1. Name of the server where you encounter disconnects





I play mostly on Kath Hound but when I play on Shein I get it there too.



2. Day and time of a 1-2 hour block where you disconnected on average more than once every 15 minutes. (remember to tell us timezone!) We’re looking these up in the logs, so the more specific you can be the better!



I don't normally get clusters of disconnects but since the last patch (monday?) I have noticed I get disconnected a LOT when in groups... solo I can go hours with no problem (But still do get error 9000 from time to time) but in groups it's very common for me to get disconnected multiple times in a row. Note: This is a recent development since the most recent update patch. Prior to that my connection never blipped, even in groups, except for the rare (every 1 or 2, sometimes 3, hour disconnects).... since the update anytime I group I can pretty much guarantee at least 1 disconnect.





3. Have you been receiving the disconnects continually? Are they during particular times of the day? Has it been consistent since launch? Do they tend to group up?





Typically no, I usually go a few hours at a time between disconnects but, as mentioned above, since the most recent patch I've noticed more than usual, most frequently when grouped with other players or playing near other players in a semi-crowded area. When solo off on my own I rarely have problems.



4. How reliably can you reproduce the disconnects? 100%? 75%?





Not very, as I said it's fairly random... in groups, however, it's just a matter of time... the bigger the group, the more reliably the disconnect occurs.





5. Are you on a wired or wireless connection? If wireless, what brand and model of router are you using?



Wireless though I experience the problem wired as well and even experience it if I connect directly to the cable modem rather than through a router.





6. Do you share the network connection with others? If so, do they play SWTOR, and have they also experienced disconnects? Are their disconnects at the same time as yours?



Yes but typically they don't play SWTOR... however I have tested this on my son's Windows XP system, my windows Vista laptop and my Windows 7 workstation (my primary system) The issue occurs on all 3 systems whether wireless, wired or direct to the cable modem. It has nothing to do with my internal network as it never goes down when the issues occur and latency tests DURING the issue show internal network connectivity of <1 ms.





7. What version of Windows are you running? Are you running 32 or 64 bit?



As mentioned above I have:

XP 32bit

Vista 32 Bit

Win7 64 Bit



All 3 OS's experience the issue wired, wireless or wired directly to the cable modem.



8. Are you running any antivirus or firewall programs or any other network filtering program?



Avast - However I have the entire bioware folder in it's trusted processes in file, web and network settings so the antivirus ignores the game.



Firewall - windows integrated - Have SWTOR (Both processes) added to the trusted list



No other network filtering is on. I've even added my main system (Win7) to the DMZ settings for my router 1 or 2 times as a test though, as expected, that did not help. I didn't expect it to since going directly to the modem didn't either.



9. Would you be willing to be contacted by a BioWare developer and work through some debugging steps hands on with us (most likely via phone)? If so, what timezone are you in?



In all honesty I have mixed feelings about this. When we reported this issue during the stress test I offered to work with an engineer to isolate it and was ignored and told it was a configuration problem on my end even though I had extensively tested my network including during the issues and confirmed that when the issue occurs I typically do not lose internet access at all and can hit other services, including streaming media, torrent downloads, etc just fine though I don't normally do those things while I game I did them as tests to ensure I do have internet when an event occurs.



During testing I did notice that every now and then something from the servers actually can cause the cable modem to freak and disconnect. This is rare but does occur... it's almost like it's getting a flood attack or something and resetting it's connection. Since I'm unable to sniff at or beyond the cable modem I have no way of knowing what's causing this but I suspect something from the game servers occasionally is sending burst traffic.



In short... yes I'd be willing to work with an engineer.... it would have to be on my schedule, however, not theirs. Contact me via PM here on the forums or use my email associated with my account to get in touch with me to arrange a time to work on it and i'll be happy to try testing, within reason. I will not reload, re-image, rebuild or do anything else ridiculous to my system, however, as I have pretty much 100% confirmed this isn't a local issue.



As your post says many users are getting error 9000 because they're actually losing internet connectivity... In my case this isn't the issue except those wierd times (maybe 1 in 20), as I mentioned, where the game seems to actually be flooding the cable modem and causing it to reset. On the modem I can only tell because when it happens it will suddenly have a ranging error in the modem logs and then everything goes back to normal.