hehe - i used to have a 56k modem - and didn't get bitten by lag too badly for a long long time. In fact - i think there was upwards of 20 ships in the zone, and about 15 were fighting (players) and STILL i got no lag (yes i was fighting too).... more likely due to location location location (of the server to you). Obviously the server connnection helps alot too!

true chips, but surely lag should affect a 56k modem?!?

It also depends on your system setup (ie hardware) if you're running a server. For example, if you are running a server on the bare minimum spec (500MHz, 128MB-RAM, 16MB Hercules), like i tried at first, no luck, the lag is very bad, but since i upgraded (to p4 2400+, 128MB GeForce 4, 512MB-RAM, etc.) there are no problems, even on the LAN with my old PC, the same spec as above.

The closer the server location to your PC, the less the lag. But it depends greatly on the the spec of the PC and the Internet connection speed. I would recommend ADSL all the way.

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http://www.cardamine.net/

In my trials and trubulations (no this is NOT exact), I have found yellow lag indicator starts at around a 300-400 msec lag and red lag indicator around 500-600 msec lag. Lag in this case is the time for any info (like location infomation or guns firing) to get from client to server or vica versa. Lag includes the server load, the server internet pipe transfer time, the internet transfer time and the client internet pipe transfer time up to the time the client FL recognizes the info. The client FL knows these times and will light up the lag indicator as necessary.

So basically each of these things contributes to lag. I have found with maxxed (48k or 51k) speed on analog modems, broadband or anything better the transfer times are negligible. Why? Others with better pipe sniffing skills than I found normally FL uses about 3-4 kb/sec bandwidth. This is well within the capabilities of good analog modems. During missions, cheating , large groups - anything that requires more info between the server and client that bandwidth can double or triple. This may result in dropouts of info where not all the info gets to its source. This eventually manifests itself as the j-e-r-kiness we see in NPCs (loss of info from the server) or other players (loss of info from other clients and/or the server).

Disclaimer: all of the above is to the best of my knowledge and subject to better proof than I have dug up Start digging lads!

As long as you have a broadband connection, you should be fine. If you have the 56k connection, go to a place that tests transfer rates like here at dslreports.com. They can give you an idea of just how good ANY internet pipe is.

@cardamine.net, a gentle tease: Have you been sampling to much of your product cardamine? There is no such thing as a P4 2400+

EDIT: Sigh, didn't like the j-e-r-k in j-e-r-kiness!
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Earendil
SysAdmin of Boston Freelancer server

Edited by - Earendil on 06-11-2003 16:38:31

thanks Earendil
im sure peaple will use your info usefully it sure is detailed and that info is why i put up this post