Going back to the days when the only way to get on the internet, the tweaking to get every last split byte to tranmit perfectly over a 56K telephone modem was the crown of being able to play with a friend on games involving Multiplayer. Not everyone had the American T1 lines and speeds.
So you bought the best modem type you could get in your country then found out your telephone was connected to an exchange 20 miles away down copper and aluminium mixed phone lines. Talking to someone on these lines you had a faint hiss in the background. Although barely audible to the ear, to a modem it was a Thunderstorm that distorted the digital signal. So the modems came with something called a Maximum Transferrable Unit (MTU). Transfers were originally maxed out at an MTU of 1500, this still applies today to every single internet connection, Hard Line, Cable and now Fibre Optics.
Oh I hear you say this cant possibly apply to me I pay 200$ a month for a 350 Terra Byte triple fibre optic gold plated connection and my signal is perfect for gaming. Now comes a huge
BUT !!!!! what about your MTU your service provider will tell you that its set to 1500 because its a perfect line you pay for.
Your home may be brand spanking new, your tech the best there is on the planet, you Internet Service Provider the most efficient there ever has been in the world and you pay for the best lines and speeds there is. Great with a massive except, that the rest of the planet shas connection issues. Signals going from wire to satellites and back again, Thousand mile journeys on under sea and overland trunk cabling and of course lets not forget the background radiation from our Sun and industrial complexes.
We all know latency causes issues on gaming and you want the most perfect connection you can have and indeed pay for. But considering the rest of the world is still a melting pot of Modems, Broadband, Mobile and in cases a mile of network cabling taped into an exchange that shouldnt rellay be allowed, Latency takes a hit of the rest of the worlds issues.
Right enough waffle lets have facts
Here is what my connection MTU does when I try to talk to Google.cojm in the states. Im in the UK and have a fibre optic home line of 150MB / second speed. Ive chewed the hell out of EE to get the speed better till I found out that my in house wiring was still Cat 5e, so its now upgraded to Cat 8 so that got rid of one snag in my line. The internal connection with those yellow cables they send you is useless, buy a Cat 8 to maximise the direct line, wifi wont be affected.
I digress, so the connection. My connection is supposed to be maximised to an MTU of 1500. Now lets just consider a PING supposed to be a packet of data sent 4 times to and from a target URL, what if one or more of those packets of data gets distorted or lost, you got signal degradation and signal loss of data.
So for my place to Google in the US for the UK and Back
Pinging [142.250.200.36] with 1500 bytes -> ..fragmented
Pinging [142.250.200.36] with 750 bytes ->bytes=750 time=8ms TTL=116
Pinging [142.250.200.36] with 1125 bytes ->bytes=1125 time=9ms TTL=116
Pinging [142.250.200.36] with 1312 bytes ->bytes=1312 time=8ms TTL=116
Pinging [142.250.200.36] with 1406 bytes ->bytes=1406 time=8ms TTL=116
Pinging [142.250.200.36] with 1453 bytes ->bytes=1453 time=8ms TTL=116
Pinging [142.250.200.36] with 1476 bytes -> ..fragmented
Pinging [142.250.200.36] with 1464 bytes ->bytes=1464 time=9ms TTL=116
Pinging [142.250.200.36] with 1470 bytes ->Unknown error: 0
Pinging [142.250.200.36] with 1469 bytes -> ..fragmented
Pinging [142.250.200.36] with 1466 bytes -> ..fragmented
Pinging [142.250.200.36] with 1465 bytes -> ..fragmented
The largest possible non-fragmented packet is 1464 (1492 - 28 ICMP & IP headers).
You can set your MTU to 1492
What the hell !!!!
I pay for the .............. and so the elephant you never knew was in the room appears and your super speed you suddnly find out is working at less than peak efficiency. MTU
Look closer
Pinging [142.250.200.36] with 1465 bytes -> ..fragmented
So an MTU of 1465 is fragmented. As I said before the Line from your home to the first exchange is what your renting from your ISP, not the rest of the planet. So what does this actually mean
Pinging 142.250.200.36 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 142.250.200.36: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=116
Reply from 142.250.200.36: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=116
Reply from 142.250.200.36: Data Lost
Reply from 142.250.200.36: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=116
Your precious data packet that carries the signalk that you DID pull the trigger at that precise millisecond that would have won you the match didnt make it in one of four attempts in this case. Time or Latency of 8ms isnt to be sniffed at by most and is acceptable, but TTL or Time To Live = 116 means my connection to google has to pass through 116 servers and god knows how many miles or cable and wireless signal to get there and back. My trigger pull never made it.
So when you Multiplay anything from todays or yesterdays library of gaming genre, from Falcon 4 to Elite Dangerous (GASP) MTU matters. It may only be 1 packet of data but if your MTU is too high you could lose that one packet through no fault of yours.
So what to do about it. Well the same program that used to be the cutting edge of your modem connection back in the 90' s still works to make your connection improved today. You can of course alter your MTU in your router, assuming your ISP lets you have access to those settings. Their techs will tell you "But Sir / Madam, Our connection is the best ......" and so on. But the elephant is still out there.
I use a simple and fully free to use program to sort out my MTU issues, let me say that again as this isnt a commercial
ITS FREE TO DOWNLOAD AND NO SUBSCRIPTION OR CHARGES . (posted December 21 2024)
Speedguide.net provide this wonderful what used to be Public Domain software its fairly simple to use and does come with instructions
With this little wonder you can track your connection to the game server, find out if and where there is a bottleneck and what you need to do with the MTU to slide right on by it and get that important kill.
Ive been using this program from back in 1999 when I first got online with a free dialup ISP and hit the heady hieghts of 17k/second download. After a while of tweaking my MTU I doubled that and got a respectable 35k/sec which considering my home was 14 miles from an exchange and the internet was shall we say dumb in the UK I was happy with. As Ive come through one ISP to the next they all say "But our line is perfect for you sir and.." so on and so forth. This program will help anyone that doesnt have the luxury of having a 10m cable hooked into their local ISP server.
MTU of 1500 is a myth today but who knows in the future it may..............
THIS POST IS MEANT AS AN AID TO THOSE WHO NEED IT< IT IS NOT A SALES OR ADVERT FOR ANY PARTICULKAR PROGRAM THERE ARE A NUMBER OF MTU ALTERATION METHODS AND PROGRAMS OUT THERE I JUST CHOOSE TO USE THIS ONE BECAUSE ITS HELPED MY CONNECTION AND LATENCY.
Fly safe and straight Commanders and a Merry Christmas and New Year to one and all.
CMDR Diguelo
So you bought the best modem type you could get in your country then found out your telephone was connected to an exchange 20 miles away down copper and aluminium mixed phone lines. Talking to someone on these lines you had a faint hiss in the background. Although barely audible to the ear, to a modem it was a Thunderstorm that distorted the digital signal. So the modems came with something called a Maximum Transferrable Unit (MTU). Transfers were originally maxed out at an MTU of 1500, this still applies today to every single internet connection, Hard Line, Cable and now Fibre Optics.
Oh I hear you say this cant possibly apply to me I pay 200$ a month for a 350 Terra Byte triple fibre optic gold plated connection and my signal is perfect for gaming. Now comes a huge
BUT !!!!! what about your MTU your service provider will tell you that its set to 1500 because its a perfect line you pay for.
Your home may be brand spanking new, your tech the best there is on the planet, you Internet Service Provider the most efficient there ever has been in the world and you pay for the best lines and speeds there is. Great with a massive except, that the rest of the planet shas connection issues. Signals going from wire to satellites and back again, Thousand mile journeys on under sea and overland trunk cabling and of course lets not forget the background radiation from our Sun and industrial complexes.
We all know latency causes issues on gaming and you want the most perfect connection you can have and indeed pay for. But considering the rest of the world is still a melting pot of Modems, Broadband, Mobile and in cases a mile of network cabling taped into an exchange that shouldnt rellay be allowed, Latency takes a hit of the rest of the worlds issues.
Right enough waffle lets have facts
Here is what my connection MTU does when I try to talk to Google.cojm in the states. Im in the UK and have a fibre optic home line of 150MB / second speed. Ive chewed the hell out of EE to get the speed better till I found out that my in house wiring was still Cat 5e, so its now upgraded to Cat 8 so that got rid of one snag in my line. The internal connection with those yellow cables they send you is useless, buy a Cat 8 to maximise the direct line, wifi wont be affected.
I digress, so the connection. My connection is supposed to be maximised to an MTU of 1500. Now lets just consider a PING supposed to be a packet of data sent 4 times to and from a target URL, what if one or more of those packets of data gets distorted or lost, you got signal degradation and signal loss of data.
So for my place to Google in the US for the UK and Back
Pinging [142.250.200.36] with 1500 bytes -> ..fragmented
Pinging [142.250.200.36] with 750 bytes ->bytes=750 time=8ms TTL=116
Pinging [142.250.200.36] with 1125 bytes ->bytes=1125 time=9ms TTL=116
Pinging [142.250.200.36] with 1312 bytes ->bytes=1312 time=8ms TTL=116
Pinging [142.250.200.36] with 1406 bytes ->bytes=1406 time=8ms TTL=116
Pinging [142.250.200.36] with 1453 bytes ->bytes=1453 time=8ms TTL=116
Pinging [142.250.200.36] with 1476 bytes -> ..fragmented
Pinging [142.250.200.36] with 1464 bytes ->bytes=1464 time=9ms TTL=116
Pinging [142.250.200.36] with 1470 bytes ->Unknown error: 0
Pinging [142.250.200.36] with 1469 bytes -> ..fragmented
Pinging [142.250.200.36] with 1466 bytes -> ..fragmented
Pinging [142.250.200.36] with 1465 bytes -> ..fragmented
The largest possible non-fragmented packet is 1464 (1492 - 28 ICMP & IP headers).
You can set your MTU to 1492
What the hell !!!!
I pay for the .............. and so the elephant you never knew was in the room appears and your super speed you suddnly find out is working at less than peak efficiency. MTU
Look closer
Pinging [142.250.200.36] with 1465 bytes -> ..fragmented
So an MTU of 1465 is fragmented. As I said before the Line from your home to the first exchange is what your renting from your ISP, not the rest of the planet. So what does this actually mean
Pinging 142.250.200.36 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 142.250.200.36: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=116
Reply from 142.250.200.36: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=116
Reply from 142.250.200.36: Data Lost
Reply from 142.250.200.36: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=116
Your precious data packet that carries the signalk that you DID pull the trigger at that precise millisecond that would have won you the match didnt make it in one of four attempts in this case. Time or Latency of 8ms isnt to be sniffed at by most and is acceptable, but TTL or Time To Live = 116 means my connection to google has to pass through 116 servers and god knows how many miles or cable and wireless signal to get there and back. My trigger pull never made it.
So when you Multiplay anything from todays or yesterdays library of gaming genre, from Falcon 4 to Elite Dangerous (GASP) MTU matters. It may only be 1 packet of data but if your MTU is too high you could lose that one packet through no fault of yours.
So what to do about it. Well the same program that used to be the cutting edge of your modem connection back in the 90' s still works to make your connection improved today. You can of course alter your MTU in your router, assuming your ISP lets you have access to those settings. Their techs will tell you "But Sir / Madam, Our connection is the best ......" and so on. But the elephant is still out there.
I use a simple and fully free to use program to sort out my MTU issues, let me say that again as this isnt a commercial
ITS FREE TO DOWNLOAD AND NO SUBSCRIPTION OR CHARGES . (posted December 21 2024)
Speedguide.net provide this wonderful what used to be Public Domain software its fairly simple to use and does come with instructions
With this little wonder you can track your connection to the game server, find out if and where there is a bottleneck and what you need to do with the MTU to slide right on by it and get that important kill.
Ive been using this program from back in 1999 when I first got online with a free dialup ISP and hit the heady hieghts of 17k/second download. After a while of tweaking my MTU I doubled that and got a respectable 35k/sec which considering my home was 14 miles from an exchange and the internet was shall we say dumb in the UK I was happy with. As Ive come through one ISP to the next they all say "But our line is perfect for you sir and.." so on and so forth. This program will help anyone that doesnt have the luxury of having a 10m cable hooked into their local ISP server.
MTU of 1500 is a myth today but who knows in the future it may..............
THIS POST IS MEANT AS AN AID TO THOSE WHO NEED IT< IT IS NOT A SALES OR ADVERT FOR ANY PARTICULKAR PROGRAM THERE ARE A NUMBER OF MTU ALTERATION METHODS AND PROGRAMS OUT THERE I JUST CHOOSE TO USE THIS ONE BECAUSE ITS HELPED MY CONNECTION AND LATENCY.
Fly safe and straight Commanders and a Merry Christmas and New Year to one and all.
CMDR Diguelo
