I've started this thread as i've noticed there are a lot of people wondering why they have connection issues regularly and don't seem to understand the appropriate type of internet connection and what is NOT SUITABLE for online racing. Mobile Broadband,(MBB) is what you get from mobile phone providers using 3G/3G+/4G pocket wi-fi hotspots,USB dongles,etc. THE PLAYSTATION NETWORK DOES NOT SUPPORT MBB OFFICIALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Although you may be able to connect you will always suffer the following issues: 1: DSC's: This is caused by the band shift that MBB uses to maintain the strongest connection. e.g. In Vodafone's case their new network is on the 850 or 900 Mhz band depending where you are. When the signal drops in strength to below what is available on the 2nd 2100Mhz band,it shifts the connection to the 2100 band. This causes a period of NO SIGNAL during the change over which causes the PSN to DSC you immediately. In the pre GT5 v2.0 days you used to maintain connection but the system would make up all sorts of scenes as to what happened in this period causing cars to spin in the air along fences,jump 100's of meters backwards and forwards along the track in massive clouds of smoke,at Red Bull warp speed,cleaning up any car in it's path if damage is turned on. There are some things you can do to improve this in the following thread,however there is no complete fix,you will always have occasional issues,especially in peak times(3.30pm to 8.30pm,weekdays) when people use their phones for FB,Twiitter E-Mail,Youtube,etc. on the trains & buses travelling home from work. 2:Lag: There are multiple causes of lag,but in MBB's case it is primarily caused by 2 factors,the first being inconsistent ping(The time taken for your signal to reach the server' location.) Obviously this can vary even with fixed line internet,but it varies too much on MBB. It can float anywhere from 22ms to 500 ms as the signal gets moved from tower to tower,changing the distance between you & the server. The 2nd is Packet Data Loss. Due to interference from a multitude of technologies between you & the MBB tower,some of the information sent from you can be lost. When being sent,the data is first divided into groups,then compressed into folders could packets. During transit it will cause little problems if you lose 1 packet per 250 sent,but if you get 10 or 15 next to each other in the chain lost,then their will be lag & you will jump around as the system doesn't know what you did,then catches up when it gets the information.If you lose enough packets per 250 you will be DSC'd. If you are using ADSL1 fixed line internet and are having issues it will be being caused by the slow upload speed.There is not much you can do as it is limited by the technology on the upload side.There are not too many locations in australia that do not have access to ADSL2+ fixed line internet,most are remote locations where the numbers don't justify the providers upgrading the exchange infra structure to enable ADSL2+.In this case MBB or Satellite Internet(EXPENSIVE!!) are the better option,although you will need to spend money on high speed dongles and external aerials so you can reduce the bandshift to an absolute minimum. With ADSL2+ fixed line internet there are a few types that produce different nominal peak speeds. Firstly there is 128/128 which has a nominal peak speed of 1.5Mbps,which is too slow for racing and causes lag.If you are on this type it is a WASTE of time & money. Secondly there is 256/256 which provides a nominal peak speed of 8Mbps & is the general type sold to consumers and is fine if you are the only user at your address while racing,but needs to be set in the correct profile,(see next paragraph). Third there is 1500/256.This is the best ADSL2+ available,but is not available in all areas,and has to be specially requested as an upgrade from your provider,some charging a $30 to $40 once of fee,although if you threaten to move to one such as Internode that don't charge & sometimes do as matter of fact if available. Next you then need to set your connection to the correct profile.If you are able at your location and have a modem/router that will work on Annex M profiles,use them.DO NOT use them if not available as you will have to contact your provider to manually force reset it to a normal ADSL2+ profile. The fastest is Low Latency(low ping),but can create instability if your phone line is long to the junction box and more than 500m from your local exchange. Next is Very High Speed,then High Speed,then Standard,followed by High Reliability, & Very High Reliability. As you move from Low Latency to Very High Reliability your Ping will get longer and your upload download rates will slow as it puts in more error checking,but stability These profiles can be accessed at any time on your provider account page,but can take up to an hour to change over & will cause a DSC when it does. You may need to change it around for different uses,like streaming movies and gaming,so you need to be organised ahead of time. You can also ask your provider to sacrifice some of your upload speed for download speed. To race you only need about 5Mbps download,but require at least 750Kbps upload or YOU WILL BE LAGGING ON OTHERS SCREENS. Obviously the best is the Fiber(NBN),but isn't available everywhere yet. Please don't take this info as a "If you don't have fast enough net F*** O** post as it is not,i put together as i have noticed peopletalking of changing from ADSL2+ to 3G/4G,which is not the best idea,sorting your ADSL2+ connection is. Cheers Derek
I'm on ADSL2, had a lot of connection issues, room incompatability etc, Changed the netgear router to a high end Draytek router and it's been faultless so far, touch wood
Good write up Dek. I'm running ADSL2+ with about 4Mbps down 880 up Approx 4.5-5km from exchange (hence crap speeds). Using a TP-Link W8980 dual band modem/router with a TP-Link WDR4300 router (upstairs and at the other end of the house), connected and running as an access point (connected to the W8980 via TP-Link EOP). I have my PS3 connected wirelessly to my network, using a static IP from router. I usually have very little issues online in GT6 when in lobbies.
I'm on FTTH with Telstra. I use a wired connection. Download avg about 95Mbps, upload is rubbish at about 5Mbps. With the MBB thing, no it isn't officially compatible, but the band shift you spoke about doesn't affect your connection in that way. I know Vodafone at least has a crossover period and the shift is seamless with no drop in connection whatsoever. Not sure how the others do it, but considering they all have roaming agreements with each other in some shape or form, I'd suspect they are the same. The biggest problem you mentioned is ping variance and also how the network towers are configured. Coverage area shrinks when more people are sharing the tower, so if you're on a fringe, you will have all sorts of issues. Also, some MBB devices will 'reset' their data signal if it is constantly jumping between 3G, 3G+ and/or 4G. Just something in the configuration to try and maximise the stability of the connection. You can get MBB to work, but you need to set it up properly. Configure the device so it prefers the signal you receive with the most stability (i.e. perhaps a bit slower but doesn't drop out) and also keep the device in a spot in the house that receives the best signal. That's the great thing about MBB, you can put it anywhere. Obviously ADSL, cable or fibre are the better options, but if you need to use MBB, it can work if configured properly. Good write up though Derek, just thought I'd give a bit more info on MBB as a viable (but not preferred!!) option.
I found you still have issues with dsc's on bandshift unless you configured priority,(which sometimes doesn't work in heavy congestion periods as the network overrides it anyway,i used Voda MBB for 18mths odd & went thru the rigmarole,lol),& also was told so by PS support so took it as so,but the real point of the article was to inform people as i'd heard a few people talking 3G & 4G,so thought there were probably some that had no idea of incompatibility. I found two links,one that tell EXACTLY,with pictures of how to setup & which ports to forward for the PSN & for 1000's of individual brand and model routers: http://portforward.com/english/applications/port_forwarding/PlayStation_Network/ Second is a easy reading article for what is a static ip & how to apply to PS# & set up DMZ :https://forums.station.sony.com/dcu...s3-up-in-a-dmz-for-optimal-online-play.90560/ I'd recommend anyone having issues on ADSL2+ to do both.
