EVDO and Gaming

Michael · Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 10:03 am Post subject: EVDO and Gaming

I gave up on gaming many many years ago - they were too addictive Smile

I have talked with many different people who are doing multi-user gaming (the graphics and response is so much better these days). So, this thread is setup to discuss EVDO/1xRTT and gaming.

Share your success or failure in this thread, it may help someone else who has questions about EVDO and Gaming.

Be sure to include:

Game Tried
EVDO or 1xRTT
Signal Strength
Ping Time
Location
Booster Antenna or other 'signal enhancers' used
Computer hardware (OS, graphic card, processor, etc)

Here is a thread that may be of interest:

1xRTT ping times
_________________
EVDO :: EVDO News :: EVDO Antennas :: Buy Verizon :: Buy Sprint :: EVDO Amplifier

Zorog · EVDO Heavy User Joined: 08 Jul 2005 Posts: 135

Certain first-person "shooter" games like COD, MOH, UT, etc will not work well with EVDO. The reason is latancy, not throughput.

EVDO average latency is in the neighborhood of 200-300 milliseconds, and it's not consistent. Most of the games I play need less than 100 milliseconds to be competitive, and consistancy is vital.

EVDO should be fine for games like RuneScape though, a fun animated game where reflexes are not as important.

FiveNine · EVDO Newbie Joined: 22 Jul 2005 Posts: 6

I have been watching Verizons site for the past few months hoping to see that their EVDO service available in my area. The last time I looked was about a month ago and still not available. This past Thursday I checked again and to my surprize the coverage map seems to include my area. So I go to the Verizon store and purchase the V620 take it home and indeed I can connect. I used this connection to play Battlefield 2 all weekend with no disconnects, warping or lag. In the BF2 server browser the best ping I could find was in the low 90s and while in game it went from 90-150 but more than playable.

My signal according to the "Test WWAN Device" up and down between 25 and 65 %. I ordered the antenna booster to see if it can help me out any further. So here's the info you want included.

Game tried: Battlefield 2 (All Settings on high AA off)
EDVO or 1xRTT: EDVO
Signal Strengh: 25-65%
Ping Time: 90-150ms
Location: 7 miles Southwest of Plain City Ohio
No Booster Antenna or Signal Enhancer (yet)
Computer and OS Info:
Alienware Area-51 5500
Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2
Chassis: Alienware Full-Tower Case - Cyborg Green
Power Supply: Alienware 460 Watt Max Power Supply
Processor: Intel Pentium 4 Processor 650 w/ HT Technology 3.4GHz 800MHz FSB 2MB Cache
Motherboard: Alienware PCI Express Motherboard with Intel 925XE Chipset 1066/800MHz FSB
Memory: 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz - 2 x 1024MB
Graphics Processor: NVIDIA GeForce™ 6800 Ultra PCI Express 256MB DDR3 w/Digital and S-Video Out
Video Optimizer: AlienAdrenaline: Video Performance Optimizer
Chassis Upgrades: AlienIce™ 2.0 Video Cooling System - Terra Green
System Drive: High Performance - Serial ATA - 160GB Serial ATA 7,200 RPM w/8MB Cache
Storage Drive: Additional Storage Drive - 160GB Serial ATA 7200 RPM w/8MB Cache
Optical Drive One: Lite-On 16x DVD / 52x36x52x CD-RW Drive
Floppy Drive: 3.5" 1.44 MB Floppy Disk Drive - Black
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS High Definition 7.1 Surround Firewire (IEEE 1394)
Network Connection: Integrated High Performance Gigabit Ethernet
Modem: US Robotics 56K V.92 Performance Pro

peallen42 · Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2005 11:34 pm Post subject:

I too am a mobile gamer. I played DAoC on 1x, but lag at 400ms was too much if I played realm vs realm where like 300 people were in the zone. I also was playing on a laptop with shared memory which lagged me some more. I am currently seeking a desktop solution to play with in my motorhome. conflicts with the pci card wont allow it atm. I think its my motherboard. One Mobo i heard that works is http://www.bizrate.com/search/search__cat_id--419,prod_id--7789928,sort--,start--20,userzip--97266,zip_go--Calculate.html

Good link for ya too:

http://i.cmpnet.com/nc/1520/graphics/1520f1a.gif

So I just need a 26 foot antenna, booster, kyocera 650 card, barebones with that intel MOBO and I should be set
_________________
Mobile Gamer

Kimper · EVDO Newbie Joined: 01 Oct 2005 Posts: 10

I do not have EVDO yet, but am considering getting it.

I mostly want it to play World of Warcraft.

Anyone have any experience with that game over EVDO?
Is upload over EVDO really slower than dial-up?

I would think that if you could play battlefield 2 over it, world of warcraft and eq would be just fine...

Kimper · EVDO Newbie Joined: 01 Oct 2005 Posts: 10

I do not have EVDO yet, but am considering getting it.

I mostly want it to play World of Warcraft.

Anyone have any experience with that game over EVDO?
Is upload over EVDO really slower than dial-up?

I would think that if you could play battlefield 2 over it, world of warcraft and eq would be just fine...

Walter · EVDO Junkie Joined: 14 Sep 2005 Posts: 307

My sons play Warcraft III via EVDO and say it works fine. I realize that's not quite the same as World of Warcraft, but as long as quick reaction is not required, like in a 1st person shooter online game, then you should be fine. My sons even say that Counterstrike Source is about the same as when we had ISDN, even though our ISDN had lower latency than EVDO. ISDN could sometimes get under 100msec latency in Counterstrike while EVDO's best seems to be around 180msec. My guess is that the higher bandwidth of EVDO, plus the prediction code in Counterstrike, is able to balance out the increased latency on average. DSL and cable are still noticeably better for 1st person shooters of course, but EVDO is not too bad. Sure beats dial-up and is about as good as ISDN (according to my sons at least).

And upload over EVDO is *not* slower than dial-up in my experience.
_________________
Reach, Connect, Celebrate, Grow, Serve.

ult · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 09 Sep 2005 Posts: 13

I imagine VZW will be modifying their contract and terms of agreement to include online gaming. Just like p2p and video streaming (which is already in the terms), it generates a substantial amount of traffic as well.

Kimper · EVDO Newbie Joined: 01 Oct 2005 Posts: 10

ryanjo · Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 6:17 pm Post subject:

Kimper · EVDO Newbie Joined: 01 Oct 2005 Posts: 10

ah, got me.

I guess I should have said amongst individuals. Business owners probably have some definite needs.

pochi · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 02 Oct 2005 Posts: 15

My experience:

My Specs:

Merlin s620
EVDO
Arc Freedom Antenna booster
70 dbi
Windows XP SP2
SIIG PC Card Adaptor Pro
GeforceFX 5600

games:

World of Warcraft;
Latency: 300-550 ms

*notes*

plays perfectly fine. There is a little big of lag. Barely even noticely. Does not effect gameplay. I am not high enough to comfirm large raids or 40 man dungeons.

Counter-Strike: Source
Latency: 200-260 ms

*notes*

Does not play well. If anyone ever tried to play a FPS on dial-up, its kind of like that. Just a tad better. But not enough where i would ever try to play this on EVDO again.

Final Thoughts:

Latency is very important for online games. Specifically if your playing a slower MMORG, then it should be fine. If you're playing a precise FPS. Dont go for EVDO.

Hope this helps.

devonair · EVDO Newbie Joined: 28 Sep 2005 Posts: 1

I do almost no PC-gaming, but tons of gaming over xbox-live (mostly halo). Has anyone had any success trying this over EV-DO?

Polaro · Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 2:51 pm Post subject: Everquest & Lawsuits

Everquest works fine. Zoning a little slow, but not bad. Everquest II would not run on my notebook, so no idea if EVDO works for it.

Verizon has a problem. They advertise in large print "Unlimited" for $59. No matter what they put in the fine print I will sue the crap out of them if they try to say I can't play a game or download an occassional song, and they will lose. You can't advertise something as unlimited in the 24 point text and then unreasonably limit it in the 6 point text in a contract. I would call shenannigans in a hearbeat and I know class action lawyers that love this stuff.

Their only legitimate concern is illegal file sharing, which I can understand. But this should be handled directly, not with the obtuse contract wording that includes legal and reasonable usage. I'd guess phishing and other hacking is a concern too but somehow misses their list. In general this just makes Verizon look like asses - pardone the lagnuage, but it is true. Reminds me of AOL TOS in the early days, and see how we all bailed on them.

Besides, games like Everquest and Warcraft 3 do not use much bandwidth in game play. Not like downloading a big file.

Verzion does not want people doing stupid stuff like running a high volume web site 24x7 on EVDO. I am guessing they don't care what you do as long as it is normal, typical stuff people do with the Internet. If they do then I see lawyers in their future and a boon for Sprint or T-Mobile.
_________________
Victor

Michael · Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 9:31 pm Post subject: EVDO and Gaming

Here is a reviewer/blogger talking about EVDO and Gaming

http://www.tuaw.com/2005/10/08/evdo-day-6-gaming/
_________________
EVDO :: EVDO News :: EVDO Antennas :: Buy Verizon :: Buy Sprint :: EVDO Amplifier