[TM2]CONNECTION: System internet connection lost regularly

[Teom]

Hi,

I'm having an odd issue with TM2. When I play it online (multiplayer -> public servers) I regularly lose my internet connection. Not just the connection to the game server, but the Windows connection to the internet. The reason for this seems to be that the router gets messed up somehow, as all computers connected to the router lose connection simultaneously. The router then needs to be restarted to get back online. This ONLY happens when playing TM2, in which case it happens every 10 to 60 minutes, usually closer to 10. I have tested and reproduced this enough times to be sure that it only occurs regularly while playing TM2 (it might have happened once every month or so of heavy internet usage before I started playing TM2). If anyone has any clue what might be the cause, please let me know. Also feel free to ask for more information if needed.

Hardware: D-Link DWA-140 RangeBooster N USB Adapter(rev.B2) network dongle, Inteno X5668 router/modem. No specific ports have been opened for TM2.
System: Windows 7 64bit Professional, single user with administrator rights.
Network: Nextgentel ADSL 4.5Mbit/1Mbit
Default browser: Firefox.
Antivirus and firewall: Microsoft Security Essentials and Windows 7 native firewall. TM2 has been added to firewall's allowed list.

[kalimerre]

Try to open the port you have configured in TM2 (normally it's 2350/3450 in TCP/UDP) but you can find it in the launcher => Configure => Advanced => Network or Peer to Peer.

[Teom]

Thanks for the reply kalimerre. I tried opening the ports (double checked that they were correct according to my TM2 settings), but it made no difference. I'm attaching a screenshot of the symptoms along with the troubleshooting conclusion from Windows. As I said earlier it usually only takes about 10 minutes before the connection is lost. The game itself does not notice until maybe 5 minutes later when it tells me that the server connection was lost, and during those five minutes I can drive around as if nothing was wrong (except that all the other cars are standing still due to lack of network traffic).

Notice the exclamation mark on the network icon in the system tray. I have not lost the connection to the router, and in the Network Connection Details everything is exactly as it should be. This leads me to conclude that the problem is not between the computer and the router, but somewhere within the router/modem or between the modem and the ISP. Since simply restarting the router/modem fixes the problem though I'm guessing it's not on the ISP side either. In conclusion; it appears as though the network traffic that TM2 generates somehow confuses the router/modem so that it loses the connection to the internet.

I will continue to troubleshoot the issue and let you know if I find a solution. The next step seems to be to access the router/modem web browser interface after the problem occurs and see if I can find anything, as well as changing the ports TM2 uses.



EDIT: Changing ports did not help. Also I accessed the router/modem settings and ran a diagnostic, and it confirmed that the WAN connection was the only thing out of order. I tried changing a few settings within the router/modem (like turning QoS off, setting my IP as DMZ etc), but to no avail. I'm going to get a cable so I can test running through LAN instead of WLAN, but I don't see how it would make any difference.