Update 17/9/2019

The secondary issue preventing reaching the character selection screen was resolved by entering the following into cmd.exe running as an admin netsh int ipv4 set glob defaultcurhoplimit=128 , restarting the PC, then connecting once via WTFFast’s Free Trial.

From that point on I have been able to log in properly and without using a VPN, however the primary issue of intermittent disconnects persists.

Issue Background

I started playing classic at the beginning of the previous week.

From the very beginning I experienced consistent spontaneous disconnects with no apparent cause.

Issue Description

I would suddenly find myself dumped back at the login screen with error code WOW51900319. This occured with no prior indication of connection issues, a stable ping of 28ms, no jitter, no lag spikes, no odd behaviours with delays of actions in game, just sudden disconnect.

This happened on multiple servers (Dreadmist and Firemaw) although in all cases I was in Tirisfal Glades as I have of yet been unable to leave the zone.

This issue occurs in both Classic WoW and Retail WoW.

Issue Environment

Windows 10 Home 64-Bit

Wi-Fi Connection

Killer Wireless-AC 1550 Wireless Network Adapter (9260NGW)

Scottish Hydro Electric ISP via BT OpenReach

Attempted Fixes

Game Restarts (No Effect)

BattleNet Restarts (No Effect)

Computer Restarts (No Effect)

Router Restarts (No Effect)

Leaving it Overnight and Trying Again in the Morning (No Effect)

Attempting to Play on Other Servers (No Effect)

Flushing DNS (No Effect)

Deleting WTF (No Effect)

Disabling all Addons (No Effect)

Disabling Leatrix Network Latency Fix (No Effect)

Re-enabling Leatrix Network Latency Fix (No Effect)

Uninstalling and Re-installing WoW (No Effect)

Update of Windows to Later Version (No Effect)

Complete Format and Reinstall of Windows and WoW (No Effect)

Attempted to Connect via Mobile Tethering (No Effect)

Using WTFFast Free Trial (Able to to Connect and Log In but Recieve “World Server is Down” Error)

Applying netsh int ipv4 set glob defaultcurhoplimit=128 fix (No Effect)

fix (No Effect) Removing netsh int ipv4 set glob defaultcurhoplimit=128 fix (No Effect)

fix (No Effect) Re-Applying netsh int ipv4 set glob defaultcurhoplimit=128 fix and then Using WTFFast Free Trial (Permanetly Resolved Secondary Issue Preventing Login, Primary Issue of Intermittent DCs persists)

Additional Issue/Development of Issue

Last night, there were what appeared to be some hotfixes deployed, after which I found myself unable to login to any game server at all. Attempting to do so dumps me back at the login screen again.

Client Log File Dumps

Client.log

9/13 12:11:03.014 Client Initialize.

9/13 12:11:10.034 Initial Hotfixes: Requested

Connection.log

9/13 12:11:02.347 Connection Initialize

9/13 12:11:05.230 Glue Start Login

9/13 12:11:05.230 BattleNet Attempt Logon

9/13 12:11:05.445 BattleNet Front Connected

9/13 12:11:05.545 BattleNet Logon Queue Update

9/13 12:11:05.679 BattleNet Logon Complete

9/13 12:11:05.829 BattleNet Game Account Name

9/13 12:11:05.829 BattleNet Attempt Complete Login

9/13 12:11:06.262 BattleNet Realm List Ticket

9/13 12:11:06.345 BattleNet Sub Region List

9/13 12:11:06.512 BattleNet Last Played Char

9/13 12:11:06.946 BattleNet Realm List

9/13 12:11:08.512 BattleNet Join Realm

9/13 12:11:08.712 BattleNet Realm Join

9/13 12:11:08.712 Change Connection

9/13 12:11:08.712 Connect

9/13 12:11:08.745 Handle Connect

9/13 12:11:09.979 Handle Auth Response: 0

9/13 12:11:09.979 Glue Authed To WoW: 0

9/13 12:11:10.031 BattleNet Connected To Realm

9/13 12:11:10.031 BattleNet Front Disconnecting

9/13 12:11:10.119 Handle Disconnect

9/13 12:11:10.119 Glue WoW Disconnect

9/13 12:11:10.119 BattleNet Defer Disconnect

9/13 12:11:10.119 BattleNet Front Disconnected

9/13 12:17:46.551 Connection Destroy

hotfix.log

9/13 12:11:02.645 ---- Startup ----

9/13 12:11:10.031 ---- ClientAvailableHotfixes ----

9/13 12:11:10.031 103, SoundKit

9/13 12:11:10.031 104, SoundKitAdvanced

… Skipped Ahead to keep post from becoming too long…

9/13 12:11:10.034 4008, NamesProfanity

9/13 12:11:10.034 4009, NamesProfanity

9/13 12:11:10.034 4010, NamesProfanity

9/13 12:11:10.034 4011, NamesProfanity

9/13 12:11:10.034 4673, NamesProfanity

9/13 12:11:10.034 ---- UserClientHotfixRequest ----

9/13 12:11:10.034 103, SoundKit

9/13 12:11:10.034 104, SoundKitAdvanced

9/13 12:11:10.034 111, ChatProfanity

9/13 12:11:10.034 112, ChatProfanity

…Skipped Ahead for Sake of Post Length…

9/13 12:11:10.034 4986, NamesProfanity

9/13 12:11:10.034 4987, NamesProfanity

9/13 12:11:10.034 4241, NamesProfanity

9/13 12:11:10.034 4450, NamesProfanity

9/13 12:11:10.034 2624, ChatProfanity

9/13 12:11:10.034 2447, ChatProfanity

9/13 12:11:10.034 4394, NamesProfanity

9/13 12:11:10.034 4505, NamesProfanity

9/13 12:11:10.034 4050, NamesProfanity

9/13 12:11:10.034 4673, NamesProfanity

9/13 12:17:45.892 ---- Shutdown ----

Network Diagnostics

PingPlotter is a program which provides more in-depth details than WinMTR as well as providing a graph of the ping over time to the target IP which helps identify specific types of issues rather than simply that an issue exists, while also allowing them to be shared easily. I am unfortunately unable to post links on the Bnet fourms however as I suspect due to this being a fresh account, so replace the (dot) with . in the URLs posted below each tested IP, in addition WinMTR results will also be posted, but will not show the issue as well.

Included below are home -> WoW, Server I have in Germany -> WoW, WinMTR for Home -> WoW

185.60.114.153 (Resource Monitor Shown IP)

Local -> WoW: share(dot)pingplotter(dot)com/R1aM2gr8BfX

Server -> WoW: share(dot)pingplotter(dot)com/QjjdyyxSA9L

MTR Results: Recorded 1 Hour After PingPlotter

|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| WinMTR statistics |

| Host - % | Sent | Recv | Best | Avrg | Wrst | Last |

|------------------------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|------|

| 192.168.1.1 - 96 | 621 | 29 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 2 |

| lo0.ar84.ts1.bb.daisyplc.net - 0 | 621 | 621 | 19 | 21 | 70 | 20 |

| 62.72.133.89 - 0 | 621 | 621 | 19 | 21 | 71 | 21 |

| 62.72.133.89 - 0 | 621 | 621 | 19 | 21 | 71 | 21 |

| be51.cr05.ts1.bb.daisyplc.net - 1 | 621 | 620 | 20 | 22 | 65 | 22 |

| 195.66.238.234 - 1 | 621 | 620 | 20 | 27 | 219 | 21 |

| ae1-br02-eqld5.as57976.net - 0 | 621 | 621 | 27 | 31 | 137 | 29 |

| et-0-0-2-br02-eqpa4.as57976.net - 0 | 621 | 621 | 27 | 38 | 373 | 73 |

| be2-pe01-eqpa4.as57976.net - 0 | 621 | 621 | 27 | 29 | 64 | 29 |

| No response from host - 100 | 621 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

|________________________________________________|______|______|______|______|______|______|

WinMTR - 0.8. Copyleft @2000-2002 Vasile Laurentiu Stanimir ( stanimir@cr.nivis.com )

185.60.112.157 (IP on Help Resource #1)

Local -> WoW: share(dot)pingplotter(dot)com/jAJMukbTBeo

Server -> WoW: share(dot)pingplotter(dot)com/FQc9bJjj7Ej

WinMTR Results: 1 Hour After PingPlotter

|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| WinMTR statistics |

| Host - % | Sent | Recv | Best | Avrg | Wrst | Last |

|------------------------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|------|

| 192.168.1.1 - 95 | 604 | 32 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 |

| lo0.ar84.ts1.bb.daisyplc.net - 1 | 604 | 603 | 19 | 22 | 469 | 21 |

| 62.72.133.89 - 1 | 604 | 603 | 19 | 22 | 369 | 22 |

| 62.72.133.89 - 1 | 604 | 602 | 19 | 22 | 254 | 20 |

| be51.cr05.ts1.bb.daisyplc.net - 1 | 604 | 603 | 19 | 22 | 139 | 21 |

| 195.66.238.234 - 1 | 603 | 602 | 21 | 27 | 970 | 23 |

| ae1-br01-eqld5.as57976.net - 0 | 603 | 603 | 25 | 31 | 869 | 27 |

| et-0-0-2-br02-eqam1.as57976.net - 1 | 603 | 602 | 26 | 34 | 754 | 27 |

| et-0-0-67-pe02-eqam1.as57976.net - 1 | 603 | 601 | 25 | 30 | 159 | 27 |

| 185.60.112.157 - 1 | 603 | 602 | 26 | 28 | 478 | 27 |

|________________________________________________|______|______|______|______|______|______|

WinMTR - 0.8. Copyleft @2000-2002 Vasile Laurentiu Stanimir ( stanimir@cr.nivis.com )

185.60.112.158 (IP on Help Resource #2)

Local -> WoW: share(dot)pingplotter(dot)com/3psyid9YE8R

Server -> WoW: share(dot)pingplotter(dot)com/cd7qMRkhPKk

WinMTR Results: Tested 1 hour after Pingplotter

|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| WinMTR statistics |

| Host - % | Sent | Recv | Best | Avrg | Wrst | Last |

|------------------------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|------|

| 192.168.1.1 - 95 | 602 | 32 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 2 |

| lo0.ar84.ts1.bb.daisyplc.net - 0 | 602 | 602 | 19 | 20 | 70 | 20 |

| 62.72.133.89 - 0 | 602 | 602 | 19 | 21 | 67 | 21 |

| 62.72.133.89 - 0 | 602 | 602 | 19 | 21 | 71 | 20 |

| be51.cr05.ts1.bb.daisyplc.net - 0 | 602 | 602 | 19 | 22 | 71 | 21 |

| 195.66.238.234 - 0 | 602 | 602 | 21 | 25 | 183 | 22 |

| ae1-br01-eqld5.as57976.net - 0 | 602 | 602 | 26 | 29 | 113 | 39 |

| et-0-0-2-br02-eqam1.as57976.net - 0 | 601 | 601 | 26 | 33 | 723 | 28 |

| et-0-0-67-pe02-eqam1.as57976.net - 0 | 601 | 601 | 26 | 30 | 98 | 27 |

| 185.60.112.158 - 0 | 601 | 601 | 25 | 27 | 76 | 27 |

|________________________________________________|______|______|______|______|______|______|

WinMTR - 0.8. Copyleft @2000-2002 Vasile Laurentiu Stanimir ( stanimir@cr.nivis.com )

185.60.112.159 (IP on Help Resource #3)

Local -> WoW: share(dot)pingplotter(dot)com/GbRUgsRw3ga

Server -> WoW: share(dot)pingplotter(dot)com/5Eosw5v3qZi

WinMTR Results: Tested 1 hour after PingPlotter

|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| WinMTR statistics |

| Host - % | Sent | Recv | Best | Avrg | Wrst | Last |

|------------------------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|------|

| 192.168.1.1 - 95 | 607 | 36 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 |

| lo0.ar84.ts1.bb.daisyplc.net - 0 | 607 | 607 | 19 | 20 | 62 | 22 |

| 62.72.133.89 - 0 | 607 | 607 | 19 | 21 | 71 | 21 |

| 62.72.133.89 - 0 | 607 | 607 | 19 | 21 | 68 | 20 |

| be51.cr05.ts1.bb.daisyplc.net - 0 | 607 | 607 | 19 | 22 | 61 | 22 |

| 195.66.238.234 - 0 | 607 | 607 | 20 | 26 | 206 | 22 |

| ae1-br01-eqld5.as57976.net - 0 | 607 | 607 | 25 | 30 | 142 | 27 |

| et-0-0-2-br02-eqam1.as57976.net - 0 | 607 | 607 | 25 | 32 | 311 | 28 |

| et-0-0-67-pe02-eqam1.as57976.net - 0 | 607 | 607 | 26 | 31 | 103 | 62 |

| No response from host - 100 | 607 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 |

|________________________________________________|______|______|______|______|______|______|

WinMTR - 0.8. Copyleft @2000-2002 Vasile Laurentiu Stanimir ( stanimir@cr.nivis.com )

Network Diagnostics Surface Analysis

A cursory analysis of the results as observed in Pingplotter showed two main potential issues.

In some cases, it was not possible to get responses from the target IP, however this is often intended behaviour as a means of protection against malware that probe networks, so including this as a just in case its not intentional The IPs at the et-0-0-2 range show consistent Packet Loss across testing usually ranging between the values of 7% and 15% packet loss. These are blizzard owned IPs according to lookups. (Example hostnames: et-0-0-2-br02-eqld5.as57976(dot)net and et-0-0-2-br02-eqpa4.as57976(dot)net), this could again be intentional, but the intermittent nature of said issue during testing suggests it may not be and could be related to the issue.

Network Diagnostics and Analysis on Problematic et-0-0-2 Range

et-0-0-2-br02-eqam1.as57976(dot)net

137.221.65.91

Local -> WoW: share(dot)pingplotter(dot)com/HG82tZ2Xvpw

Server -> WoW: share(dot)pingplotter(dot)com/W4k3e8sW8aZ

Constant Ping Spikes and Intermittent Moderate Jitter - Jitter was intermittent alongside constant ping spikes of 60-170ms.

Intermittent Bandwidth Saturation - Pingplotter’s Graph showed a “stairs” shape near the end of testing. This type of shape appears where bandwidth saturation on the target IP is present, this could be either due to targeted attacks or an issue in the networking for that IP. To see this, you’ll need to download the PingPlotter data and view it in PingPlotter on your own computer, as the share page squashes the network graph to the point where the stairs vanish.

Intermittent Packet Loss - After the testing window and while updating this post, a spike of 330ms above the baseline was observed, followed by a prolonged period of Packet Loss.

High Jitter on blizzard.peering.cz - During testing on the Server -> WoW side, a high degree of jiter was observed on blizzard.peering.cz, a connection to this server was not observed from my own side, so is unlikely to be related, but was worth noting regardless.

Without internal knowledge of how the networking backend or the infrastructure for Classic WoW works, there’s only so much data I can gather and only so much I can do in the way of analysis, but irregardless, I do hope that the data gathered can be of use in identifying and resolving the issue that appears to be affecting more people than just myself and independent from launch related load and the DDoS attacks.