Connection woes

[Vash]

I have a problem.

I get insane lag when in B.net and open games. I am connected to the internet through my school's (RIT) network. I am using Windows XP. I've browsed through the Blizzard help forums and tried screwing with my firewall. As it turns out, my firewall wasn't even on (which makes sense...if it was on, I couldn't have connected in the first place!). So it wasn't because of XP's firewall.

I get the kind of lag where NPC's in town don't load, the black screen of death blocks my way, my clicks don't produce any effect on the environment, and I'm never where I think I am (i.e. I get hit by monsters a screen away).

My friend, who goes to the same school and is also running XP, has the same problem. We do fine, however, when we play open games with each other.

I do fine in B.net chatrooms.

I don't want to play single player and open games with just one person anymore. Can anyone identify and fix my problem?

[DaveO]

It's possible that the school network is inundated with data traffic often, which would explain your lag issues. Does this network utilize more than the TCP/IP protocol? If so, that will lead to more issues. There is a way to make TCP/IP the prioritized protocol if you have more than one. You may want to use the traceroute DOS command to see how many hops you go thru to get to a B-Net server. I'm sure some regulars here will provide more assistance soon.

[Vash]

Additional info on the problem (and some reorganization of the old info):

1) My friend and I go to RIT and connect through the school's (uber) network.
2) My friend runs Windows XP Home Edition. I run Professional.
3) My firewall is not on.
4) The lag happens when we join closed B.net games, open B.net games, as well as TCP/IP games with people not on the RIT network.
5) After a bit of testing (thanks Roland), we found that when I host an Open or TCP/IP game and someone outside the network joins, that person lags.
6) My friend and I are fine if we play games with each other.
7) My friend has no problems playing Warcraft III on B.net.
8) I have no problems playing Counterstrike (besides the fact that I'm not very good at it :P ).

[WarBlade]

You may want to use the traceroute DOS command to see how many hops you go thru to get to a B-Net server. I'm sure some regulars here will provide more assistance soon.

There's a sweet little program that duplicates traceroute functionality from AnalogX called Hypertrace. It's much faster with an easier interface than typing in traceroute from a DOS prompt (copy/paste is nice to have). ;)

[Archon_Wing]

Start menu---->>> My network places---->>view network connections. Right click the connection you are using, right click and choose propterties. Go to advanced tab and Disable XP's built in firewall. Since you are on a network, I assume you would change the settings for your network adapter.

The Xp built-in firewall is diffrent from your normal firewall and is usually enabled by default. So just turn it off.

[Vash]

Archon: that was what I meant when I said that my firewall isn't on. I checked XP's firewall per Blizzard's tech support forum. The box was unchecked to begin with.