Re: I am so, so, SO sick of EA's connection problems. CONSTANT disconnects.

It's wireless at the moment, but like I said, I've tried both. Besides, even if a wired connection helped, it's just not feasible for me to make that setup permanent.

Trace: https://imgur.com/NS7REli

As I mentioned, one single hop from my local network to easo.ea.com.

For me, the daily challenge has never cared if you actually complete the objective, only if you finish a HUT Challenge game. Today I played the challenge against the USA that requires a shutout, and with just a few seconds left the CPU made it 4 to 1. It still counted for the daily challenge.

I'll try changing the DNS and get back to you. Right now, it's time to watch some IRL hockey! :D

@kwyjiboS2 

Can you run that trace again and follow all of the instructions? It looks like you didn't run the poll.

How far from the router are you? I definitely advise sticking to wired as wireless is the number one reason for disconnects and lag.

That's really odd the challenges are completing without meeting the objectives. We're not getting other reports of that and I've seen them fail. I'll test it out when the new one releases later today.

Whoops, you're right, I sent you an incomplete trace. Here's the complete one: https://imgur.com/eyOGsKq

Unfortunately, the Fios port is a good distance from the Xbox. I can string a super long wire temporarily for testing, but it's a safety hazard and I can't keep it that way. I also can't put the Xbox/TV by the wall with the port because the neighbors will complain about noise.

The daily challenges are the ones that complete. In my earlier example, the daily challenge that said to "Complete a HUT Challenge" had no problems accepting the game, but the HUT Challenge itself did not complete. I imagine nobody has mentioned this because it actually makes it easier to complete the dailies, so nobody is going to complain.

Interesting development: Haven't tried a different DNS yet, but I did hop on the game earlier today to see if it's still happening. I also decided to time how long it took from log in to lost connection, and it was exactly 1 hour for the first log in of the day. It's almost like the session is being marked as "expired" or something...

The biggest problem here, to me, is the fact that NHL20 is literally the only game that has an issue. All of my other games including RDR2, COD, Fallen Order, etc. have no problems whatsoever. Everything is buttery smooth! It's only this game. That's why it's so frustrating to try to get help for this, because as a professional software developer I spend a significant amount of time troubleshooting issues just like this (albeit in much less exciting software), yet generally speaking, customer service has to treat you as if you don't know what you're talking about, you know? I understand why, of course, it's just annoying. Note: that's not directed at you (in fact I appreciate the help so far!), it's more of a general problem.

Anyway, what I'm trying to ask is, can you think of any reason why it's only this game that has a problem if the problem is something on my end?

@kwyjiboS2 

Hey mate, I saw in one of your posts a wired connection wouldn't be feasible long term - Try searching "powerline internet adapter" on google. These basically run your internet through your regular electrical, essentially turning any outlet (with the adapter) into a wired connection, no 1,000 foot cables needed.

NHL in particular doesn't mix well with wireless internet so wired is definitely the way to go. Even if its technically slower than connecting directly to your router, I can vouch they are vastly more stable.

@TTZ_Dipsy I'd wondered if something like this existed, thanks for the tip! I'll have to see if it's workable in my place.

@kwyjiboS2 

As @TTZ_Dipsy said, a wireless connection isn't ideal. Especially when you're too far for a wire. That's the single biggest reason for disconnects and lag. That goes for all our sports games as there's a fair amount of data passing back and forth. A Powerline adaptor will possibly help, but we've seen issues with those as well. It's worth a shot.

Fallen Order isn't an online game so you shouldn't have problems with it. RDR2 obviously has an online mode, but I can't really speak about that or CoD as I'm just not aware of their networking requirements, but every online game is different. I know with our Ultimate Team games, they require a constant, online connection and if it's interrupted, you're disconnected immediately. It's quite possible CoD lets you quickly reconnect if you have momentary drops. That doesn't happen in our Ultimate Team games as people have used disconnecting in the past as a means to avoid losses. Once the connection is severed, the game ends with a DNF.

Since the high majority of people that contact us aren't that knowledgable about hardware, software and networking, we need to speak to people in a manner that's hopefully easier to understand.

Are you always disconnecting after an hour exactly? If so, that's possibly something with your equipment/provider. We don't have anything built in to the game to cause a disconnect after 60 minutes.

It's not the distance that's the issue, it's the loose wire. Creatures enjoy chewing on those! It's a one bedroom condo, and there's only maybe 15 feet from router to console, with minimal line-of-sight disruptions. That's why it hasn't made sense as the issue, until this last post of yours, @EA_Aljo.

So why is it so sensitive compared to other online games? Low latency is just as important in, say, an FPS, yet none of those have a problem beyond the occasional ping spikes on this setup. I'd rather the game rubberband on me than drop me altogether! Why can't the timeout take a second or two before severing the connection entirely? I don't see how that would enable cheaters...

You know, were I developing this game, I'd explicitly mention this sensitivity in an error message or something. Every support person for every online game ever tells you wired is better, eventually you learn to tune them out because like 99.99% of the time it's not the issue.

I've got a Powerline adapter coming tomorrow, hopefully that's enough. If not, I guess I can string the wire whenever I play? Kind of a pain in the *, but workable I guess, that is if I can figure out how the keep the furballs from chewing on it...

Of course, all of this doesn't explain why I was still having semi-related(?) issues with the game a couple days ago when it was wired: https://imgur.com/fAjMBk0

It does the thing in that picture from time to time after dropping connection.

I'm testing the 60 minute thing right now, we'll see if it's in any way consistent.

@kwyjiboS2 

With a game like NHL, rubber banding would make the game near impossible to play. If you have high latency, you'll probably see this happen. Once your connection gets too bad though, the disconnect will occur.

An FPS typically doesn't have an object like a puck that is continually in play. You shoot a gun and there's a beginning point and end point. It's a lot less complicated than a puck that is reacting to players, equipment and the environment. In order for it to be properly updated for both players, you're going to need a solid connection. It doesn't have to be fast. It just has to be stable and have a decent ping. My ping is normally around 40 ms and I'm not getting any lag. However, when I was on a wireless connection with about 15 feet between my system and the router, I regularly lagged and disconnected. That could have been due to multiple wireless devices in my home as well. Once I switched to a wire, all of that went away. I also switched to using my own router and modem instead of the combo unit my ISP provided. I researched it and found out they were known to have issues and not be good for gaming. 

I understand the dangers associated with stretching a wire across a room. I've been doing this for years and there have been a few times it's been tripped on. Thankfully my pets ignore it. I can see how that might be an issue for some curious animals though.

If you do some research on wireless, I think you'll find a lot of information backing up how it's not a suitable connection for gaming. Hopefully, when 802.11 ax is more common, that won't be so much of an issue. I understand you're skeptical when every support person tells you wireless is the problem, but keep in mind, we troubleshoot these issues all day, every day. The overwhelming majority of those connection issue cases are from people on wireless. Hopefully, the Powerline helps. I know it has worked for some. I'd switch if I could trust them, but my wired connection is just too solid to give up.

The error message means you lost your connection to Xbox Live. You'll see that when you're trying to play digital content. It can't be verified you own it without being online. That also could mean there's an outage with Xbox Live though. It would be good to check their status page here if it repeatedly happens - https://beta.support.xbox.com/xbox-live-status.

That makes a lot of sense. You guys should seriously consider finding a way to get a concise version of this displayed to people having these issues. Like I said, it's so easy to ignore this advice because it's rarely the major culprit with other games. You also usually don't interact like this with CS people, either. Most of the time it's just a random person in a call center, reading from a script.

Rubberbanding isn't a big deal when it's transient, and only affects you for a second or two. The issue I have is afterwards, when the input starts lagging. A half-second delay starts, and usually lasts the rest of the game, though sometimes it clears up at the next whistle. Kind of a crap shoot.

I adopted a new cat a couple months ago who loves to gnaw on string-like things. Already had to buy a new guitar cable!

Just finished seeing if the 60 minute thing would repeat. So far, I've been logged in for about an hour and a half, so it's nothing concrete. Perhaps just a coincidence, but now that I think about it, most people haven't come home from work yet... I'm going to pay attention to the time of day when issues arise. I'm starting to wonder if interference is a problem when everyone's home and on their wireless devices.

@kwyjiboS2 

The reason why it sounds like people are reading from a script is because there's usually only a handful of things that can be tested. We have to go through each of those to help narrow down what the cause could be. We don't actually use scripts. We just go through a trial and error process until we're out of options.

Are you on a wireless connection that is shared by others in your building? Not just others that might be in your home, but more of a community wireless connection? If so, it's certainly possible others coming home in the evening could be using up bandwidth that will then affect your connection.

No, it's not a shared connection. I'm thinking more in terms of attempted connections, and the fact that I'm literally surrounded by WAPs.

The more devices there are nearby, the more resources my router has to use to acknowledge and reject them.

@kwyjiboS2 

Thanks for clearing that up. Something else you might want to do is change the wireless channel your console is on. That might help. Hopefully the Powerline is a big improvement though.

@kwyjiboS2 

Sounds good. Just get in touch again when you have some news. Thanks!

This game is crap online. Every second game my players skate in mud, and freezing then catch up animations. Just pointless to play on these servers. Done with this and future titles

@kwyjiboS2 

Thanks for the feedback on a message about being wireless. I'll pass that on. 

It's good you're seeing improvement though. Let me know how it goes. We're pretty short-handed during the holidays so I may not be able to respond until next week.

Hello, @CanuckZero00.

Can you tell me about your connection? Is it wired or wireless?

@EA_Aljo It looks like my new setup will work, and it's apparently effective. I've only had one disconnect in the last two days that wasn't related to Live having issues. Thank you for all your help!

Hope you and yours have a wonderful holiday season!

@kwyjiboS2 

Great! I'm so glad to hear this! It's always frustrating to see a fellow NHL player not be able to play without disconnecting. If you have any more issues, please let us know. Have fun and good luck!