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I am trying to make a connection to a gaming server in Asia from Australia, but my ISP routes my connection through the US. 

Tracing route to worldoftanks-sea.com [116.51.25.54]over a maximum of 30 hops:


1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 192.168.1.1
2 34 ms 42 ms 45 ms 10.20.21.123
3 40 ms 40 ms 43 ms 202.7.173.145
4 51 ms 42 ms 36 ms syd-sot-ken-crt1-ge-6-0-0.tpgi.com.au [202.7.171.121]
5 175 ms 200 ms 195 ms ge5-0-5d0.cir1.seattle7-wa.us.xo.net [216.156.100.37]
6 212 ms 228 ms 229 ms vb2002.rar3.sanjose-ca.us.xo.net [207.88.13.150]
7 205 ms 204 ms 206 ms 207.88.14.226.ptr.us.xo.net [207.88.14.226]
8 207 ms 215 ms 220 ms xe-0.equinix.snjsca04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [206.223.116.12]
9 198 ms 201 ms 199 ms ae-7.r20.snjsca04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.5.52]
10 396 ms 391 ms 395 ms as-6.r20.sngpsi02.sg.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.3.89]
11 383 ms 384 ms 383 ms ae-3.r02.sngpsi02.sg.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.4.178]
12 364 ms 381 ms 359 ms wotsg1-slave-54.worldoftanks.sg [116.51.25.54]


Trace complete.

Since I think it will be unlikely that my ISP will do anything, are there any ways to improve my routing to the server without them having to intervene?

NB. The game runs predominately over UDP, so I believe most low ping services are out of the question, as they rely on TCP traffic.

Sathyajith Bhat
  • 61,800
Simon Hartcher
  • 232

2 Answers2

3

No.

Longer Answer: Not really. Routes (especially international routes) are chosen through an algorithm that factors multiple things. The path chosen for you, through the US, was "optimal" at the time you ran the trace. They don't consider or factor end-user preferences. There's no way to "flag" your data (at the frame/packet level) in a way so that the routers recognize it and alter the path your data takes.*

Just for fun, I connected to a portal in Australia and ran three traces. From Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth.

From Sydney:

gi9-9.sglebdist01.nw.aapt.net.au (202.10.15.152) [MPLS: Label 460 Exp 0] 0 msec gi9-9.sglebdist02.nw.aapt.net.au (202.10.15.154) [MPLS: Label 48 Exp 0] 4 msec gi9-9.sglebdist01.nw.aapt.net.au (202.10.15.152) [MPLS: Label 460 Exp 0] 0 msec 2 po7.sglebbrdr01.aapt.net.au (202.10.14.9) 0 msec po6.sglebbrdr01.aapt.net.au (202.10.14.7) 0 msec po7.sglebbrdr01.aapt.net.au (202.10.14.9) 0 msec 3 xe7-0-0-420.sebr2.global-gateway.net.nz (202.50.238.213) 52 msec 0 msec 4 msec 4 202.68.67.153 [AS 2914] 0 msec 0 msec 4 msec 5 xe-5-1-0.r05.sydnau01.au.bb.gin.ntt.net (202.68.64.162) [AS 2914] 0 msec 0 msec 0 msec 6 as-3.r23.tokyjp01.jp.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.3.237) [AS 2914] [MPLS: Label 750272 Exp 0] 228 msec 196 msec 196 msec 7 ae-0.r20.sngpsi02.sg.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.2.101) [AS 2914] [MPLS: Label 552032 Exp 0] 268 msec 264 msec 260 msec 8 as-0.r02.sngpsi02.sg.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.4.36) [AS 2914] 256 msec 252 msec 256 msec

From Melbourne:

1 gi9-11.mburndist01.nw.aapt.net.au (202.10.15.156) [MPLS: Label 512 Exp 0] 8 msec gi9-11.mburndist02.nw.aapt.net.au (202.10.15.158) [MPLS: Label 383 Exp 0] 12 msec gi9-11.mburndist01.nw.aapt.net.au (202.10.15.156) [MPLS: Label 512 Exp 0] 12 msec 2 te0-3-1-0.mflincore01.aapt.net.au (202.10.12.17) [MPLS: Labels 17448/460 Exp 0] 8 msec te2-1-110.mburndist02.aapt.net.au (202.10.12.139) [MPLS: Labels 855/460 Exp 0] 12 msec te0-3-1-0.mflincore01.aapt.net.au (202.10.12.17) [MPLS: Labels 17448/460 Exp 0] 12 msec 3 te0-3-1-0.mflincore01.aapt.net.au (202.10.12.17) [MPLS: Labels 17464/460 Exp 0] 8 msec te0-0-4-0.sglebcore01.aapt.net.au (202.10.10.72) [MPLS: Labels 17017/460 Exp 0] 12 msec te0-3-1-0.mflincore01.aapt.net.au (202.10.12.17) [MPLS: Labels 17464/460 Exp 0] 8 msec 4 te2-2.sglebdist01.aapt.net.au (202.10.12.6) [MPLS: Label 460 Exp 0] 8 msec te0-0-4-0.sglebcore01.aapt.net.au (202.10.10.72) [MPLS: Labels 17028/460 Exp 0] 12 msec te2-2.sglebdist01.aapt.net.au (202.10.12.6) [MPLS: Label 460 Exp 0] 8 msec 5 te2-2.sglebdist01.aapt.net.au (202.10.12.6) [MPLS: Label 460 Exp 0] 12 msec po6.sglebbrdr01.aapt.net.au (202.10.14.7) 8 msec te2-2.sglebdist01.aapt.net.au (202.10.12.6) [MPLS: Label 460 Exp 0] 12 msec 6 xe7-0-0-420.sebr2.global-gateway.net.nz (202.50.238.213) 12 msec po6.sglebbrdr01.aapt.net.au (202.10.14.7) 12 msec xe7-0-0-420.sebr2.global-gateway.net.nz (202.50.238.213) 12 msec 7 xe7-0-0-420.sebr2.global-gateway.net.nz (202.50.238.213) 12 msec 202.68.67.153 [AS 2914] 12 msec xe7-0-0-420.sebr2.global-gateway.net.nz (202.50.238.213) 16 msec 8 xe-5-1-0.r05.sydnau01.au.bb.gin.ntt.net (202.68.64.162) [AS 2914] 12 msec 202.68.67.153 [AS 2914] 28 msec xe-5-1-0.r05.sydnau01.au.bb.gin.ntt.net (202.68.64.162) [AS 2914] 12 msec 9 xe-5-1-0.r05.sydnau01.au.bb.gin.ntt.net (202.68.64.162) [AS 2914] 8 msec as-3.r23.tokyjp01.jp.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.3.237) [AS 2914] [MPLS: Label 750272 Exp 0] 204 msec xe-5-1-0.r05.sydnau01.au.bb.gin.ntt.net (202.68.64.162) [AS 2914] 20 msec 10 ae-0.r20.sngpsi02.sg.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.2.101) [AS 2914] [MPLS: Label 552032 Exp 0] 288 msec as-3.r23.tokyjp01.jp.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.3.237) [AS 2914] [MPLS: Label 750272 Exp 0] 204 msec ae-0.r20.sngpsi02.sg.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.2.101) [AS 2914] [MPLS: Label 552032 Exp 0] 276 msec 11 ae-0.r20.sngpsi02.sg.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.2.101) [AS 2914] [MPLS: Label 552032 Exp 0] 272 msec as-0.r02.sngpsi02.sg.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.4.36) [AS 2914] 276 msec ae-0.r20.sngpsi02.sg.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.2.101) [AS 2914] [MPLS: Label 552032 Exp 0] 308 msec 12 ? as-0.r02.sngpsi02.sg.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.4.36) [AS 2914] 284 msec

From Perth:

1 gi9-9.pstmadist01.nw.aapt.net.au (202.10.15.176) [MPLS: Label 517 Exp 0] 52 msec gi9-9.pstmadist02.nw.aapt.net.au (202.10.15.178) [MPLS: Label 361 Exp 0] 48 msec gi9-9.pstmadist01.nw.aapt.net.au (202.10.15.176) [MPLS: Label 517 Exp 0] 52 msec 2 te2-1-110.pstmadist01.aapt.net.au (202.10.12.152) [MPLS: Labels 1204/48 Exp 0] 56 msec te2-1-110.pstmadist02.aapt.net.au (202.10.12.153) [MPLS: Labels 1064/460 Exp 0] 48 msec te2-1-110.pstmadist01.aapt.net.au (202.10.12.152) [MPLS: Labels 1204/48 Exp 0] 56 msec 3 te0-3-1-0.pgroscore01.aapt.net.au (202.10.12.33) [MPLS: Labels 1047509/460 Exp 0] 52 msec te0-3-4-0.pstmacore01.aapt.net.au (202.10.12.31) [MPLS: Labels 1047554/48 Exp 0] 60 msec te0-3-1-0.pgroscore01.aapt.net.au (202.10.12.33) [MPLS: Labels 1047509/460 Exp 0] 48 msec 4 te0-0-1-0.mburncore01.aapt.net.au (202.10.10.86) [MPLS: Labels 17179/48 Exp 0] 56 msec gi0-0-0-1.mflincore01.aapt.net.au (202.10.10.84) [MPLS: Labels 17588/460 Exp 0] 48 msec te0-0-1-0.mburncore01.aapt.net.au (202.10.10.86) [MPLS: Labels 17179/48 Exp 0] 56 msec 5 te0-0-4-0.sglebcore01.aapt.net.au (202.10.10.72) [MPLS: Labels 17654/460 Exp 0] 52 msec te0-0-4-0.sclarcore01.aapt.net.au (202.10.10.74) [MPLS: Labels 17314/48 Exp 0] 56 msec te0-0-4-0.sglebcore01.aapt.net.au (202.10.10.72) [MPLS: Labels 17654/460 Exp 0] 52 msec 6 te2-2.sglebdist02.aapt.net.au (202.10.12.8) [MPLS: Label 48 Exp 0] 56 msec te2-2.sglebdist01.aapt.net.au (202.10.12.6) [MPLS: Label 460 Exp 0] 52 msec te2-2.sglebdist02.aapt.net.au (202.10.12.8) [MPLS: Label 48 Exp 0] 56 msec 7 po6.sglebbrdr01.aapt.net.au (202.10.14.7) 52 msec po7.sglebbrdr01.aapt.net.au (202.10.14.9) 56 msec po6.sglebbrdr01.aapt.net.au (202.10.14.7) 48 msec 8 xe7-0-0-420.sebr2.global-gateway.net.nz (202.50.238.213) 56 msec 60 msec 64 msec 9 202.68.67.153 [AS 2914] 52 msec 56 msec 52 msec 10 xe-5-1-0.r05.sydnau01.au.bb.gin.ntt.net (202.68.64.162) [AS 2914] 56 msec 56 msec 56 msec 11 as-3.r23.tokyjp01.jp.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.3.237) [AS 2914] [MPLS: Label 750272 Exp 0] 248 msec 240 msec 252 msec 12 ae-0.r20.sngpsi02.sg.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.2.101) [AS 2914] [MPLS: Label 552032 Exp 0] 316 msec 308 msec 312 msec 13 as-0.r02.sngpsi02.sg.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.4.36) [AS 2914] 308 msec 316 msec 308 msec

Based on those three traces, it does look like Australia has a direct link to Japan/NTT that offers an almost 100 ms faster path to that specific server (especially if you're in Sydney). You might consider calling your ISP to ask them to check their (BGP) routing to see if the routes are properly calibrated/balanced. Depending on how flexibile your ISP is (and with whom they peer), they may be able to set up more specific routes for you and other gamers to take a shorter path. But that depends on their network peers, peer agreements, route aggregation, etc, etc. And whether they feel like it.

But there's nothing you can personally do, to alter the path taken by your game data. (WoT = Great game!)

John
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2

If this is the typical routing you're seeing in test after test, then no. Clearly your Australian ISP links out to the Pacific rim via a connection to a USA based host which then routes over their network and back across the Pacific to Asia.

I hate to tell you this but your only option here would be to try another ISP. Or find a friend who is with another local ISP who has domestic peering with your ISP and create something like a VPN tunnel onto their LAN and then connect to the world through their service (likely to take a huge speed hit with this method though).

Bryan C.
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