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Connection Problems - at wit's end

• CaptainObvious 12 Posts

  Fri, Dec 5 2014 1:29 PM

  Hello All:  This is a last ditch effort to try and find help before I give up and quit the game forever...  I'll keep the summary as brief as possible...

  Windows 7 all updates applied, Core i5 3570 @ 3.4 GHz, 8 GB RAM,  Nvidia GTX 660

  I use Firefox, Chrome, and occasionally IE...all versions updated with latest Flash plugins.

  Every 15-30 seconds during a game, I get the "Cannot connect to WGT servers pop up" and hit "retry".  About 75% of the time, I get right back into the game.  The other 25% of the time I have to close the window and try and return to the game through the lobby.  When that happens, if I look at the "Network" icon in the system tray, it indicates there is no internet connectivity- the icon of the monitor with adapter plug beside it with a red circle and line through it.  Once that returns to normal, indicating I have internet connectivity, I can usually rejoin.  The 75% of the time that I get right back into the game, that tray icon does not change, indicating I did not lose internet connectivity.

  So, this is obviously a network card, modem, router, etc. problem, right?  Well, no.  This ONLY ever happens while playing WGT.  It does not happen playing any other flash game, playing any other non-flash game (like COD on Steam, etc.), or any other time while browsing at all.  The computer is connected 100% of the time and never loses connection unless I am playing WGT.

  I've taken all steps outlined in previous posts to "optimize your WGT experience" to include clearing caches, disabling firewalls and anti-virus, etc. etc.  All to no avail.

  Any ideas?

  Thanks in advance,

  The Captain

• FlexibleAsARock 101 Posts

  Fri, Dec 5 2014 2:54 PM

  i'll share my experience cause its all i got, i had this issue several months back,and also right after i signed up last year and like you i was mostly able to connect again on retry, sometimes no though an i would have to refresh client page an reconnect, which usually worked.

  Occasionally i would lose my broadband connection. mind you, it only happened during wgt gaming. not while i was playing poker or doing work on the pc, and all the other devices in my home would still be connected to the internet via lan and through wifi.

  1 day about a year ago my pc would not turn on, the power supply had failed, ordered a new 1, got it about 3-4 days later an installed it. Problem solved! never had that message again.

  I gave that pc to my wife because she was complaining that hers was to slow so i gave her mine , backed up all her stuff, reformatted blah blah blah>> played golf on it for about 8-9 months then got retry to connect messages again, everyday i played. hmmm power supply maybe, only paid 40$ for the power supply so i checked the wattage an ordered a new 1 for it, installed it, all is fine since, occasionally i still get retry message but very rare.

  there is actually a tool you can buy that will test your power supply, if you want to go that route or take it to a shop an have them test it.

  might help, might not

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Fri, Dec 5 2014 4:20 PM

  Are you on a wireless network? I have that problem once in a while when I play from my home where my connection is wireless. My fix is to hook up directly to the modem. 

   

• CaptainObvious 12 Posts

  Fri, Dec 5 2014 5:33 PM

  Hmmm.  Hadn't even thought of that.  I built this PC, and before I upgraded it last year with new CPU and GPU, I was having all kinds of issues- programs hanging, BSODs, etc. etc.  I replaced the power supply and BOOM! problems solved.  I suppose it could be that again, but why is the faulty power supply only causing havoc in WGT and not during Crysis or COD or other super-power-hungry games?  I have 600W supply too, so plenty go around.  I will look into it though and run some tests.  Thanks for the input!

• CaptainObvious 12 Posts

  Fri, Dec 5 2014 5:34 PM

  The PC I am using to play WGT is connected via Ethernet cable directly to the router.  All other devices in the house are on WiFi emitting from said router.  I am currently connected directly to the modem to see if that helps.  We'll see...I'll go play a game and see what happens.

• CaptainObvious 12 Posts

  Fri, Dec 5 2014 8:13 PM

  YankeeJim:

  Are you on a wireless network? I have that problem once in a while when I play from my home where my connection is wireless. My fix is to hook up directly to the modem. 

   

  Just tried it for two games.  It did not improve...still got booted several times even though I was directly connected to the modem instead of going through the router.

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Sat, Dec 6 2014 6:27 AM

  Have you looked at your security settings where WGT is involved? Just throwing stuff out there that might make a difference. I'm assuming you tried resetting the modem to force a new IP. 

  By way of an example, downloading Comodo Dragon let's you pick their secure servers if you want. The problem there is their security is so tight it gets in the way of actual safe sites and flags them. While this might not be the case for you, perhaps there's a security interference going on. 

• CaptainObvious 12 Posts

  Sat, Dec 6 2014 8:34 AM

  I haven't used the ultra secure browsers like Comodo Dragon, and my basic browsers like Firefox and Chrome have very basic security settings.  I've got everything basically set to allow anything at all.  I don't use fancy firewalls and antivirus either in those browsers because the only site they ever hit are a couple of gaming sites that I a) trust fairly well and b) must have complete access to in order to ensure stuff like this doesn't happen!  The only security software on my gaming rig is Windows Security Essentials to keep it as light as possible.

  Played a few this morning- problems still persist.  Every 30 seconds I get the boot and asked if I'd like to retry to join.  I'd begin believing this is an ISP issue, except it only happens on WGT!  I think my next step is to bring the work notebook home and try it on that.  I have my gaming rig, but every other device I use for internet-based things are tablets and smartphones,so I've never tried WGT on a different computer...  I don't have any other traditional "computers".  If this happens on a second computer on my home network, it has to be in network hardware, settings, or the signal.

  Any other thoughts?

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Sat, Dec 6 2014 8:47 AM

  I've seen WGT get IT types involved on a one to one basis. I'd try contacting them directly. It bothers me that I see this once in a great while but it never sticks around like yours does.

  I also wonder if the TCP-IP might be configured wrong but don't know enough about that to advise. In fact, the only reason I thought of that was because of a help call I made once where the ISP had me reconfigure it over the phone.

• CaptainObvious 12 Posts

  Sat, Dec 6 2014 9:51 AM

  YankeeJim:

  I've seen WGT get IT types involved on a one to one basis. I'd try contacting them directly. It bothers me that I see this once in a great while but it never sticks around like yours does.

  I also wonder if the TCP-IP might be configured wrong but don't know enough about that to advise. In fact, the only reason I thought of that was because of a help call I made once where the ISP had me reconfigure it over the phone.

  One-on-one help from someone better at this than I would be fantastic.  I will give it a go.