Transcribed from old forum:

Hi everyone I'm a Ranger playing since launch from NZ.

I've been doing some research on connection between Aus/NZ to o US West coast where BDO servers are located and thought I would share this to improve the latency for us Aus/NZ players:

1. The most direct way Aus/NZ connect to the US west coast is via the Southern Cross undersea cable. The website for the cable is here and it lists the whole circuit as well as the latencies between the segments:

- https://www.southerncrosscables.com. (home page)

- https://www.southerncrosscables.com/home/network/overviewandmap (circuit map)

- https://www.southerncrosscables.com/home/network/latency (latency between the "stops" of the circuit)

2. As you can see the most direct connection to US west from NZ is via Auckland --> hawaii --> US west (segment C + D). From Australia is via sydney --> NZ north island west coast --> auckland --> Hawaii --> us west coast (segment A + B + C +D)

3. For me (from NZ) the best possible ping I should be able to get therefore is

-Segment C + Segment D

=> 40ms + 20ms = 60ms one way x2 = 120ms there and back ping.

-The actual servers are near San Jose From what I heard so we have to add segments E + E1

adding another 8+2 = 10 x2 = 20ms to the total ping

Giving a best possible ping of 140ms

4. And I did achieve this 140ms ping with Orcon ISP in NZ without any VPN, meaning Orcon was routing me directly. However, for a period in 2019 something changed with Orcon and I had 260ms Ping. Doing a Trace route from Command prompt I saw that I was routed to Sydney, then to places like Hong Kong before going to the US west. So the connection is being shafted the other way around.

I can definitely feel the difference between 260ms + connection to a 140ms connection in my game play. 140ms is perfectly playable from my POV and I can duel and US west coast people fine (although a higher skill and experience requirement is needed) including my friend who recently moved from NZ to US west coast.

5. So everyone from Aus/NZ should be doing a check of their current Ping to the expected Ping as calculated from the southern Cross cable site. If your ping is absurdly higher than expected, run a Trace route and you may be able to see where you are being routed through:

- Press Windows key+R

- type: cmd in the box that opens

- type: tracert 49.236.159.232 in the black box that appears

49.236.159.232 is the ip of BDO's Vel4 Battle Arena server

6. To find the BDO ip And check your real time latency/ping to BDO:

open task manager --> performance--> resource monitor (bottom left tab) --> click open: TCP connections bar.

You should be able to see BDO as listed there. Follow the line to the right to "Remote address" for the ip (note BDO has separate servers for its central market and other things so u may have multiple BDO connections running open). You can also see the real time latency you are getting at the far right under latency section.

7. What to do if my ping is absurd and I'm being routed to hong kong as well?

- One way is to change ISPs but you need to find out which ISPs route you most directly. Back in 2019 I had gathered information from people in Hamilton and Auckland using Vodafone and 2 Degrees that they get Pings of 140 ms and 150 ms Respectively using those ISPs. MyRepublic didnt route directly back then, they went through sydney after emailing them. Orcon gives me 140ms now off vpn in 2021. Things may have changed so just try different ISPs.

- Another way is to use a VPN to establish a more direct connection. I have been using Mudfish VPN and can confirm that they route me back through the most direct way bringing my ping from 260ms+ to 140ms again. Both in Resource monitor and on Trace route. Running tracert in cmd shows i am no longer going through Hong Kong.

Mudfish is V cheap and I can confirm it works with pretty much no issues. You have to choose the pay-per traffic option to connect to BDO but its the more flexible option anyway. If anyone would like help with the setup I am happy to help.

Keep in mind that if you live in Tasmania or stewart Island etc it will take some more latency as the connection has to travel up NZ to get to Auckland or up to Sydney.

Desync/skills going off cd and not working/protections or ccs bot working etc get alot of complaints but unless everyplayer lives in the same distance from the server, these issues created by different latencies are unavoidable in a fast paced action pvp game because some people like me live further away from the server. The game is absolutely playable despite this and this is because the skill ceiling is quite high and drowns out/can overcome these issues. If you are experienced enough you will know how to modify plays and still beat people even with pings of 180ish based on personal experience. A small proportion of players are very good at the pvp and matches where you admit to high ping being the only limiting factor to getting an even outcome are exceedingly rare. Skill difference is usually also/more of the contributor. 

Lastly: It's worthwhile to note that computers without BDO installed cannot seem to trace route/ping the BDO remote IP. Found this out after asking my friends without BDO to try trace it and they cannot. I have also asked my ISP to trace route to BDO IP and they cannot either.

Feel free to Msg me for questions

Bwiii#3512 Discord

Firat: 1Aug 23, 2019 

Last edited: march 10 2021