it. Still puzzels me as to why it started acting up after a week or so of playing. I guess A/C really is a wonder of modern technology.