ApexPC:From reading old threads it looks like this kind of issue with WGT AS games has existed since the game type was introduced in December of 2010.
Excuse me, my memory is different.
More than a year ago, I frequently played A/S with a loose group of friends. Discons happened, but only few and far between. The invisible fourth player appeared as rumour though it was a rare fact.
Bigger problems began after I had stopped most MP games. These are the "game error" messages, the escalating number of discons following the first one, leading to frequent game aborts.
Many have reported these issues here ?since the beginning of 2014? but were still playing.
Since autumn(?) 2014, new problems came up in the lobby => game impossible if one player declines. Other reports on the difficulty to find or fill a match convey the impression that significantly less players do play MP games now.
IMHO, the problems have significantly increased in the last two years, and I doubt that this would be all external, "the internet".