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[sabbath_dude]

My upload is 240kbps on a 2mb download package. I can host 8 players from my region (UK/Europe) no problem but if there's more than 2 Americans in the room then things can start to get a bit laggy.

[C o s m o]

My upload is consistently at 375kbps (yes, bits), and I host games with no problems...and I always ask the room to make sure.

[twistedsymphony]

it really doesn't have much to do with SPEED it's all about response/ping time

lets say you ask me a question and the response is 10 words long.

Me having high upload speed would ensure that I could give you all 10 words in less then a second.

however if the response time is low it might take 10 seconds before I can even hear the question and have a chance to respond... then another 10 seconds before you get my response.


Games that have connection health meters are always going by ping time, not upload bandwidth.

your upload bandwidth just needs to be adequate... your ping needs to be good and it can always be better.

To improve your ping:
-use hardwired connection
-don't use networks "hubs" only switches or routers
-Set your console to a static IP and forward ports: 88 and 3074 UDP and TCP to your static IP
-ensure that there is little to no other internet based traffic (no downloads or streaming media, no voip calls, etc.) Local network traffic is acceptable as long as you aren't doing something ridiculously heavy like backing up a hard drive or ripping a disc over the network.

^ do that and you will have the best possible connection to XBL

[Navillos]

QUOTE(twistedsymphony @ May 3 2007, 01:01 PM)

To improve your ping:
-use hardwired connection
-don't use networks "hubs" only switches or routers
-Set your console to a static IP and forward ports: 88 and 3074 UDP and TCP to your static IP
-ensure that there is little to no other internet based traffic (no downloads or streaming media, no voip calls, etc.) Local network traffic is acceptable as long as you aren't doing something ridiculously heavy like backing up a hard drive or ripping a disc over the network.

^ do that and you will have the best possible connection to XBL

i have DSL and the modem has built-in switch or router so i connect directly to the modem. to forward the ports wouldnt i have to be on ICS? i mean i have the IP set to DHCP on the modem, but the modem settings i have mt XBOX1, PC, 360 set to static certain IP of the DHCP in the modem. so it will still put out different IP's to anything else i connect, but i guess i have those items at a static IP am i right?

[twistedsymphony]

QUOTE(Navillos @ May 3 2007, 02:43 PM)

i have DSL and the modem has built-in switch or router so i connect directly to the modem. to forward the ports wouldnt i have to be on ICS? i mean i have the IP set to DHCP on the modem, but the modem settings i have mt XBOX1, PC, 360 set to static certain IP of the DHCP in the modem. so it will still put out different IP's to anything else i connect, but i guess i have those items at a static IP am i right?

The "D" in "DHCP" Stands for "Dynamic" (meaning changing all the time) which is the antonym of "Static" (meaning always the same).

Using DHCP to assign your IP is the exact opposite of a "staic" IP assignment. If your DHCP "lease" period is 2 days and you disconnect your Xbox 360 for 2 days, when you reconnect your router is going to give it a new address at which point any forwarding you had setup will be broken and your connection ping times will plummet.

Pick an IP address for your console that is outside of the range your router uses for DHCP addresses..

for instance if DHCP is set to start at 192.168.1.10 and count up... pick something like 192.168.1.100 for your 360. Set this in the options for the 360 itself... you'll need to specify the gateway subnet mask and DNS servers as well (you can find these on any PC connected to the same network by typing "ipconfig /all" in the command prompt.)

Having a switch built into your router is fine and wont make a difference.

[Navillos]

well my modem static IP's are 192.168.1.1-63 , then the DHCP IP's are 192.168.1.64-153. so i will set it up in the static IP range and and i think the router automatically selects the ports for the xbox. see this link

http://support.2wire...amp;p_topview=1

how would i go about testing the ping?

i appreciate any help you can give me Twisted.

[twistedsymphony]

STOP...

you're confused...

step away from the router  

The static IP in your router is the static IP OF the router...

-static IPs are set by the device itself (xbox is set on the xbox, pc is set on the pc, router is set on the router)
-dynamic IPS are set by a DHPC server (xbox and pc are both set by the router)

The ports being used are not controlled by the xbox or the router... Xbox Live determines which ports it uses...

"port forwarding" is manually telling your router which ports to expect Xbox traffic on so that it doesn't have to figure it out on its own.

Imagine your console is a night club Xbox Live is trying to get into the night club... port forwarding is like putting it on the guest list the bouncer (router) doesn't need to size it up and make it wait every time you connect.

________________________________________

Here is what you do

-Turn on your computer (any computer on your network will do)
-Go to "Run" and type "cmd" and hit enter
-type "ipconfig /all" and hit enter
-write down the gateway, subnet mask, and both DNS servers

-turn on your xbox 360
-in the dashboard go all the way to the systems tab
-select the network option
-choose to manually configure the network settings
-use 192.168.1.160 for your IP address and use the numbers from your PC for everything else
-test the setting to make sure you can connect

-go back to your PC and open a web browser
-follow the "tip2" instructions on the link you posted earlier (make sure your Xbox 360 is on): http://support.2wire...amp;p_topview=1
-go back to your Xbox 360 and test the network settings again... the NAT should be "Open" which is what you want

Thats it...  

There is no real way to test your ping... but certain games will provide you with a connection health meter. I know when you're in the lobby on uno there is a decent health meter... smashTV has one as well.

Gears has a health meter but you can't check it youself, if you're hosting a game people who see your game listed will see your health (so you could have a friend check your room  in the search list. Most full retail games are this way... for whatever reason XBLA games have the most detailed and easiest to read health meters.

The health meter is usually a direct representation of your ping... a low ping is good and will be represented with a full and green meter. a poor connection/ping will have a short red bar. and a so-so connection will be mid length and orange or yellow.

My connection speed is mediocre at best, but with port forwarding I always have a full green bar on my health meter, and I get comments all the time on Gears about how I was the least laggy host they've ever had.

I know people with connections two or three times faster then mine who are laggy as all hell just because of how their local network is setup.

[Navillos]

ok i got it so far i have one more link for you to check out. it says that my modem reserves .1.1-63 range for static ip so should i still use the .1.160 IP you suggested.
http://support.2wire...amp;p_topview=1

[twistedsymphony]

QUOTE(Navillos @ May 4 2007, 03:27 PM)

ok i got it so far i have one more link for you to check out. it says that my modem reserves .1.1-63 range for static ip so should i still use the .1.160 IP you suggested.
http://support.2wire...amp;p_topview=1

if that's what they recommend then yea pick something in that range... say 55 or something.

avoid 0, 1 and 32 as those are commonly used by other devices.

it just seems a little backward to me as most routers have the dynamic range low and use high numbers for the static range... but it doesn't really matter.

[Navillos]

ok cool i got it goin. thanks for the help Twisted. now i have it saved to my brain. somebody get that man a beer.   sorry for jacking your thread Nylan. my bandwidth by the way is 5775kbps down and 805kbps up and i host every now and then but never hear any complaints from anyone.