ISP prices/speeds

[StarsMine]

nope. 56k with voice chat off on CSS would have the same ping. Heck, thats actually what the netcode of CSS is designed for. Your rate number actually is how many b/s you are sending. rate 30000 is literally 30kb/s

Think of it like a pipe, in this imaginary pipe, the water flows through the pipe at the same feet per second no mater what. Whether the pipe is a straw or a 30 inch pipe does not mater. What changes between said pipes is how much water, not the speed of the water.

Thats how internet speed works. 56k is a straw, 30 inch pipe is gigabit.

Now yes, copper (dsl/cable) is slower(~1/3) then fiber, but the distance you are on the copper is very short, we are talking about micro seconds here, not milli. once you hit the main box its all fiber from there.

Satellite is different, you will have large latency from that, but thats because of the physics of it, transmitting to a satellite, and the satellite back down to a box. So your "last" mile is well.. not a mile but a few hundred, so those micro seconds add up to a few milli

Also, my rates from South Dakota
http://swiftel.net/?page_id=461
im on 30, with 3 roommates. actual bill is ~ 81 because of fees and taxes
Also apartment is sorta weird, fiber to apartment, but then goes into phone lines, so I am actually getting 30 in a dsl format. Its whatever. No one uses the phone line. Then I powerline it to my room. so... Fiber to phone line, to power cables, to Ethernet... not 100% ideal, but it works, only problem I have is when the powerline decides to drop into power saving mode and I cant contact the DNS, its a glitch without a fix.

Reason our internet costs are high in my town is because swiftel (which is assosiated with the utlity companies here, niceeee) only has to compete with mediacom, an internet company somehow worse then comcast. Look at consumer reports its kinda hilarious, and sad.


I mean these are the rates my grandparents get http://connectnw.net/centurylink/sou...r/redfield-sd/

[Kasp3r]

Hmm, from how ive seen you play it doesnt effect you much

i've played with 80+ ping and its really pretty much the same just miliseconds different. u notice it but its not like it will affect ur game play that much. especially if u play on maps that u know.

[jwtemp]

While I agree with most of what Starsmine said about latency not being a factor of Internet speed I also disagree. While almost no one will be affected by latency due to Internet speed, BACK IN MY DAY it's definitely something we had to deal with. I feel there's a need to clarify and simplify his lengthy explanation and define some terms.

All information sent and received by computers is done so utilizing packets. Ping is the time it takes for a single packet of information to go from your computer to a server and back to your computer.

Latency is associated with ping but not the same thing and the numbers can vary widely. Latency in online games is the total amount of time it takes for a single 'tick' of a server to go from your computer to a server and back to your computer. In this case, in CS:S, you're sending multiple packets of data to the server and it's sending them back to you with each 'tick' to update your game client on what's happening in the game. The tick rate of a server determines just how much data is sent between the client and the server and higher tick rates mean more accurate onscreen action across clients on the Internet. All of this happens lightning fast, speeds incomprehensible to us really.

Because of this, it is TOTALLY possible that with low speed connections, i.e. 56k dial-up and DSL <3Mbps, you'll have a low ping but a high latency. Because your connection is stressing attempting to keep up with the server's information flowing back and forth, your latency is increased because you simply aren't getting the updates fast enough to keep up with what's actually happening on the server.

Bandwidth, which is that 'xxMbps' number all broadband connections have associated with them, is the total amount of data your connection is capable of handling at any given moment. Generally, because the data transfer required by online games is quite small, broadband connections will be unaffected by latency because the connection has no issues sending and receiving data to the server in a timely fashion. The numbers ISP marketing teams put forth are misleading however, because generally the number advertised is the downstream only - while the upstream is significantly less. Because you must also send data while gaming online, if your upstream is suffering, your latency will skyrocket because you can't send the server the data required to continue updating your client.

In short Decimate, if you aren't below that 3Mbps downstream threshold, which virtually no one is anymore, increasing your bandwidth will have ZERO impact on your ping/latency to any given server on the Internet. So there's no reason to pay more money with the expectation of increasing CSS client accuracy. The only way to do this would be to switch ISPs and it's a total crapshoot as to whether or not that will help or hurt in the goal of better latency to a particular server. In my area, one ISP is significantly better than the other when connecting to the IBIS GunGame server, for what it's worth.

I think the issue we're all dealing with on the GunGame server lately is it just that it needs some tuning up. The last couple of weeks have affected me the same as you, I've been knifed from incredible distances and shot dead around corners regularly. The explanation for this is simple - my client and your client aren't seeing the same point in time from the server. If it's happening to just one person, this is usually a client side issue, but with as many folks as have been complaining lately it's no doubt on the server side.

And I think the server is located somewhere in Virginia or D.C. An IP address look up would help you pinpoint if you're really curious, just plug the IP into Google and it should pop up easy-to-read results.

Hope this helps!

[PureEvil]

Interesting responses. Those of you getting 100-150 mb/s, what latency are you seeing in game?

Damn Pure, what are you seeing? constant 1?

Reason why I'm asking all this is to see if it's even worth paying for the extra speed boost. I still see a noticable amount of lag even with my DL speed (damn reach around magic 10 ft back knifes) and I played plenty well enough with a 30 latency years ago. I don't play anything else other that CS.

Zero I think you're getting ripped off unless you're playing from South Dakota or something

Where is server located anyways?

im in northern canada so i get 40 50 demending i have 7 computers and 5 xboxs and 5 ps4s that not including all the phones running off of it so you know

[phil.™]

I use dial-up, so nobody can use the phone when I'm on the internet.

[StarsMine]

I use dial-up, so nobody can use the phone when I'm on the internet.

I mean, technically my internet goes through phone lines, so I dont think I can use the phone and internet at the same time either. Who the fuck wired up this building. I pay for a phone line to, I just have never plugged a phone into it.

[phil.™]

I pay for a phone line to,

Oh shizah, i still have to pay 0.0

[Decimate]

While I agree with most of what Starsmine said about latency not being a factor of Internet speed I also disagree. While almost no one will be affected by latency due to Internet speed, BACK IN MY DAY it's definitely something we had to deal with. I feel there's a need to clarify and simplify his lengthy explanation and define some terms.

All information sent and received by computers is done so utilizing packets. Ping is the time it takes for a single packet of information to go from your computer to a server and back to your computer.

Latency is associated with ping but not the same thing and the numbers can vary widely. Latency in online games is the total amount of time it takes for a single 'tick' of a server to go from your computer to a server and back to your computer. In this case, in CS:S, you're sending multiple packets of data to the server and it's sending them back to you with each 'tick' to update your game client on what's happening in the game. The tick rate of a server determines just how much data is sent between the client and the server and higher tick rates mean more accurate onscreen action across clients on the Internet. All of this happens lightning fast, speeds incomprehensible to us really.

Because of this, it is TOTALLY possible that with low speed connections, i.e. 56k dial-up and DSL <3Mbps, you'll have a low ping but a high latency. Because your connection is stressing attempting to keep up with the server's information flowing back and forth, your latency is increased because you simply aren't getting the updates fast enough to keep up with what's actually happening on the server.

Bandwidth, which is that 'xxMbps' number all broadband connections have associated with them, is the total amount of data your connection is capable of handling at any given moment. Generally, because the data transfer required by online games is quite small, broadband connections will be unaffected by latency because the connection has no issues sending and receiving data to the server in a timely fashion. The numbers ISP marketing teams put forth are misleading however, because generally the number advertised is the downstream only - while the upstream is significantly less. Because you must also send data while gaming online, if your upstream is suffering, your latency will skyrocket because you can't send the server the data required to continue updating your client.

In short Decimate, if you aren't below that 3Mbps downstream threshold, which virtually no one is anymore, increasing your bandwidth will have ZERO impact on your ping/latency to any given server on the Internet. So there's no reason to pay more money with the expectation of increasing CSS client accuracy. The only way to do this would be to switch ISPs and it's a total crapshoot as to whether or not that will help or hurt in the goal of better latency to a particular server. In my area, one ISP is significantly better than the other when connecting to the IBIS GunGame server, for what it's worth.

I think the issue we're all dealing with on the GunGame server lately is it just that it needs some tuning up. The last couple of weeks have affected me the same as you, I've been knifed from incredible distances and shot dead around corners regularly. The explanation for this is simple - my client and your client aren't seeing the same point in time from the server. If it's happening to just one person, this is usually a client side issue, but with as many folks as have been complaining lately it's no doubt on the server side.

And I think the server is located somewhere in Virginia or D.C. An IP address look up would help you pinpoint if you're really curious, just plug the IP into Google and it should pop up easy-to-read results.

Hope this helps!

Jw, nice, thanks for the further explanation. I know that back in the day, i very much had to consider bandwith. Nowadays maybe not so much. I think i might just be paying too much for something that only being closer would help. I'm going to drop my speed (and cost) and we'll see how much difference there really is.

[Fluffy Frufflebottoms]

Jw, nice, thanks for the further explanation. I know that back in the day, i very much had to consider bandwith. Nowadays maybe not so much. I think i might just be paying too much for something that only being closer would help. I'm going to drop my speed (and cost) and we'll see how much difference there really is.

You're right in what you remember, but people always forget about serialisation delay. If you want to receive a game update that's 512 bytes long including overhead through a 56kbps modem then it's going to take (512*8)/56,000 = 73 milliseconds just for that update to get through the last stretch from your modem to your ISP's modem. Over a 1 Mbps connection it'd be (512*8)/1,000,000 = 4 milliseconds, and over a 10 Mbps connection it'd be 400 microseconds. Used to matter, but we're past that now.

[Steamer]

You're right in what you remember, but people always forget about serialisation delay. If you want to receive a game update that's 512 bytes long including overhead through a 56kbps modem then it's going to take (512*8)/56,000 = 73 milliseconds just for that update to get through the last stretch from your modem to your ISP's modem. Over a 1 Mbps connection it'd be (512*8)/1,000,000 = 4 milliseconds, and over a 10 Mbps connection it'd be 400 microseconds. Used to matter, but we're past that now.

Hacker. Sorry, had to.

29.99 50/50. Usually registers 68/52 over a 10 min stretch.