	AllExperts > Experts
	Search

About Daniel Thomas
Expertise
I am very knowledgeable in the world of MMO games such as World of Warcraft, Everquest, Final Fantasy XI, and a very large base of online web based games. I can answer any question concerning these games, content, advice, or tips. I have technical experience with many of these games and can generally answer questions concerning hardware requirements, upgrades, etc.

Experience
I have 10 years experience in the internet playing online games, as well having written several articles concerning social interaction, online economies, and parental concerns with the world of internet gaming.

Education/Credentials
BS in Computer Science MCSE

You are here: Experts > Internet/Online > Internet Games > Internet Games > forcing path to specific server

Topic: Internet Games

Expert: Daniel Thomas
Date: 4/1/2008
Subject: forcing path to specific server

Question
Hi Daniel,

Really hope you can help me out here as my ISP (Shaw Cable Canada) was no use at all.

I play a lot of online games, and am currently playing Call of Duty 4. Our clan has a server located in Chicago, whereas I'm located about half way between Edmonton and Calgary.

My average ping on the server is in the 200 range. We have members based in Europe who have lower pings than me!

I ran ping plotter and it appears that my connection goes from Red Deer -> Calgary -> Vancouver(?!) -> Seattle ->Denver -> Chicago

I've traced my connection to other servers in Chicago and the path went Red Deer -> Calgary -> Winnipeg -> Illinois -> Chicago

This second path resulted in a ping in the 60-80 range (much more manageable for a FPS game!) as opposed to the 200+ I see with the first path.

My question is:
Can I (or my IP provider) force my connection to take a particular path to reach a desired server?

I really don't understand why the links go West to start with when I'm trying to connect to a server that's East of me!

As I mentioned, I spoke with a service rep with my IP provider but it sounded to me like I knew more about it than she did.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance

Answer
Hey there Greg,

Unfortunately I don't know of any way to force a change to your ISP's routing tables...there's no guarantee that it's even one of their own routers that are causing the problem.

What you want to look at is the router that actually shoots the info off to Vancouver...that's the router that needs to have it's tables updated. If it's a router within your ISP, you can call them up...bug them enough..put in a few complaints, it may or may not help. Most of the time it doesn't.

The router itself determines what the next hop in the series is, through it's own internal routing tables. That router for some reason is seeing the jump up to Vancouver as being the fastest path to the game server.

If it's a router within your ISP they should be able to change it, a tier 1 tech won't have access to it, but if you get their supervisor on the phone you might be able to find out who does. If it's outside your ISP, and into the GSP (Global Service Provider they're the ones responsible for providing your ISP with internet service, on a much larger scale)...you'd need to ask your ISP who their GSP is, and if it's possible for you to contact them directly.

Even with that though don't expect to see any change, the majority of the time, the routing tables will update on their own in time.

Add to this Answer Ask a Question

About Us | Advertise on This Site | User Agreement | Privacy Policy | Help
Copyright © 2008 About, Inc. About and About.com are registered trademarks of About, Inc. The About logo is a trademark of About, Inc. All rights reserved.