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Connection Issues, Resolutions and Resources
XBox Live® service requires a broadband Internet connection. This connection may be cable, xDSL or T-carrier but must meet some rather stringent requirements in order to function properly with Steel Battalion: Line of Contact. Steel Battalion: Line of Contact incorporates a connection quality monitor which works in concert with the XBox network firmware to try and ensure connection stability, speed and low latency. Unfortunately, the implementation of this feature is less than perfect and can negatively impact the ability of a player to join or host game sessions. A two months after the release of Steel Battalion: Line of Contact, Capcom released this Consumer Notice and a letter of apology regarding the connection issues. In it, they place the responsibility for the connection issues back to the consumer and advise players to ensure they have sufficient upload/download speeds from their Internet service provider. A feedback form was created (but not widely known about) which could be emailed to Capcom by users experiencing connection issues. Without going into detail, the main points put forth by the consumer notice were:
The game has two indicators for connection quality which are visible to the user: Line speed is shown when connected to a session (or hosting) as follows:
Unfortunately, these numbers do not translate into the game very well due to a number of other mitigating factors which are beyond the realm of control for the average consumer, things like UDP packet de-prioritisation, network segment latency and cable networks not upgraded to the latest DOCSIS standards (all of which will be covered below if you are interested). Steel Battalion: Line of Contact uses a SYMMETRICAL PEER-TO-PEER server type for its gaming. Although there are other servers involved for the storage of Campaign pilot data, Campaign progress control and XBox Live matchmaking services, the core connection type for Game Sessions is Symmetrical Peer-to-Peer. This means that the quality of the overall gaming experience (multiplayer) is reliant not only upon the local connection (network/Internet) quality, but also that of all other players in the given session.
The Symmetrical Peer-To-Peer server structure ensures that there is no advantage for the Session Host, and that the Session control can be freely transferred to another Session member should the original "host" become unavailable. The following statement sums up the average expected user experience (for North America and Europe, at least) for Steel Battalion: Line of Contact: The majority of players will only be able to host and play in 3 vs 3 games (6 players). With superior connections, there is a possibility of 4 vs 4 but only if the latency between ALL players is minimal.
It is very unlikely that most North American or European region players will be able to participate in, or host, 5 vs 5 sessions. Numerous calls and emails to both XBox Live® and Capcom Customer Support have yielded very little in the way of assistance or additional information. It is very likely that Non-Disclosure Agreements are in play here and do not allow either entity to discuss the specifics of the connection problem or technical details regarding the way in which XBox Live is handling the network information for this game. As a result, myself and others have had to do a great deal of personal research and experimentation. I will detail it in further sections below.
UDP Protocol (Connectionless Data Transmission) - A Primer
The majority of Internet online games utilise a transmission protocol known as UDP (User Datagram Protocol). UDP is a "connectionless" protocol which runs on top of IP networks (the Internet being a prime example). Unlike TCP/IP (the primary protocol type on the Internet) UDP provides very few error recovery services, offering instead a direct way to send and receive datagrams over an IP network without the additional "overhead" of having to negotiate a connection path and ensure the delivery of all data packets.
Simply put, UDP is fast and efficient, but can lose data (without the recipient being "aware" of the loss). Online games continue to function despite losing packets because there is enough data still present that the participant devices can "guess" at appropriate positions for playes, ect. Unfortunately, UDP data is often delayed when crossing through various segments of the Internet (basically a large network of networks) due to UDP packet routing deprioritisation in favour of TCP transmissions (the more common protocol). Why? Because games are one of the primary users of UDP, whereas TCP is used by e-commerce, email and other "more important" applications. This decision could be monetary or could be driven by other reasoning not readily apparent, nevertheless, it is sometimes implemented an can affect gaming network quality. Unfortunately, there is little that the average consumer can do about this but be aware of its existence. Contact Your ISP and Understand What Your Service Is
Although XBox Live is advertised to work with "broadband" Internet service (cable or DSL) there are many different types of service available for residential consumers, some of which are better than others. Players are advised to contact their Internet Service Provider to determine what their base level of contracted service is, and then test the connection to ensure they are getting what is being paid for. DSL Reports is an excellent speed test site, which can be used for free to determine line speed and bandwidth capabilities.
Proper Termination of Cable Outlets
Cable Internet service is provided over coaxial 75 ohm RG59, or preferably, RG6 cable. The cable company typically brings in their service line from outside a residence and terminates it to a grounding terminal block on the exterior structure. From here, the cable is brought into the residence. Often, the cable installer will place a multi-port "splitter" on the incoming service cable to allow for multiple television connections in various rooms. The cables from each splitter connection are then connected to the F-connector (threaded screw coaxial connection) plugs on wall plates.
Unbeknownst to most consumers is the fact that unconnected coaxial jacks leave the network "open" to become a large radio frequency antenna, which can interfere with data signals on the cable. For this reason, any cable jack connectors which are not in use by devices should be "terminated" with 75 ohm terminators. There have been reports of players who had previously unplayable Internet connections resolving their connection issues merely by the proper termination of unused cable connections.
Base Level of Service Recommended
Typically, the most important (and measurable) criteria for a broadband connection is the rated download bandwidth. As with most data intensive applications, having a higher available bandwidth is better. The game requires at least 128kbps upload speed to be satisfactorily playable. 256kbps is recommended to try and avoid any bandwidth/speed problems, particularly if the Internet connection is being used for more than just gaming services (and it is recommended that while playing LOC, no heavy usage of the Internet be done simultaneously). Despite this general advice, a few network code bugs seem to exist which defy even the best connection speed (there have been reported problems from players with dedicated full T1 carrier service).
Cable Internet has load dependent bandwidth availability due to its shared nature (if there are many subscribers in your area and all are using the Internet at peak time, the relative speed slows). By contrast, xDSL is a dedicated digital line to the provider backbone, but the available bandwidth/speed is very dependent upon the distance between the subscriber and the provider location. There are players using both types of connections successfully with Steel Battalion: Line of Contact so there is no single type that is advisable over another. DOCSIS Specification for Cable Internet - Why This Is Important
DOCSIS (Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification) defines interface requirements for cable modems involved in high-speed data distribution over cable television system networks. There are currently three specifications currently available in the marketplace, 1.0, 1.1 and 2.0 These specifications are backwards compatible, with the latest version offering additional features and enhanced performance over earlier versions. DOCSIS 1.0 and 1.1 have been around for several years and are the dominant standards currently implemented by the cable ISP industry. DOCSIS 2.0 is the most recent specification and includes (among many other things) functionality which allows a cable modem to handle dropped packets much better than previous versions (which is very important for online gaming, which uses UDP transmission (a connectionless protocol) . Having a DOCSIS 2.0 modem will not do any good if the attached network (the ISP) is not DOCSIS 2.0 compliant. Cablemodem.com has a list of compliant modems. You will need to ensure that your cable ISP is also DOCSIS 2.0 compliant to gain any advantage from the technology though.
XBox Live Ports of Relevance
The XBox Live gaming service utilises three primary "ports" (think of them as specific data "channels" in the spectrum a network transmission).
The Port Forwarding Trick
Discovered almost by accident, enabling "port-forwarding" for the XBox Live ports (above) in conjunction with certain types of cable modems (and possibly even DSL modems) seems to "fool" the XBox network firmware into "seeing" a fully available bandwidth. In particular, this trick works with the Toshiba PCX2500 and PCX2600 series cable modems. This trick effectively bypasses the quirky QoS firmware test which the gamecode relies on to determine line speed and connection quality. This is by no means a cure-all as the connection quality of all other players is still a factor, as is the actual limitation of the Internet connection being used. By this I mean, even if the XBox "sees" a 10MBit connection at its network port, the fact that the connection to the Internet (and XBox Live) is only 90kbps will still result in problematic games.
Wireless Bridges/Routers, Encryption and Latency Problems
The convenience of a wireless bridge or network access point is very appealing to many gamers, especially because the typical location of the XBox (den or living room entertainment center) is far distant to the broadband Internet connection (office or bedroom). Wireless devices (802.11a/b/g) have sufficient bandwidth for Internet gaming needs, but if the network to which [they] are attached includes PCs, it is advisable to enable the WEP encryption options to ensure privacy and security. Enabling these security options introduces a small amount of latency into the transmission time (while the firmware/software encrypts/decrypts), which can translate into input lag during a game. Some wireless access point devices allow for setting specific IP and MAC address filters for devices attempting to access the network, and this should be the preferred option for configuring an XBox wirelessly.
Poor Quality or Failing DVD-ROM Drive in XBox
This has been a relatively new discovery by several members of the community. It is a known fact that XBox consoles have been manufactured with three different DVD-ROM drives supplied by three different companies; Thompson, Samsung and Phillips. The Thompson drive is infamous for its refusal to read anything other than DVD-ROM type media and a somewhat higher than average failure rate when compared to other drives. You can identify your DVD-ROM drive type by looking at the disc tray (tray ejected) and noting the shape and placement of the holes. A search on the Internet for XBox+DVD+Drive+Identify should yield some image results. In any case, there have been reports that a slow disc loading/access time can result in the "white screen connection error." This typically happens after the sortie room, VT selection and weapon loadout screens, right as the actual "game" session starts in.
What appears to be happening is that the XBox DVD-ROM drive is having trouble loading the map/mission files while the session gets started. The infuriating thing about this problem is that it has nothing to do with the broadband Internet connection at all. The only way to determine if this might be a problem is to try accessing a game session from the same connection, but with a different XBox. Should the DVD-ROM drive be a problem, contact XBox Technical Support and determine if your console is still under warranty. There are possibilities of replacing the drive with a different model, but that subject is beyond the scope or intent of this website.
Connection Saturation
Another possible workaround to bypass/fulfill the XBox Dashboard firmware test was found by player Parias. I quote his findings and solution below:Then I looked back on some past experiments I had tried to get the game running, involving saturating my bandwidth with redundant transfers to somehow "confuse" LoC into thinking my connection was actually capable of handling the game. This had worked to some extent in the past, but I was always booted from matches shortly after they began. This time, I took things up a notch and employed the approach of running one or two torrent transfers at the same time. As is somewhat common knowledge, torrents tend to suck up bandwidth like no tomorrow (both upstream and down) if they're left on an unlimited setting, and I was hoping that the sheer amount of data flying through my lines would finally make the game confused enough to behave. It turned out that between this and whatever fixes Capcom has done since the game came out, I was finally going to meet with success - and now thanks to this trick, I'm able to participate in just about any match with no problems at all. So, to summarize, LoC's netcode is apparently so messed up that, on some connections, filling one's bandwidth up with intense transfers (torrents are best for this due to them doing constant uploading and downloading - I've had erratic success with only doing one or the other) whilst attempting to join a room will cause the game to think your connection is actually adequate, whereas before it would automatically reject any attempt on your behalf to join the room. Obviously the transfers should be shut down before the match physically begins, but after that, it should be totally smooth sailing, I have absolutely no idea why this works the way it does (by all logic, it should have the opposite effect) but I'm forced to employ this tactic every time I want to join a room. Without fail, if I'm not intensively running file transfers in the background, I'm totally unable to join a match, period - and nobody can join mine either. Note that the primary component of interest here is the "upload" datastream, meaning a file transfer "up" to a webserver would be the ideal solution for Connection Saturation. |
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