Online Racing: INVISIBLE CARS!!!!

  • Thread starter Thread starter chuyler1
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Lol... I only got to race once this week... and only a couple races. Disconnection problems... and they weren't races I cared to save. More of a reminder for the future.
 
I race online quite often and other than once or twice in the distant past, I only see this problem in Chuyler's room, which leads me to believe it could be host related. I'm sure there's a bug but it's possible the bug affects some hosts more than others. Since switching to a CAT6 connection I've had no disconnection or lag issues whatsoever, it's made a world of difference.
 
I have never had a problem seeing johnny. In fact, I have never had the problem myself as a lobby host. I almost always see everyone on the track...but others in my lobby fail to see each other...and its often the same drivers that have trouble with one another. I'm not sure how I can race night after night with a revolving group of about 50 drivers...and have only a handful run into this issue (many of whom claim to have solid fast connections).
 
First, in my organized races, I won't even allow the race to proceed until everyone's invisible car problems are solved.
I build in 15-20 minutes into the schedule, before qualifying for dealing with VISION CHECK - and solving the problem.
Because sometimes it doesn't happen - but when it does, it can take 20 minutes + to deal with it & solve the problem.

OFTEN, if someone can't see another car, that driver can't see their car either. BUT, that's not always the case.
OFTEN, it's the same people who have problems with certain other people. BUT, that's not always the case.
OFTEN, it's happening usually to people using WIRELESS connection instead of a cat6 network cable to connect from the router to the ps3. But that's not always the case. AND, those same people don't always have the problems. (Often it's the mix of certain players together with their various connection issues.)

CURES & PROBLEM SOLUTION:

Sometimes those having the problem, switching to a hard wire cat6 network cable, and then re-entering the lounge, will solve the problem for ALL parties involved.

Sometimes just those having the problem leaving, clearing cache, and returning, will solve the problem.

Sometimes, everyone leaving and returning, after rebooting gt5, or the entire ps3, will solve the problem.

The ONLY cure that works 100% of the time that I've tried is to switch to a public lobby room, with FIXED HOST STATUS.
It is the ONLY way to solve the problem 100%, for everyone, especially those with multiple connection issues. (IE: other people at their house using the internet, inability to hook up a hard wire cat6 cable connection, or maybe if they're just clueless as to how to reboot the game their ps3 and clear the cache - I don't know.)

So if you're having persistent problems with this, and the minor fixes (like leaving, clearing cache, etc.) do NOT work. Then there's only 3 options:

1.) You switch to pub lobby with fixed host status
2.) You ban those who have the problem & can't solve it on their own
3.) You race with invisible cars

Option 2 is rather lousy for obvious reasons.

Option 3 is UNACCEPTABLE to me, as it makes stewardship of races IMPOSSIBLE... if people can just claim the car they punted was invisible to them, for example.

Anyway, also, WSCC members have told me that in their experience, the HOST of the lounge having a crappy connection, or not having recently rebooted their machine, or not having recently cleared their cache, etc... can have a dramatic effect on everyone else's visibility issues - REGARDLESS OF WHETHER OR NOT THE HOST HIMSELF/HERSELF is having visibility issues.
In other words, a host with a slow connection or a plugged up cache, or a wireless connection, can not have invisible cars, not be experiencing the problem from their point of view - but can cause other participants in the room to have invisible cars.
Is this the case? Several people have told me they firmly believe that this is the case.
 
Also: HAVING MICS DISABLED is VERY helpful with is problem.
I have had LESS issues with it happening, since I started disabling mics for the races.

Also, when I host any room (ie: in a pub lobby or practice, or wherever), I always use the "Race quality" at whatever it says is "recommended".
And I NEVER put mics quality above LOW.
In fact, minimal seems to be best if you're going to use it at all.

I know this is a hard blow to those who use and love the mics. But it's tried & tested as true.
Less mic usage = less problems. Full stop.

The higher the mic quality setting, and the more people using mics, the more problems you will have.
 
OOps... Also, I wanted to point out that another issue I've seen discussed over & over again is multiple routing to the internet.

If I find the thread where this was discussed in detail I'll post a link.
Basically I'd come to the conclusion that MY router set-up is probably best for ps3 gaming, according to what was discussed about this issue.

My router is a MODEM + ROUTER in one, and my PS3 is directly connected to that with a cat6 network cable. (All devices connect through this. I have no secondary router.)

Apparently if you have your modem/router device running in BRIDGE MODE, with a secondary router, and your ps3 is connected to the secondary router, it makes for more problems.

It was reported by some that bypassing the secondary router, and plugging the cat6 network cable running from the ps3, directly into the primary modem/router, can solve a lot of these problems. (IE: no need to disband your secondary router network - just don't put your ps3 connection through it. Just stick it straight into the modem for online racing at least.)
 
hopefully the next update will fix this.
 
polizei
hopefully the next update will fix this.
Click to expand...

I hope so too!!

But irritatingly... I swear it was one of the updates that caused it!
I could be wrong, and it's just that I didn't notice it previously - or hadn't had a reason to.
But I swear the problem only became common a couple of months ago. I don't remember it being such a common issue when I first got involved in organized online races.
Then again, I may have only become acutely aware of the problem when I started organizing & hosting races myself... at which time it became my responsibility to try & prevent & fix.

At the very least I wish PD would release some type of explanation of exactly what causes this, which would make preventing it or adjusting something to correct it, at least a bit less poking around in the dark with trial & error, like most of us have been forced to do.
We can post all day about what we've found that helps or works, but a flat out explanation of what's likely to cause it, would go a long way to helping the issue.
 
Don't see any more contributions after Punch and no feedback to her response. Do I take it she's hit upon a solution? I'm not tech savvy enough to know whether what she suggests can work or not, but it certainly sounds worthy of some consideration...lol. It was Punch a couple of months ago who suggested I try a CAT6 cable and it's made a world of difference so perhaps she knows what she's talking about.
 
I think she's hit upon the fact that trial-and-error works. We discussed in the other thread that UPnP may have something to do with it. Many routers come with this feature turned off by default. I don't know if there is a corelation between the setting and cars that have trouble seeing one another. For example, it could be that if someone can't see you, it is your connection that is the issue (not theirs) because your router is blocking their packets.
 
I dunno, sounded pretty specific to me...but then again, I'm not a techie...
 
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