Starcraft 2 Digital Distribution is Nice in Theory...(a.k.a. Time Warner bites!)

[Golgatha]

Ok, I'll fully admit this is more of a Time Warner bitch thread, but it all started when I purchased Starcraft 2 this morning via b.net. I'd also like this to be a warning if you have Time Warner and want to digitally download anything from Blizzard.

1) Launch Blizzard Downloader - Internet connection goes to 0.8Mbps down and 0.04Mbps up throughput for everything.

2) Close Blizzard Downloader - Internet connection is advertised 10Mbps down and 768kbps up.

3) Call CSR from Time Warner to ask WTF...tells me to reset modem, reboot, and close security software.

4) I tell them to quit throttling my connection due to the presence of a Bittorrent client (I assume the Blizzard downloader is the same tech used for WoW).

5) Ordered U-Verse Internet which will go live on the 12th of August.


Fun...

Just to avoid any confusion, Blizzard is an innocent party here and the root cause of my frustration is with Time Warner's apparent throttling of P2P applications, which also causes subsequent throttling of all TCP/IP ports.

 

[gorcorps]

Oh look, another starcraft 2 thread.

 

[Golgatha]

Oh look, another starcraft 2 thread.

Didn't want to threadjack. I hate the DRM and non-resellability, but I'm just weak for the Starcraft. Probably a good sign that I've never considered selling my Starcraft Battlechest though.

 

[Skurge]

Why do they throttle your connection if your using a bittorrent client?

 

[Genx87]

This is their shitty torrent downloader I have been pissing and moaning about since they implemented this to patch WoW in 2004.

 

[Ika]

I downloaded the SC2 install files just fine on Roadrunner, don't know what your problem is.

 

[xCxStylex]

Are you sure you advertised speeds are 10MB/768kB or 10Mb and 789Mb uploads? See the difference capitalization? There's a huge difference.


I think you're just dumb and uninformed, bitching when you have no right to.

0.8MB is relatively fast, and download speeds are dependent on server upload speeds as well as routing and traffic issues. Downloading at like 800k/s AND uploading at 40k/s at the same time is pretty good.

Also, cable is asynchronous, if you're uploading near your max/capped speeds, it's going to tax on your download speeds, and viceversa if your download speeds are near max/cap.

Stop blaming Time Warner, stop blaming Blizzard or digital distribution. Blame yourself for being ignorant and your stupid sense of entitlement.

Ok, I'll fully admit this is more of a Time Warner bitch thread, but it all started when I purchased Starcraft 2 this morning via b.net. I'd also like this to be a warning if you have Time Warner and want to digitally download anything from Blizzard.

1) Launch Blizzard Downloader - Internet connection goes to 0.8MB/sec down and 0.04MB/sec up throughput for everything.

2) Close Blizzard Downloader - Internet connection is advertised 10MB/sec down and 768k/sec up.

3) Call CSR from Time Warner to ask WTF...tells me to reset modem, reboot, and close security software.

4) I tell them to quit throttling my connection due to the presence of a Bittorrent client (I assume the Blizzard downloader is the same tech used for WoW).

5) Ordered U-Verse Internet which will go live on the 12th of August.


Fun...

 

[Garou24]

I also have Time Warner Roadrunner and I downlaoded Starcraft 2 from blizzard. I noticed them throtteling down my connection also. Just turn off peer-to-peer int he Blizzard downloader and have it downlaode from the http server. Doing this brought my connection back to fast speeds. I have had to do this for WoW updates in the past also.

 

[Anubis]

turn off peer to peer networking on the blizz downloader, it normally fixes things

i have TWC and ive never had an issue with the DL client, SC2 beta DLed through it at a 1.2 megs/sec for the entire DL, which is actually faster then the line i pay for is capable of doing

 

[Glitchny]

Are you sure you advertised speeds are 10MB/768kB or 10Mb and 789Mb uploads? See the difference capitalization? There's a huge difference.


I think you're just dumb and uninformed, bitching when you have no right to.

0.8MB is relatively fast, and download speeds are dependent on server upload speeds as well as routing and traffic issues. Downloading at like 800k/s AND uploading at 40k/s at the same time is pretty good.

Also, cable is asynchronous, if you're uploading near your max/capped speeds, it's going to tax on your download speeds, and viceversa if your download speeds are near max/cap.

Stop blaming Time Warner, stop blaming Blizzard or digital distribution. Blame yourself for being ignorant and your stupid sense of entitlement.

well it is a known issue that certain ISP's throttle bit torrent connections and that it causes problems with Blizzards downloader because it uses a torrent. But the OP can disable the torrent download and it should download normally.

Also you seem a tad upset about this, no need to fly off the handle attacking the OP.

i have TWC and ive never had an issue with the DL client, SC2 beta DLed through it at a 1.2 megs/sec for the entire DL, which is actually faster then the line i pay for is capable of doing

well didn't they also give you a free speed upgrade for no real reason?

 

[Sentrosi2121]

I've had Time Warner for some time now. I only bitch when my modem suddenly resets itself for no reason whatsoever. Usually when I'm right in the middle of a good BC2 fight.
Going to have to look into fixing that before TOR comes out.

Oh, and OP. Just open up the downloader and GO OUTSIDE for about 8 hours.

 

[Rifter]

Are you sure you advertised speeds are 10MB/768kB or 10Mb and 789Mb uploads? See the difference capitalization? There's a huge difference.


I think you're just dumb and uninformed, bitching when you have no right to.

0.8MB is relatively fast, and download speeds are dependent on server upload speeds as well as routing and traffic issues. Downloading at like 800k/s AND uploading at 40k/s at the same time is pretty good.

Also, cable is asynchronous, if you're uploading near your max/capped speeds, it's going to tax on your download speeds, and viceversa if your download speeds are near max/cap.

Stop blaming Time Warner, stop blaming Blizzard or digital distribution. Blame yourself for being ignorant and your stupid sense of entitlement.

I think you are right, especially since 10Mbits is almost exactly .8Mbytes. OP need to learn the differnce unless he really has a 10MB connection not Mb.

 

[Anubis]

well it is a known issue that certain ISP's throttle bit torrent connections and that it causes problems with Blizzards downloader because it uses a torrent. But the OP can disable the torrent download and it should download normally.

Also you seem a tad upset about this, no need to fly off the handle attacking the OP.



well didn't they also give you a free speed upgrade for no real reason?

yes but the SC2 beta came out like 5 months ago, speed increase happened like last week. also 1.2 megs/sec is still faster then what the line is billed as. the 1.8 i get now is like 2x

 

[GoodRevrnd]

turn off peer to peer networking on the blizz downloader, it normally fixes things

i have TWC and ive never had an issue with the DL client, SC2 beta DLed through it at a 1.2 megs/sec for the entire DL, which is actually faster then the line i pay for is capable of doing

this.
/thread

 

[KeithTalent]

I'm not even sure this has anything to do with Starcraft 2 or PC Gaming to be honest. :hmm:

KT

 

[vshah]

TWC doesn't throttle my torrents at all, ever.

 

[Dorkenstein]

I turned off P2P and the downloader ran like a dream. This is on a DSL connection here in New England, so nothing even close to state of the art.

 

[Russwinters]

10MB /= 10 Megs per second.

it ACTUALLY means it has a theoretical max of ~1250Kbps.

.8Mb per sec is 800kbps, so....still not max but reasonable for your connection. I would not say they are throttling it. Since bitorrent depends on the exact part of the download being downloaded to have many sources, it's more of a client fail then your connection.


when i was DLing the BETA client with the same downloaded, i was getting 1.2-2.0Mbps on a time warner connection, turbo 15/2, that gets higher then advertised (more like 20-25/2)

 

[Golgatha]

I think you are right, especially since 10Mbits is almost exactly .8Mbytes. OP need to learn the differnce unless he really has a 10MB connection not Mb.

Units aside, I used Speakeasy.net to test the connection with and without the Blizzard Downloader program running. I also tested it with Bittorrent just to be sure. For all your unit Nazis out there it is Mb and kb per second.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind they are throttling the connection based on Bittorrent usage. They don't just throttle the ports Bittorrent is running on either, they throttle everything, which basically makes my Internet surfing feel like dial-up.

Also, as far an entitlement goes...GD right I'm entitled to get the bandwidth I'm paying for!!! WTF is wrong with wanting to receive my advertised speed regardless of what program is pulling the bits down the pipe!?

 

[Golgatha]

Ah, disabled the P2P in the Blizzard downloader and now I'm getting around 9Mb/sec or ~1.1MB/sec throughput. Thanks to those in this thread who posted useful information.

P.S. I started a Knoppix Live CD download with Bittorrent just to test my theory and all connections get throttled to ~0.8Mb/sec as soon as a few peers get connected. Time Warner is definitely throttling my bandwidth based on usage and I simply won't have it. Thankfully U-Verse is available for $8 more a month and it's 12Mb down and 1Mb up. Well worth the extra not to have to deal with a company who picks and chooses what I can and cannot do with my paid for bandwidith.

 

[blurredvision]

For all your unit Nazis out there it is Mb and kb per second.

In this case, there is an actual difference. If you don't capitalize correctly, then you go from one value to a completely different value far away. There is no "being nazi" about it, you're saying apples when you mean oranges, big difference.

Also, as far an entitlement goes...GD right I'm entitled to get the bandwidth I'm paying for!!! WTF is wrong with wanting to receive my advertised speed regardless of what program is pulling the bits down the pipe!?

No matter what TWC or any other ISP tells you your max download and upload is, not every server and pipe is the same. It'd be nice if every single server in the world could feed you data that would max out your stated bandwidth limits with your ISP, but it just doesn't work like that in the real world.

 

[modestninja]

In this case, there is an actual difference. If you don't capitalize correctly, then you go from one value to a completely different value far away. There is no "being nazi" about it, you're saying apples when you mean oranges, big difference.

Proper capitalization is the difference between:

"Helping my uncle Jack off a horse."

AND

"Helping my uncle jack off a horse."

 

[xCxStylex]

@Glitchny - I know Cox has issued a statement saying that they throttle, I understand some Canadian and Australian ISPs do as well. TWC "claims" that they do not.

I've moved and had Cox for the last 11 months, but I've had TWC in two different counties of CA for over 5 years combined and have never noticed any bandwidth throttling from either ISP. However, I do keep my upload capped at 16kB/s because I often play games and am too lazy to ever change my torrent client settings. I do download at over 1MB/s (such as last night) while uploading 16kB and don't notice any latency while gaming.


Disabling P2P IS almost always going to increase your speeds, considering Blizzard's server speeds. However, what you people need to understand that his ISP "throttling his bandwith" is 99% NOT likely of what is actually happening.


First, as I mentioned earlier, uploading will KILL your download speed. If your theoretical max UL service is 80k and you are uploading at 40k, then your max download speed can potentially be halved or more.

Second, with torrents, the more connections you have (the larger number of people you are connected to), the more overhead and bandwidth is used, especially if connections are made and disconnected again. You can change the connection numbers from within most torrent clients, but I don't know if you can from within Blizzard's client. When you're DLing directly from say, Blizzard's servers, your connection is between you and them (and of course, the routing from them to you, basically internet traffic/congestion, if any)


Here's an article from slashdot I just read about people who don't believe the truth (facts) even when presented to them --> http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128490874

"See the difference in capitalization? There's a huge difference" This statement from my first post wasn't some stupid nazi crap, it actually makes a damn difference. Stop being ignorant and learn something.



Read post #20 ---> http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...ngs&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a

TWC doesn't throttle my torrents at all, ever.

 

[aigomorla]

mmm..

i am actually happy with time warner lately.

I get about 2megs / second download on torrents, and popular websites. (bytes.. not bits)

I get about 1.5megs up. (bytes again.. not bits)

I honestly havent seen any throttling with Time Warner.
The only thing i notice tho is Time Warner's DNS servers are absolute shit.
So i tend to just change those manually to another DNS server, and service has been absolutely lovely.

 

[Golgatha]

No matter what TWC or any other ISP tells you your max download and upload is, not every server and pipe is the same. It'd be nice if every single server in the world could feed you data that would max out your stated bandwidth limits with your ISP, but it just doesn't work like that in the real world.

That's all well and good, and would be a great argument in their favor if they weren't throttling my bandwidth INTENTIONALLY to 1/10 or less of what it is capable of (e.g. Bittorrent on = Blizzard Downloader at 0.8Mbps download speed vs 9Mbps with it off). Granted, Bittorrent will suck some minute amount of bandwidth once it first starts up, but not anywhere near 8Mbps+ of bandwidth.

Also, I recently moved and previously had AT&T U-Verse Internet. I was pissed that they now have installation fees and a $3 rental fee for their equipment (still pissed actually, but not pissed enough to put up with TW anymore), which was why I gave Time Warner a go. In the ~3.5 years I had AT&T I had never experienced such slowdowns when utilizing Bittorrent as I have with Time Warner. Besides this issue, my bandwidth will shrink to 4-5Mbps when our node gets busy during peak hours and U-Verse gives you a dedicated line to the Vrad box and a fiber line connected to the central office from there. I figured I could live with even 4-5Mbps, but this issue pushed me to switch. AT&T provided a solid 12Mbps down and 1Mbps at all times and was down maybe one time in 3.5 years. Time Warner is just plain crappy where I'm at and their technical support was absolutely no help. Well worth the $8 a month premium and $149 installation fee.