Hi,

this is my first post here.

I have a minor, but still annoying problem:

Whatever quakeworld client I use (and it doesn't matter if I am using Linux or Windows XP), I experience a strange issue once the current map ends.


I am going to explain a bit more:

I use ezquake (for instance, but it really doesn't matter), I can connect to a qw server, play normally, but once the map comes to an end, I don't get the final scoreboard and the next map doesn't automatically start.

Instead I am hanging there, waiting for eternities, but the new map doesn't start for me. I have to manually reconnect, then everything goes on normally again.


Does this sound familiar to some of you?
And what could be its cause?


It doesn't happen with all qw servers, but with several ones, like for instance:
69.90.113.10:27500 NOBODY'S ALTERNATIVE FFA
and also with:
quake msk.ru (Elvis Victims)


Like I said, the client and the operating system do not matter!

Moreover, I have the issue with ALL the maps, and I do not need to download them, because I already have them.


When this annoyance at every map change happens, I can switch out of the game and see in xqf (game server browser) that I am still in the player list (connected to the server), but with a ping of 999.

So something is funny here...


I tried to search this forum, but to no avail.


Comments?
Solutions?


thank you,
sempron :-)

have you tried it on a different computer and a different internet connection?

u use some d-link hardware? :>

You are on the right track, sort of. ;-)

I found out (thanks to empezar) that it had to do with my internet connection (something I wouldn't have thought of...).

And now I know that it is my router (not d-link, but Sinus), for if I establish an ADSL connection directly (without the router), I do not have the problem I described in my initial post!

The same is true if I DO use the router but disable its firewall.

If only there were a way to configure that router firewall and not get the issue! But basically, there are just two options:
a) disable the firewall entirely and not get the problem
or
b) have the firewall enabled and suffer from that annoyance

To be honest, there is also
c) use the router as a modem only and rely on a software firewall (like iptables for Linux)

and maybe even
d) I have another unused router left, maybe, that one will work better :-)


Thanks again

sempron

P.S.
Still somewhat amazed by the fact that I didn't meet any other people so far who described that problem when using a router...

Week ago meet russian dude which have problem with huge network packets (occur on map change for example). His d-link(*ouch*) do not like long packets(hope his router just drop such packets, not hang or something), since quake uses UDP it theoretically ok what part of packets dropped, but at the same time quake overbuild reliable transmission, so seems at map change his router just drop reliable packet, that bad since quake will try retransmit such reliable packet again and again and again... so u just time out. Thats all my'n guessing, i do not have such hardware and do not take too close look in quake networking, so i can be wrong in root of issue but it hardware for sure, and doubt it can be fixed in server/client, just use proper hardware, because "avaricious pays twice" ;]

Just to give some more feedback...

The problem is SOLVED now! :-)

And I didn't even need to replace my router.

Changing the default MTU setting of 1454 to 1492 I got rid of the map change issue completely!

Still wondering why this router (that I got from my ISP and use with its own ADSL connection!) comes with an inadequate default MTU setting.


Best regards

sempron

1454 is the highest value, less than 1492, which is a multiple of an ATM cell...
An ATM cell is a 'chunk' of data sent over a DSL link.
1492 is the maximum transmision unit size of a PPPoE ADSL connection.
(yay google)

Your router was configured for maximum TCP throughput.

But this default configuration was nonsense! It should have been 1492 from the start.

In contrast to many statements about lowering one's mtu when experiencing problems in opening some web sites, a lower mtu is NOT always a good thing to do!

I needed to RAISE my mtu in order to avoid the map change issue. And so far I experience no other problems either.

Though I must mention that it was ONLY that map change thing that didn't work with an mtu of 1454. So quakeworld appears to be a special case. :=)

sempron

Looks like I have the same problem http://www.quakeworld.nu/forum/viewtopic.php?id=4940
You may want to look at darkplaces's net stuff, because it works just fine from the same machine.

It's not MTU settings per se that are a problem, it's buggy PPTP (and apparently PPPoE?) software in some routers that discards any packets larger than the current MTU settings. Or maybe it drops some important bits from packet headers that prevent reassembly by the receiving side; I'm not exactly sure what is happening, what I know is that this behavior is completely unacceptable. The IP protocol is designed to allow for successful reassembly, by standards compliant software and hardware, of fragmented UDP packets no matter what MTU setting they may have encountered on their way.