Halo 5 Compatablility: Cloud Update Now Live

[Spec]

Hi all,

 

I'm considering buying a NetDuma router but before I did I wanted to ask how it works with Halo 5. I'm sick of playing on US servers and wondered how well the router performed with regards to blocking the US servers and allowing EU players to play on the EU servers?

 

@Netduma Fraser - I saw you asking users for information relating to what servers they were being connected to. I just wanted to bring this URL to your attention as it seems to detail the IPs for the Azure Datacenters world wide: https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=41653. You might have seen the URL or it might not be useful but I thought I'd post it anyway.

 

I'd appreciate some information on how well the router works with Halo 5 to help me make a decision.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Spec

 

[Netduma Crossy]

Hi all,

 

I'm considering buying a NetDuma router but before I did I wanted to ask how it works with Halo 5. I'm sick of playing on US servers and wondered how well the router performed with regards to blocking the US servers and allowing EU players to play on the EU servers?

 

@Netduma Fraser - I saw you asking users for information relating to what servers they were being connected to. I just wanted to bring this URL to your attention as it seems to detail the IPs for the Azure Datacenters world wide: https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=41653. You might have seen the URL or it might not be useful but I thought I'd post it anyway.

 

I'd appreciate some information on how well the router works with Halo 5 to help me make a decision.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Spec

 

That database is already on the cloud I don't know anything about Halo, but others on here play it (including the Iain the lead dev) so should be able to comment on it's effectiveness in the EU.

[Netduma Fraser]

Just as a little update we're testing something for Halo that looks promising to try and get EU hosts. 

[Spec]

Good news :-). Let me know if you need any guinea pigs for testing.

 

I've currently limited the Geo Filter to 130ms ping and have to play most of my games on Eastern US servers, the matchmaking system just does not want to put me in EU games if I limit it further. I do get the odd game on an EU server and it is night and day when that happens.

[Od1n]

Iain just cheekily teased a permanent EU host via twitter, stop doing this to us Iain and release it already ;P

the H5 Netduma community is thirsting for EU dedis for too long now

[SturdyFugur]

Server ID: 442832fdc5e3797e

Server location shown: Mid US

Ping: 35ms, should be in melbourne or sydney? (sydney originally was circled)

My location: Australia

 

Strict enabled gets the matchmaking all done, but the game server is identified 15,200KM away is blocked.

[Eccentric Steve]

Hi everyone!

 

I do not own a NetDuma router however I thought it may be beneficial for me to stop by on these forums and share some of my findings in terms of Halo 5's Server Selection as I have been working on blocking US servers for a considerable amount of time.

 

I never knew there was a router that had the features of the Neduma so I purchased an RJ45 to USB adapter and I ran my Xbox directly into my PC to connect to XboxLive. I then found a link to Microsoft's Azure Servers list and I blocked around 800 foreign IPs both Inbound and Outbound in Windows Firewall. This has had limited success as I was still connecting to servers located in America but matchmaking times were longer and I was connecting to EU servers more often however this could be placebo so I needed to do more digging. 

 

I started multiple Xbox Live accounts to check what IP's I was connecting to on a NEW account as from experience when you start a new Gamertag for Halo 5 you are extremely likely to connect to an EU server for your first 2-3 games.

I used an IP sniffer to check the what data was being sent from which IPs and to my surprise there are around 16 IP addresses that show up many of these are from Xbox Live's services however some of them don't send much data and could be for controller settings or armour customization etc. 

I now have a few accounts levelled to Onyx in Slayer, what I have been doing is searching in matchmaking and if the game is laggy I scan for IP's and screenshot the program my plan is to collect enough of the US server IP's to then add them to the full block list and hopefully this will resolve these issues. I have blocked around another 30 IPs since I have been scanning and today I have three EU games in a row and one of those games was high level Onyx with US players in the lobby, although this has really pissed me off that 343i has put me through doing all of this just to get a fair game is it weird that I'm actually kind of enjoying trying to solve this problem? I feel like I'm getting somewhere with this however if I hit another brick wall I think I just will need to throw money at you Netduma guys and demand a result!

 

Thanks. 

[Netduma Fraser]

Hey Steve that is very interesting thanks for sharing. We actually added that entire Azure list to our cloud. 

 

Whilst I don't want to promise we can solve the issue we can successfully block US hosts so you don't get into a US game at all and after a while you can force it to go to a EU host. Which is good, we're still working on it though  

[Od1n]

Steve just yesterday Iain teased that he sort of solved the issue by only connecting to EU servers

he didnt specify how long the matchmaking search needs but im sure we get more infos on it very soon

H5 with EU servers would be so awesome, im really starting to get sick of all the US servers i have to play on!

 

here the tweet

(needs to be posted via code, direct link doesnt seem to be supported by the forum)

https://twitter.com/Netduma_Iain/status/684448333390327808

[Eccentric Steve]

 

Steve just yesterday Iain teased that he sort of solved the issue by only connecting to EU servers

he didnt specify how long the matchmaking search needs but im sure we get more infos on it very soon

H5 with EU servers would be so awesome, im really starting to get sick of all the US servers i have to play on!

 

here the tweet

(needs to be posted via code, direct link doesnt seem to be supported by the forum)

https://twitter.com/Netduma_Iain/status/684448333390327808

If this is true I'm going to be a very happy and new customer

[Lord0Link]

I'll be keeping an eye on this topic, and I'll be waiting for this EU only Halo 5 magic. so until then those €194.99 will be waiting until this update is live and working.

[Eccentric Steve]

I've sadly a brick wall in trying to block US servers on Halo 5:Guardians... Are you NetDuma guys having any luck? I give up now and I am ready to purchase the R1 but this is the only game I play so will need to keep a close eye on this thread.

Thanks

[Spec]

Hi,

 

I have a Netduma and play Halo 5, I live in the UK. With the latest public firmware (1.03.5) using Geo-Filtering and Ping Assist I can block the US servers but it takes longer to find a game outside of peak hours. Currently I play with the Geo-Filter on and Ping Assist set to allow me to connect to east coast servers which have around a 100 to 120 ms ping, this isn't ideal but is the next best thing to being able to play on EU only servers.

 

Cheers,

 

Spec

[Netduma Fraser]

We're testing a unique Geo-filter service currently for Halo 5. What I can confirm so far. Can successfully block US hosts without getting negative rep. We can get US hosts after a certain amount of times searching - we're working out the average times you have to search to get an EU game currently.

[K0NSPIRACY]

Hi all,

 

I have a few questions and requests if any Netduma users or staff could reply with as much information as possible.

 

1. How much configuration is required to set up the Netduma router to find EU servers? I'm quite tech savvy but a step by step guide would be really useful for me and those who aren't quite as good at this type of thing.

 

2. Could you please confirm the process for finding games and what happens when searching in both Arena and Warzone. If you could provide a simple step by step guide for each scenario it would be really useful for all potential new customers.

 

3. Where is the best place to buy a Netduma router? Is the Netduma R1 the only or best router for finding EU servers for Halo 5? How much does it cost if we purchase directly from Netduma?

 

And one more from me personally...

 

I have a pretty poor internet connection. I'm currently with Sky but the best connection I can get regardless of ISP is approx 4mb down and 1mb up, however my connection does either drop down to 2mb or disconnects completely on a regular basis. I have an ongoing investigation open with Sky tech support and will move ISP if not resolved soon, however regardless of this, would a Netduma still be of benefit to me given my relatively slow download speeds?

 

Any help and advise would be highly appreciated. Thanks in advance 

[Netduma Fraser]

Hey, welcome to the forum.

1. Not much: Geo-filter on, strict mode ticked, ping assist at 0. Then you search, you'll get booted. Rinse repeat until it gets you into a game. 
2. The above will happen for each playlist, they almost every time try to force a US host. The only way to guarantee an EU host is to do the above.
3. The best place to buy it would be on our website netduma.com. We're the only router in the world that can Geo-filter games. So whilst the above isn't the most ideal situation of getting EU games they only way you can do it is with our router. It depends on your location, if you look here and put in your country you can see how much it will be.
4. Yes it would help you, our congestion control will ensure no devices in your home will impact each other. E.g. downloading, streaming etc won't affect your gaming.

[K0NSPIRACY]

Thanks for your reply Fraser.

 

Could you confirm how this works with the matchmaking process look in the game lobby if I'm playing solo or with a fireteam? Does everyone have to back out or does it kick everyone back to lobby or main menu? 

 

How long does it usually take to process orders if I purchase directly via the Netduma website?

 

Also, I've read some of the documentation and it would appear that this would work in parallel to my existing Sky router (connected via RJ45) rather than replacing the Sky router?

[Od1n]

it kicks only you and your fireteam has to play on the US host without you

everyone in the fireteam needs a netduma for this

playing alone is no problem though

[K0NSPIRACY]

Well that's not very good if correct. Could the rest of the fireteam quit the game via dashboard or may be leave the fireteam to prevent joining the game?

[Od1n]

sure they can go to the dashboard and restart the game

from my experience in warzone assault you get a EU server every 5-6 tries, dont know how it is in arena

[Netduma Fraser]

How long does it usually take to process orders if I purchase directly via the Netduma website?

 

Also, I've read some of the documentation and it would appear that this would work in parallel to my existing Sky router (connected via RJ45) rather than replacing the Sky router?

 

As Od1n has answered the Halo questions I'll answer these. 

 

It depends on the time of your order. If you order before ~2:30GMT it will be processed and sent out that day. If after that time it will be processed and sent out during the next working day. 

 

Yes you just plug the R1 into the back of your existing modem/router and then connect all of your devices to the R1.

[K0NSPIRACY]

Thanks for your response Fraser.

 

Could you confirm if Od1n is correct in terms of your fireteam backing out if not connected to EU server please. I presume you guys must have done extensive testing on this so is there any other way for the fireteam to back out of the game rather than them all quitting from dashboard (obviously that would be time intensive to do this everytime).

 

I've also read over at HaloWaypoint that Netduma users are currently unable to find EU servers for team games (FFA appears to work ok). This coincides with the Infinity Armoury update so is this purely coincidence or have 343i made further changes to their netcode if this in indeed correct?

[Od1n]

okay so here a more indepth answer

 

the R1 works perfectly with every halo game (exception is halo 5 see below)

so that means when you are the leader of a fireteam say in halo mcc or h4 the R1 can guarantee you play on an EU host 100% of the time without any backout or anything

same for any other online game EXCEPT for halo 5

 

so what makes halo 5 so special?

well 343i is the company with the least competences, thats why

 

they decided to take a very unique and stupid approach for online gaming

a normal game, once the matchmaking lobby is complete, will do a network test to either determine which player of the lobby has the best connection for everyone (P2P host) or which dedicated server is the best for everyone

that person or server then will host the game for everyone

halo 5 doesnt do this, it picks a dedicated server without testing if its the best option for the lobby

and here comes the problem, halo 5 highly favours US dedicated servers since 60-70% of the playerbase is american

theres no pingtest or anything, the game just picks the server without any

 

these pingtests and connection tests though are what the R1 requires to guaranteey ou an EU host

since that is not part of halo 5 the R1 cannot 100% give you EU host with each search

 

to compensate for that the R1 just kicks you out of the game if you are connected to a US host

while its not a very time efficient method its still the best thing around to guarantee you play on a EU host

as i said you might have to search 5-6 times until you have a EU game

your fireteam can go do the dashboard and restart the game once you play on a US host

an alternative is to be in a chatparty, have the chat party snapped and the click "leave chat party - to multiplayer"

that way your friends stay in the game and do not need to restart via dashboard

 

another alternative is to go to system settings, then connection, and then click the offline button

you can instantly go online again by clicking online

though your friends will obviously leave any party or chatparty that way and have to reconnect to it

[Netduma Fraser]

Yes what Od1n has said above it correct. 

 

If it has changed anything we'll check it out and see what is happening.

[K0NSPIRACY]

Thanks both.

 

 

an alternative is to be in a chatparty, have the chat party snapped and the click "leave chat party - to multiplayer"

that way your friends stay in the game and do not need to restart via dashboard

 

So doing this will kick fireteam members back to the main Halo5 menu or lobby rather than forcing them into the match? If so, that is a much better solution than having to quit via dashboard or going offline.