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View Full Version : You can play on 56K!


Johnny Mullet
10-29-2007, 05:56 PM
I have been a 56K gamer since I got online 6 years ago and cannot get hi-speed in my location here in the sticks. I have a very good computer but a shitty connection and still play all kinds of FPS games online.

First off, you should make sure you are on at least a 56K speed modem with the latest modem driver installed. Also make sure your PC is capable of running Fortress Forever. Update your Steam program for your installed games.

You can add these commands to your console or in the config. To open the console, I right-clicked on my FF desktop icon and added this.....
-console

Your config is found in this or similar path depending on your PC........
C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\SourceMods\FortressForever\c fg

Open it with "Notpad" and look for these settings.........
cl_updaterate
cl_cmdrate

Change the settings to........
cl_updaterate "10"
cl_cmdrate "15"

Also add the line.........
rate 4000

You can experiment with the rate settings from 2500 to 5000 and see which is smoothest for you.

barronofhellion
10-29-2007, 09:09 PM
you havent thought about satalite ???!? serious man i was a 56k gamer up to hl1 and then when road runner came along i thought i would try it, omg ill kill myself before going back ;p.. serious though theres all kinds of broadband and there probably the same price as the dial up connect !

Dr.Satan
10-29-2007, 09:30 PM
Yeah i think i actually shed a single tear for you when you posted this...how do you conc I mean seriously

*tear for you and all other 56K gamers out there*

BTW - Awesome of you for having posted this...I'm sure it will help a lot of gamers out there (56K or not)

Ihmhi
10-29-2007, 10:42 PM
you havent thought about satalite ???!?

Satellite has great download and terrible upload... something like 1.5 MB/sec down and 10 KB/sec up. Satellite is good for downstream, but not for upstream. /=

Iggy
10-29-2007, 11:16 PM
They still make 56k modems?!

barronofhellion
10-29-2007, 11:18 PM
downstream, but not for upstream. /=
10k up beats 5k up in my book lol and that shouldnt be as big as an issue unless he wants to host files/server right? id say it would be worth it if that was my ownly choice... you know being able to download ff in like 30 seconds...

Dr.Satan
10-29-2007, 11:52 PM
I think he actually does host a server...lol

Ihmhi
10-30-2007, 12:18 AM
10k up beats 5k up in my book lol and that shouldnt be as big as an issue unless he wants to host files/server right? id say it would be worth it if that was my ownly choice... you know being able to download ff in like 30 seconds...

10 KB/sec is not going to do much for your ping, that is the point... you need a good amount of upload bandwidth to be able to play well.

I found the ideal amount of minimum bandwidth was something along the lines of 50 KB/sec up. That is where you can get the good pings. (Of course, distance to the server factors in as well...)

Johnny Mullet
10-30-2007, 12:31 AM
Sattelite is available, but I hear it is crappy for online gaming. I really have no connection issues unless I go offence and make it all the way to the enemy base and die avyway. I prefer Defence and so I stick with it.

Just for laughs....................

The Orange Box with all 5 games including updates was going to be a 270 hour download. I took my PC to a friend's house and hooked into his hi-speed and got it all in 3 hours.

I downloaded Fortress Forever on my 56K connection with the help from DAP which has that sweet "Resume Download" feature. I downloaded FF in 45 hours and 32 minutes :)

Rider_55
10-30-2007, 12:49 AM
Just out of curiosity what do the rest of you Dial-up gamers connect at, with what equipment, and what ISP.

http://www.speedtest.net/ is a good site to test on.

I currently connect at (will edit at home later) using a U.S. Robotics 56k V.92 internal hardware modem however I am stuck dialing in to a AT&T V.90 modem pool.
Microwave based wireless is moving my way so hopefully within the next few years I can get rid of the dial-up. On a related note do any of you guys connect via a cell phone provider based data package. I have looked into this and apparently anything other that email or buisiness apps violates the TOS agreement I would love to get some additional speed as I live in the shadow of a data compatable cell tower but what I really don't want to do is pay $100/ month for a brick and still have to dial in.

barronofhellion
10-30-2007, 01:42 AM
well im sorry to hear that people are forced to use the 56k still, i hope they run some lines out your way soon so you can injoy the freedom, (and have free pc time with no waits)

Johnny Mullet
10-30-2007, 02:52 AM
I use a Conexant V92 56K modem and connect through my ISP which is Windstream Communication.

http://www.speedtest.net/result/197239671.png

Kiastral
10-30-2007, 05:20 AM
you havent thought about satalite ???!? serious man i was a 56k gamer up to hl1 and then when road runner came along i thought i would try it, omg ill kill myself before going back ;p.. serious though theres all kinds of broadband and there probably the same price as the dial up connect !



Satalite has good download speeds, but a horrible *latency* which is your ping. Most have a ping of around 1 second (1000ms) due to the time it takes the signal to travel from your pc to the sat. and back to your pc. Anything above 400 or so is really unplayable.

I played on 56k up til about a year ago. I tried every possible tweak, fix and voodoo ritual possible to get my connection down. On a *hardware* modem, not a software modem (Winmodem) I have gotten under 100 ping with a well tweaked out network stack, good phone cables, etc. Having 56k isnt a death sentence for gamers, more like a life sentence without parole. There are several sites out that gives great tweaking guides, www.dslreports.com being the best I have found.

Kiastral
10-30-2007, 05:22 AM
Just out of curiosity what do the rest of you Dial-up gamers connect at, with what equipment, and what ISP.

http://www.speedtest.net/ is a good site to test on.

I currently connect at (will edit at home later) using a U.S. Robotics 56k V.92 internal hardware modem however I am stuck dialing in to a AT&T V.90 modem pool.
Microwave based wireless is moving my way so hopefully within the next few years I can get rid of the dial-up. On a related note do any of you guys connect via a cell phone provider based data package. I have looked into this and apparently anything other that email or buisiness apps violates the TOS agreement I would love to get some additional speed as I live in the shadow of a data compatable cell tower but what I really don't want to do is pay $100/ month for a brick and still have to dial in.


This is basically the same as I use, I use a USR Gaming modem, and as far as 56k goes, they kick all ass. I connected solid at 53.3 before I got my new 6mb dsl.

Currently:
http://www.speedtest.net/result/197261034.png

Ihmhi
10-30-2007, 09:21 AM
Maybe you can buy several hundred feet of Ethernet cable... how far away does your friend live? :lol:

barronofhellion
10-30-2007, 02:28 PM
hehe not to mention several hundred hubs to relay the signal

RocKwell
10-31-2007, 12:26 AM
I'm a 56k gamer

Curious, what's your average ping? Are you able to snipe, conc, etc? How long does it take to connect to a server?

barronofhellion
10-31-2007, 12:58 AM
i think ive seen johnny at 150

pF
10-31-2007, 01:49 AM
That's fair enough then - i rarely get better pings when playing on US servers (DSL, from Germany). Anything under 200ms seems to work just fine; then again i play soldier.. no concing/sniping, and rj's don't seem to be a problem.

barronofhellion
10-31-2007, 02:15 AM
i remember playing on 56k, and remember being supprised on well it ran with the constant warzone of explosions going off... i also remember some days when it lagged like a muterf*, and some days i was denied gaming due to constant disconects , service going down, some days where it would just be ok then out of the blue 20/30 sec lag spikes where i would have to type cl_timeout 999999 so i could at least stay connected until the 4000k ping went down... some days where it felt like somebody was pressing a big lag button every second to make the game stutter... some days where i just went hw and stood on the flag because if i went out id just get lag raped, but the ping was just fine in the flag room.. and well some days where it played ok and i could actually use the lag against the lpb that had like 30 ping by judgeing how much lag vs how close they were (that part i miss j/k ;p)

Johnny Mullet
10-31-2007, 02:16 AM
Curious, what's your average ping? Are you able to snipe, conc, etc? How long does it take to connect to a server?


I usually ping on USA servers between 150 to 400 depending on how many players are on the server. A full server usually makes my ping around the 450 mark, but it's totally playable. UK servers around 500.

I connect to my ISP at 55.6Kbps :)

I can snipe and conc, but sometimes my conc jump can get screwed up or bunnyhopping sometimes gets interrupted. I don't usually play those classes even on Q3F/ETF, QWTF, TF2, or any of the others. I play mostly as Defensive Pyro or Engineer and sometimes HW_Guy. I really enjoyed messing around with the Spy and other classes since they are so cool now! I like the idea of "Fortress Points" also since I am always whacking my team-mates (and enemies) with my wrench.

Connecting to the server is instant and the load screen during map change is less than 30 seconds, but you also must understand that my PC is super fast and capable of any modern game. An ETF map screen takes 5 seconds to load :shock:

My system specs are.............

ASUS M2N SLI Vista Edition Motherboard
AMD Athalon 64 Dual Core 4600+ CPU
2046MB RAM
ATX Radeon X1950 PRO video GFX
Windows XP Pro SP2
Aspire ATX Case
Conexant V92 56K modem.

There are also many other secrets you can do to tweak your modem, modem port, PCI latency, etc without using software. More info on those tweaks can be found HERE (http://www.upsetchaps.cjb.net/home.html) from the Upset Chaps :)

Here is some proof of how much fun I'm having :lol:
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i315/planetetf/ff_well0003.jpg

Crazycarl
10-31-2007, 02:24 AM
< on a 56k that's more like 28.8 or 31.2. I feel lucky if I get a steady 250 ping. I could get cable but it's too expensive.

Packet loss will hurt you more than a high ping; it's possible to snipe with a high ping because the lag compensation helps, but if things are jumping around you can't hit shit. With conc jumps I just have to jump a little bit after the timer ends. If my ping is stady I can do them alright. Pipe jumps I find much easier because the jump and the detpipe command go to the server at the same time anyway.

Norris
11-02-2007, 03:32 PM
sv_minupdaterate 20! :)

KubeDawg
11-02-2007, 05:52 PM
At work, I get:
http://www.speedtest.net/result/198382902.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

At home, I get about 16-17,000 down and about 2-3,000 up.

JECS
11-02-2007, 06:44 PM
heh.. wtf.. i think the fastest they have in canada right now is 10mbps but the isp sucks.. what do you need all that speed for?

Marshmallow Noob
11-02-2007, 07:02 PM
When i first started playing TFC i had AOL. :( I got cable about the time napster was first used.

JECS
11-02-2007, 07:07 PM
i had a free 56k service. got 10kb/s on it. me and my high ping owned everyone on turkeyburger

Dr.Satan
11-02-2007, 08:38 PM
i had a free 56k service. got 10kb/s on it. me and my high ping owned everyone on turkeyburger

lag hax!! lol