[Guide] Reducing Latency/Lag

**Akina** · 07-15-2008

Guide to reducing lag in WoW

INTERNET LAG:

I did not FULLY make this guide. I added/removed some things and took things from multiple sources and compiled it.

10 way to reduce WoW Lag

1)Do not run any programs that will haul your systems latency (LimeWire, iTunes).This can reduce your MS to up to 100-200.
If you see people porting around or stopping mid-running, they have some stupid torrent program or music streaming running most likely if they are using cable or DSL.
Dial-up users do that anyways.

2) You do not need a router unless you have more than one computer running through it, and running more than 1 computer through it risks limiting your available bandwidth, slowing down your connection.
If your on a decent router and no one else is using a computer, it really should not matter if you connect through it or not, its only a one or two latency (ping) increase unless its stopping your data to send data through for another computer.

(An expensive option is to get a D-link router with game fuel that will cycle your UDP game packets before the data from other computers linked on the same router.)

3) <DELETED>

4) Play during off peak hours, not an ideal solution (who would want to deprive you of your WoW?), but at the same time its also less congested.
I always try to get a game in either in the morning or in the AM. WoW often runs smoother and faster than at night right after dinner.

5) If you have been reading guides on how to increase your download speeds or optimize your connection for better web browsing.
Be aware that these guides teach you how to increase your TCP speed, which is often the exact opposite of what you want for UDP speed (the packet type used for most games)

6) G A M E P A T H - Pathing your way to lower latency!

7) tracert

Make sure everything on your system is up to date, including chip set and network drivers. (In addition to video, snd sound drivers)

9) Shut off: windows update, windows firewall, anti virus, net nanny, etc.
Anything that can ping the internet at will (like windows update) or requires programs to jump through hoops (like net nanny) before making a connection has the potential to slow you down.
(Good god, if you use net nanny please put a bullet through your head.)

10) Though that does remind me: If your on DSL, some cordless phones can interfere with and slow down the connection. (Not joking)

Quote:Graphics Settings

Don't fool yourself

Do you have an AMD 3400+ w/ 4 Gigs of RAM, an nVidia Dual 6800 256 Meg card, a RAID Hard Drive and a couple grand of top-end boards to hold it all together? I thought not.

You have to be honest with yourself. Sure, some systems are up to the challenge of max settings, but most PCs are nowhere close.

So... The best we can do is strike up a compromise between quality and performance. Here is a list of a few of the settings and what I've learned from trial and error (and reading Blizz's Tech Support Forum):

(Note - these settings are accessible within WoW. Hit Esc to bring up the menu, then choose video options)

GRAPHICAL LAG:

Full-screen Glow - This feature is only available on certain graphics cards. TURN IT OFF. It makes a slight difference in quality and has a very high cost in terms of system resources. Unless you are dead set on having it on, turn it off!

Terrain Distance - It is recommended that you set this at one notch above minimum. If your system is on the low end, set it to minimum. Setting this hgher than one notch over minimum has a very high cost in terms of performance, and it looks decent at min+1.

Anamorphic Filtering (sp?) - If your card supports this (Radeon 9600+ only I believe) make sure this is NOT set to minimum. It makes everything look much uglier. I personally settled on 2 notches above the minimum, and I used the ATI control panel to set Anamorphic Filtering at 2x. What this filter does is resample all of the graphics to keep them crisp. You can set it as high as 16x, but I found that 2x offered decent performance and quality on my average system. On my top-end system (which isn't really that high end) I settled on 8x, but the difference wasn't drastic.

Vertical Sync - in the options for your video card (Video options => Settings => Advanced) turn off vertical sync. This was actually a tip from Blizzard on the Tech Support forum.

A process you can kill that will speed up WoW is explorer.exe
To restart this process press: CTRL - ALT - DELETE
Click: New Task
Type: explorer.exe

First of all I would like to thank Hopto for finding a fix to this problem that many people have been having. So all credits goto him for coming up with solution, Thank you .

Like Hopto found, it appears that Vista's Auto-Tuning is the cause of the problem.
So far a lot of people have found this solution to be an instant fix.

Edit:
Just a reminder, you should do this WoW closed

In order to fix the problem you must disabled the Auto-Tuning. Here are some instructions on how to do this.

VISTA FIX:

Open your start menu
Depending on settings you may have the "Start Search" function or you may not.
-If you have the "Start Search" type in cmd.exe and when you find it right click the file and make sure you run as administrator
-If you are using a classic windows type visual theme then you can goto Start>Programs>Accessories>Command Prompt
Then you simply right on the commnd propt and run as adminstrator
Now in order to disable the Auto-Tuning type
"netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled"
without the quotes of course. You can type this in manually or copy it and then paste it by right clicking and then selecting paste.
Enjoy your normalized latency (hopefully)
In order to reverse this you simply follow the aboved steps and instead type
"netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=normal"

I found a website that provides more information that you may want to check out here

Anyways, thanks again to Hopto!