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ADSL poor for online gaming? (In the UK!)

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  • ADSL poor for online gaming? (In the UK!)

    I was just browsing BT's (UK Telco for non Britons!) website and reading about their proposed ADSL when on this page they mention this:

    as the service is asymmetric the data does not flow the same in both directions and therefore gives bursts of available bandwidth, not neccessarily suitable to applications such as videoconferencing.
    Does this mean that online gaming will be laggy in bursts too? I mainly want this for downloading files etc. but I really want to start playing online (my modem don't cut it at the moment) - does anybody know about this or possibly have tried the ADSL trial?

    Thanks,

    Paul.
    Meet Jasmine.
    flickr.com/photos/pace3000

  • #2
    Online gaming is great. I've got a ADSL service that limits my upload speed to 14KB/sec. That's more then enough for UT and Quake 3. Normally get ping times between 40-60ms.

    ------------------
    ASUS P3V4X,Celeron 366@555, 2.25v, 128mb PC133 Crucial RAM, G400 DH, Maxtor 7200rpm 10GB, 4.3GB Fujistu, Creative 24x, Creative X-Gamer, D-Link NIC, ISA Modem


    Asus A7V133, Duron 750@847, 512mb PC133 Crucial RAM, G400 DH, Maxtor 7200rpm 40 & 15GB, Liteon 16/10/32, Samsung 12x DVD, SB-Live, D-Link NIC

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    • #3
      What ADSL means is that the upload and download speeds are different. For instance, the DSL available to me is 768/128. Meaning I can download at 768 but can only upload at 128. I don't think this is much of a problem for online gaming as most data is coming from the server to you rather than you sending to the server.

      Even with a 128 ISDN both ways, you should find 150 pings on quite few servers - very playable.

      Andy
      PIII 550@605
      IWill Motherboard VD133
      VIA Chipset
      512MB PC133 CAS2 Crucial
      G400 DH 32MB (6.51 Drivers)
      DirectX 8.0a
      SB Live! Value
      8x DVD (Toshiba)
      6x4x24 CDRW (Sony)
      Intel Pro/100+ NIC
      3Com CMX Cable Modem
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      Microtek flatbed scanner
      Intellimouse Explorer
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      AND WAY TOO MANY GAMES!!!

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      • #4
        I already knew of the assymetric but it was the:
        gives bursts of available bandwidth
        that worried me - as getting a large burst of data and then waiting for another could make online gaming pretty disastrous.

        Thanks for the replies though!

        And, with regards to general downloading - what kind of speeds can be expected from sites such as ftp.cdrom.com, sunsite.ac.uk and mirror.ac.uk - I would be downloading Linux ISOs etc.

        And finally, I'll probably stick this in the gaming later, I take it that I could connect my whole LAN party to the internet and play the bunch of us on an Internet server?

        Thanks again,

        Paul.
        Meet Jasmine.
        flickr.com/photos/pace3000

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        • #5
          DSL can be better for gaming than cable if you have a lot of cable users in your area and/or if the cable companies setup is screwed up like it is here.

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          • #6
            Paul,

            Worry not. The wording in that FAQ is just misleading.
            Those "bursts" described are a normal method for limiting the bandwidth. You know, electrons only go one speed in the copper wires so the only way to limit the bandwith is to toggle the connection on and off in a fashion that averages to a certain bandwidth.

            :
            B

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            • #7
              that worried me - as getting a large burst of data and then waiting for another could make online gaming pretty disastrous.
              By the way, this happens so fast that you could say the stream is continous and of some steady speed. It's done in all the data communications, Ethernet included.

              :
              B

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              • #8
                Yea, thanks Buuri, misleading it was! And it will surely be suitable for video conferencing anyway then?

                Anyhow, I'm all sold on it so now it's up to BT to get it in my area !

                Paul.
                Meet Jasmine.
                flickr.com/photos/pace3000

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                • #9
                  I wouldn't be too sure about the video conferencing. The upload speeds are generally much slower than the download speeds with ADSL.

                  Depending on what type of service you are offered, I'd guess video conferencing wouldn't be very good unless you get a constant 350-400kb upload speed. Even w/my cable modem (avg 650k), streaming video isn't crystal clear.

                  DSL upload speeds here in Chicago are limited to 128 (to prevent people from running servers and such).
                  PIII 550@605
                  IWill Motherboard VD133
                  VIA Chipset
                  512MB PC133 CAS2 Crucial
                  G400 DH 32MB (6.51 Drivers)
                  DirectX 8.0a
                  SB Live! Value
                  8x DVD (Toshiba)
                  6x4x24 CDRW (Sony)
                  Intel Pro/100+ NIC
                  3Com CMX Cable Modem
                  Optiquest V95 19"
                  HP 812C Color Ink Jet
                  Microtek flatbed scanner
                  Intellimouse Explorer
                  Surround Sound w/two subwoofers
                  AND WAY TOO MANY GAMES!!!

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                  • #10
                    1.5/128 dsl service ping for halflife servers range from 50 to 80 (min of 100) and the rest depending on where they are 100 to 300 ms (id say 1000 servers ping like that on a given day.) all playable. dsl rocks

                    msi 6167 mobo k7 500 wk41 now at 650. 256 meg ram ,addtronics case w 250watt sp power supply, matrox g400, maxtor diammax 2500+ 10gig hd,10x aopen slot dvd, 3com 10/100 nic, sb live xgamer sound card, efecent networks dsl modem, dlink 701i dsl router/firewall, lots of controlers (joystick throttle rudder raceing wheel), 19in ctx monitor, logitech mouseman wheel usb, and klipsch promedia v2-400 speakers. win98 oem and win2k pro dual boot.

                    noel
                    it's times like this that make me think of my fathers last words....

                    Don't son that gun is loaded.

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                    • #11
                      I get 16-20KB/s up to someone else on DSL locally, but to folks with cable in the same area I get 70-80KB/s up. It all depends on how they implement the restrictions.

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