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Xoubalf's avatar
Xoubalf
New Contributor

Hearthstone Latency Issue

There is a latency issue affecting only Hearthstone, only on Cox internet in Arkansas. You can see in this forum thread that multiple people are having this issue. http://us.battle.net/hearthstone/en/forum/topic/20744204383

I have a ticket open with Blizzard. The last thing they had me do was run a WinMTR test. After I sent it to them this was their response:

"Thank you for running the test. They are showing the same connection trouble we had seen before. I wish I had some updated news for you. I have passed on up the files you sent in. From what I have seen it looks to be just a local ISP issue. If you have not yet I do recommend showing the WinMTR to Cox. It shows some really high packet loss. This would indicate that there is something seriously broken or they may be doing some packet shaping. Both can cause trouble. Letting them know there is a problem could help get this fixed. Also I do recommend posting in the forum thread and to ask anyone else you know that is having this trouble also to post in the thread. We have not seen to many reports recently. The more players that post they are having an issue with the connection test results can help."

Please help! I can send the WinMTR test if you tell me where to send it.

22 Replies

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  • ChrisL's avatar
    ChrisL
    Former Moderator
    @Xoubalf

    If you have the info that they feel indicates the issue on our end we'd be happy to take a look and see what's going on.

  • Tecknowhelp's avatar
    Tecknowhelp
    Valued Contributor II

    I am in RI and have been playing HoTs most of the week and haven't seen any abnormal latency. In the post, the packets stop at Cox's firewall but the route through looks good;

    MyConnection Server Connection Test to 68.1.5.146
    Performed on Jun 17, 2016 2:28:25 PM
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    | Hop | %loss | IP Address | Node Name | Location | ms | Graph | Network |
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    | 0 | 100 | ? | - | - | - | | - |
    | 1 | 0 | 64.207.193.65 | unused.mynethost.com | - | 1 | + | InServer Networks |
    | 2 | 0 | 64.207.195.2 | border1.kcy1.inserver.com | - | 1 | +- | InServer Networks |
    | 3 | 0 | 162.208.86.93 | static-162-208-86-93.d.awsrdns.net | - | 0 | + | Admo.net LLC |
    | 4 | 0 | 162.208.87.33 | static-162-208-87-33.d.awsrdns.net | - | 0 | + | Admo.net LLC |
    | 5 | 0 | 184.105.250.41 | v210.core1.mci3.he.net | Fremont, CA, USA | 4 | -+-- | Hurricane Electric Inc. |
    | 6 | 0 | 184.105.81.210 | 100ge8-1.core2.chi1.he.net | Chicago, IL, USA | 17 | -+--- | Hurricane Electric Inc. |
    | 7 | 0 | 68.105.30.193 | chgobbrj01pos010100.r2.ch.cox.net | Chicago, IL, USA | 12 | + | Cox Communications Inc. |
    | 8 | 100 | ? | - | - | - | | - |
    | 9 | 100 | ? | - | - | - | | - |
    | 10 | 0 | 68.1.5.146 | - | Atlanta, GA, USA | 30 | +- | Cox Communications Inc. |
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    So the blue asked for a tracert instead of mirror glass. By looking over those most of the issues I see is with .attens.net. My guess is Blizzard bought a cheaper route and only the traffic coming back is being delayed. 

  • Murgy's avatar
    Murgy
    New Contributor

    Yeah, I have issues with Hearthstone & WoW right now and they blamed it on Cox Arkansas. I am getting latency between 2,000ms-3,000ms

    I have an open escalation ticket, but heres my trace route:

    Tracing route to 199.108.62.157 over a maximum of 30 hops

    1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 192.168.0.1
    2 17 ms 17 ms 8 ms 10.54.80.1
    3 12 ms 9 ms 10 ms 100.122.224.164
    4 9 ms 8 ms 8 ms 100.122.224.166
    5 27 ms 28 ms 27 ms dalsbprj01-ae1.0.rd.dl.cox.net [68.1.2.109]
    6 21 ms 21 ms 28 ms ae-12.r08.dllstx09.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.194.173]
    7 27 ms 27 ms * ae-5.r01.dllstx04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.3.233]
    8 46 ms 33 ms 31 ms ae-0.att.dllstx04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.8.238]
    9 38 ms 31 ms 39 ms cr2.cgcil.ip.att.net [12.122.132.198]
    10 33 ms 29 ms 28 ms 12.123.249.221
    11 * * * Request timed out.
    12 * * * Request timed out.
    13 * * * Request timed out.
    14 * * * Request timed out.
    15 * * * Request timed out.
    16 * * * Request timed out.
    17 * * * Request timed out.
    18 * * * Request timed out.
    19 * * * Request timed out.
    20 * * * Request timed out.
    21 * * * Request timed out.
    22 * * * Request timed out.
    23 * * * Request timed out.
    24 * * * Request timed out.
    25 * * * Request timed out.
    26 * * * Request timed out.
    27 * * * Request timed out.
    28 * * * Request timed out.
    29 * * * Request timed out.
    30 * * * Request timed out.

    PathPing:

    0 TYLER-W10 [192.168.0.6]
    1 192.168.0.1
    2 10.54.80.1
    3 100.122.224.166
    4 100.122.224.164
    5 dalsbprj02-ae2.0.rd.dl.cox.net [68.1.2.121]
    6 ae-12.r08.dllstx09.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.194.173]
    7 * * ae-5.r01.dllstx04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.3.233]
    8 ae-0.att.dllstx04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.8.238]
    9 cr2.dlstx.ip.att.net [12.123.16.78]
    10 12.122.172.125
    11 * * *
    Computing statistics for 250 seconds...
    Source to Here This Node/Link
    Hop RTT Lost/Sent = Pct Lost/Sent = Pct Address
    0 TYLER-W10 [192.168.0.6]
    0/ 100 = 0% |
    1 0ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% 192.168.0.1
    0/ 100 = 0% |
    2 7ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% 10.54.80.1
    0/ 100 = 0% |
    3 9ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% 100.122.224.166
    0/ 100 = 0% |
    4 11ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% 100.122.224.164
    0/ 100 = 0% |
    5 22ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% dalsbprj02-ae2.0.rd.dl.cox.net [68.1.2.121]
    0/ 100 = 0% |
    6 25ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% ae-12.r08.dllstx09.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.194.173]
    0/ 100 = 0% |
    7 25ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% ae-5.r01.dllstx04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.3.233]
    0/ 100 = 0% |
    8 28ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% ae-0.att.dllstx04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.8.238]
    100/ 100 =100% |
    9 --- 100/ 100 =100% 0/ 100 = 0% cr2.dlstx.ip.att.net [12.123.16.78]
    0/ 100 = 0% |
    10 --- 100/ 100 =100% 0/ 100 = 0% 12.122.172.125

  • Tecknowhelp's avatar
    Tecknowhelp
    Valued Contributor II

    I don't see any abnormal latency issues. The only thing of note is;

    7 27 ms 27 ms * ae-5.r01.dllstx04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.3.233] 
    8 46 ms 33 ms 31 ms ae-0.att.dllstx04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.8.238] 

    Looks like congestion leading to traffic deprioritization. Nothing in the 2000-3000ms you are experiencing though. I just played HoTs and got 38-42ms but I am in RI. Here is a pathping to Central WOW servers for comparsion. I also checked the forums and there are reports from different ISP, US and Canada, having 1000+ latency to servers since last week. Could this have to do with the Legion Pre-Expansion Patch?

    Tracing route to 199.108.62.157 over a maximum of 30 hops

    0 PC [192.168.1.136]
    1 router.asus.com [192.168.1.1]
    2 10.2.48.1
    3 ip98-190-33-123.ri.ri.cox.net [98.190.33.123]
    4 ip98-190-33-123.ri.ri.cox.net [98.190.33.123]
    5 nyrkbprj01-ae3.0.rd.ny.cox.net [68.1.5.157]
    6 lag-22.ear2.NewYork1.Level3.net [4.35.90.1]
    7 * * *
    Computing statistics for 150 seconds...
    Source to Here This Node/Link
    Hop RTT Lost/Sent = Pct Lost/Sent = Pct Address
    0 PC [192.168.1.136]
    0/ 100 = 0% |
    1 0ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% router.asus.com [192.168.1.1]
    0/ 100 = 0% |
    2 7ms 1/ 100 = 1% 1/ 100 = 1% 10.2.48.1
    0/ 100 = 0% |
    3 10ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% ip98-190-33-123.ri.ri.cox.net [98.
    190.33.123]
    0/ 100 = 0% |
    4 10ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% ip98-190-33-123.ri.ri.cox.net [98.
    190.33.123]
    1/ 100 = 1% |
    5 --- 100/ 100 =100% 99/ 100 = 99% nyrkbprj01-ae3.0.rd.ny.cox.net [68
    .1.5.157]
    0/ 100 = 0% |
    6 15ms 1/ 100 = 1% 0/ 100 = 0% lag-22.ear2.NewYork1.Level3.net [4
    .35.90.1]

    PS. Any change if you play on West Coast servers?

  • Murgy's avatar
    Murgy
    New Contributor

    West coast is the same, or WAS. I have most of my characters on west, I just did central for the example. Now I get the usual 65ms. It's very possible you are correct. Blizzard did not want to really assist the immediately found a post in the hearthstone forum and blamed it on cox, only because others have the issue as well. I have played WoW for the entire time of its existence (over 12 yrs) and never once had this issue until last night. At the moment its gone, but hearthstone has been unplayable with lag for many months now. Now I will note that this morning when I ran these tests, I could log in to the European wow server and have... 72 ms.

    I found a post about deleting some temp files from appdata and it definitely fixes all the lag in hearthstone... for about 2 minutes until they get re-created. http://www.hearthpwn.com/forums/hearthstone-general/general-discussion/61522-solution-for-lagging-hs-pc

  • Tecknowhelp's avatar
    Tecknowhelp
    Valued Contributor II

    I don't want it to seem like I am just pointing the finger back at blizzard. However the data isn't showing the described problem. It's possible the problem is only effecting UDP/TCP traffic and not the ICMP you test with. So ping/trace/pathping isn't going to show you the issue. 

    Murgy said:
    I found a post about deleting some temp files from appdata and it definitely fixes all the lag in hearthstone...

    It does? Are you sure your "lag" is connection based and not game based? I looked at my HoTs appdata and it only has video and play settings, no connection settings. Open it up with wordpad and look if you want. Just dont save any changes. Also, when I google that process, its always connected to screen freezes, BSOD, pink screens and other GPU issues. So if that is fixing your issues I think your issues may have nothing to do with the internet connection. Could the game be freezing, breaking the connection, causing the lag? Can you try a vanilla build?

  • Murgy's avatar
    Murgy
    New Contributor

    The connection is bad w/hearthstone even after deleting the file. The delay is about 10 seconds/play (only non-mobile devices). When I delete the file, it goes away for a couple of plays and then its back again. 

    And the ping in WoW is back to 2000ms for me. hots & overwatch are fine, just have issues w/wow and hearthstone. I also tried using my connection from my phone to connect to WoW (Google Fi, T-Mobile at the time) and had 60ms. Then I took my wife's laptop to my mothers house which has AT&T (down the street a bit), 57ms. 

  • Tecknowhelp's avatar
    Tecknowhelp
    Valued Contributor II

    Then what is the WoW timer measuring? I don't see how it can be measuring 2000ms+ but not see it in a ping/tracert unless it's a false negative or it's testing to some place else. 

    Also, do you happen to be using IPv6 on your network? I know a lot of changes have been made to IPv6 on the West Coast over the last 2 weeks or so. If you do have IPv6, try disabling it? 

  • Xoubalf's avatar
    Xoubalf
    New Contributor

    Thanks ChrisL for the reply.

    Here is the WinMTR log that Blizzard support said to send to you.

    As a reminder here is the quote from them: " From what I have seen it looks to be just a local ISP issue. If you have not yet I do recommend showing the WinMTR to Cox. It shows some really high packet loss. This would indicate that there is something seriously broken or they may be doing some packet shaping. Both can cause trouble. Letting them know there is a problem could help get this fixed. "

  • Tecknowhelp's avatar
    Tecknowhelp
    Valued Contributor II

    You are getting some minor packet loss on your network and some latency.  Also, the 2nd hop isn't responding to ICMP. Can you bypass the router and connect direct to the modem and test again to isolate?

    ::Edit:: Murgy  and  are your cases connected other then being related to Blizzard games? Same state? 

    Could a moderator report any known issues between Cox and Blizzard or one of their peers?