Guild Wars on Hughes Net

I know that satellite internet and online gaming/streaming content do not tend to go well together. I have some experience with gaming on a 3G wireless network (cell phone signal), but I've not tried Hughes Net or any of the other like options. I don't need <100 ping, but I'd like to keep it near 3-400 at the worst. Please don't post here saying tp get DSL or cable - the ONLY option for any internet at all in the area I am concerned about with this post is Satellite.

I would like to know if any of you have either used this in the past or are currently using it, and how it performs. Thanks guys.

i'm also interested to see what peoples response are to this post.

I know it's actually quite fast, but I do believe it's something ridiculous like 1000 ping on average. At least that's what my friend had consistently a couple of years back.

Had satelite internet before, though it was one way internet. Gotten pings between 1000 and 2000. Game looked like it ran well, however. Never the less vent wouldn't work with that internet at all so I switched.

I currently use Hughes Net. Im sorry to inform you that as Icy stated the average ping is usually 1000 or higher. There is a consistant delay when activating skills making it very hard to interrupt amongst other things. Minor rubberbanding is a common problem as well.

As you can imagine, thick clouds and other weather conditions can disconnect you.

Guild Wars is still very playable with Hughes Net; however, I would only suggest it "for gaming" if there were no other alternative.

If you have any other questions just ask.

thanks for the info GWfan#1 - I must say that sounds about like what I had expected. So is the 1000 ping a steady avg or does it spike up and down allot? When I had a 3G wireless ISP (overseas) it would spike all over the place and often get up over 3-4000 or worse.... making it totally unplayable. If it was a steady 1000 give or take a couple hundred I could see it as being playable, although I wouldn't want to use an interrupt ranger build nearly as much.... :/ I know it's fast for other internet activities and downloading content, and the only other option is dial up - which I've heard works ok for GW once you actually get logged in.... Maybe both would be the way to go...

I have satellite service for years. Have used Hughesnet and Wild Blue. The only difference is how they apply FAP. (fair access policy)

I have never been able to find a rhythm for the ping and the lag. As others have said interrupts are impossible so is a healer. Also my fps is 30% lower on the satellite than a phone line. Yes, I play GW on an old fashioned phone line. The lag and the ping are much more consistent so I can compensate easier. I use the satellite for updates and for hanging out during events. I don't have cell service where I live and so don't know how it would compare.

Good luck!!

The ping is steady 1000-1400 sometimes less. Getting huge spikes is usually caused by bad weather.

Ive seen my ping surpass 100,000 but this is due to something called the Fair Access Policy Threshold. Basically if you download to much you will experience a 24 hour slow down. The speeds you get just loading basic web pages can be similar to dial up. There is a timeframe in the middle of the night in which the Threshold policy does not apply.

More on Fair Access Policy
http://customercare.myhughesnet.com/fap_faqs.htm

I actually transitioned from Dial Up to Satelite and while the gameplay was more "solid" on Dial Up, Satelite just brought the speed.

Also an old friend of mine did say he combined Satelite and Dial Up and had an excellent gaming experience playing CS and other FPSs. So you might look into that. I did not actuallly see the gameplay but I do know that with just Satelite playing an FPS would be very unenjoyable.

It is physically impossible for Satellite Internet pings to be 300-400ms, thanks to the speed of light and the distance that satellites are positioned above the Earth.

sqrt[(6K)^2 + (6K+36K)^2]/c =~140ms

That's per trip. Now, you have to understand the way TCP/IP works.

1. TCP/IP 3way-handshake starts with remove host. (Location X)
2. Packet ==> Satellite
3. Packet switched ==> Earth
4. Syn-Ack packet from Location X ==> satellite
5. Syn-Ack packet from satellite ==> A host
6. Host A, Ack packet ==> satellite
7. Packet switched and ==> Host B

7 trips x 140ms = 980ms. You will never see satellite pings drop below 900ms under any circumstance. If it does, it's being reported incorrectly, or it is using terrestrial communication at some point (which can be used for some parts of the above ^, but would result in ~700ms ping at best)

So, those 1000ms pings are standard, thanks to that lovely barrier of the speed of light. Oh c, thou art a cruel bitch.

thanks for the info Rahjah; I did indeed correctly understand how the packets move to and from, I just never even tried the math of it. The 1000 ms makes more sense now. :/