Problem running FFXI out of the country

[Elien]

I recently moved to Israel and am having a lot of trouble getting FFXI to run properly here. To start i should say that i have sort of been stealing wirless internet from my neighbor so the signal strength and speed fluctuate, however initially while using this internet, my game was able to run smoothly. and only in the last few weeks have I had a problem

The issue that I am facing is, when I try to log into FFXI often times the game loads very slowly, for example the bars (retrieving friends list data etc etc) load very slowly, and then there is often a long wait for screens such as the main FFXI Screen with the "Play" button. Then in game i almost always have abyssmal framerate, however the degree of framerate lag and game lag often fluctuate. These framerate problems occur even when my R and S values are at normal levels. Similarly even when the internet signal strength and connection speed are excellent the game still suffers from this lag.

Finally i have tried to play on another fully functioning cable connection of my friends and the game wouldent even start up. I dont think there were any sort of firewalls and i cant understand what the problem may have been in trying to play on this cable internet.

Im hoping to find some help in diagnosing whether or not this is a system, game, or internet problem, to make sure that when i choose a permanent internet type/provider i make the right choice.

Thanks in advance

[Cephius]

Framerate problem usually denotes hardware difficulty or failure, post your system specs. Have you tried installing the game on a friend's computer and seeing if the problem is the same?

[Avanarius]

Firstly, clearly indicate whether or not this has to do with loss of FPS, or Connectivity.

Connectivity = Loss of packets, often resulting in disconnecting from the game due to a connection issue; does not normally decrease the frames per second in the game. Effects Send and Receive values in game.

FPS = The frames per second that the monitor is displaying the image of the game. This is usually dependent on the computer hardware and is not likely to depend on the internet connection. High FPS = smooth visual, Low = Choppy. Although fps is not dependent on connectivity, if your fps is considerably low (0-1fps) you may find yourself disconnecting.

[Elien]

What I'm trying to say is i do not know if this is an issue of connectivity or hardware problems. I have been able to play the game fine on this same computer for the past 3 years, and have only recently had this problem, however i cant think of a unique problem that could have happened a few weeks ago when this issue began. INitially at the time i guess i just thought it was a temporary problem with internet. I have plenty of free space on my computer and as far as most online tests i have tried my computer is in good health and has no virus or worm or whatever (that I have been able to find with basic antivirus) So im really confused as to how I can diagnose whether this is a hardware or connection problem. Any ideas? I havent tried installing the game on a friends computer =/ my install discs were left back in the states

[Cephius]

If you are just experiencing a drop in framerates, like I said, it is likely something wrong with your computer. If it were problems with your internet, you would get disconnected, or it would take forever to load a zone, stuff like that. Again, please post the system specs of your computer (operating system, video card, amount of ram, ect). Have you made any recent changes to the computer, like installed something new or had anything go wrong with a program outside of FFXI?

[Elien]

Although the absolute biggest issue is the choppy play, I do also get disconnected more often than I usually would since these problems started happening. Also as i said before, there are problems such as a very long load time when I am starting up final fantasy XI. All of the processes such as "retrieving friend list data" "retrieving messages" take longer to load than usual. And Most troubling is that loading the "playonline" screen where you can choose the shortcut to begin FFXI takes a very long time to fully load, and loading the FFXI screen where you can choose play or information or read about WOTG registration and all that takes a very long time to load. I initially see a blank page, then i get the background, then i get the back key only then other parts of the screen one at a time.

ANyways system specs-
Dell Laptop Inspiron 9100 Pentium 4 2800Mhz
Memory- 512MB
Graphics-Ati mobility Radeon 9700
And i recently have made over 50% free space on my disk drive so free space 19gb used space 18gb

What other stats are needed heh?

[Shuemue]

Get a legit connection.

[Killgannon]

shuemue is correct, get yo own damn connection and go wired if you wanna play games online

[Elien]

Hey, i definitely agree about getting my own connection and i fully intend too, however my inability to even connect to ffxi on my friends cable connection makes me nervous. I'm not sure why the game wouldent work on cable here and I want to avoid getting a connection that has some kind of restriction that would prevent me from playing. Its also hard conveying these questions in a foreign country =/

[Killgannon]

To start i should say that i have sort of been stealing wirless internet from my neighbor so the signal strength and speed fluctuate

you dont steal from friends. get your own connection, thats the only way you can test connectivity do other games have the same lag problems (single player 3d games) if not then its your connection. get your own connection and stop stealing other peoples bandwidth

[levish]

Could be your friends gateway router / firewall is blocking ports ffxi uses unless the ISP itself blocks that sort of traffic.

[Stromgarde]

After a move I had a significant slowdown in my computer in both regular tasks and framerate. Something might have happened to your computer to cause an intermittent problem.