[SOLVED] Random heavy ping spikes for all players
skynet
Moon Join Date: 2014-01-09 Member: 192880Members, Reinforced - Supporter Posts: 14

Hi there,
I've successfully set up a NS2 server on my linux machine and on my gaming one (specs below) but I have this annoying issues I can't seem to fix: when the server has around 16 people the ping of everyone but me ('cause I'm in lan/localhost) spikes to 999. The spikes last from a couple of seconds to a full 2 minutes and occur about every other minute. This seem to happen constantly and on both machines.
What I found so far:
- Doesn't seem to affect the tickrate of the server
- I'm immune to the spikes because I'm in lan/localhost
- During the spikes and for all their duration the upload speed jumps from the standard 140-170 KB/s to 360-400 KB/s
- This thread suggests a fresh install -> done multiple times, issue still occurs
- This thread suggests not to use webadmin while people are playing on the server -> done, ping still jumps to 999
- According to several other posts, both my processing power and my upload speed are more than enough to handle 20-24 players
Any idea what's going on?
My Hardware follows
Windows Machine:
i5 3570k @ 4.4 Ghz
8 GB 1600 Mhz RAM
2x SSDs in raid 0
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
Linux Machine:
AMD Phenom II x6 @ 4.0 Ghz (4 cores, 2 are off)
8 GB 1600 Mhz RAM
SSD
Arch Linux 64bit
Mods installed:
Shine Administration
[Shine] NS2Stats
Badges+
My connection:
FTTC dsl connection
I've successfully set up a NS2 server on my linux machine and on my gaming one (specs below) but I have this annoying issues I can't seem to fix: when the server has around 16 people the ping of everyone but me ('cause I'm in lan/localhost) spikes to 999. The spikes last from a couple of seconds to a full 2 minutes and occur about every other minute. This seem to happen constantly and on both machines.
What I found so far:
- Doesn't seem to affect the tickrate of the server
- I'm immune to the spikes because I'm in lan/localhost
- During the spikes and for all their duration the upload speed jumps from the standard 140-170 KB/s to 360-400 KB/s
- This thread suggests a fresh install -> done multiple times, issue still occurs
- This thread suggests not to use webadmin while people are playing on the server -> done, ping still jumps to 999
- According to several other posts, both my processing power and my upload speed are more than enough to handle 20-24 players
Any idea what's going on?
My Hardware follows
Windows Machine:
i5 3570k @ 4.4 Ghz
8 GB 1600 Mhz RAM
2x SSDs in raid 0
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
Linux Machine:
AMD Phenom II x6 @ 4.0 Ghz (4 cores, 2 are off)
8 GB 1600 Mhz RAM
SSD
Arch Linux 64bit
Mods installed:
Shine Administration
[Shine] NS2Stats
Badges+
My connection:
FTTC dsl connection

Post edited by skynet on
Comments
NS2Stats uploads a 250 kb large logpart from time to time (never heard that it causes lagspikes, and that is around every 2-5 mins).
I disabled NS2Stats and Badges+, leaving only Shine Administration running: still experiencing the frequent ping spikes
Badges+ doesn't really increase the network traffic (<1kb/min total) .<br>
This link provides a nice and easy tutorial on how to use it.
IGN: [#OMEGA] - K2 (Hive)
NS2 long standing issues (Fix ETA: Never):
Bad Netcode (no adjustable tickrate, extremly delayed hit feedback, bad hitreg),
Bad Performance (Poor Multi-threading, Mouse Lag, bad server performance, almost no multi-threading in server application)
Bad Balance (GL Spam, semi-useless exos, poor chance of comebacks, no upkeep/or RT dimishing returns...)
Technical Issues (Mouse Lag, Memory Leaks, Memory Corruption (and memory corruption server crashes))
Bad Workshop implementation (down = kicks people/connection prboelms, out of date = nobody can join server),
Yeah could be the issue if the server is used for anything beside the one ns2 server.
On my 24 slot server; the machine's average bandwith usage has increased by ~3 mbps since I launched the server and the maximum bandwith spike has increased by 3-4 mbps. Using iftop as I mentioned earlier will show you if you are capping your connection.
The servers are not used for much of anything aside from a few very low bandwidth processes.
I'm curious what the minimum upload requirements are then, I thought ~170 KB/s was fine for 16 players, figured I could get at least 20 players with ~345 KB/s
- set the ns2server to use x cores and only use those cores for ns2server
just an idea
- traffic shaping giving ns2server highest priority
mmm yeah
Maybe do some interval checks, is you're bandwith also up to spec in the evening? a lot of ISP's throttle back connections in the evenings. I would recommend speedtesting in the evenings to check you're true connection speed.
Also, you're required to have a buffer, the amount of data that a server sends can spike in example of big fights,
Use Ping Plotter to properly debug your line.