Packet loss on the new Helsinki server?

[Janikka]

Greetings, denizens of SportsGamer!

For NHL 24, EA gave us Finnish players a nice little gift in the form of a shiny new server located right here in my hometown of Helsinki. This is the Europe North East server in the private search settings. I was pretty happy about this because it means my connection is practically the same as playing offline. However, there's been trouble in paradise for about two weeks or so as of writing this message. Namely, I have packet loss in some games on said server. It seems to be random, or at least I haven't been able to identify any sort of pattern to it. Sometimes I have it and sometimes I don't. For me, the packet loss tends to sit at either 1 or 2 percent and stays pretty consistent from beginning to end. This causes frequent annoying hitches where the screen pauses for a split second from time to time throughout the game.

I would rather not play the ECL season with this problem, so I figured I would poll the community about it, see how widespread it is, and determine if there's anything we can do. I would personally much rather play on the Swedish server where I still get decent ping without the packet loss issue, but I understand most Finns would prefer the Helsinki server as it's closer to us and this problem is probably limited to some players only.

Based on my own situation and asking around a bit, it seems the problem is specific to those connecting via DNA which is one of the more common Finnish ISPs. So for a start, I'm looking to find out whether the problem is indeed isolated to said ISP, whether everyone on DNA has it, and how frequent it is for others.

Any further discussion about this is also appreciated as I would like to bring it to the league admins' attention and see if we can find a way to work around this problem (provided it is indeed widespread enough and doesn't get fixed by Monday when the season begins). Thank you for your cooperation.

[OGjahajaha]

Not detecting packet loss and I'm on a different ISP, but I'm having some weird occasional micro-stutters. Haven't checked if this is an issue specific to the Helsinki server yet.

[FlyerKungen]

Thank you @Janikka. I was gonna make this thing public today aswell. What I have heard, there is many people with this issue.

I have DNA Fiber connection, been working as great as possible. And it was great at least the first month of NHL 24. Something has happened after that, last couple weeks I have had 1-3% packet loss about 50% of games, I wasn't wise enough to track that it was only happening on Helsinki servers.  But seems like it's connected to DNA aswell? Gonna make a phone call to there today for sure.

It's not first time EA servers is having issues with Finnish ISP. Was it NHL 19 when many people was unable to even enter to EASHL game?

Anyway, the packet loss is kinda shitty eventho it doesn't make game unplayable. Before they fix this, I say we should use Stockholm servers as a gentlemen rule in ECL, if there is at least 1 player with DNA. Most fair for everyone since it's not to players to decide what ISP they use when they want Fiber/wired. I have high hopes they will get fixed it asap tho. At least if we spread the word and give them a pressure.

And what @OGjahajaha said, couple of my friends have reported that weird occasional micro-stutters aswell. They had Elisa. And zero packet loss. They don't remember what server it was when this happened. But seems like the problem is the Helsinki server?

Edited November 16, 2023 by FlyerKungen

[Janikka]

DNA fiber here as well. That makes me wonder if it might relate specifically to DNA's fiber internet settings on the ISP side relative to EA's Helsinki server.

[Janikka]

8 minuuttia sitten, FlyerKungen kirjoitti:

 I wasn't wise enough to track that it was only happening on Helsinki servers.
 

Full disclosure just so we can pin this thing down properly: come to think of it, I'm actually not 100% sure that the problem is isolated to the Helsinki server. I have not had any packet loss on the other servers (Europe North and Europe Central), so I'm just assuming that this is specific to the North East server. However, I've played far fewer games on the other servers, so it's possible that I have just randomly not had any packet loss when playing on those servers.

[Rimpe]

I'm not surprised it's DNA again and yes i have this too. It's finally time to switch to another provider...

[Janikka]

1 minuutti sitten, Rimpe kirjoitti:

I'm not surprised it's DNA again and yes i have this too. It's finally time to switch to another provider...

I've been tempted to switch, myself. The only problem is that I have a commitment on my subscription with DNA for about another year. It's really cheap for such a speedy connection, too.

[Moneygunx]

Im playing Telia connection and also got micro stuttering, but no packet loss.

Edited November 16, 2023 by Moneygunx

[meiha]

DNA with cable modem: no packet loss but occasional micro-stutter. I don't know if micro-stutter is only when connected to Helsinki server, need to pay more attention.

Location: Turku  

Edited November 16, 2023 by meiha

[imosi]

Elisa fiber here, no micro-stutters or packet losses...yet. I had this weird high ping problem (100-150ms) at the beginning of the launch of NHL 24 and EAFC, but buying a new router fixed all that.

Why am I not surprised that only NHL 24 has problems like this?? 99% sure all you DNA and micro-stutter guys would have zero issues with games like MW3, CS2, etc...

I heard that EA is using AWS servers in NHL 24 (not 100% sure) and because of that they have multiple different IP addresses, so good luck trying to traceroute it. Also, I am almost sure EA won't even give you any exact IP addresses.

Edited November 16, 2023 by imosi

[meiha]

Someone has listed new Helsinki servers on EA forum. I'm not sure if those are correct or not though.

15.220.169.48

15.220.169.16

15.220.169.10

Maybe you can try to make traceroute and see if some hop causes packet loss.

Edited November 16, 2023 by meiha

[Saviinainen]

Elisa fiber connection, not any problems noticed (Tampere) 

Edited November 16, 2023 by Saviinainen

[FlyerKungen]

2 tuntia sitten, Rimpe kirjoitti:

I'm not surprised it's DNA again and yes i have this too. It's finally time to switch to another provider...

I only wish it could be possible. Every apartment I've lived in only offers Fiber from one IPS. Previous place I was forced to use Elisa, now DNA. Only other options are 4G/5G.

Just to clarify I've used DNA from 3/2022 and this is first "major" issue I face with them. It can also be EAs fault tho, so I'm not saying im disappointed to DNA or that they are dogshit. Other than this I have only positive experiences with DNA.

Edited November 16, 2023 by FlyerKungen

[Janikka]

I actually checked and found out that DNA is the only ISP offering fiber or indeed any sort of wired connection for me as well. I have also had zero issues with them before this, and I'm sure it's more down to EA or whatever servers they're using because I've never had any problems with DNA in other games.

[imosi]

1 tunti sitten, meiha kirjoitti:

Someone has listed new Helsinki servers on EA forum. I'm not sure if those are correct or not though.

15.220.169.48

15.220.169.16

15.220.169.10

Maybe you can try to make traceroute and see if some hop causes packet loss.

I can't even ping to these addresses.. promising

[meiha]

33 minutes ago, imosi said:

I can't even ping to these addresses.. promising

Nice

I copy pasted them from this thread.

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues/Server-ping-issue/m-p/13126027/highlight/true#M633

[FINSeRe]

I actually noticed the change 1-2 weeks ago. We were playing drafts and I got randomly kicked out from dressing room and EA servers. Ever since I've had those random micro stutters and some times also 2 % packet loss.

 

1st I thought it was linked to EA servers but as I also have DNA, ISP might be the problem here.

 

For me it has been playable though but I feel a bit handicapped specially if this happens during golden one tee.

Edited November 16, 2023 by FINSeRe

[pakjiz]

Big thanks to @Janikka for creating this thread.

For me the packet loss started this monday (after I was forced to switch my old Telia to this current DNA). Since then I’ve had packet loss on Helsinki-server every night.

I agree with @FlyerKungen that there should be some sort of rule in place to make sure there are no North East server games with DNA users - until the issue is fixed. And I’m not saying that because I represent a team that by default uses North server, I’d very much prefer the North East server if it was working.

I’m sure all the top ECL players are competitive enough in a sense that they don’t want to play games against players who will have packet loss in that game. But maybe we can still do another poll just to see if most people would agree with this.

 

ps. What is the logic currently in determining the server for the normal public club 6s games? Just the team location on team settings and a coin flip after that if the preferred locations are different? Or?

[Janikka]

5 minuuttia sitten, pakjiz kirjoitti:

I agree with @FlyerKungen that there should be some sort of rule in place to make sure there are no North East server games with DNA users - until the issue is fixed. And I’m not saying that because I represent a team that by default uses North server, I’d very much prefer the North East server if it was working.

I’m sure all the top ECL players are competitive enough in a sense that they don’t want to play games against players who will have packet loss in that game. But maybe we can still do another poll just to see if most people would agree with this.

This is assuming the issue is indeed isolated to the Helsinki server(s). To be accurate, at this point that's an assumption I've made based on not having encountered any packet loss on the other servers where I've not played nearly as many games in NHL 24.

Anyway, I was thinking another possible solution is allowing teams with DNA users to restart the game until everyone has 0% packet loss. At least for me, and I'm assuming others with the problem, having zero packet loss at the start of a game means that game stays smooth to the end. That of course indicates it's only a problem with some or one of their Helsinki servers (I guess they have multiple servers for each location).

However, the problem with this solution could be a sometimes unreasonably long restart loop until all the DNA users lucked out and landed on a smooth server.

[pakjiz]

19 minuuttia sitten, Janikka kirjoitti:

This is assuming the issue is indeed isolated to the Helsinki server(s). To be accurate, at this point that's an assumption I've made based on not having encountered any packet loss on the other servers where I've not played nearly as many games in NHL 24.

Anyway, I was thinking another possible solution is allowing teams with DNA users to restart the game until everyone has 0% packet loss. At least for me, and I'm assuming others with the problem, having zero packet loss at the start of a game means that game stays smooth to the end. That of course indicates it's only a problem with some or one of their Helsinki servers (I guess they have multiple servers for each location).

However, the problem with this solution could be a sometimes unreasonably long restart loop until all the DNA users lucked out and landed on a smooth server.

I’ve played roughly half of my games on the North (Stockholm) server and no packet loss occuring there. Only on the North East server. But only three nights worth of data so far for me, obviously.

And yeah, the restart loop probably would take too much time. Nt otherwise.

[Janikka]

4 minuuttia sitten, pakjiz kirjoitti:

I’ve played roughly half of my games on the North (Stockholm) server and no packet loss occuring there. Only on the North East server. But only three nights worth of data so far for me, obviously.

That's good to know and seems to confirm my assumption. On the other hand, even after the problem started, I've gone at least one whole night without any packet loss. It's just the luck of the draw when it comes to the Helsinki server(s) on DNA, I guess. Usually I do have it in some of my games each night.

[Janikka]

Update: having 0% at the start of a game does not guarantee a packet loss-free game after all. I had 0% at the start of a game tonight and it climbed up to 3% after which it hovered around 2 and 3 percent for the rest of that game.

[meiha]

Update: Tonight most of the games on Helsinki server. Overally good experience but in one game I had that micro-stuttering every now and then. Also 2-3% packet loss! (DNA)

No lag or freezing, just little stuttering.

I think this is pretty weird that the problem is not in every game even if they are played on the same server on the same night.

 

Edited November 16, 2023 by meiha

[Janikka]

I don't think the problem is getting fixed by Monday. It might be a good idea to poll the community about whether the Finnish teams (who are not affected by this problem) are willing to compromise and play both games on the Swedish server despite the slightly higher ping. Maybe I'll start a poll about that today.

[J0HTAJA]

Praise The valokuitu mokkula 🙌