Losing Connection for 1-2 Seconds During Some Games

[Vicerex]

This is my first post here. I'm usually not one to ask for help but I've been troubleshooting this issue for at least two years and I give up.

My issue:
I will randomly disconnect from certain games for a couple seconds, just long enough to be booted from most servers. I do not only lose connection to the game but also to any other programs I am in such as Teamspeak & Skype (although these reconnect almost immediately). However, I never disconnect from Teamspeak or Skype if I'm not playing a game. To make it even trickier this does not apply to most games, the ones I consistently have issues with are Arma 3, Battlefield 4 & most recently The Division. I have absolutely no problems in MMOs, Diablo 3, etc.

Like I said I've been troubleshooting this for two years, so I've tried a lot of stuff, here are some things I've already tried that have failed:
*I know the issue is not ISP related, I've switched ISP's in the past two years and the issue remained. I went from a 5 mbps Wifi company to a 50 mbps Cable company.

*It is also not my router because I have replaced my router in this time frame, the issue remained. I've also bypassed my router and direct connected from the modem and the issue remained (the modem has been changed in this time frame as well).

*I've tried port forwarding, both in router and in Windows. This made no difference.

*I have replaced all cables numerous times to no avail. I've even bought a USB Ethernet port to make sure the port on my motherboard wasn't bad, this seemed to help for a few days but then the issue came back, could have just been an anomaly though because this issue is not consistent at all.

*I have lowered my MTU a few times to send smaller packets but this did not help.

*During this period I've also "upgraded" from Windows 7 to 8.1 to currently 10. This issue has existed throughout all three.

*As far as my desktop itself I've had the current one for about 1.5 years now, I can't remember if my previous desktop had the same issue but I'm almost positive it did since I've had this issue longer than 1.5 years.

*Of course I've kept drivers up to date, I've tried older versions, third party versions etc. Nothing changed.

This has never been a consistent issue, some nights I can play disconnect free while others I will disconnect every 10 minutes to the point of not even being able to play.

I apologize for the very long post, I just wanted to list things I've already tried so I didn't waste anyone's time with suggestions. I'm sure there are other things I've tried but can't recall them off the top of my head.

Please help, I'm sick of this issue.

 

[Ralston18]

You have done a lot of things but I did not note any references to the Event logs or router logs.

Check your system's logs and the router's logs. Look for errors, warnings, codes, or even informational entries that occur just before or at the time of the disconnect.

Open the logs and familiarize yourself with the structure and content. Remember that right-clicking entries can provide more details.

Then, leaving the viewer open but minimized, play as normal. If a disconnect occurs go back and look at the logs. It may not be helpful at first until you become familar with the process of going back into the logs and checking for new, unusual entries.

Once you fnd your way around then very good chance that you will notice something that can help identify the problem.

 

[Vicerex]

You have done a lot of things but I did not note any references to the Event logs or router logs.

Check your system's logs and the router's logs. Look for errors, warnings, codes, or even informational entries that occur just before or at the time of the disconnect.

Open the logs and familiarize yourself with the structure and content. Remember that right-clicking entries can provide more details.

Then, leaving the viewer open but minimized, play as normal. If a disconnect occurs go back and look at the logs. It may not be helpful at first until you become familar with the process of going back into the logs and checking for new, unusual entries.

Once you fnd your way around then very good chance that you will notice something that can help identify the problem.

Thank you for replying. I have not tried Windows Logs, I've actually never used them before. I've been running the log open for most of the afternoon, so far I have not disconnected in two hours of Arma III. I will keep you posted with any errors or warnings from the log once I do disconnect.

 

[Vicerex]

To follow up, I only disconnected once in about 3 hours of Arma III tonight. I did not check the log immediately after it happened because I needed to join back in ASAP to help my buddies. However there was a couple of odd entries in the log roughly around the time I disconnected, I have no idea if it's related but these were the errors:

Warning: Name resolution for the name mobile.pipe.aria.microsoft.com timed out after none of the configured DNS servers responded.
Warning: Name resolution for the name quotesby.name timed out after none of the configured DNS servers responded.

Edit: I seem to be getting these often, multiple times a day whether gaming or not. It does seem to cause a small halt in internet activity before being fine again. However, it's a different URL every single time this shows up. Some of which I don't even recognize and do not think I've even been to before, then some are more common like ESPN and Microsoft links. Any suggestions on how to correct this DNS issue?

 

[Ralston18]

DNS Servers are used to "translate" a website name into an IP address. Humans can remember names easier than we can IP addresses. "Internet phone book" to use a common analogy....

The URL's you listed may be missing from the servers looking for the matching IP address. If one server does not know it will ask another server. Takes time and at some point the process "times out". They all stop looking.

You could try setting your DNS servers to Google's sites. (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4). Easily done via your network adapter's configuration settings. (There are many "how-to's" on the internet.)

Could be that someone on the gaming side of things has or is doing some sort of cheating to slow other players. Have come across and read a few such comments and postings here and there. Not a gamer so no direct experience about how such things are done and to what extent. Perhaps somebody else may comment accordingly.

May just be that the network path(s) being taken by your packets are just not reliable for any number of reasons.

Try Google's DNS Servers - there are other choices out there also that can be used.

 

[Vicerex]

DNS Servers are used to "translate" a website name into an IP address. Humans can remember names easier than we can IP addresses. "Internet phone book" to use a common analogy....

The URL's you listed may be missing from the servers looking for the matching IP address. If one server does not know it will ask another server. Takes time and at some point the process "times out". They all stop looking.

You could try setting your DNS servers to Google's sites. (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4). Easily done via your network adapter's configuration settings. (There are many "how-to's" on the internet.)

Could be that someone on the gaming side of things has or is doing some sort of cheating to slow other players. Have come across and read a few such comments and postings here and there. Not a gamer so no direct experience about how such things are done and to what extent. Perhaps somebody else may comment accordingly.

May just be that the network path(s) being taken by your packets are just not reliable for any number of reasons.

Try Google's DNS Servers - there are other choices out there also that can be used.

Thanks for the suggestion. I've set my adapter & router to 8.8.8.8 / 8.8.4.4
At this time it's been about 2.5 hours since the change and I have not disconnected or received anymore DNS warnings in the log. I'm hoping it stays this way, I'll keep you posted.

Update:
I've had no more DNS issues since I switched to the Google DNS servers. I've also played about 8 hours and not dropped even once, and typically in that time frame I'd drop at least a few times. I think it may be fixed! If anything pops up again I'll post about it. Thanks so much!