[TRACKING] 36202: Disconnect within 5 Minutes of joining a Match

[Evangelos]

Please note that this thread has been created to focus exclusively on disconnects (i.e. returning to the game lobby) shortly after joining a multiplayer lobby or game—most notably after about 5 minutes of joining a game lobby or match. Please ONLY contribute to this thread if you are experiencing this particular issue. Off-topic posts will be moderated.

THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE:

• Crashes: i.e. the game closing entirely
  
• Disconnects for a specific reason
  
• Any other issues with the game

IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING ANOTHER GAME ISSUE, please take the time to search for similar threads or start a new thread if one does not exist.

THE ISSUE

Hello everyone! To focus on a fix for the people who are still encountering this particular issue, I will be opening a new thread with each new update until we are able to resolve it for a majority of those impacted. Please comment (below) if you are experiencing the following problem:

Within approximately 5-10 minutes of joining a lobby or multiplayer game, you are disconnected from the game with an error message that returns you to the game's home screen.

TROUBLESHOOTING CHECKLIST

If you are encountering this issue, here are the steps you should try first:

• If you are using a wifi connection, try direct-wiring into your modem.
  
• Ensure you've updated your modem and router software/drivers.
  
• If you are using a HUMAX router or modem, try setting it to Bridge Mode.
  
• Ensure you have worked through the networking steps, here[www.ageofempires.com].
  
• Verify that you've worked through these steps[www.ageofempires.com].
  
• [If possible] see whether a VPN connection or phone tether serves as workaround for the issue

WHAT WE NEED...

If none of those steps work, here's what you need to provide:

• An image or video of the error message
  
  
• A savegame or replay file of the game when it happened.
  • Host it in a Google Drive or OneDrive folder and share a link so we can pass it to the team.
  
  
• Your Real Steam ID.
  
  • Open your Steam client and choose View, then click Settings.
    
  • Choose Interface and check the box that reads, "Display steam URL address when available."
    
  • Click OK.
    
  • Now click your Steam Profile Name and select View Profile.
    
  • Your SteamID will be listed in the URL at the top left as a long number at the end of the URL.
  
  
• A copy of your dxdiag

This information will be passed to our Test team so they can continue to look for common factors between players.

FOUND A SOLUTION?

If you manage to find a solution, be sure to let us know here, as well, so we can integrate it into our troubleshooting. There are a ton of factors that can lead to this issue, and we are exploring every avenue in search of a solution for everyone.

Thanks for your help!

[Bendy52]

Originally posted by Jaichim Carridin:

I am affected by this issue as well. Didn't happen before, but not it happens all the time. It ruins my experience

That is strange that this started happening today, did you change a router, ISP or anything else related ?

[Elan Morin Tedronai]

I upgraded my internet and changed my router, but provider is still the same

[Bendy52]

Originally posted by Jaichim Carridin:

I upgraded my internet and changed my router, but provider is still the same

Sadly as the devs think the router is where the issue lies or the ISP.

the only 2 things that can help for now is, using your mobile in tehering mode to connect with your 4g mobile data ( disconnecting from the wi-fi and/or removing the cable, or using a VPN for me a free VPN didnt work, only paid one.) for one guy the TCP timeout setting he adjusted helped him (TCP timeout setting is something you might find in some routers advanced settings page.)

[Elan Morin Tedronai]

Originally posted by Bendy52:

Originally posted by Jaichim Carridin:

I upgraded my internet and changed my router, but provider is still the same

Sadly as the devs think the router is where the issue lies or the ISP.

the only 2 things that can help for now is, using your mobile in tehering mode to connect with your 4g mobile data ( disconnecting from the wi-fi and/or removing the cable, or using a VPN for me a free VPN didnt work, only paid one.) for one guy the TCP timeout setting he adjusted helped him (TCP timeout setting is something you might find in some routers advanced settings page.)

Sadly I don't know how to do either of these things, which ruins my experience even more

[Bendy52]

a vpn is easy to use, buy one like NordVPN 12$ per month. but we hope that April update will bring a fix with it. otherwise i would call this a scam tbh.

[Tim]

I am experiencing this issue (sudden error message that the connection was dropped after 5 - 10 minutes in online matches) frequently but just on one single machine on my network. I am fairly confident that this is not related to our ISP and I am also certain it's not an issue on our local network as I would otherwise expect the issue to also appear on the other machines on my network.

I have configured the port forwarding on the router as instructed to no avail and the system in question does not use any local firewall or antivirus software that could be causing this on their own.

The computer in question does not have any connection drops in any other game or other network connectivity issues - it's strictly limited to Age of Empires 2: DE.

Here is the DXDiag, if you need more information please let me know.

https://pastebin.com/AJ8gLisn

Connecting via 4G or using a VPN is not an acceptable workaround for me so I will not give these "solutions" a try.

In case it matters, the router in question is a Deutsche Telekom Speedport W724V and the connection is just a standard VDSL connection (also with Deutsche Telekom).

[KapEr]

Originally posted by Bendy52:

a vpn is easy to use, buy one like NordVPN 12$ per month. but we hope that April update will bring a fix with it. otherwise i would call this a scam tbh.

Since the real issue probably lies withing our ISP putting us under CGNAT i dont think there is a fix from devs for this. As multiple online services dont work right under CGNAT (for example xbox live services). So as long as you are using IPv6 adress there is a big chance the multiplayer wont work for you. The only fix for this i know right now is VPN - but it is not a "real" fix, since you dont want to end up paying 12 $/m to play a 20$ game. ... i think about 20- 30% of players experience this issue

[Bendy52]

if 99% of other games works fine with CGNAT.... the devs must fix this. not that hard to grasp.

[Tim]

Where does the conclusion come from that this is an ISP issue? Have you all tried using a separate computer? Like I said, in the last 30 hours of online play on different machines on my local network, only one machine has had this issue consistently, so it could very well be a bug in combination with some sort of hardware component or other software.

[Bendy52]

Originally posted by Tim:

Where does the conclusion come from that this is an ISP issue? Have you all tried using a separate computer? Like I said, in the last 30 hours of online play on different machines on my local network, only one machine has had this issue consistently, so it could very well be a bug in combination with some sort of hardware component or other software.

the devs seems to have narrowed it down to ISP or router.
are you by any chance using 2 routers in the same house ?

[Bendy52]

Also one guy few post before started having this issue when he changed his router so it might mean its router issue.

[ephemer]

To add something that may be interesting for the devs: my housemate and I tried to play three games last night against two friends in the same city. Every single time, both of us got disconnected at *exactly the same time* - definitely within the same second - after about 4-5 minutes. We know because we we also using Discord and able to continue talking with each other and our opponents just fine.

Our router does not allow us to change anything like TCP timeouts, etc. We're on a 100+ Mbit cable connection from PYUR in Berlin, using the crappy cable / wifi router they provide.

We have both just run TCP Optimizer at the recommendation of someone in this thread and will have another try. If that doesn't work I'm going to hook up our Netgear wireless router to the cable box and see if we can adjust the settings there (if we even need to with the other router).

edit: TCP optimizer didn't do anything. and our Netgear router doesn't seem to be able to adjust the TCP timeout either. I'm pretty sure it's because our ISP, PYUR, has us on a CGNAT.

[KapEr]

Originally posted by Tim:

Where does the conclusion come from that this is an ISP issue? Have you all tried using a separate computer? Like I said, in the last 30 hours of online play on different machines on my local network, only one machine has had this issue consistently, so it could very well be a bug in combination with some sort of hardware component or other software.

There are a few posts about this in this forum:

https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/tracking-36202-disconnect-within-5-minutes-of-joining-a-match/77043/19

[Tim]

Originally posted by Bendy52:

the devs seems to have narrowed it down to ISP or router.
are you by any chance using 2 routers in the same house ?

Originally posted by KapEr:

There are a few posts about this in this forum:

https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/tracking-36202-disconnect-within-5-minutes-of-joining-a-match/77043/19

That's very odd. Like I said, I can only reproduce it on one machine. There is only one router in the building, the computers are the same distance away from it and the issue is consistent with what is described here but only affects that one machine.

[Tomahawk]

Hi everybody,

I had the same issue, I was disconnected every time after +/- 7 minutes of game.
As a first workarround, I created a WIFI hotspot with the 4G of my smart phone and it fixed the problem.
In parallel, I asked my internet provider to change my modem IP adress from private to public. Once the provider changed it, I was able to play the game without any problems.

Hope this can help some of you.