We've had a few PlayStation 3 users get in touch recently to let us know they're having problems with Battlefield 3 online. Apparently since late January, network performance has been close to unplayable for many users, with servers only showing one ping bar in the in-game browser (putting it at the low end of the server quality spectrum).
There's a
40 page thread on the official forums where Australian gamers are discussing the issue, including their fruitless chat logs with EA support on the issue.
Unfortunately due to the closed nature of console multiplayer, the network side of gaming is far less transparent than it is on PC. This makes commonplace diagnostics a little bit trickier - for example, you can't do a quick traceroute of a known server's IP address to see if there are network problems.
At the moment (working under the assumption that the PS3 version also runs on a client/server mode like the PC version), my first guess is the problem might just be a network routing issue that they're (somehow) still unaware of. There is also the (hopefully very unlikely) possibility that the servers have simply been shifted from Australia to another physical location (like the USA) to cut costs - but again, the lack of transparency makes it hard to confirm.
We're currently communicating with a couple of people about this issue to try and diagnose (unfortunately, we don't have a PS3 in the office at the moment) - if there's anyone out there with a PS3, a copy of the game, and a network router that lets them look at traffic, please
get in touch!
We've emailed contacts at DICE and Sony for comment to see if they have any information as well. If you are a PS3 gamer and struggling to enjoy Battlefield 3 at the moment, please let us know in the comments - if you can include your ISP and geographical location that would be helpful as well.
Posted 05:35pm 20/2/12
Posted 05:51pm 20/2/12
Posted 06:09pm 20/2/12
I guess some super advanced modems might have something that shows connections going through it, but not sure..?
Posted 06:28pm 20/2/12
Posted 06:40pm 20/2/12
youre living in the past man
Posted 07:14pm 20/2/12
Posted 07:27pm 20/2/12
[URL=http://www.speedtest.net][IMG]http://www.speedtest.net/result/1784504756.png[/IMG][/URL]
i have decent connection sppeds
DOWNLOAD : 5.73MB/S
UPLOAD :0.69 MB/S
PING :31 MS
Posted 08:48pm 20/2/12
Posted 09:03pm 20/2/12
We have been trying to make contact with EA\DICE through any available channel in an attempt to obtain even a reason for the problem.
All we want is a "hey guys, bill spilt his coffee on the server and now its buggered" but we have heard nothing at all. Its a disgrace! If I treated my customers like that my company would go out of business pretty fast.
Posted 09:08pm 20/2/12
Thx for that. I have chucked a note in the forum that you are keen to help. Hopefully someone has a Linux Firewall, although I'm tipping if they did they would know what to look for? Hopefully someone responds. Thanks again :)
Posted 09:59pm 20/2/12
Posted 10:27pm 20/2/12
My location is Adelaide.
My ISP is Internode.
Posted 11:44pm 20/2/12
Posted 01:04am 21/2/12
21/22 were back to karkand no EA servers at all, 1,200 posts on battle log with no responses its getting pretty ridiculous.
Hopefully they will actually acknowledge something is wrong after all the twitter questions/facebook/emails that have been sent we still get the same thing of deleting your savegame/contacting support again/what theres an issue, well look into it! then next time we get some kind of response its exactly the same.
The server settings were on 0+ players conquest/rush/all maps/Australian only and only getting 22 results compared to heaps more that we used to have, add in Asia to the list and you get 13-15 pages of results instead.
It seems to work ok on PC for me with connectivity but i need to get a new graphics card because it runs at a slower framerate than my Ps3 does.
Location Victoria
ISP Iprimus (they suck but cant really get anything better where im at the moment)
Posted 01:19am 21/2/12
Posted 02:21am 21/2/12
Location: Bendigo, Victoria.
ISP: Bigpond ADSL1. (However with a total speed of a whooping 100-120 kbps sometimes it can be my side, Telstra has over done the amount of people connected to the exchange. There words to me "To bad, you can either put up with it or close the contract."
Posted 08:05am 21/2/12
Someone on the official forums got a bunch of info about the network side of things - this is a couple weeks old but they did this when the problems first started: The IPs all look local and ping/trace fine from my connection here. I would like to see updated information though just to confirm these are still the right IPs to be looking at.
Posted 09:21am 21/2/12
ISP: iinet
Location: Hobart
Line spee: 7.24 Mbps (7240 kbps).
Download speed: 905 KB/s (0.88 MB/s).
Posted 09:54am 21/2/12
I play on PC, and there's so much I like about the game. However it really still is below an acceptable level when it comes to bugs, cheaters and the terrible netcode. Where you get shot well after you're in behind cover.
You can leave the whole dissapointment on the game not being a proper BF2 sequel aside, even the misleading comments by DICE about it having the biggest maps, PCs lead platform. The game is abnormally buggy still.
It's quite a few months after release. It's really not acceptable.
Posted 10:07am 21/2/12
Posted 10:32am 21/2/12
ISP: TPG
Location: Sydney
Posted 12:27pm 21/2/12
Hobart
Netspace
ADSL2+
Posted 12:58pm 21/2/12
Posted 03:27pm 21/2/12
Location: Adelaide
Posted 06:04pm 21/2/12
iinet
ADSL2+
Posted 07:20pm 21/2/12
Adelaide
Shocking lack of support from EA, they've lined their pockets, cut and run.
Posted 09:41pm 21/2/12
thanks to those that have provided info, I think we have enough now to declare it a general problem not something affecting a single isp or area.
Posted 11:48am 22/2/12
Here is a small piece...
Shadow_Rusty said:
Also, I did a little more investigating on the weekend and had a play with the NAT Tables on my Router, and here's what I have discovered...
BF3 Server Connections
Ip Address : Port ... | ... Ping -a Name ... | ... BF3 Server Name ... | ... Connection
109.200.212. 66:14004 ... | ... hosted-by.i3d.net ... | ... Official EA Australia #72978 ... | ... 1 Bar Connection (35-90ms Ping)
109.200.212.132:14014 ... | ... hosted-by.i3d.net ... | ... Official EA Australia #72967 ... | ... 1 Bar Connection (35-90ms Ping)
109.200.212.130:14006 ... | ... hosted-by.i3d.net ... | ... Server7023 ... | ... 1 Bar Connection (35-90ms Ping)
109.200.212.148:14016 ... | ... hosted-by.i3d.net ... | ... Server7035 ... | ... 1 Bar Connection (35-90ms Ping)
109.200.212.130:14012 ... | ... hosted-by.i3d.net ... | ... -- B2K Normal Server 10642 ... | ... 1 Bar Connection (35-90ms Ping)
109.200.212.148:14006 ... | ... hosted-by.i3d.net ... | ... -- Normal Server 10624 ... | ... 1 Bar Connection (35-90ms Ping)
216.151.223. 30:14008 ... | ... ... | ... Official EA West US #109122 ... | ... 4 Bar Connection (190-290 Ping To 216.151.223.1)
109.200.222.161:14004 ... | ... ... | ... Official EA Asia #114614 ... | ... 4 Bar Connection (140-240 Ping)
31.204.137.210:14014 ... | ... ... | ... Official EA Europe #77521 ... | ... 2 Bar Connection (300-400 Ping)
216.152.141.210:14022 ... | ... ... | ... Official EA East US #111162 ... | ... 3 Bar Connection (Can't ping)
216.157. 92.122:14006 ... | ... ... | ... Official EA South US #102482 ... | ... 3 Bar Connection (230-330 Ping To 216.157.92.1)
Also, if you are experiencing issues, please visit this site and click on the +1...
https://getsatisfaction.com/battlefield3/topics/australian_servers_are_missing
Posted 11:25pm 22/2/12
Posted 12:00am 23/2/12
Posted 01:27am 27/2/12
Posted 01:55pm 27/2/12
Posted 02:17am 28/2/12
PS3
Bigpond Ultimate Cable - 86Mbps avge connection.
1 Bar Ping to apparently Australian servers.
Unplayable, try to Join USA West servers (3 to 4 bars) for at least a bit of BF3 action
Posted 02:36am 28/2/12
Posted 02:43am 28/2/12
Posted 02:50am 28/2/12