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Anonymous's avatar
Anonymous
13 years ago

Re: How do I fix my "connection to the server timed out" error?

All friends that play BF3 play on desktops, so I can't really do that. Either way, chances are it's not my computer since it worked fine elsewhere.

8 Replies

  • Carbonic's avatar
    Carbonic
    Hero+
    13 years ago

    That's why I mentioned your network equipment / ISP to be the possible fault here. By that I mean your router and basicly everything between your computer and whatever hole your internet comes out of and your Internet service provider as well.

    First I would try doing a UOtrace to EA's servers to check for timeout problems and check where they occour - https://help.ea.com/article/how-to-uo-trace

    Also, you could look at this handy dandy post for possible tweaks to make your internet more stable for Battlefield: http://answers.ea.com/t5/Battlefield-3/Battlefield-3-fixes-guide-read-carefully/td-p/76264

    Please accept the solution if it's correct and press the XP button if somebody helped you.

    Cheers
    -Carbonic

  • Anonymous's avatar
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    I've seen that guide before and I tried all the fixes having to do with disconnection/crashing; unfortunately nothing worked.

    As for the UOtrace, the tutorial said I should type the name of the server in the UOtrace utility; what should I be putting there?

  • Anonymous's avatar
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    Ok I tried that and 6 out of the 12 host names had black icons/100% ping loss; but how am i even connecting to BF3 in that case?

    Here are the results:

    Host Name IP Address Hop Ping Time Ping Avg % Loss Pkts r/s Ping best/worst


    * Unknown Host * 10.0.1.1 1 1ms 1ms 0% 108 / 108 0ms / 128ms


    bas1-ottawa08_lo0_SYMP.net.bell.c64.230.200.128 2 6ms 7ms 0% 108 / 108 4ms / 132ms


    dis9-ottawa10_4-1-0_100.net.bell.64.230.58.142 3 5ms 5ms 0% 108 / 108 4ms / 23ms


    bx4-chicagodt_xe0-1-1-0.net.bell.64.230.186.110 4 22ms 25ms 0% 108 / 108 20ms / 74ms


    * Unknown Host * 12.249.212.9 5 23ms 27ms 0% 108 / 108 20ms / 87ms


    cr1.cgcil.ip.att.net 12.122.99.22 6 38ms 100% 0 / 108


    cr2.wswdc.ip.att.net 12.122.18.22 7 39ms 100% 0 / 108


    cr84.wswdc.ip.att.net 12.123.10.250 8 36ms 100% 0 / 108


    gar2.ascva.ip.att.net 12.122.134.117 9 35ms 100% 0 / 108


    * Unknown Host * 12.116.77.34 10 35ms 35ms 0% 108 / 108 34ms / 58ms


    fert07-eqx-iad.ea.com 159.153.224.226 11 35ms 100% 0 / 108


    meav5-pub.pt.iad.ea.com 159.153.226.105 12 35ms 100% 0 / 107

    Sorry if it's hard to read I can't think of any other way to post the results

  • Carbonic's avatar
    Carbonic
    Hero+
    13 years ago

    Well, as you can read from the guide, som hosts along the way will just not respond as that is not their intended function. However, if you run the test, specificly when you are having problems, you might notice that there are packetlosses or high ms's.

    Some questions:

    • Are the problem happening in other network intensive games? Other online fps games perhaps?
    • How is your network configuration? (Cable-->Modem-->Router(brand model)-->switch-->computer)
    • Have you updated your drivers, ie. motherboard, network adapter, etc. ?
    • Are you playing on different servers? (I presume they have good ping)
    • Is your router using the newest firmware?
    • Have you tried connecting your computer directly to the modem or however you are getting the internet.
    • Does it happen more frequently when you are using torrents, downloading, have several users on the internet?

    Looking at your uotrace there might be some problems, especially with the first one to "* Unknown Host" which I suspect is the Apple Airport thing. It should never reach a worst ping of 128ms also the next step reaches 132ms which is quite high. I don't think it should be high enough to course you to be kicked from the servers but it could indicate a problem.

     

    Again, this is the hard way to do it, the easy thing would be for someone else to play BF3 on your network 😉

     

    Please accept the solution if it's correct and press the XP button if somebody helped you.

    Cheers
    -Carbonic

    Ps. just as a reference, this is how my UOtrace looks(my ip replaced with x's):

    Host Name IP Address Hop Ping Time Ping Avg % Loss Pkts r/s Ping best/worst
    DIR-615 192.168.1.1 1 0ms 0ms 0% 142 / 142 0ms / 1ms
    ip-15-1.bnaa.dk x.x.x.x 2 0ms 5ms 0% 142 / 142 0ms / 23ms
    te-2-2.core16.net.bnaa.dk 84.238.2.74 3 12ms 10ms 0% 142 / 142 5ms / 20ms
    * Unknown Host * 194.255.178.97 4 5ms 5ms 0% 142 / 142 5ms / 14ms
    telia-dk-106842-kbn-b1.c.telia.ne213.248.66.146 5 5ms 5ms 0% 142 / 142 5ms / 7ms
    kbn-b1-geth2-3.telia.net 213.248.66.145 6 5ms 9ms 0% 142 / 142 5ms / 55ms
    kbn-bb1-link.telia.net 213.155.130.96 7 29ms 12ms 0% 142 / 142 5ms / 85ms
    nyk-bb1-link.telia.net 80.91.254.89 8 103ms 98ms 0% 142 / 142 85ms / 167ms
    nyk-b5-link.telia.net 213.155.131.137 9 87ms 91ms 0% 142 / 142 86ms / 139ms
    * Unknown Host * 192.205.36.109 10 97ms 93ms 0% 142 / 142 87ms / 145ms
    cr2.n54ny.ip.att.net 12.122.81.110 11 96ms 100% 0 / 142
    cr2.wswdc.ip.att.net 12.122.3.38 12 97ms 100% 0 / 142
    cr84.wswdc.ip.att.net 12.123.10.250 13 94ms 100% 0 / 141
    gar2.ascva.ip.att.net 12.122.134.117 14 107ms 100% 0 / 141
    * Unknown Host * 12.116.77.34 15 92ms 92ms 0% 141 / 141 92ms / 102ms
    fert07-eqx-iad.ea.com 159.153.224.226 16 96ms 100% 0 / 141
    meav5-pub.pt.iad.ea.com 159.153.226.105 17 98ms 100% 0 / 141

     

  • Anonymous's avatar
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    I don't play any other intensive games online on pc, but I do occasionally diconnect even on TF2, which is relatively light.

    I connect via wifi from my Airport Extreme, which is connected to my modem (don't know what kind; my ISP is Bell if that helps, since they supplied the modem)

    I haven't updated my drivers and don't really know how to

    I've had this problem on at least five different servers, all with ping under 50ms

    I believe there's an update available for my router, which I'll update before I try playing again

    No I haven't tried tried directly connecting to my modem but that's a good idea; I'll try that

    I don't know if other people using the internet, downloading, etc makes it disconnect more, but the rate of disconnection fluctuates like crazy so that could definitely be the case

  • Carbonic's avatar
    Carbonic
    Hero+
    13 years ago
    1. TF2 is not light on network traffic since there's many players. so that means it's not Battlefield's or EA's fault 🙂
    2. Now I don't know how far you are away from your wifi and what quality it is, but using a cable instead might help
    3. Look here how to update: https://help.ea.com/article/finding-devices-and-updating-drivers or just google it - your network card drivers are the most important
    4. Ok, problem is in several servers which means the server is not to blame
    5. Yes please update your router
    6. If connecting directly to your modem fixes it, then we know the router is to blame
    7. Well, testing this seems straight forward, test it when you are the only one there

    I hope this will lead to you solving your problem, I think I have been pretty helpfull so please click the xp button at my usefull posts and if this fixes and when you figure out what the problem is and thus it's solution then accept it so others with similar problems can find this thread easier 🙂

     

    Looking forward to hear how it goes.

  • Anonymous's avatar
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    Ok thanks for the help; hopefully I'll be able to get it working. 

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