Hi,

I've been having the same problem ever since I subscribed to Sodetel's gaming plan last Wednesday.
This mainly happens at night and every single night.

While all my modem lights stay on ... I get lag spikes while playing WoW and sometimes I get disconnected from the game.
If I try to ping google.com ... I get many "Request timed out" replies.

Tonight I have done some tests which I will paste here. Clearly there is a huge problem on Sodetel's connection. Is anyone else experiencing problems this last week with Sodetel's gaming plan ?
Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7600]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
C:\Users\xxxxx>pathping eu.logon.battle.net
Tracing route to eu.logon.battle.net [213.248.127.130]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
0 MyPC.lan [192.168.1.64]
1 192.168.1.254
2 212.40.159.1
3 89.108.149.117
4 89.108.128.225
5 89.108.129.1
6 212.101.225.6
7 172.16.40.9
8 so-5-0-3.edge1.London1.Level3.net [212.113.12.105]
9 ae-22-52.car2.London1.Level3.net [4.69.139.99]
10 * telia-level3-ge.London1.Level3.net [4.68.111.182]
11 ldn-bb2-link.telia.net [80.91.249.133]
12 prs-bb2-link.telia.net [80.91.247.240]
13 ffm-bb1-link.telia.net [80.91.247.39]
14 ffm-b10-link.telia.net [80.91.247.185]
15 * * *
Computing statistics for 350 seconds...
Source to Here This Node/Link
Hop RTT Lost/Sent = Pct Lost/Sent = Pct Address
0 BlackAngel.lan [192.168.1.64]
0/ 100 = 0% |
1 0ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% 192.168.1.254
0/ 100 = 0% |
2 23ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% 212.40.159.1
0/ 100 = 0% |
3 24ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% 89.108.149.117
0/ 100 = 0% |
4 25ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% 89.108.128.225
0/ 100 = 0% |
5 24ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% 89.108.129.1
5/ 100 = 5% |
6 79ms 5/ 100 = 5% 0/ 100 = 0% 212.101.225.6
1/ 100 = 1% |
7 86ms 14/ 100 = 14% 8/ 100 = 8% 172.16.40.9
0/ 100 = 0% |
8 168ms 9/ 100 = 9% 3/ 100 = 3% so-5-0-3.edge1.London1.Level3.net [212.113.12.105]
0/ 100 = 0% |
9 177ms 6/ 100 = 6% 0/ 100 = 0% ae-22-52.car2.London1.Level3.net [4.69.139.99]
0/ 100 = 0% |
10 --- 100/ 100 =100% 94/ 100 = 94% telia-level3-ge.London1.Level3.net [4.68.111.182]
0/ 100 = 0% |
11 173ms 8/ 100 = 8% 2/ 100 = 2% ldn-bb2-link.telia.net [80.91.249.133]
0/ 100 = 0% |
12 174ms 16/ 100 = 16% 10/ 100 = 10% prs-bb2-link.telia.net [80.91.247.240]
0/ 100 = 0% |
13 180ms 6/ 100 = 6% 0/ 100 = 0% ffm-bb1-link.telia.net [80.91.247.39]
1/ 100 = 1% |
14 192ms 7/ 100 = 7% 0/ 100 = 0% ffm-b10-link.telia.net [80.91.247.185]
Trace complete.
its been like this for about 2 month random disconnects .it happens alot while i am playing on my ps3 and pc. i called them they said there is no problem.
Same here dude i am with IDM 512k and i am getting request timeouts today at about 9 pm and it is still bad. Maybe the activation of the new cables or upgrades has something to do with it.
MasterBatata wroteits been like this for about 2 month random disconnects .it happens alot while i am playing on my ps3 and pc. i called them they said there is no problem.
Funny. That's not what they told me.
Called on Thursday and on Sunday and they said they had some problems with the "fixed IP" pool for gaming accounts.

Kareem. If this is the case, I sure hope this problem will be solved before Cataclysm is released on Dec. 7th because, at this rate, online gaming is simply not possible.
Yes i've been having the same problem since i upgraded to gaming account and thats a week ago. Everyday starting from 8 pm, the ping go up to 200+ in addition to "request timed out" every 3 to 4 pings, which turns any mmo into a nightmare. I spoke to them today and sent an email to the support (yet again) and surprisingly they fixed it. But the problem is if its fixed for good or if this is going to happen everyday. Anyways, i think Sodetel service is going down the drain, and im definitely gonna remove the gaming account at the end of the month.
Ruroken wroteYes i've been having the same problem since i upgraded to gaming account and thats a week ago. Everyday starting from 8 pm, the ping go up to 200+ in addition to "request timed out" every 3 to 4 pings, which turns any mmo into a nightmare. I spoke to them today and sent an email to the support (yet again) and surprisingly they fixed it. But the problem is if its fixed for good or if this is going to happen everyday. Anyways, i think Sodetel service is going down the drain, and im definitely gonna remove the gaming account at the end of the month.
Ruroken you mean the problem only started when you upgraded from normal to gaming account ? Isn't the gaming account supposed to be more stable as it's also more expensive ?

One thing to note here is the fact that ping seems to go nuts when double speed is activated. Could that be a coincidence ?
But yes, that's what happens to me as well. Ping goes all the way up from 95ms to 200ms and there are "Request Timed Out" replies every 4 or 5 normal replies.

**Edit:
I just hung up with the supervisor for the technical team at Sodetel and he admitted they are having a problem (every night) due to the new equipment they have installed and which still needs load balancing configuration among other things.

He was honest enough when he said: "I can't promise you this will be solved tonight as we are in touch with technical experts abroad and it might take some time to fully find a solution to this annoying problem. Rest assured we are working on it every day to have it solved as soon as possible."
Sodetel's gaming plan is getting real bad EVERY single night (the time when most people actually need to use their connection) that it's not even worth calling a DSL connection.
WoW is full of intermittent hiccups and pinging google gives several "Request timed out" in a row every few normal replies. This happens every night.

Why on earth would I be paying 20$ additional dollars for a service that's worse than a normal DSL connection with any other ISP ?

Is anyone else experiencing the same problem ? Who is your ISP ?

**Edit: I talked to Sodetel's support team and the problem they are currently having is a lack of bandwidth. Thus the high latency and ping timeouts at night (when everyone is on the net).

Ruroken, to answer your question "how they surprisingly fix it every time you call"... they simply switch your IP to another fiber link that's less loaded. But this is only a temporary solution.

When I asked when the problem will be solved they said "When Ogero gives us the needed bandwidth we have been asking for and we don't know when this will happen."
Thats quite sad DG. Well the past 2 days my internet has been fine, request timed out have been reduced but the high ping is still present. I think i'm gonna stop the gaming account after this month simply because its not worth it. I'm getting almost the same ping and thus the difference is minor.

Thanks for the additional info DG :).
9 days later
Sadly enough this problem is far from being solved. As soon as 8:00PM ticks ping time doubles and "Request Timed Out" is displayed every few pings.

Some days are slightly better than others but in no way can this "online gaming" plan be reliably used to play games on the net.
I play WoW and I have cancelled raids twice because of this crappy service Sodetel is currently offering.

When you call them, things are temporarily solved only to get messed again a few hours later or the next day.

And if/when you try asking when this issue will be taken care of once and for all you get one of two answers:
Answer 1: We do not know sir. Sorry... (an extremely professional reply).
Answer 2: This is our online gaming service. If you don't like it you can cancel the subscription (another professional reply indeed).

I think I'll go along with answer 2 at the end of this month. Too bad I waited 6 weeks to get this crappy plan they dare call "Gaming Plan".
6 days later
Guys, is anyone able to enjoy WoW or any other online game with Sodetel's current "Gaming Plan" ?
I don't mean to flame anybody but their service is not what they advertise it to be.

The way things are now... I don't see any difference between Sodetel's gaming plan and any other 512 DSL
plan with any other ISP... so please do add your input on this.

I talked to a tech support supervisor today and asked why they were still accepting new subscribers and claiming that their gaming plan is better than what other ISPs offer (and thus charging ppl 20$ more for a fixed IP that has nothing to do with the quality of service).

Do you know what the guy answered ? He said "This is a shared connection and so I cannot give you a DSL connection that won't have "ping timeouts" at night. If you want a perfect connection you have to pay several hundred dollars for a corporate account. So you have to accept what you are getting."

I mean come on ! Seriously what kind of an answer is that ? I can understand that I won't get the full download and upload speed because the connection is shared. But what on earth does "sharing" have to do with experiencing "ping timeouts" when pinging google every single night ?

I would like to hear some feedback from other Sodetel gaming plan subscribers. Thanks.
im sodetel (without gaming plan, regular 512..) + using my brain == screenshot below :)
jajoja, check your ping when there is shit load of request timed outs, u'll notice heavy lag spikes. When this happen it turns every mmo or fps into a disaster gameplay. Yesterday was the case and it was a disaster for me. So please check the "ms" then and post the screenshot cz i'm sure u'll notice huge difference.
Ruroken the only spikes i get is when someone is using the internet in my house while playing :)
Ruroken wroteYou're a lucky one then :)
Indeed. But what puzzles me is that he has the normal 512 DSL account.
If this normal account is as good as the gaming account... why are we paying more ?

Can someone who is with IDM, Cyberia or Terranet let us know if he is also experiencing ping timeouts when pinging google after 8:00pm ?
Me too. I'm with idm 512 and last week my internet has been a complete piece of sh**, I can't even ping websites for some reason, I'm afraid they might have FUP'ed, anyone has any idea of what's going on!? I can't take this any longer!!!!

Edit: I get request timed out always, on all websites, strange... how am I not receiving ping replies??
l hamdellah , but remember guys i'm using some tricks on my sleeves sorry cant tell what are they

(probably they wont work on your connection because you should have done the tricks from the first start of you plugging the dsl :D)

but really if you want me to do more tests i don't mind to :)
Hey guys,
I'm a Sodetel Gaming package user and yesterday I jumped on my MW2 to check the latency and it was good ~130ms (three bars)...
Please note that I can't say anything about BO since its Match macking is a piece of ****!
Yesterday the connection was pretty decent, no request time out at all, and the ping was consistent. Hope it stays this way :).
Ruroken wroteYesterday the connection was pretty decent, no request time out at all, and the ping was consistent. Hope it stays this way :).
Same here. I noticed there were only a few request timed out... like 1 in 200 pings (I inadvertently forgot ping running for 5 minutes lol).
But what troubles me is the fact that the tech support supervisor said "Somedays it might be fine and others it might be a mess... I cannot garantuee anything as this is a shared service".

I still don't agree to what he said.
The way I see it is this: "Shared service" could mean some reduced speed during peak time (which they are already doing as 512k users are capped at around 430kbits down and 80 kbits up) but should in no way imply ping timeouts unless the service is "so" shared that the link is constantly full. In that case it's not even worth subscribing to.

So I wouldn't pop the champagne too fast if I were you. We need to wait and test the connection on a daily basis for several weeks to be sure the problem has actually been fixed.
I'd like to be optimistic about this but it's a hard attitude to maintain when you are a Lebanese living in Lebanon and you have been enduring Internet connection problems (among a million other things) day after day.