Netplay Connection Improvement Guide

[WolfCrimson]

Are you frustrated because of all the laggy matches you've been having recently? Do you wish you can have lag-free matches all day, erry day?

Well, you're in luck! Starting today, the new lag-free SUPER-ROUTER will eliminate all-

No, there's no such product. I wish there was, but there isn't. What you can do is try to minimize lag on your own side as much as possible (unless you have the address of your opponent, go to his house, hold him at gunpoint and force him to improve his set-up).

So I'm making a thread where all information on how to improve your connection with your opponent is kept and displayed as a guide of some sorts. The thing is, I don't know all the tips and tricks needed to improve your netplay connection. This is to be a community effort, because different people know different things and can fill each others' gaps in knowledge, should there be any.

RULES

1. This is a thread for info that everyone can benefit from. So, please, NO bullshit. NO silly petty arguments. NO trolling.

2. Currently, I'm aiming on keeping info only about BB connectivity improvement on SEN and XBL. They have their differences, so if the info is relevant to SEN only or XBL only, please mention it. Otherwise, it'll go under "General". If the tip you're about to post applies to both, then there's no need to add a tag. I'll add the tip to the corresponding "SEN", "XBL" or "General" list.

3. If you have info which you are not sure is completely true, please mention it. If 3 or more people can confirm a tip listed under "? Suspected ?" (i.e. anecdotal evidence that this technique did improve their match connection and reduced lag) then I'll add it in the list of the "confirmed" tips in the first post. It will be kept in the "? Suspected ?" list till then.

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General

- Connect your console to your router with a wire. It'll improve your connection and make it much more stable.

- Make sure no-one else is using your internet bandwidth while you are playing. Other people downloading or streaming using your bandwidth is a common reason why matches can be laggy.

- Don't skip the intros that play out before the match starts.

- Port forwarding or, alternatively, setting up your console into a DMZ helps in getting connected to rooms, but it does not help increase actual connection speed. Guides on how to do so on each console are found under their respective sections.

- Some stages cause more lag, while some cause less. As a general rule, stages where there are lots of visual effects happening (such as the rain stage) tend to cause a bit more lag than others. A good stage for minimum lag is the Altar stage, AKA Mu's alternate stage.

Sony Entertainment Network / PS3

- Port forwarding or setting up DMZ:

a) Port forwarding can help with connectivity issues. First, set up a Static IP address for your PS3. Then, choose your router and follow the instructions listed.

b) Alternatively, you can set up your PS3 into a DMZ. You still NEED to set up a static IP address for your PS3 though, otherwise you risk compromising other devices that connect to your router.

- Do not open up the XMB after entering the character select screen till the end of the match i.e. only open up XMB in the lobby screen. Also, if you're the host of the room and not currently playing, if you open the XMB menu during the match it will cause massive lag as well.

Xbox Live / Xbox 360

- Post forwarding or setting up a DMZ:

a) Port forwarding can help with connectivity issues. First, set up a Static IP address for your Xbox360. Then, choose your router and follow the instructions listed.

b) Alternatively, you can set up your Xbox360 into a DMZ. You still NEED to set up a static IP address for your Xbox360 though, otherwise you risk compromising other devices that connect to your router.

- Here's a guide that contains lots of info that might help, check it out.

? Suspected ?

- Disabling media sharing servers might help reduce lag.

- Using mics during matches cause lag. Avoid using them for less lag.

Edited December 9, 2012 by Kurushii

[WolfCrimson]

Reserved just in case.

[Moy_X7]

General

- Connect your console to your router with a wire. It'll improve your connection and make it much more stable.

- Make sure no-one else is using your internet bandwidth while you are playing. Other people downloading or streaming using your bandwidth is a common reason why matches can be laggy.

Man, they should make this a mandatory rule for hopping online.

? Suspected ?

- On SEN, don't open up the XMB after entering the character select screen till the end of the match i.e. only open up XMB in the lobby screen.

The fuck? Does that really cause lag? lol

You might wanna add the "mics cause lag" and that "Mu's Alternate Stage reduces console lag" to the "Suspected" section.

[Jyosua]

Don't skip the intros. It allows for better synchronization.

[TD]

opening xmb, texting, any of that on an after char select screen does indeed cause lag and lag spikes, bad ones at that. it may be tempting to reply to that message but you might piss off the guy you're playing

[toanenadiz]

Port forwarding or placing your system in a DMZ always helps.

[mAc Chaos]

V-13's stage always seemed to be laggier than usual.

[WolfCrimson]

Port forwarding or placing your system in a DMZ always helps.

If you have a link to a really good guide that properly explains how to port forward and/or place your system in a DMZ, that'd be great.

V-13's stage always seemed to be laggier than usual.

Is that a definite thing, or should I place this under suspected?

Edited May 16, 2012 by WolfCrimson

[Daedron]

Just to add to the whole XMB thing, if you're the host of the room and not currently playing, if you open the XMB menu during the match it will cause massive lag as well.

Is it safe to do if you're not the host AND not the one playing, however?

[Dusk Thanatos]

If you have a link to a really good site that properly explains how to port forward and/or place your system in a DMZ, that'd be great. It'd be better for the guide.

http://portforward.com/

Is that a definite thing, or should I place this under suspected?

Definite. The rain stage also causes problems sometimes, iirc

[toanenadiz]

If you have a link to a really good site that properly explains how to port forward and/or place your system in a DMZ, that'd be great. It'd be better for the guide.

You gotta set-up a static IP address first: http://portforward.com/networking/staticip.htm

Find your router's make and model. BB isn't on the list of games but forwarding the ports of XBL and PSN itself should do wonders: http://portforward.com/english/routers/port_forwarding/routerindex.htm

Don't know if there is a website explaining DMZ. It just placing the IP address of your system in the spot of your router's menu where it says DMZ.

[zeth07]

If you have a link to a really good site that properly explains how to port forward and/or place your system in a DMZ, that'd be great. It'd be better for the guide.

Is that a definite thing, or should I place this under suspected?

Also you should include this site that was posted in that XBL Opening Ports thread:

http://www.freewebs.com/haximo/ports.htm

I would go as far as requesting from one of the mods to basically sticky this thread and unsticky the other one since this one should cover more. Then they could just lock / delete the other thread since the information would be contained here instead and not cover just XBL since it applies for both systems anyway.

Some other information,

On PS3 you want to aim for at least NAT Type 2. NAT Type 3 basically means the PS3 is being restricted and you don't want that. NAT Type 1, will probably only happen if you're connected DIRECTLY to your internet or the modem itself if it is separate from the router. Getting NAT 2 will probably be solved through port forwarding or putting the PS3 into DMZ.

On 360 I don't remember what it describes that same scenario as, but if you follow the instructions EXACTLY that's given on your 360 for trouble-shooting your connection, it should set you up to have an open connection as well. At least it did for me in the past.

You might also want to disable media sharing servers on your PS3 while you're trying to play online, not sure if that would directly help so I guess you can throw that on suspected. The 360 can do this as well but I don't remember what the options are for dealing with that since they've updated it so much since the last time I've used the media sharing thing.

I'd put the stage thing under suspected.

[WolfCrimson]

You gotta set-up a static IP address first: http://portforward.com/networking/staticip.htm

Find your router's make and model. BB isn't on the list of games but forwarding the ports of XBL and PSN itself should do wonders: http://portforward.com/english/routers/port_forwarding/routerindex.htm

Don't know if there is a website explaining DMZ. It just placing the IP address of your system in the spot of your router's menu where it says DMZ.

Actually, BB for PS3 is on the list of games, check it out. That's a specific router, but I think it should be there for all routers.

Gonna sleep now, will update the first post later.

[Wander]

Is it safe to do if you're not the host AND not the one playing, however?

When i do that, the match im spectating becomes "slower". This will annoy people when they finish their match and have to wait in the lobby for another player to finish watching it.

As for the stages, i guess the more animations/stuff moving in the background, the more lag that stage would cause.

[toanenadiz]

I actually only checked for BB on Xbox 360 and that isn't there. But I'm pretty sure every Xbox 360 game uses port 3074 for both UDP and TCP so you could follow the steps for any Xbox 360 to get the same results.

[Kyosuke Kagami]

What about people who bother themselves playing in lol wireless devices? (AKA a damned PS Vita).

Other than being as near as possible from the modem, what else could you do?

Kinda unrelated, but some of those stages that lag in consoles also lag graphically on Vita, specially when you saturate the screen with effects and shit.

[Jyosua]

Definite. The rain stage also causes problems sometimes, iirc

Yeah I can vouch for that. I've noticed that problem myself. SOmetimes it makes match between me and another person laggy when normally I have no problems with playing that person.

[cookiehours]

I did the port forward thing because lately I've been having input delay on my side so I'm doing my best to minimize lag.

[WolfCrimson]

Turns out that port forwarding the ports for PSN is better than port forwarding the ports for BB only, since PSN already contains the same ports that BB requires forwarded, and a few extra ones. So I'll post how to port forward PSN instead.

Edited May 18, 2012 by WolfCrimson

[catears]

This always comes up but before it gets out of control... port forwarding will only help you connect to other players (I.e. if you cannot join a lobby then it's likely restrictive NAT you have to fix). Fixing your NAT will not improve your actual connection speed.

[WolfCrimson]

I see... thanks catears, I'll mention it in the first post.

[Ichipoo]

What about people who bother themselves playing in lol wireless devices? (AKA a damned PS Vita).

Other than being as near as possible from the modem, what else could you do?

This is my problem too. Can't always keep constantly moving the modem to where the PS3 is all the time.

[Dusk Thanatos]

This is my problem too. Can't always keep constantly moving the modem to where the PS3 is all the time.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10208&cs_id=1020814&p_id=2164&seq=1&format=2

Worth it. I bought a long ethernet cable for when I lived in my apartment.

[Ichipoo]

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10208&cs_id=1020814&p_id=2164&seq=1&format=2

Worth it. I bought a long ethernet cable for when I lived in my apartment.

I was honestly considering purchasing a longer Ethernet cable at one time, til I remembered that the modem is in my parents' room and it's opposite from where my PS3 is and I can't have have my family trip over it just so I can netplay.

[Circuitous]

Move the modem.