For past three weeks I have had consistent disconnects with Overwatch for both myself and my wife’s PC. I have run WinMTR and my results are below. I have contacted Cox and had a technician at my house. They show I have had a perfect connection for the past three months. They ran three simultaneous speed tests designed to crash on purpose and my network and PC handled them without issue.
I have checked that my brand new modem, router and Cat7 cables are working without issue and had them double checked by the technician. I have since verified that ONLY Overwatch is affected. When Overwatch has crashed I have tried to get my network to have issues with other services, Fallout 76, WoW, Heroes of the Storm, HBO Now, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime. I’ve even had 9 devices running full streaming or games and have had no issue. At those times I have tried rerunning Overwatch to again find that It and ONLY it crashes while everything else runs smooth.
Only Overwatch has shown a problem. Further the technician did say that they have had customers previously where they found that Blizzard was bottlenecking their access which is what lead to the crashes.
I expect an answer other than “Contact your ISP” as I have done so and they have absolutely confirmed it is not them.
I did remove a . for a [dot] due to posting limitations regarding links.
~WinMTR~
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| WinMTR statistics |
I have had the same issue of being disconnected from the game for the past few months. I just tried to play a match of QP and I got kicked from it then reconnected when the match ends. I only have this issue on Overwatch and no other game I play on the same PC.
This information from the ISP is confusing, because this test you posted shows you losing 2% of your data as soon as you connect from the modem to the ISP line, and then it trickles down the hops. I think that 2% is relatively mild for most games, and streaming services don’t work like games so they are not a good comparison (they prebuffer in case you become disconnected in order to maintain continuous playback). However, even 1% loss will cause problems in Overwatch.
Out of curiosity, have you tried using another connection method and seeing if this problem persists? Even though mobile data isn’t officially supported, it can sometimes prove as useful tool in troubleshooting.
The test does show that, which only happens with Overwatch and only Overwatch. Run Heroes of the Storm, WoW, Fallout 76, anything else and it doesn’t have any loss or issue. I also work from home with sensitive data and programs that don’t even fully exist on my laptop and instead rely on an always on connection via secure VPN to even function. They run without issue too.
In regards to the ISP’s info, they didn’t just tell me (though it was just telling me about finding other Overwatch players being bottlenecked by Blizzard). They pulled the datalogs from March (I was having a different issue with my Modem constantly losing connection and they had been out and fixed that.) There’s usually an average of 1-2% fluxuation and hiccuping, there was 0 for my connection.
They also ran their own traceroute and Speed tests and showed no packet loss and less than 10 milliseconds until it went over the ocean. Then ran the three speedtests simultaniously which should have overwhelmed the network and caused some sort of loss, but my PC, Router and Modem handled it without effort.
Start up Overwatch again. Boom, disconnect and packet loss.
That’s why I’m saying this is Blizzard’s issue. The flaw can literally only be replicated and seen in this one singular game. So what exactly is my ISP supposed to do when literally every test shows the system working above expectations, when every line is actually new (as in last three years for their lines, my ethernet cables are all Cat7s bought 3 months ago along with my new modem and router).
To your last question, I sadly don’t have a dataplan that’d allow me to run even a single game of Overwatch without issue for my checkbook, so that’s out.
When you ping the IPs for those other games, no loss shows up in the WinMTR? Can you post one of these tests? Because the test above shows that you are losing 2% before you even leave your neighborhood, so in theory it should affect everything you connect to. None of the other internet uses you mentioned, gaming-wise, and especially PC apps for business, are going to be nearly as sensitive to packet loss as Overwatch is.
Also, I’m not trying to blindly support Blizzard here. I have personally dealt with a similar situation, where the ISP told me my logs were perfect, that there was no delay on my line when they came out, etc etc, and then later “made adjustments” to something in my area that fixed it. This was after 6 months of me telling them there was a problem and showing data loss in WinMTR on my end.
Nicole, sure. Ran Fallout 76 and ran Overwatch (2 separate PCs but both hardlined to the same Router). Also, not seeing you as a Blizzard Shill or any such thing. Appreciate the questions as it helps show more info for when they look at this topic.
These are good examples. I will note that staff doesn’t guarantee they will answer all threads on the forums, and if you want to deal with them directly, you have to open a ticket. Also, I don’t think your issue is related to the other thread where European players are having lag issues.
Overwatch has a higher send/receive rate than our other games. Try going into the game settings menu and turning on the “limit server send rate” and “limit client send rate”
Keep in mind this would only be a bandaid fix assuming it works. If this works it typically suggests the routing device is having trouble with the higher speed servers.
Another thing to consider is “Quality of Service” settings which impacts each game differently. This is something you’d want to login to the routing device to verify. If the setting exists, disable it. Typically I don’t see QOS affect test data like the winMTR though, so it’s still good to keep note of the packet loss.
Will try this and report back. Keep in mind that if it does work and does suggest routing device is having trouble that again goes back to Blizzard’s lap. Since I just upgraded from a NETGEAR N600 Dualband to NETGEAR R6700 Nighthawk AC1750 Dual Band Smart WiFi Router, Gigabit Ethernet (R6700).
Either way, thank you for responding, will report back with either success or more data.
So tried the above suggestion, interesting result. It did nothing to stop the actual problem but instead of Disconnecting I just consistently rubberbanded around and died or didn’t actually affect the map or other players. Meanwhile instead of my Packetloss in the game diagnostic (Ctrl+Shift+N) showing 0.4% to 10% packet loss before disconnect it steadily showed upwards of 60% packet loss without losing my connection.
Meanwhile other games run fine and show a lot less or no packet loss. So again, singular program causing this issue.
Meanwhile, again, ran Fallout76 on separate PC and it again showed no issues what so ever, even went ahead and went to the most densely populated area and tagged a TON of monsters to see if I could get even some slow down lag… No issues… Here’s the WinMTR:
When that step fails, we just recommend turning it off. It helps some players on particularly low quality connections, but if it isn’t useful for you, it’s better to have your send/receive rate not limited.
Here, however, we see some interesting behavior. You’ll see I underlined a couple bits of information in the second row here. After your connection leaves your router, you start dropping what appears to be a sizeable number of packets. It only displays 1% loss here, but as you can see from the first row to the second, about 20 are actually vanishing. We can tell this is legitimate packet loss since it continues through your whole connection. This also happened in your first test.
I would wager this has already been done, but have you just unplugged that router for about 10 minutes and then plugged it back in? It may be some bad cache data overwhelming the outbound connection. If that doesn’t work, we need to get creative. Try connecting using your mobile phone as a tether instead. I would wager that your disconnections will stop on that connection. If that works, that router may be defective or configured incorrectly. Sometimes we see this with netgear quality of service. Alternately, the cables between the router/modem may be malfunctioning. You can try bypassing the router to tell if the problem starts before or after the router.
I know you had a clean test from your other PC, but it wasn’t run as long and probably didn’t catch an issue live as did the tests you ran to our servers. I have to discard that data for now based on everything else you’ve tried thus far and what I’m seeing in these tests.
The router is verified running perfectly, brand new out of the box, configured correctly.
The cables are brand new Cat7 and work without issue.
I will happily rerun the double test for the same length of time to re-establish the point, but the fact that you’re discarding the data raises concerns. Both were running at the exact same time. Notice only Overwach shows Packet Loss.
The problem we’re having here is that ‘overwatch’ is not what is being tested here. ‘Your connection to the servers’ is what is being tested. Now, it’s possible that the problem is bandwidth related, and one of your PCs is getting de-prioritized as you hit bandwidth caps. However, this is unlikely as Overwatch doesn’t use much data, unless your house is streaming a ton of data.
At this point, I’m more curious about the results of running a mobile tether as opposed to another winMTR. We’ve got plenty of winMTRs showing what is likely the problem. The question we have to answer together now is ‘why’? You shouldn’t have this behavior on that equipment so it’s just a matter of figuring out where the breakdown is and fixing that issue.
Unfortunately I don’t have the datacap available to run a tether through my phone. Was just kind of hoping that the problem would actually be addressed where it’s happening.
You can say “Overwatch” isn’t what’s being tested, but when it is 100% factual that the issue only exists with one single program and that you can run other programs at the exact same moment and the problem literally only exists for one program.
Hopefully despite the insistence that it’s my router or ISP someone is working on this in the background. In the meantime I’ll just say bye to Blizzard games. Will check back when the next patch hits and hopefully the problem will have mysteriously vanished.
It’s 100% an overwatch problem. They can continue to say otherwise, but the fact of the matter is im not dropping from Dota 2, or CSGO, or any other game. Their "competitive’ game is a joke in the fact that I get a massive penalty for their issues. I wouldn’t waste your time continuing to troubleshoot.
Yes, and the packet loss shows that it only happens with Overwatch.
Two PCs, Identical. Two Cat 7 Ethernet cords going to the same Router, Router Going to Modem.
Play Overwatch on one PC and ANYTHING else on another PC. Overwatch shows Packet Loss on the hop from the Modem to the first connection point outside my home. Other game does not.
Side note. Had a Network tech come out to my house again since Blue wants to insist it’s all Cox’s fault no matter what. Again, checked every line, every connection, every feed. Everything is literally perfect without any issue. Again tried speed tests, no issue.
Played a round over Overwatch in front of the guy, game immediately went laggy and crashed. Tried that whole tether thing. Disconnected my router from my Modem, hooked it up to his meter having it act as a modem. Completely different connection. Played Overwatch.
If you’re unable to use your phone as a mobile tether temporarily, your only other options are going to be troubleshooting the router and connection to your ISP. If you own the router, you need to contact the router manufacturer’s support team configuring quality of service or testing the router for malfunctions. If it’s rented from the ISP, you can just have them swap it for you. I’d wager that this will fix the problem.
It could also be the modem. An easy way to test that is bypassing the router and hooking up to the modem directly. If that works, you know it’s the router and as above, it’s replacement time. If it doesn’t, the modem would be what you want to work on instead.
Regardless of the fact that Overwatch triggers the problem, the problem is the packet loss, NOT Overwatch. Imagine you try to turn on your car one day and the engine oil has been removed. The engine makes a horrible noise, but the engine itself is not the problem, it’s the lack of oil. Your packet loss is an oil drip, and that’s your problem.
We’re not going to sit here and argue with you at this point. You’ve got the information you need to resolve the problem. From here, troubleshooting it is going to be your prerogative. If you do replace the router or fix whatever’s causing the packet loss and still have issues, just get us a new winMTR and we’ll look for more options. Until then, there’s nothing else we can do for you.
The problem has persisted through more than one router, they aren’t all configured wrong.
The problem does not exist for anything but Overwatch.
Your analogy is incorrect. It is not a car without oil making a noise and I’m blaming the engine.
A better comparison is whenever I drive my car down 1st street it makes a noise. But when I check the car, the oil level is fine. When I drive the car down 2nd or 3rd Street the car is fine. But if I go back and drive down 1st again the noise comes back.
At this point will just trust that the next patch fixes the problem.
So for the record. New Patch came Tuesday. Suddenly I am no longer getting disconnects on Overwatch. Suddenly I am no longer losing packets at my router. I have changed absolutely nothing since the last test yet the issue has resolved. The only change was a patch you made.
Next time just tell the truth and say you’re working on it but don’t know what’s causing it. Quit blaming people who might just know what they’re talking about because you don’t want to acknowledge any error.