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Severe performance problems to specific addresses
I have lately been playing some online boardgames using a tool called VASSAL (http://www.vassalengine.org). It's a pretty groovy program...the problem is that the system response over my AT&T connection is really, staggeringly slow. (This is not high-speed FPS gaming graphics, by the way; it's a boardgame simulator, which should use very little bandwidth.) I did a little research in their forums, and there is a lot of anecdotal evidence that AT&T users in particular are having really bad performance issues connecting to their servers. I didn't think much of it, because anecdotal internet evidence is usually just people finding something to complain about.
However, a recent thunderstorm fried my U-verse router just before I had a game scheduled, so I hooked up my (AT&T) iPhone as a hotspot and connected to VASSAL. Response was still extremely, unplayably slow, and even the connection to their website was extremely slow, but other web pages seemed to load normally. As a test, I switched to using my work (Verizon) iPhone as a hotspot, and the server response instantly became extremely quick. So there may be something to the AT&T connection after all...
Traceroutes seem to show that the traffic is actually traversing the AT&T network fairly briskly, but there is something going on between my AT&T home network and the VASSAL servers that is slowing things down dramatically. I have tried this on several occasions from multiple PCs, and the Verizon phone connection is always dramatically faster than an AT&T connection, either over U-verse (I have the Max Turbo connection) or via my AT&T phone. Sample data:
AT&T iPhone:
C:\WINDOWS\system32>tracert game.vassalengine.org
Tracing route to one.vassalengine.org [62.210.178.7]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 172.20.10.1
2 114 ms 30 ms 35 ms 172.26.96.161
3 36 ms 38 ms 35 ms 172.18.236.228
4 29 ms 35 ms 33 ms 12.249.2.17
5 47 ms 159 ms 88 ms 12.83.170.18
6 161 ms 137 ms 37 ms gar24.attga.ip.att.net [12.122.141.181]
7 281 ms * 114 ms 192.205.33.42
8 94 ms 44 ms 69 ms ash-bb4-link.telia.net [62.115.137.74]
9 257 ms 177 ms 142 ms prs-bb2-link.telia.net [80.91.251.103]
10 387 ms 134 ms 138 ms prs-b8-link.telia.net [213.155.131.17]
11 259 ms 141 ms 136 ms online-ic-305116-prs-b8.c.telia.net [62.115.40.86]
12 162 ms 138 ms 144 ms 45x-s31-1-a9k2.dc3.poneytelecom.eu [195.154.1.35]
13 148 ms 137 ms 138 ms one.vassalengine.org [62.210.178.7]
Trace complete.
====================
Verizon iPhone:
C:\WINDOWS\system32>tracert game.vassalengine.org
Tracing route to one.vassalengine.org [62.210.178.7]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 172.20.10.1
2 104 ms 36 ms 29 ms 9.sub-66-174-39.myvzw.com [66.174.39.9]
3 139 ms 35 ms 29 ms 68.sub-69-83-36.myvzw.com [69.83.36.68]
4 32 ms 35 ms 38 ms 97.sub-69-83-36.myvzw.com [69.83.36.97]
5 262 ms 38 ms 27 ms 98.sub-69-83-56.myvzw.com [69.83.56.98]
6 114 ms 25 ms 32 ms 32.sub-69-83-34.myvzw.com [69.83.34.32]
7 * * * Request timed out.
8 120 ms 36 ms 36 ms 73.sub-69-83-33.myvzw.com [69.83.33.73]
9 276 ms 36 ms 38 ms 209.118.221.185
10 * * * Request timed out.
11 * * * Request timed out.
12 73 ms 74 ms 93 ms ae0d0.cir1.atlanta6-ga.us.xo.net [207.88.13.153]
13 119 ms 26 ms 46 ms 67.111.23.82.ptr.us.xo.net [67.111.23.82]
14 330 ms 44 ms 48 ms ash-bb4-link.telia.net [80.91.246.76]
15 127 ms 133 ms 128 ms prs-bb2-link.telia.net [80.91.254.215]
16 173 ms 125 ms 128 ms prs-b8-link.telia.net [213.155.131.17]
17 260 ms 138 ms 146 ms online-ic-305116-prs-b8.c.telia.net [62.115.40.86]
18 * 134 ms 149 ms 45x-s31-1-a9k2.dc3.poneytelecom.eu [195.154.1.35]
19 212 ms 140 ms 143 ms one.vassalengine.org [62.210.178.7]
Trace complete.
C:\WINDOWS\system32>tracert game.vassalengine.org
Tracing route to one.vassalengine.org [62.210.178.7]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 172.20.10.1
2 114 ms 30 ms 35 ms 172.26.96.161
3 36 ms 38 ms 35 ms 172.18.236.228
4 29 ms 35 ms 33 ms 12.249.2.17
5 47 ms 159 ms 88 ms 12.83.170.18
6 161 ms 137 ms 37 ms gar24.attga.ip.att.net [12.122.141.181]
7 281 ms * 114 ms 192.205.33.42
8 94 ms 44 ms 69 ms ash-bb4-link.telia.net [62.115.137.74]
9 257 ms 177 ms 142 ms prs-bb2-link.telia.net [80.91.251.103]
10 387 ms 134 ms 138 ms prs-b8-link.telia.net [213.155.131.17]
11 259 ms 141 ms 136 ms online-ic-305116-prs-b8.c.telia.net [62.115.40.86]
12 162 ms 138 ms 144 ms 45x-s31-1-a9k2.dc3.poneytelecom.eu [195.154.1.35]
13 148 ms 137 ms 138 ms one.vassalengine.org [62.210.178.7]
Trace complete.
====================
Verizon iPhone:
C:\WINDOWS\system32>tracert game.vassalengine.org
Tracing route to one.vassalengine.org [62.210.178.7]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 172.20.10.1
2 104 ms 36 ms 29 ms 9.sub-66-174-39.myvzw.com [66.174.39.9]
3 139 ms 35 ms 29 ms 68.sub-69-83-36.myvzw.com [69.83.36.68]
4 32 ms 35 ms 38 ms 97.sub-69-83-36.myvzw.com [69.83.36.97]
5 262 ms 38 ms 27 ms 98.sub-69-83-56.myvzw.com [69.83.56.98]
6 114 ms 25 ms 32 ms 32.sub-69-83-34.myvzw.com [69.83.34.32]
7 * * * Request timed out.
8 120 ms 36 ms 36 ms 73.sub-69-83-33.myvzw.com [69.83.33.73]
9 276 ms 36 ms 38 ms 209.118.221.185
10 * * * Request timed out.
11 * * * Request timed out.
12 73 ms 74 ms 93 ms ae0d0.cir1.atlanta6-ga.us.xo.net [207.88.13.153]
13 119 ms 26 ms 46 ms 67.111.23.82.ptr.us.xo.net [67.111.23.82]
14 330 ms 44 ms 48 ms ash-bb4-link.telia.net [80.91.246.76]
15 127 ms 133 ms 128 ms prs-bb2-link.telia.net [80.91.254.215]
16 173 ms 125 ms 128 ms prs-b8-link.telia.net [213.155.131.17]
17 260 ms 138 ms 146 ms online-ic-305116-prs-b8.c.telia.net [62.115.40.86]
18 * 134 ms 149 ms 45x-s31-1-a9k2.dc3.poneytelecom.eu [195.154.1.35]
19 212 ms 140 ms 143 ms one.vassalengine.org [62.210.178.7]
Trace complete.
There are a few threads here with more info (including traceroute data) if anyone cares to dig into this or forward it to someone who might be in the right department:
This is one of those small, obscure issues that probably won't get a lot of traction, but hopefully someone here will either have a good idea or know the right people for me to contact.
All advice welcomed. Thanks!
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