pings

[tonym]

Can anyone tell me what pings are. I joined an online game and warnings appeared that pings were too high and then it dropped me out. I am a novice at this online play but it seems like fun.:smilewink:

[EtherealN]

A "ping" can be two things:

 

1) A type of test signal. When ascertaining the health of a network connection you can "ping" other computers (or, technically, other network cards) and it will tell you if they got a response and some information about the restponse, such as how long it took.

 

2) As a derivative of the above, in multiplayer gaming over the internet a "ping" is the amount of time needed for a signal to get from your computer to the server and back, in milliseconds. So a ping of 2000 means it takes one second for your signal to get to the server, and another to get a signal back. "High ping" can cause issues in maintaining smooth gameplay.

 

The word is derived from the old submarine habit of using active sonar to range targets, where you send a "ping" - that is, a sound tone - and then measure the time it takes until you get the echo. Since you know how fast sound travels in water, you then get a range. In internet use the method is about the same in that it measures "range" to the server - though not physically but rather a metaphorical range where time is the important thing and the amount of switching points through the network can have a lot of impact.

[Panzertard]

The lag (or rather latency) was a bit too high according to the server rules I suppose.

 

PING is a mechanism you can use to measure latency. DCS automaticly pings the server - and calculates the difference from the time it was sent to the time an answer was received. It's measure in milliseconds.

 

"Good pings" in DCS is a value below 100ms. DCS is a bit more tolerant against latency compared to "FPS Shooters" where you may need 20-30 to have a good experience.

 

When you look at the list of servers in your DCS-MP browser you will see a number on the right side. This is the "Ping latency" from you to the server and back again.

Look for server <200ms to be able to play with an tolerable experience - or find someone with less than 100ms to have an excellent experience.

[EtherealN]

Another very tangible example of "high ping" is when you have a conversation on a live news programme on TV between, f.ex, the studio in New York and a correspondent in Baghdad. You'll note that there seems to be a delay between the studio asking a question and the guy in Baghdad answering. This is because it takes time for the signal to reach the guy in baghdad, and then time for the signal back to get across. This can be caused either by light-lag (too many bounces around satellites) or simply because it takes each computer on the line between a given amount of time to process a signal and pass it on.

[tonym]

thanks

 

Thanks guys,I think I get it.

Tonym