Mr. Laggy LAN

[Sutcher]

Can someone give me some insight as to why my 3 comps. on my LAN are so laggy during gameplay. All have great setups and good graphic cards, ranging from Radeon 9400, GEForce, and so on. Is there something I am doing wrong here??? PLeasE HElP

Thx Lots

[SOFII-Chicane]

Do you let others download files from you computers while you are playing the games? Check your computers for shared files and folders. In a lan it allows others to download from you then.

[Fezarella]

also make sure u have no programs like or msn or crap like that. close all yer programs b 4 u play.:lol:

[Sutcher]

No, I dont let ppl download anything....We turn off all dl progies and everything that would take up any extra bandwith. We have even tried disconnecting from the net and playing, and it still laggs......

[H2S04]

Firstly, its always something small and minor with computers ( eg. computer boots but, not working ( check monitor cable )). Trial and error sometimes is the best method. Are you using a router? Is there a dedicated computer or is one of the gameing computers serving as well? Before playing on the net, work on the LAN side and try to get it working before you connect for a TCP/IP game. Do you have the bandwidth settings adjusted properly ( cable/xdsl/T1/LAN/ISDN/ ISDN x2 or 56K modem ). ALSO, I have found that if my friend is serving a game and its just me and him, we can turn up the FRAME RATE LIMITER TO 115 FPS ( HQ ). But, if we have more than 2 ( say like 6 or so people playing ) we turn down the FPS limiter to about 55 or 65. This eases the strain on the sereving machine. Maybe you have the wrong driver for your NIC card(s) installed. You said that you have 3 or 4 terminals on your LAN, try just 2 machines first and see if there is alot of lag. If you are connected to the net, makesure that programs like ARENT RUNNING. You can also use the TASKMANAGER to clos programs that are running. If you arent downloading files or URL browsing, DISABLE your antivirus, it could be scanning your HD while you are playing. Do you run XP/2000 or 98? If you are using 98 you are asking for trouble. Its crap for serving. Disable XP 'on-board' software firewall. Are you using any of those stuiped TCP/IP speed tweak programs? These may cause LAG as they are desinged for downloading and browsing, not gameing. There are a million and one ideas of what could be happening. Like I was saying, its probably something small and overlooked that is giving you headaches?
Good Luck

[Sutcher]

Yeah thanx, i am presently running XP pro. And yes, there seems to be no lagg whatsoever when we are playing 1 on 1. but when we try to connect another machine is when all hell breaks loose. We dont use anything that would be taking up any sort of bandwidth......

[Sutcher]

The machines are connected via a switch, this means that they are basically directly connected together. If you ping one of the other computers in the house, the relpies are in the 8-10ms range, yet when we connect through the game, even with only two people playing, the ping is usually 80-200. I've heard from other gamers that it might be necessary to disable a couple differents ports out, or run the server in dedicated mode. The main problems start though when a third person connects through our switch. this makes me want to think that the problem is mostly server side, handling the amount of information, we're going to try reducing the FPM, i'll let you know what happens.