Re: NHL 23 Servers - Where are the new and improved servers???

hey @EA_Aljo ,

despite being connected to the internet, I am unable to connect to ea servers in the mornings till roughly around 12;30pm. Today has been a different story though, I am still unable to jump into HUT, Versus, or WOC. Any info would be valuable man. Thanks

@OrangeCrush702 

What system are you playing on? 

It's always good to do a full power cycle when connection issues pop up. Unplug your modem/router and console. After 2 minutes plug in the modem/router. Let them come back online completely. Then plug in your console and start it up. Let me know if that helps or not. Thanks!

Copy.

I'm on PS5.

After unplugging the LAN cable for a good 15 sec I'd say we're good to go now.

Appreciate the timely response man!

Cheers from Vegas

@OrangeCrush702 

No problem! Glad to hear you're back online. If it happens again, make sure you power cycle your modem/router as well.  Reach out again if anything else comes up. Good luck on the ice!

What cities are the new servers located? And when will EA start using them? 

EA _Aljo,

Thank you for your response.  I greatly appreciate it.

Iowa issue aside, I have still yet to see the South Central (Texas) servers populate in '23.  I live in central Texas, roughly 200 miles from Dallas.  The servers that I was on the bulk of '22 playing on are nowhere to be found.  There is still no reason for me to be connecting to the VA/DC servers for 95% of my games.  Those servers are 1,500 miles away.  At a minimum, I would expect to bump to Ohio at 1,200 miles away or wherever the "new" North-Central or “existing” South-Central US servers are.

This weekend I reset my entire network.  Reset my all of it to factory defaults and went thru the painstaking hours to set it all back up.  I even set my XSX up as DMZ until this morning when I set back up port forwarding.  Yet still, I am connecting to VA/DC 1,500 miles away for 9 out of 10 games.  My "matchmaking" ping for Rivals (30ms & 250) and HC were both set at a maximum of 30ms, but had numerous games show 50+ in-game.  I should also mention that I did have some that in-game said between 17-21 which should be the norm when setting the max at 30ms.  The nom however was between 41-45ms.  For reference purposes, I have added speed and DNS tests from my fiber access, my internet is not the issue.

Would it be possible for you to confirm the “general" locations of the servers for NHL 23?  Could you also confirm that I have all the ports open needed for NHL 23?  Below are the combined ports for Xbox Game Pass / Xbox Live and NHL that I am aware of:

Port Forwarding

• Port 3074 (UDP and TCP)
• Port 53 (UDP and TCP)
• Port 3544 (UDP)
• Port 500 (UDP)
• Port 4500 (UDP)
• Port 88 (UDP)
• Port 80 (TCP)

Thank you again!

mpmatx

@mpmatx 

I don't know why you're not playing on the Texas server. I'm in Texas as well and haven't had a problem with that. I've relayed this information to the team though. If an issue is found, I'll pass that on here.

Hey @EA_Aljo ,

Back again with the same issue of not being able to gain access to play online. I'm afraid that if I continue following your recommended method, I'll damage the PS5. I am very curious why and how this sort of thing (connection loss to ea servers before starting a game) remains to be an ongoing issue despite my internet being perfectly functional. 

Hate to admit this fact, but I've dropped a generous amount of money into HUT this year and feel as though I am being taken advantage of in regards to the servers as of late. The issue has been apparent for about a week and a half now.  

Please help me resolve this issue.

@OrangeCrush702 

Unplugging your LAN cable shouldn't cause any problems other than not being able to connect. Have you contacted your ISP to see if they are noticing any issues? Also, try using alternate DNS settings with the steps here. If you don't see a difference, try the Google DNS servers. Those are: Primary alt number 8.8.8.8 - Secondary alt number 8.8.4.4.

@EA_Aljo

Any chance of an Australian server? 

The game is unplayable online here, 300ms+ connections for every game.

Before you say its my internet. We don't have any such issues with FIFA 23 as we have servers for that game. 10ms connections most games for that.

I'm loving this game and it is extremely disappointing that I cannot play online at all due to this. There are plenty of us playing here, we even have Facebook groups dedicated to it.

If you can't support online play for the whole world, why sell the game worldwide?

Hello, @punkologist 

I don't have any details on adding an Australian server. I really hope that happens. I can't imagine playing on a 300ms connection. I'll pass on the feedback for you. Thank you!

@EA_Aljo Thanks for the reply! Good to at least know someone is listening.

Hopefully it is not too hard to add a server given there is already infrastructure/data centers here in place for other EA titles.

@punkologist 

You're very welcome! Hopefully, the sport grows more in Australia. Most likely, if we had a bigger playerbase there, the chances of adding a server would be a lot higher.

@EA_Aljo The sport is growing rapidly here. We have a national league and there is talks of a NHL regular season game being played here. We have a lot of ex-pat Canadians here too.

Most of us have a team in all the big 4 US sports, including the NHL.

A lot of us Aussies (including myself) actually got into the sport by playing video game hockey, so it's kind of a build it and they will come scenario.

@punkologist 

That's really amazing to hear! Hopefully, we'll see the sport continue to grow in Australia. If a server is added, we'll make an announcement.

Please if you can explain how the servers are so ridiculously bad? it’s truly unbearable to play with my west coast teammates and i’m central. all of our internet is amazing speed and there is so much lag and and no response it’s crazy… 

@USA_SPEED_ 

If your whole team is on the west coast and you're in the central US, that's going to cause a weaker connection due to distance. If you play on a server closer to you, there should be a better connection.

I am in Northern Ontario Canada and my ping is always 67ms plus. What do I need to do to have better ping? It is not fun playing Chel EASHL with high ping.

Hey, @Topshelf47 

There isn't really anything you can do other than move closer to a server. Your ping is going to be higher the farther away from the server you are.

Any chance of more.servers or.a server in Ontario?

Look man. People all around central america are having a brutal experience. However, noone knows what's going on and calls it ice tilt..

Been playing this game since a kid in 92. I've bout had it with the poor support and gas lighting. I'm a grad of CNT (networking school) and know there is absolutely a server issue out here in Sask and has been for years. Lucky to still have me to be honest. You guys flaunt all these east coast guys that are having an awesome experience to the world. People that are good but haven't really proven themselves. Because, atleast a quarter of the world is playing them with a disadvantage. 

No clue what you did or what happened. But there was a noticable performance drop from week 1/2 compared to now. It was flawless in the beginning. Had a fair shot at all my opponents. 

Now my stacked 89 team can get rolled by an East coast dude sporting 82s and 83s and then be greeted with how bad I am afterwords. 

I am from Regina Sask. Out here we are home to a large number of big hockey stars and almost all of us LOVE hockey. Guess how many people I know who game and don't play this game!? Almost all my gamer friends. 

You guys are letting money fly away. Sure commit to prioritizing hut so you can make money. But, first prioritize your servers. They will pay themselves off with the amount of people who will flock back to the game. 

Long story short. You can talk as technically as you want. Their is an issue. I'm 40 and have been dealing with it personally for atleast 12 years. We get the butt end of the stick out here. It's about time you invest back into your community you claim to cherish. 

@dOUBLExI at least you have servers in Canada. Online HUT is not even possible in Australia. We of course still have to pay full price for the game.

@EA_Aljo hey Aljo, when’s the last time someone from manitoba or Saskatchewan have ever made it far in but champs or anything , i would love to see how many people in central Canada are in division 1 , I get clapped by low level players because I can’t execute a poke check or protect the puck or win any puck battle, it’s infuriating having the puck fly of my stick for no reason due to lag and every poke check or stick lift is an automatic penalty. I will not purchase a single pack or continue with this series as this is unfair and cash rewards are offered that we can’t compete for fairly.