Some basic setting direction/understanding

[Dmaune]

Let me start off by letting you all know I play mainly Destiny 2 so all my setting questions/concerns will be related to PVP in that game.  Just looking for some clarification on a few things that will give me a better understanding of what I'm doing when I change things.

My internet is Verizon 4g LTE.  Don't hate on me it's literally the best internet available where I'm at. 

1.  Last night I was messing around with the bufferbloat settings and running some tests.  I don't remember the site I used to run the test but it would give you 3 ratings when it was complete: Overall, bufferbloat and quality.  When I had my bufferbloat set to about 50% down/up I was able to consistently get a A-B rating on my quality.  My overall and bufferbloat ratings suffered as a consequence but correct me if I'm wrong those aren't as important. 

What would a bad bufferbloat rating (Usually D) signify?

Should I be trying to optimize signal quality over all else?

2.   My second topic is about ping assist.  If I'm consistently hovering around a 60 ping I've been told to set the ping assist around 10 higher than that (70).  

Why not set it low like 20?  How does setting the ping assist much lower than my ping effect my matchmaking?  Don't I want to be paired with people with the lowest pings possible or no?  

3.  I've been seeing very strange things lately on the geofilter.  Many of the players within my 600 mile radius are showing a ping range of .5-5.  That seems impossibly low.  Some of those players are well over 300 miles away so what could be causing that?  FYI the matches when I see that are some of the most lag filled matches ever.  

Thanks again for all your help Netduma community!

[Netduma Fraser]

Sounds like you were using DSLReports which I do not recommend. Bufferbloat only occurs when your connection is saturated which the test won't achieve. You are much better off following this guide to fine tune your Anti-Bufferbloat settings: http://support.netduma.com/en/support/solutions/articles/16000074717-test-your-connection

If you're constantly hovering around 60 and from the fact you're using 4G your base ping is probably quite high, then it depends on where the closest server is to you. It sounds like you won't be able to get a game lower than 60 so setting ping assist lower would be pointless as you wouldn't get a game.

Could be that they're mislocated on the map i.e. they're much closer than it indicates or it could be that the router is having a hard time pinging them and pinging something closer which just so happens to be a very close IP

[Dmaune]

3 minutes ago, Netduma Fraser said:

Sounds like you were using DSLReports which I do not recommend. Bufferbloat only occurs when your connection is saturated which the test won't achieve. You are much better off following this guide to fine tune your Anti-Bufferbloat settings: http://support.netduma.com/en/support/solutions/articles/16000074717-test-your-connection

If you're constantly hovering around 60 and from the fact you're using 4G your base ping is probably quite high, then it depends on where the closest server is to you. It sounds like you won't be able to get a game lower than 60 so setting ping assist lower would be pointless as you wouldn't get a game.

Could be that they're mislocated on the map i.e. they're much closer than it indicates or it could be that the router is having a hard time pinging them and pinging something closer which just so happens to be a very close IP

yep DSLreports sounds right.

My ping goes as low as 45 sometimes but 60 seems to be the average when I run a test.  That being said I get spikes that are quite high which I want to avoid.  

I've had my ping assist set at 20 for a couple weeks and I've had no problem finding matches.  Doesn't seem to slow down matchmaking at all but I know for a fact my ping isn't that low.  Being that I'm playing Destiny 2 I don't have it in strict mode if that makes a difference.

So I guess my next question is, what is Ping assist trying to filter out?  

[Dmaune]

22 minutes ago, Netduma Fraser said:

Sounds like you were using DSLReports which I do not recommend. Bufferbloat only occurs when your connection is saturated which the test won't achieve. You are much better off following this guide to fine tune your Anti-Bufferbloat settings: http://support.netduma.com/en/support/solutions/articles/16000074717-test-your-connection

If you're constantly hovering around 60 and from the fact you're using 4G your base ping is probably quite high, then it depends on where the closest server is to you. It sounds like you won't be able to get a game lower than 60 so setting ping assist lower would be pointless as you wouldn't get a game.

Could be that they're mislocated on the map i.e. they're much closer than it indicates or it could be that the router is having a hard time pinging them and pinging something closer which just so happens to be a very close IP

Oh and I want to mention that the people with pings that would spike at 5 only started happening within the past couple days.  I've never seen a ping that low in the month that I've been using a netduma and it's about half the people I've clicked on.  Seems strange.  

[Netduma Fraser]

Right gotcha, sounds like your base ping is a bit lower than expected but due to the variance of 4G I imagine this changes a lot. Ping assist probably didn't do anything as games were found off your radius. Ping Assist will attempt to get you servers under your ping limit even if it's outside your radius but it can't always do so, thats why we called it an assist rather than a filter. 

Did a Destiny update coincide with that behaviour?

[Dmaune]

4 minutes ago, Netduma Fraser said:

Right gotcha, sounds like your base ping is a bit lower than expected but due to the variance of 4G I imagine this changes a lot. Ping assist probably didn't do anything as games were found off your radius. Ping Assist will attempt to get you servers under your ping limit even if it's outside your radius but it can't always do so, thats why we called it an assist rather than a filter. 

Did a Destiny update coincide with that behaviour?

No I can't say it did.  Destiny 2 resets every Tuesday but this has been happening since Monday.  Also no update with this weeks reset.  

I hate to keep asking questions about ping assist but I'm really trying to figure out how it works.  So what does ping assist prioritize?  Radius?  

Lets pretend for a moment I'm in a match and everyone has a ping below 20 except me and I'm at 80.  Would that match be a better scenario than if I was in a match where everyone including myself has an 80 ping?

[Netduma Fraser]

Okay not sure what has occurred there then. Ping Assist doesn't prioritize anything, the radius will continue to filter as normal but if ping assist detects a game under your limit it will allow that connection. Probably the latter would be better for you, in the fast example their ping is lower so actions register faster for them than for you. 

[Dmaune]

26 minutes ago, Netduma Fraser said:

Okay not sure what has occurred there then. Ping Assist doesn't prioritize anything, the radius will continue to filter as normal but if ping assist detects a game under your limit it will allow that connection. Probably the latter would be better for you, in the fast example their ping is lower so actions register faster for them than for you. 

Thanks for all your help.  I'm a complete noob when it comes to this stuff so your patience is appreciated.  

So I'm actually trying to find matches with people who have pings very similar to mine not necessarily the lowest pings out there?

If that's the case is it safe to assume ping is king?  In other words, radius doesn't matter at all as long as the ping of the player is similar to mine? 

I mean if the above scenario is true, wouldn't I want to be playing against people with pings that are higher than mine more often than not?  

[Netduma Fraser]

Ping is definitely king, you could have a really close game but if the ping is awful then it'll play badly. Generally you do want games where you have the lowest pings but as your ping is pretty stable at 80 it's likely more beneficial to play with those of a similar ping or higher than yours yes so you have the advantage over them

[Dmaune]

40 minutes ago, Netduma Fraser said:

Ping is definitely king, you could have a really close game but if the ping is awful then it'll play badly. Generally you do want games where you have the lowest pings but as your ping is pretty stable at 80 it's likely more beneficial to play with those of a similar ping or higher than yours yes so you have the advantage over them

Ok so if that''s the case then would it be beneficial to add a feature to DumaOS to specify a ping range instead of just max ping?  If I'm searching for a game and I have my ping assist set on 80 I could potentially find matches with opponents who all have lower pings.  If the lower ping has the advantage in a 1v1 it would be nice to find matches that only include players that match my lowest ping value or higher.  I supposed matchmaking could take longer since you're effectively shrinking the pool but increasing your chances of having the lowest latency in a match would be awesome.  

This is assuming the ping assist number is a max setting.  If the ping assist number searches for pings +/- 10 or something like that it makes everything I just said null and void.  

[Netduma Fraser]

Having it as a range might be quite hard as as soon as the ping is detected under your limit it's allowed, even if it was for only a brief second. Ping assist also generally only really works with 1 host and doesn't work effectively when using P2P so I think the radius is still your best bet. You could move your home location further away and see if that improves your gameplay

[Dmaune]

1 hour ago, Netduma Fraser said:

Having it as a range might be quite hard as as soon as the ping is detected under your limit it's allowed, even if it was for only a brief second. Ping assist also generally only really works with 1 host and doesn't work effectively when using P2P so I think the radius is still your best bet. You could move your home location further away and see if that improves your gameplay

So move my location on the geofilter further from where I actually live?  Just curious what result I'm looking to achieve by doing that?

[Netduma Fraser]

Yes that's right because you'll be searching for players further away from you they will have a higher ping to you 

[Dmaune]

So I'm in the game right now just clicking on the pings of all the servers that come up and they're all reading under a ping of 5.  I know that's not right.  

[Dmaune]

and most of the players are showing under 1ms ping.  stuffs messed up

 

[Dmaune]

I think my internet is messed.  

Side note: I moved my location icon but it's still only finding players around where I had it previously.

Scratch that.  had to restart the game

 

[Dmaune]

but the servers are still coming back at 1-2ms ping no matter where they are.  

[Azlios]

1 minute ago, Dmaune said:

but the servers are still coming back at 1-2ms ping no matter where they are.  

Try clicking on the main server coming from Bungie, it's a dedicated server in Washington, Top left of america on the geofilter map, see if it still reads as that low.

The duma has generally been spotty with Destiny 2 due to their ridiculously complicated matchmaking system. I hop from dedicated servers to peer to peer all the time.

[Azlios]

My general experience with the Duma and Destiny 2 is that Ping Assist doesn't really work if at all. I normally just have it set at 0 due to this.

 

As for the Geo-Filter radius, it will normally only filter the fireteam leader. For example me being in the UK I have my radius to only cover the UK, so if I'm going up against a team in quickplay and their fireteam leader is from the UK but the other 5 plays are from America, it will let them through as the fireteam leader will be connecting with me through peer to peer only and the 5 others from the US are going through a mixture of dedicated servers and peer to peer to connect to me. 

[Dmaune]

I'm still messing with things so I'll keep ya'll updated.  Thanks for all the help!

p.s. I played some matches earlier while the crazy numbers were coming back and they were just awful.  

[Dmaune]

2 hours ago, Azlios said:

Try clicking on the main server coming from Bungie, it's a dedicated server in Washington, Top left of america on the geofilter map, see if it still reads as that low.

The duma has generally been spotty with Destiny 2 due to their ridiculously complicated matchmaking system. I hop from dedicated servers to peer to peer all the time.

Yeah even that server is topping out at 1.8ms ping.  Something just isn't right there.

[Dmaune]

So I was running some speed tests and when running the connection through my netduma I topped out at 24d and 1.25u.  I had the bufferbloat on "never" and no other devices connected to the network.  The only high priority device in my network is the PS4 and I had it turned off.  Just for the hell of it I decided to run the ethernet cable from the modem straight into my desktop and run the test that way.  Instantly 60d and 6u.  Ummm what?  Then I ran the ethernet straight to my ps4 and ran the speed test again.  53d and 3u.  What I'm gathering is I definitely have some setting issues going on.  Keep in mind my signal quality did not improve and I still had ping spikes so it wouldn't really make a difference in game but still, what is going on there?  

[Netduma Admin]

I think it's worth factory resetting to give it a fresh start: http://support.netduma.com/en/support/solutions/articles/16000084263-how-to-factory-reset-the-netduma-r1-using-dumaos

Then follow these guides to set each feature up optimally: http://support.netduma.com/en/support/solutions/folders/16000090646

Let us know how it performs after that.

[Dmaune]

26 minutes ago, Netduma Admin said:

I think it's worth factory resetting to give it a fresh start: http://support.netduma.com/en/support/solutions/articles/16000084263-how-to-factory-reset-the-netduma-r1-using-dumaos

Then follow these guides to set each feature up optimally: http://support.netduma.com/en/support/solutions/folders/16000090646

Let us know how it performs after that.

yep I think it's a good idea

[Dmaune]

Ok I reset everything and my speed tests definitely improved to what I expected (60d/7u).  Note that I'm also using a new modem/router on factory settings as well.  I have Verizon 4G LTE internet.

What is Goodput doing and should I have it checked?

What are the optimal Network settings?  I didn't see a "how to" on that.  Right now I just have everything set to default but I'm sure it could be better.