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[Toadthemushroom]

Thanks everyone for the constructive responses. I'm glad the problem has been isolated, that slow upload speed is the issue and that Splatoon 2.00 is stringent about players it keeps in matches.

My upload speed is indeed slow (definitely under the recommended of 0.9Mbs), which is a pain, and I can't upgrade at least in the short term for financial reasons, as much as I'd love to.

To anyone familiar with the "DMZ" setup -- is this the same thing? Stumbled across it.

Otherwise it seems putting the Wii U into the DMZ doesn't necessarily solve the problem, but I think getting a faster upload speed definitely solves the problem, based on some accounts I've been reading:

I got my Wii U last weekend and have been trying to play Splatoon ever since. However, every time I connect to a match I'm always given the "unstable connection" message before being booted from the game. I've placed my Wii U in my router's DMZ zone and all that other jazz so I know it isn't an issue with porting. My Wii U is also right next to my router and I've got decent connection speeds so it can't be an issue with my provider.

As per my other posts, never had serious problems until august update, tried everything I could think of and it wasn't getting any better, but I finally bit the bullet and upgraded my Internet today from 5mbps down and 384kbps up to 10mbps down and 800 kbps up and I played 20 matches in a row this morning without a hitch. No noticeable lag, let alone unstable connection errors. We'll see how well this plays out for splatfest... But yeah, for me my upload speed was awful, and I guess better d/l speed never hurts, either. What kind of connection speeds do you guys have, and are you having the issues or not?

 

[69wpm]

To anyone familiar with the "DMZ" setup -- is this the same thing? Stumbled across it.

It's not the same. A DMZ is a feature that pretty much excludes all rules for one device, in this case the Wii U. It can receive all incoming and outgoing connections resulting in no more port issues. Giving it a specific IP sometimes helps solve problems, but not in this case.

Try to search for DMZ and your router model. There should be a tutorial or description how to set it up. It's worth a try, but I'm pretty sure a slow upload is the real culprit here.

 

[Toadthemushroom]

It's not the same. A DMZ is a feature that pretty much excludes all rules for one device, in this case the Wii U. It can receive all incoming and outgoing connections resulting in no more port issues. Giving it a specific IP sometimes helps solve problems, but not in this case.

Try to search for DMZ and your router model. There should be a tutorial or description how to set it up. It's worth a try, but I'm pretty sure a slow upload is the real culprit here.

Will do. If this fixes my problems I'll be so happy.

 

[Toadthemushroom]

Just reporting back after setting the Wii U to the DMZ (and double checking the MAC address to be sure that it's the right one).

It didn't work, sadly, tried two turf war matches and the same as usual, my ink patterns started lagging after around thirty seconds, and then I get the "unstable connection" message flashing up on-screen.

---

Does anyone know why ranked battle seems to work fine 60% of the time, but turf wars work about 5% of the time?

Edit:

Turf Wars uses a bit under .7 megabits up. Speeds below can cause ink lag. Well, they used to. I guess it just DCs you now? Only times I've really seen ink lag since 2.0 is when somebody's getting DC'd whereas before 2.0 it happened a lot more. So I wouldn't be surprised if they changed the handling of ink lag to be much more likely to just DC the laggy player.

It's possible that Ranked uses less upload so your upload speed is just enough to make it through matches a decent amount of the time. As for other games, well, they could just use less upload or be more tolerant of poor upload.

Makes sense. Also explains why when I used to tweet an image of my Splatoon results, the game would disconnect before the ver 2.00 update. And why using several seekers at once (which draw paths of ink) or a sprinker would cause me to disconnect sometimes. Woe be my rubbish internet connection.

 

[69wpm]

Just reporting back after setting the Wii U to the DMZ (and double checking the MAC address to be sure that it's the right one).

It didn't work, sadly, tried two turf war matches and the same as usual, my ink patterns started lagging after around thirty seconds, and then I get the "unstable connection" message flashing up on-screen.

---

Does anyone know why ranked battle seems to work fine 60% of the time, but turf wars work about 5% of the time?

Depending on the mode you don't ink as much of the ground. You shoot more at enemies.

 

[Toadthemushroom]

Depending on the mode you don't ink as much of the ground. You shoot more at enemies.

Thing is, you can just stand around and do absolutely nothing and the game will kick you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3iN8v8M7xE

 

[DeathPeak]

I've been having this issue post 2.0 update. Was hoping the new update would fix it.

 

[jariw]

Yeah again, it's not this, this is exclusively a problem that occurred after the 2.00 patch after the game previously had none of these issues

All other online games i've played have worked fine

If it was a slow connection or ports not being opened why do other games work fine and why did this issue not exist with Splatoon from launch to patch 2.00?

They changed the 2.0.0 update so players with bad connections get warnings and disconnects, instead of having matches with players with huge lags. A wired connection with decent upload speeds will work just fine.

Lag doesn't work fine in other Wii U games. Lagging players in MK8 just jumps everywhere on other players' screens, even though MK8 doesn't disconnect them as often as Splatoon.

 

[oni-link]

They changed the 2.0.0 update so players with bad connections get warnings and disconnects, instead of having matches with players with huge lags. A wired connection with decent upload speeds will work just fine.

Lag doesn't work fine in other Wii U games. Lagging players in MK8 just jumps everywhere on other players' screens, even though MK8 doesn't disconnect them as often as Splatoon.

Yeah I think we established that earlier in the thread, which also means a wired connection won't help much if you have slow upload speeds anyway

I've got 40 hours logged with MK8, 30 of that would have been online, and I think I've seen a kart teleport somewhere else on the track maybe 3 or 4 times, yet Splatoon gives me issues

Based on this thread I'm almost certain the low upload speed of my connection is the issue, which is a shame because unfortunately I can't do anything about that (unless I move house)

 

[LiberaTeExInferis]

Slightly related, but are there some routers that Nintendo endorses or proposes, because i have been having these messages with Mario Kart for a long time now, and I was hoping to buy a new router...

 

[Toadthemushroom]

Slightly related, but are there some routers that Nintendo endorses or proposes, because i have been having these messages with Mario Kart for a long time now, and I was hoping to buy a new router...

People with wired connections are having this problem too, so I wouldn't worry *too* much about getting an endorsed/tested router (same with their tested external HDDs and microSD cards)

 

[Roo]

Can you explain how to do this to someone who knows nothing about routers/ports?

For you and anyone who's interested in setting your Wii U on your router's DMZ, Nintendo has an user-friendly article about how to do it.
Follow every step and you shouldn't have any problem in that regard.

http://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/660/~/how-to-configure-a-routers-dmz

If that still doesn't solve the issue, try NAT troubleshooting:

http://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/13291/p/431

As someone else suggested, a higher connection speed could solve this and many matchmaking problems but due to different reasons such as money, etc it's not always a solution for everyone.

 

[gingerbeardman]

My connection (best I can get where I live) is

7.5Mb down
0.5Mb up

I do feel that Nintendo have just upped the limits on the game and we are now sadly out of luck.

 

[Here For The Free Feed]

same issue here

fine before latest update and no go since

out of curiosity i used my phone hotspot and worked no problem, so my 4G phone connection is better then my broadband internet

i dont know much about the tech side of things but that shouldnt be the way it is

 

[Cyd0nia]

I wonder if splatoon has regional servers or if they merely serve as matchmaker for peer to peer connections? If they're testing upload speeds to a server this could be affected by your proximity to them, and if any of you are using certain DNS solutions - it could be that you're being directed to a less than ideal one. If its about the connection to your peers then your upload speed could easily be affected by the download speeds of the other players.

I've played the game a lot and literally only been disconnected twice. I'm on Virgin Media UK, 50Mbps down and 3Mbps up.

 

[oni-link]

I wonder if splatoon has regional servers or if they merely serve as matchmaker for peer to peer connections? If they're testing upload speeds to a server this could be affected by your proximity to them, and if any of you are using certain DNS solutions - it could be that you're being directed to a less than ideal one. If its about the connection to your peers then your upload speed could easily be affected by the download speeds of the other players.

I've played the game a lot and literally only been disconnected twice. I'm on Virgin Media UK, 50Mbps down and 3Mbps up.

I think the issue is mainly a problem for those who have an upload speed of under 1mbps, so with 3 you should be fine

By proximity do you mean how come the router is to the Wii U?

The PC I used to check my speed (which was 0.36 for upload) was upstairs, however the Wii U is downstairs and about 5ft from the router, though even so I doubt that would make much difference to my upload speed

 

[Toadthemushroom]

If that still doesn't solve the issue, try NAT troubleshooting:

http://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/13291/p/431

I will give this a go, thanks.

 

[rrs]

I get this issue too, but it was made 700 times worse during splatfest. Even with playing with Japanese players on turf war (who clearly send ping sky high) I got less issues. Can Nintendo be honest and say YER CONNECTION SUCKS, TRY LATER

same issue here

fine before latest update and no go since

out of curiosity i used my phone hotspot and worked no problem, so my 4G phone connection is better then my broadband internet

i dont know much about the tech side of things but that shouldnt be the way it is

4G is better than most home dsl services, welcome to the future

 

[Cyd0nia]

I think the issue is mainly a problem for those who have an upload speed of under 1mbps, so with 3 you should be fine

By proximity do you mean how come the router is to the Wii U?

Sorry no, I mean proximity from the local server, which may not be all that local depending on a user's DNS settings.

Services like Nintendo Network, PSN/SEN and Xbox Live are now using content distributed networks and regional servers, with the idea being that your requests for downloads or connections can be directed to the nearest servers.

Your ISP will have its own Domain Name Server(s), and if you don't configure your router and/or your console to use anything else, that is what will be used. Sometimes, when people are experiencing connection troubles, they are advised to try alternative DNS servers - such as Google's DNS or OpenDNS, and very often it *can* help with their problems, but its also conceivable they could make things worse by routing them to a less than ideal server.

Here's Google on the use of CDNs when it comes to DNS resolving:

Many sites that provide downloadable or streaming multimedia host their content with DNS-based third-party content distribution networks (CDNs), such as Akamai. When a DNS resolver queries an authoritative nameserver for a CDN's IP address, the nameserver returns an address which is closest (in network distance) to the resolver, not the user. In some cases, for ISP-based resolvers as well as public resolvers such as Google Public DNS, the resolver may not be in close proximity to the users. In such cases, the browsing experience could be slowed down somewhat. Google Public DNS is no different from other DNS providers in this respect.

Locations of Google's Public DNS
https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns/faq?hl=en#locations

Quick DNS propagation check on id.nintendo.net (observe the different speeds of response)
https://dnschecker.org/#A/id.nintendo.net

Things are afoot to make geolocation and server selection better, and Google, as you would expect - are at the forefront of those efforts. They're already working with Akamai and Amazon - which all three consoles and services like Facebook use. Another wrinkle to this kind of thing is that the company whose service you're using might be doing geo-location themselves, and your configuration or choice of ISP could be making them think you're somewhere you're not.

I'm not sure what the splatoon servers actually are and how they're actually used, but if you're using a public DNS solution, try without, and if you're not using one, try using one.

Just to give a quick anecdote - I got a shiny new PS4 on Tuesday, and I was dismayed that I couldn't seem to get it to load my profile page, or even bring up the settings for connecting my account to facebook. The connection seemed so SO bad. I have an Xbox One and a Wii U and both of those are fine on my network. I googled online and found people complaining about crappy WiFi - and thought at first it may have just been poor WiFi radio hardware, and that I'd have to just suck it up and rig up some Ethernet cable -- but then I decided to try a couple of things. At first I tried Google's DNS servers (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4) but my connection to PSN was still awful. Then - in Network Settings I tried:

Primary DNS: 192.168.1.1

(the local address of my router, if your router isn't configured with any DNS settings, this effectively means you'll use the same DNS your ISP uses)​

Secondary DNS: 208.67.222.222

OpenDNS​

And all of a sudden I'm getting 300Mbps instead of < 100kbps..

Just a thought and something for you guys to try.


If all the Splatoon Servers do is actually hook you up with peer 2 peer connections, then you may be being hurt by poor connections to large amounts of foreign players or something. There might be better, more ideal times for you to log on and play. I wouldn't have thought it would be that though.

 

[mo60]

Upload speed is very good and around 15 mb, but download speed is around 0.5 mb. Discussing with my parents about this. To get a upload speed above 1mb with my current ISP I need to double my download speed. May have to pay for the upgrade sadly.

 

[Inspectah_Deck]

Is that really the problem?
I have 50mbit down and 10 up and still always get disconnects.

 

[gingerbeardman]

Is that really the problem?
I have 50mbit down and 10 up and still always get disconnects.

But do you get the "unstable connection" on screen message we're talking about?

 

[Inspectah_Deck]

Sometimes I just get kicked, sometimes my conbection is "unstable".

 

[Gaiaknight]

Ever since i switched to a wired connection i get maybe 1 disconnect in the couple hours i play a day its been nice.

 

[gossi]

In the UK if you use ADSL (BT, TalkTalk etc) then the upload speed limits are pretty bad. I live in the same building as my BT Exchange (it's in my apartment building - the cabling doesn't even reach the street) and I only get 1mbit upload. Options include BT Fibre (if available in your area) and Virgin Media cable (if available).

That said, this is a netcode issue. No game should require this amount of upload - they broke something. If it was Call of Duty a majority of the UK would be unable to play, for example.

 

[gingerbeardman]

In the UK if you use ADSL (BT, TalkTalk etc) then the upload speed limits are pretty bad. I live in the same building as my BT Exchange (it's in my apartment building - the cabling doesn't even reach the street) and I only get 1mbit upload. Options include BT Fibre (if available in your area) and Virgin Media cable (if available).

That said, this is a netcode issue. No game should require this amount of upload - they broke something. If it was Call of Duty a majority of the UK would be unable to play, for example.

Well said.

8MB up, 0.5MB down, is pretty muchthe standard ADSL speeds for the vast majority of the UK.

 

[oni-link]

In the UK if you use ADSL (BT, TalkTalk etc) then the upload speed limits are pretty bad. I live in the same building as my BT Exchange (it's in my apartment building - the cabling doesn't even reach the street) and I only get 1mbit upload. Options include BT Fibre (if available in your area) and Virgin Media cable (if available).

That said, this is a netcode issue. No game should require this amount of upload - they broke something. If it was Call of Duty a majority of the UK would be unable to play, for example.

It seems odd that they have upped the limit at which it disconnects players, presumably in the name of removing lag and kill exchanges for the majority, if they were aware this would render the game unplayable for many (especially those in the UK)

What makes it more of a resource demand than CoD or Destiny or MK8? Is it the paint maybe? Does that require a lot more data to be uploaded? Or does the game just have poorly optimised netcode?

It seems strange they would knowingly up the limit when it would essentially make the game unplayable for a lot of people, and it's mainly an online game, so that pretty much reduces the disc to a coaster

 

[Zing]

Well said.

8MB up, 0.5MB down, is pretty muchthe standard ADSL speeds for the vast majority of the UK.

That is how it was in Canada ten years ago. Cable connections in the U.S. and Canada have far surpassed and DSL for a while.

I just checked my local DSL rates. It is $30 for a 6/.8 package. That is ridiculous especially considering you need to pay for a phone land line as well. For $30, you can get a 15/1 cable connection with no added costs.

Don't forget that DSL using PPPoE loses throughput due to overhead. It also has a smaller packet size (1492 instead of Ethernet standard 1500) which could cause trouble.

 

[gingerbeardman]

I'm PPPoA and pay £12 per month *including* line rental. That's as much as I'd pay for 8Mb.

Where I live, Regents Canal Kings Cross London, ADSL is my only option. No fibre or cable for my location.

Elsewhere, as close as the other end of the road, there is cable (156Mb) and fibre (76Mb). But not an option for me.

 

[gingerbeardman]

I just got this from Nintendo

Dear Matt,

Thank you for emailing Nintendo.

We're sorry to hear you have experienced an issue with connecting to Splatoon online.

We're aware of the issue and this is currently under investigation with our Head Office.

To help with our investigation please confirm the following:

Nintendo Network ID (NNID) username (not Mii name)
Serial number of your console
Any error code(s)/messages you may be receiving aside from the connection error

We anticipate your response, if you have any further questions or queries, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Kind Regards,

Jasmine Malone

 

[oni-link]

I just got this from Nintendo

Nice, did you get back to them? Keep us posted

Maybe it's not upload speed related then, if they're aware of it, though that could be a stock email reply, I guess they can't really say "sorry m8 your nets fucked, you can't play, sorry about that"

I've all but stopped playing the game anyway, I've lost motivation to when my rank will forever be ruined by disconnects

If they can fix it soon I'll be back though

 

[gingerbeardman]

I've replied. I'll post here when they get back to me.

 

[Toadthemushroom]

Thanks for this, gingerbeardman, fingers crossed something actually happens.

Like oni-link I've stopped playing it entirely, too. It still pains me whenever I see cool things about the game (like some of the recording sessions for the soundtrack or the artbook), as it reminds me that I can't actually play it anymore.

 

[Darrenf]

I tried playing it again the other day. I thought the problem got fixed as I usually get disconnected about 30 - 40 seconds into a match, however this time I made it 2 minutes in before I got disconnected. I wish I could play the game.

 

[gingerbeardman]

With regards to your query we can confirm that we have forwarded this information to head office to be investigated.

Will keep the thread updated.

 

[SURGEdude]

It's so weird I have no issues with other games but I simply cannot connect to Splatoon multi I've tried it over multiple patches. Must be a port issue but I've been too lazy so far to set up the proper forwarding. That's usually not needed though.

 

[oni-link]

It's so weird I have no issues with other games but I simply cannot connect to Splatoon multi I've tried it over multiple patches. Must be a port issue but I've been too lazy so far to set up the proper forwarding. That's usually not needed though.

Is there anyone with this issue who also has Mario Maker? Does that game work well?

Kind of holding back as if I can't upload or download levels then the game is pretty much useless to me

Like you, Splatoon is the only game I've had online issues with, but now I'm kind of worried Nintendo just can't do decent online consistently

 

[Icarus]

I have the splatoon issues (18mbits down/1.5mbits up). I have given the Wii U it's own static IP. I've tried multiple DNS solutions. I put it in the DMZ. It is hyper frustrating.

Mario Maker works fine.

 

[NotLiquid]

I have the splatoon issues (18mbits down/1.5mbits up). I have given the Wii U it's own static IP. I've tried multiple DNS solutions. I put it in the DMZ. It is hyper frustrating.

Mario Maker works fine.

Mario Maker doesn't really demand as much from your connection. Most of the data you download in that game is most likely very minimal since the course data probably just draws from a random algorithm that determines all the stage settings. It's not actively sending information like an online multiplayer game would.

Mario Kart or Smash Bros would probably be better comparisons. Mario Kart is probably the best one in terms of netcode. Splatoon's netcode seems more similar to Smash Bros but the latter doesn't kick players for having unstable connections.

Either way, netcode seems to need a deal of fine tuning for the next update. As it stands currently they seem to be having to make tricky concessions.

 

[Spike]

I have a 5/640k connection. Mario Kart 8 I have never experienced slow down at all, and I've never had a lost connection/disconnect.

Smash Bros. I do get slow down from time to time, but never get disconnected.

Only Splatoon. Game worked fine up until the 2.0 patch. Sure, you would see the invisible ink pop in after the fact from time to time, but nowhere near the extent of unstable connection errors that I have gotten since 2.0 released. I mean, the game is unplayable for me now.

Then there is the 'You have no Internet Connection' error. When it pops up, I start up the Internet browser on the Wii U, and it is working fine. Yet, when I go back into Splatoon and try to join a match it says 'Connecting to Internet.'

We should be able to demand a refund. $80 down the drain...

 

[gingerbeardman]

I would encourage anybody with the issue to contact Nintendo Customer Services in your region.

Contact Us Region Selector:
http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/assets/region_select.jsp?d=contactus&f=1

 

[oni-link]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-34324046

Looking forward to jumping back into Splatoon in the year 2020

 

[Negotiator]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-34324046

Looking forward to jumping back into Splatoon in the year 2020

Sorry mate, but it's not Nintendo's fault if rural UK areas have shitty internet.

Why should other people suffer from ink lag?

 

[Ryng_tolu]

I have a lot of connective problem with Splatoon recently...

 

[Ogodei]

For me the problem seems to be occasional and software-side. I'd get disconnected from a match, booted all the way back to booyah base, walk back in, and it will insist that i'm not connected to the internet. I have my laptop right in front of me so i know my connection is fine, and other online Wii U games never did that. I have to reset the game.

Similarly that seems to fix when i get into a situation where i drop the connection ~30 seconds into the match, it's persistent when it appears (which is only so often), but a reboot fixes it right up.

 

[oni-link]

Sorry mate, but it's not Nintendo's fault if rural UK areas have shitty internet.

Why should other people suffer from ink lag?

Yeah I know, I'm not too upset, I played 65 hours (according to my Wii U log) and had a blast. I got good value for my money

But will I buy another Nintendo game built around online play? Probably not

My internet isn't great, but it's good enough for every other online game I've ever played

Everyone else makes games with competent netcode, Nintendo don't

 

[Negotiator]

Yeah I know, I'm not too upset, I played 65 hours (according to my Wii U log) and had a blast. I got good value for my money

But will I buy another Nintendo game built around online play? Probably not

My internet isn't great, but it's good enough for every other online game I've ever played

Everyone else makes games with competent netcode, Nintendo don't

Punishing lag qualifies as "competent netcode" in my book.

Naughty Dog games do the exact opposite...

 

[oni-link]

Punishing lag qualifies as "competent netcode" in my book.

Naughty Dog games do the exact opposite...

Yeah, I can see why they did it, if it was a deliberate move to make the experience better for the majority

Still doesn't explain why almost everywhere in this thread only has issues with Splatoon and not with any other online games, or why Nintendo have been vague about if it's an actual error or a result of them kicking people with slow connections

 

[gingerbeardman]

Sorry mate, but it's not Nintendo's fault if rural UK areas have shitty internet.

Ignorant SOB

I live in central London (King's Cross) and have 8Mb UP and 0.5Mb DOWN, "statistically average" (as the broadband company put it)

That's not enough.

 

[69wpm]

Yeah, I can see why they did it, if it was a deliberate move to make the experience better for the majority

Still doesn't explain why almost everywhere in this thread only has issues with Splatoon and not with any other online games, or why Nintendo have been vague about if it's an actual error or a result of them kicking people with slow connections

I'm sure there are plenty of people who have problems with other games, like me with Smash. It's unplayable for me. It's also the only game I have a problem with. Splatoon on the other hand is mostly smooth as butter. The only issue are high pings with Japanese players and that's not Nintendo's fault.