OK, I was planning on setting up a dedicated server for SoF2. I have a new computer that will only be used for this. However I was told that with a Cable internet connection I couldn't get more than 2-3 players on it without it lagging due to the upload speed. Here is my config, and is this true? How many players could I have without lagging, and are there any suggestions for improving this?

P4 2.2 Ghz Celeron
Windows XP Home
128MB DDR Ram (but willing to upgrade)
40 GB HardDrive
1.5MB - 2.0MB download/ 247kb upload speed


Your advice is appreciated before I waste my time. Thanks!

no there are tweaks and such i blieve in ur config files on SOF2, taht u can do that makes different things move faster , cable is prolly the best thing u can use without paying for another server, but u should be able to hold up to 12 max with out to much lag u might get spikes and stuff but, make sure u dont havea firewall  almost gaurunteed ull get lag probs and stuff like that, may want to up ur ram a bit too. im not a pro at this stuff but i kno cable can hold a bit more than 2-3 people, thats DSL lol, wait untill spike comes along he'll kno wtf hes talkin about

Thanks for the reply, I've been hoping Spike would give me some advice. I'm on my installing it now. Had to reload the PC to clear out all the previous owners crap. Good to hear that I might be able to get 12 people. Thanks. Hope Spike can verify this! lol


Thanks again!!


P.S. I love your pic!  

the number of players will depend on ur maxrate, to get 12 it would have to be quite low like 5000 ish

its best to experement till u find the right ballence as all connections vary.

And firewalls should not cause any preformance problems, but they do increase security which is a good reason to use one.

lol see told ya spike could help

I have a friend that has a server complex.  He seems to think that he can host the world, and the math doesn’t apply to his crappy cable connection.  Anyhow, after sitting him down at my house to play on his server, he experienced the extreme gay lag himself and asked me for help.

Somewhere on this site there is a link to sof/q3 bandwidth chart, sorry that I don’t have the link handy.  But I can do the math myself here:

If you have 250 Kbps upload and want to host 12 players, you need to adjust the sv_maxrate setting much lower than 5000

   250 Kbps = 30.5 KBps Upload Speed
   5000 Rate = 4.8 KBps Per-Client Speed

Seeing that 4.8 * 12 = 57.6, we know that your server is trying to push 27.1 KBps more than it can handle.  This leads to dead-stop style lag bouts, a real buzz-killer - no doubt.

A better way to approach the problem is to account for 90% of your upload speed (10% is about right for overhead on the average cable connection), and divide by the number of players you would like to host (12 in this case).

   90% of 30.5 = 27.5 KBps
   27.5 KBps / 12 Clients = 2.3 KBps Per Client

This leaves us with a maxrate range of about 2200-2400.  Trying playing with this setting while room is full, increment it by about 250 a shot until the kids start crying lag.  

Also, I've found that setting the sv_fps to about 15 helps a lot for slower cable servers.  This reduces the total amount of outgoing packets.  If you're trying to push to many at once, the upload stream saturates and the kids scream at the retarded server ;-).

Take it or leave it,
-SuB

Thanks for that post SuBsTaNc3 - it will certainly help me! Appreciate it!!

all that math is gunna make me sick  

Here hope this helps    

http://webtweety.virtualave.net/q_and_a.html#calculator

Hey that's awesome, now I can raise my max rate a bit. Thanks xodeus!!!!