New Zealand blocked?

H_aunter wrote: »

I'm from NewZealand and I'm having this problem as well i can't get an answer from any MOD or anything.
(also I'm using an i.p hider to get on can't get on the game tho)

[MOD]Iceman wrote: »

I dont see why z8 would block you. Im being told some others are able to play. Could it have been a ISP problem? I had this problem before and it turned out that the whole region I live in had net problems. It let me go to alot of places but not z8 unless I used a proxy. I would be asking your service provider if there are problems somewhere.

J4mmer wrote: »

ICEMAN: Before you responded - Did you ask anyone within Z8 about recent changes to network infrastructure and/or configuration?

Apologies up front for the length of this post, but, as a Kiwi (resident in Oz) and a long time player, I have observed sub-optimal performance that has nothing at all to do with user end configuration or context. So when I hear this slightly superficial response (no offense intended mod), I feel the need to speak up for my bros in the Land of the Long Green Cloud.

Conclusion - (up-front for those that don't want/need to read entire post):

Since this IS a commercial proposition, I think it would be a very good idea for Z8 to look closely (again) at their router configs/routing tables/infrastructure deployment and inter-dependent infrastructure configuration/traffic engineering/service providers et al.
It is highly unlikely that Z8 has been ISP filtered or that an entire class of traffic or protocol has been filtered.


start:
IMO, It is MUCH more likely that either Z8 routers or Z8's service provider routers (eg: Data Centre host routers) have been incorrectly configured and are filtering IP subnets (such as, 203.***.***.***/8 or 203.1.***.***/16 - these are just examples of subnets btw - not the actual NZ representative Supernets) or something similar.

simple test for Kiwis:
Can you ping and/or tracert the CF servers, WC game server and the web servers on EC. (its important that you ping as its a different protocol)
Can you reach the LA times and New York Times or other infrastructure you know is located on east and west coast USA?
When you proxy, are you choosing a US proxy or other country, eg UK?

All our 'user' connections to Z8 infrastructure pass from the net to Z8 'managed' routers. In turn the routers hand off to Z8 servers as appropriate - based on source/destination/protocol etc.

The 'path' to Z8/CF server infrastructure over the net is made up of routers, NOT SERVERS!.
ISP's provide last mile connectivity to users, carriers provide the network feeds to ISPs. ISP's have no 'control' over these paths.

Unsure if these players are all on one carrier system, eg TelstraClear. Highly unlikely that a carrier EVER blocks/singles out a destination in this way - Carriers don't know and don't care about Z8 routers and wouldn't filter them out. ISP's & Carriers would only filter if Z8 were on an international 'blacklist' eg. kiddie pr0n servers - if this was the case players from many more countries would be affected. These blacklists are propagated internationally by Interpol and similar 'agencies'.


The net is a collection of carrier and transport network providers (AS's - Autonomous Systems - these are represented as the 'clouds') that 'border' each other. It uses a protocol called BGP - Border Gateway Protocol - if one path is down another is automatically chosen. Each cloud has multiple 'edge routers' - therefore multiple paths. Which is why the internet works so seamlessly.

There have only been a handful of 'netsplits' so catastrophic as to prevent this seamless path selection occurring and thus black-holing a country or region.
THIS IS ALL ROUTERS - NOT SERVERS - they are very different !!!!

New Zealand's primary path to the USA is via Southern Cross Cable. If this is down- which it hasn't been - traffic routes through Singapore or Guam etc etc. (bear in mind that multiple paths exist within this single x-pacific fibre deployment) and that Australia's primary path to the USA is Southern Cross Cable via Auckland, NZ.

And while we're on the subject of Networking: (this will be contentious) :P

My 'ping' to CF servers went from 165ms to 210+ms. My ping to other US West Coast infrastructure is still in 160-180 range.
The distance between Australia and the USA hasn't changed - distance is THE primary component of the ping RTT - round trip time.

Australian CF players on multiple carrier networks have experienced the same 'change'. This is a huge jump that is NOT about carriers or the general 'internet'. Also curious, about 2 or 3 months ago my ping briefly returned to mid 160's for two days. I know for a fact that no carrier change was responsible at my end, as I checked with engineers who manage both the Carrier Core Transport Network and their subsidiary ISP service.

In the same way as there is 'good & efficient' code for applications, there is good configuration and lousy configuration in the world of networking. Simple errors and/or clumsy config can have serious effects on traffic paths and therefore connectivity and performance.
Similarly, the deployment of infrastructure also needs to make sense. For example, there is no point hosting on the west coast if you demand all your traffic authenticates on infrastructure located on the East coast.
(I'm not saying Z8 are doing this, just making a point ).

NB: common noob misconception on CF is that ping is about quality of connection etc. They troll, 'get better internet".
FACT: , a ping on dial-up, or fibre from same source to same destination will be very close. Certainly nowhere near 40 ms+ different.
They are also too ignorant to understand that CF does not actually ping! Ping is ICMP - not TCP/IP or UDP - its a different protocol and is NOT being used, what is being used is some round trip packet exchange within the games' established TCP/IP connection. (not be confused with the gameplay itself which is no doubt UDP streams - no retransmission of dropped packets).

If it was a ping, many of us would always show 0 as we drop ICMP packets on our customer edge routers. Or, you could do a packet stream capture if you don't believe me, you won't see a constant stream of ICMP packets from Z8 infrastructure. (I recommend WireShark - it's both free and excellent).

PS. Happy to be of assistance if you need any help.
PSS. Qualification to speak up on this issue: I manage the build, configuration and deployment of Telco/Carrier Transport & Core Networks, and Global (MPLS) WAN networks comprising multiple carriers and service providers.

end rant

[ignorant trolls please stay under your respective bridges - we need some serious and technical discussions around these issues as they affect gameplay significantly]