Elite - dropping internet connections - wireless internet - what works for me

[excaliburhc]

evening all , just a quick tip for elite for those of us on wireless internet . I found that with Elite it would disconnect from server regularly due to internet drops , i found this generally occured in open flight and such , so i assumed (perhaps incorrectly) that during extended period of no internet connection that my router disconnects, (this only started happening when i switched to wireless internet from pstn - could be router config not sure)
to get around i just set a ping script running continuously which keeps constant internet traffic on my line but with tiny usage.


If your experiencing similar then it could be worth a go

copy the following and paste it to your windows search box (windows key and ctrl v to paste)

ping 8.8.8.8 -t

this will open a dos windows that will constantly ask google dns server if it is up - generating constant traffic)
close the window to stop the command.

(ping is a network measurement windows comand , part of the operating system commands,
8.8.8.8 is the google dns server,
-t indicates run until interrupted / window closed)

for a file to complete :
open notepad and enter the following
ping 8.8.8.8 -t
and save the file as a .bat.

then just double click to run it.

or copy the file to :
%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp
to run at startup automatically.

hope this helps someone

 

[xondk]

Generally it happens in open, because open constantly tries to match you with other players, if connection drops in that, then it will drop you.
Solo obviously doesn't try this.

It sounds like some of your hardware has connection timeout, and while your solution will work around that, you might be better off to examine the problem itself.

 

[shadragon]

Wireless is 50x less efficient than plugging in a cable. Wifi is subject to interference and lots of lag when others are using it as well. Use a cable wherever possible.

 

[KiNETiCA]

evening all , just a quick tip for elite for those of us on wireless internet . I found that with Elite it would disconnect from server regularly due to internet drops , i found this generally occured in open flight and such , so i assumed (perhaps incorrectly) that during extended period of no internet connection that my router disconnects, (this only started happening when i switched to wireless internet from pstn - could be router config not sure)
to get around i just set a ping script running continuously which keeps constant internet traffic on my line but with tiny usage.


If your experiencing similar then it could be worth a go

copy the following and paste it to your windows search box (windows key and ctrl v to paste)

ping 8.8.8.8 -t

this will open a dos windows that will constantly ask google dns server if it is up - generating constant traffic)
close the window to stop the command.

(ping is a network measurement windows comand , part of the operating system commands,
8.8.8.8 is the google dns server,
-t indicates run until interrupted / window closed)

for a file to complete :
open notepad and enter the following
ping 8.8.8.8 -t
and save the file as a .bat.

then just double click to run it.

or copy the file to :
%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp
to run at startup automatically.

hope this helps someone

So you basically DDOS Google? Brave...

 

[Patrick_68000]

Wireless is 50x less efficient than plugging in a cable. Wifi is subject to interference and lots of lag when others are using it as well. Use a cable wherever possible.

Yes, nothing better than the RJ45

 

[mikekim]

a lot of the time you'll find that power saving modes also affect your wireless connection.
so disable any power saving settings. i even think that the intel wireless have their own settings in their config app.
but as stated above a hard wired connection is infinitely superior and should always be used when possible (even if it means running a 50-60 foot cable from the router to your laptop/pc)

 

[c64orinoco]

OP... yeah, um, don't do that?

Sure, it might work, but your IP is very likely to ban you, or put you onto a worse link.

At least run it as a scheduled process that only runs every 5 mins or so.

 

[Noctover]

Lol this solution is awesome . Id suggest not doing it though .

 

[excaliburhc]

take a lot more then i to ddos google ,
been doing this since i got in my internet connection and while i could substitute other ips google dns has always been good for me however its a good point i never considered , scheduling is probably the way to go, worst comes to it i set up something via work

i should clarify that my connection to the router is cabled - however my internet connection is wireless receiver / antennae - ie mobile broadband.

I have no access to the router to make changes (im guessing the router is imposing my 20g limit and they dont want people messing with it.) . This is the only thing i found to enable me to play elite with my current environment .

thanks for the feedback lads/lasses - the ddos chance is something i missed.

 

[yodajedifishmaster]

depends what OP means by wireless.

wifi the issue isnt a dropping connection or timeouts. if those happen you can reconfig. the issue with wifi connections is you always get a % packet loss. its just not reliable for any gaming. you will even playing solo get times where the jump doesnt seem to end until the right packet finally makes it through, and still get logged out occasionally.

i use a 4G mobile broadband for elite and its far more reliable then connecting to a wifi hub in the same room, even though the hub has a physical cable connection to the fibre-optic.

 

[IndigoWyrd]

Here's another, more useful tip:

Go into your Network Adapters, right click, choose Properties, then click the big Configure button and then the Power Management Tab:

Turn off the default "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" default option, then Windows will stop turning your wireless adapter off when it thinks it's idle, even when it's not.
Much better than generating additional traffic via a continual ping, and actually raising your latency.

Of course, if you're a die-hard continual-ping person, use this instead:

ping 8.8.8.8 -l 1 -t

-l 1 will use a 1-byte packet, instead of the default 32 byte packet. Smaller packet, less load.
I do use pings to maintain some site-to-site VPN's where the tunnels are notoriously unstable, but I write them into batch files and schedule those batch files to run once every 15 minutes. It's just enough to keep the tunnel active.

And no, I would never game over a VPN. They don't help, they don't keep you anonymous. Your actual IP is still known to your ISP, to the VPN provider, and both can be subpoenaed easily.

 

[Darth Krayt]

I just did an experiment today by replacing a telco supplier ADSL router with WiFi with a fancy Netgear model I had and it literally tripled the connection speed status I now see. No more dropouts every hour or so.
So investigating the router can be an option if you can't run a cable for whatever reason.
@excaliburhc: It's probably worth taking a look in your router's setup menus to see if it has an option for "always on" internet or words to that effect.

 

[yodajedifishmaster]

Here's another, more useful tip:

Go into your Network Adapters, right click, choose Properties, then click the big Configure button and then the Power Management Tab:

https://s5.postimg.org/it8jb899j/Unmanaged.jpg

Turn off the default "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" default option, then Windows will stop turning your wireless adapter off when it thinks it's idle, even when it's not.
Much better than generating additional traffic via a continual ping, and actually raising your latency.

Of course, if you're a die-hard continual-ping person, use this instead:

ping 8.8.8.8 -l 1 -t

-l 1 will use a 1-byte packet, instead of the default 32 byte packet. Smaller packet, less load.
I do use pings to maintain some site-to-site VPN's where the tunnels are notoriously unstable, but I write them into batch files and schedule those batch files to run once every 15 minutes. It's just enough to keep the tunnel active.

And no, I would never game over a VPN. They don't help, they don't keep you anonymous. Your actual IP is still known to your ISP, to the VPN provider, and both can be subpoenaed easily.

tbh there is a checklist of things you need to be thinking about when windows 10. for example every single time it does a VERSION rather than a PATCH update (ie from win 10 to win 10 anniversary or from anniversary to creators) i have to first uninstall the integrated generic driver it installs over the current OEM one for my gaming laptop. win 10 does this during a major update - fine if you dont game but intel itself wont let me overwrite my custom driver from ASUS website saying its custom - yet windows 10 happily ignores that and installs it anyway. so i have to keep a copy of the old driver standing by so i can uninstall the useless generic one. (reason is that it ruins star wars battlefront with random black screen flashes. i am guessing because the generic doesnt deal with there being a proper nvidia gpu on the laptop and tries to fight with the nvidia drivers and gpu for control over displaying the game on the integrated intel hd 530...) then i go into advanced system settings (right click the my pc then advanced on left side > hardware> device installation settings > set it to no i dont want to install manufacturers custom apps etc etc - if you dont then each time it does even a minor update every update tuesday its going to redownload that crappy generic driver that messes up your gaming and reinstall it over the custom one that even intel wont let you install over.

i also check what wifi card driver its installed and that it isnt messing with the ability to use wifi at all.

THEN you have to go to settings and privacy and make sure any new stuff ms added with app changes or additional new apps are not downloading updates every 10 seconds. (im on metered 4g connection and dont use apps and windows store anyway). so disable all the send this info to that app for no good reason other than use by ms to make themselves money and me get spammed with ads for stuff i dont want.

then you have to go into the control panel. find the power settings, and make sure it hasnt reset them all to some default. such as the one about allowing the computer to turn off to save power on the wifi. you need to disable usb selective suspend. if you have a usb drive some dont recover well even now from that and you wind up having to unplug them and restart and then plug them back in before it will work again. other issues include if you have encryption on a usb external hdd. selective suspend cant tell that the H: drive you have open but idle is a virtual decrypted one. it cant tell its based on the idle usb one called F: so it turns off F: because you are on a laptop. it doesnt matter you are on mains power, win 10 is aggressively set to turn everything off ASAP. so you wind up with your bank details and business tax accounts or whatever locked inside a corrupted encrypted container because win 10 decided F: was wasting power you had plenty of.

so you need to check drivers, and fix any windows 10 forced installed that it shouldnt. to prevent that happening EVERY update you need to tell it not to download drivers meaning you need to do that manually when needed. then you need to find all the new apps they released that nobody uses and go into privacy and set them all live tiles off and not to have access to all your activity. you still cant stop cortana using data even then. then check the update didnt mess up power management and if it did go through the advanced power settings of your plan line by line disabling all the power saving options which you never want while connected to mains.

i also go into control panel (NOT settings - the settings 'app' doesnt have the full settings i need which is braindead imo) and find the sticky keys settings - you need to turn off (unless you use it) the part that monitors shift so that if pressed 5 times a popup asks if you want sticky keys on. i do this because another game i lost 4 hours play because it used shift to select things. naturally i select 5 things, get yanked out of fullscreen game to be asked do i want sticky keys (if i did i would have turned them on in settings duuuuuh ms) and when i alt tab back to game it has crashed. same with mosue keys. if anyone wants that stuff because they need it they will go into settings and turn it on like an intelligent human. and leave it on.

you may need to check other things as well. its worth checking the things i have mentioned since games run a lot better. oh that reminds me. ms just moved game DVR from xbox app to windows settings. game mode doesnt seem to help much but i found after one major win 10 update all my games got locked to either 30fps or 60fps - i think 60. this was because game dvr was set enabled in xbox app. it only has 2 options 30 or 60 fps. even if you never use it to record games it was on until you created or logged in a ms account on your pc instead of the local account i use and then log into a created xbox account and turned it off. hopefully now its in settings you wont have such a problem making sure its disabled. it does seem to be atm none of my games seem locked to 60 fps even when they could go above that.

 

[IndigoWyrd]

I use Windows 10 Enterprise (Microsoft Action Pack Subscription - work benefit) so I am spared a majority of Microsoft Windows 10 Annoying Updates, including Creators.
But for the standard home user, all of this holds true and then some.

Microsoft has hit new heights in Dumbing Down their OS for users barely suited to an abacus let alone a PC, and this business of having to Search for everything is... mind-boggling to say the least.

To date, Windows 2000 remains their crowning glory of OS's - which is why it was their longest-lived OS (15 years, compared to XP's 12 years). But Windows 10 is "it", so sayth Microsoft. But perhaps they'll finally get around to releasing the Administrator's Update that makes it more functional and less fashionable, for those of us who actually learned to use PC's.