Client Stops Input/Updates

[Heximate]

I have my doubts on that at except maybe the router level. Can see if any firmware updates or anything are available, but at the OS level, I ran two different OS's and got the same behavior. While I could see Windows Defender doing that, I don't really see iptables being an issue, and I don't think I have SELinux or anything else special running on my Ubuntu boot. Why my router would suddenly take issue with some H&H UDP traffic out of nowhere though vs any other is a bit perplexing, but I might try and just run directly through the cable modem itself at some point and see what happens. At the very least it might narrow down whether it's some obscure client sync issue, or rule in/out my router as being the culprit.

[MagicManICT]

Yeah, the two different operating systems with the same behavior is why I'm thinking it might not actually be the computer, but something more upstream--router, modem, school/work/other service provider that might be running their own firewall. Usualy, when you have more than one computer on a network segment, or in this case a computer running more than one operating system, all with the same problem, start looking upstream from the computers themselves. (There is the case where all the computers are all the same hardware running all the same software and driver versions, but this isn't one of them.)

As a side note, I've not seen Windows Defender do anything like this myself, though I have seen other firewalls and security suites do it. There have also been cases of routers and modems doing this, too.

[loftar]

I have seen some stuff on the forums that indicated maybe some people were having this issue?

It's pretty rare as far as I can tell, and it's always difficult to get useful details out of it, but my interpretation has been that there exists some network equipment has weird issues dealing with UDP traffic, which might be why you're not seeing a lot of it in other programs (since the vast majority of protocols use TCP). Not necessarily saying it isn't something that couldn't be worked around, but debugging the equipment to the point of finding out what it does more exactly is hard to do without direct access to it.

It could also be some sort of MTU issue (which the netcode could actually be better at handling), but it doesn't look that way in your case. If that were the case, I'd expect some sub-parts of the protocol to get through but not others, whereas in your case it looks like all incoming traffic is getting blocked somewhere.

[Heximate]

I have seen some stuff on the forums that indicated maybe some people were having this issue?

It's pretty rare as far as I can tell, and it's always difficult to get useful details out of it, but my interpretation has been that there exists some network equipment has weird issues dealing with UDP traffic, which might be why you're not seeing a lot of it in other programs (since the vast majority of protocols use TCP). Not necessarily saying it isn't something that couldn't be worked around, but debugging the equipment to the point of finding out what it does more exactly is hard to do without direct access to it.

It could also be some sort of MTU issue (which the netcode could actually be better at handling), but it doesn't look that way in your case. If that were the case, I'd expect some sub-parts of the protocol to get through but not others, whereas in your case it looks like all incoming traffic is getting blocked somewhere.

Okay, well I'll keep playing around with it and see if I notice or find out anything useful. Instead of hooking up my computer directly to the modem, first thing I did was try my laptop yesterday with the game running through a VPN. It was the longest I had gone in a long time without any issues, and seemed to be running more stable, and never froze up like that except the few times the VPN just dropped connection completely.

Whether that was a fluke or not, I am not entirely sure, as my tests so far today without the VPN have also been more stable than usual and I haven't had the issue so far, but testing has only been ongoing for like 30-45 mins now, as I just got out of work recently. Hopefully, the issue won't reappear, but if it does I might just try to see if VPN solution ends up working and doesn't have too bad latency. Assuming that works without issues in that scenario, I might just go with that option, even if a little annoying, if that's what it takes to 'fix' it in the meantime. Thanks for the responses and take care.


Edit: Well, did end up having the issue again not going through a VPN just a minute ago, so will do some more testing playing through a VPN later and anything else I can think of. Probably set up a fresh install laptop going through just the cable modem later too, to see if the router might be the culprit.

[Heximate]

Been a few days since I've been able to play until today due to real world circumstances... but here's a little update.

I talked to the other guy who was having issues like mine and it turns out that we both had Netgear routers, and that seemed like a possible common thread, and since my VPN tests seemed to run better minus the random VPN disconnects, it seemed to me like this was the likely culprit even more now. So, earlier today I went ahead and flashed OpenWRT on my router and have been playing the game for a few hours without the VPN. So far there hasn't been any issues, but that's not exactly 100% conclusive right now as I've only been playing for a few hours and have had some periods of good luck previously, but I'm thinking the odds are pretty good that it was indeed the router.

Will keep posted if I start having issues again, but this might be the problem that Netgear routers (and maybe others) begin experiencing problems after firmware updates or something else at a certain point. Maybe if others who are having the issue want to try another router or factory reset and then re-update their router again instead of going the OpenWRT route which is more technical in nature, that might be something they can try.

I'm hoping that this persists and fixes my issues with the game, and maybe even my VPN disconnects which I had always just attributed to Nord servers or token issues, but maybe those actually were related too, which is one other reason I decided to go with the OpenWRT avenue as I was really starting to suspect this to be the case. Anyway, just wanted to write a small update about my findings for the time being.

[loftar]

That's very interesting. If there were a way to find out what it is that the router is actually doing with its stock firmware, I'd be very interested to know.

[axelander]

Got exactly same issue. Observed on vanilla, kami and nurling.
In my case it seems very dependent on time of day. Peak hours in the evening are just nightmare. Sometimes freezes every 5-15 minutes, and sometimes no problems for days.
Saw character moving while client freezes, from alt account. So block is directional and "session" specific. Blaming on ISP's or cross border DPI for now.
Tried different routers with no effect. Will try another ISP and VPN later.

Found out quick way to resume.
Logout through menu didn't work for some reason, but console works and ":lo" happily logs me out. Then I can reconnect in time, without character disappearing/dropping liftables/respawning on HF. Restarting client often

Maybe some form of watchdog on client side could be useful? DPIs getting angrier now days.