Please fix the random game crashes when zoning, and otherwise.

Either factory reset your router or replace it! It seems to be the source of your issues.

Tebos wrote:

If you read his post, you would see he ran game WITHOUT router at all and still had issues, so no its not his router.

Onurissa@Antonia Bayle wrote:

You are correct in that I did not take the time to read through this particular person troubleshooting steps. However, I will emphasize that the issue remains with Internet Service Provider premise equipment or a "kink" line to premise equipment. Since this person bypassed the router, and the issue still exist, then contact the ISP and schedule an appointment to either have the cable/dsl modem replaced and/or have them run diagnostics on their premise equipment or cable line. The only thing that got ruled out is router and not the cable/dsl modem.

I have contacted AT&T, my ISP, about this at the suggestion of a TSR in one of my petitions that I have outstanding and I was told by AT&T that it is not my connection. They told me that I have a good, solid connection and they ran several line tests. After speaking with them they suggested that I get back in touch with the game provider and let them know, which I did yesterday. I have not yet checked to see if they have responded to my petition from yesterday.
Just to be absolutely clear on this I have done the following :
1. Uninstalled all anti-virus software and malware bytes. Turned off windows defender, turned off windows firewall.
2. I have run the game using my router (Belkin). I have run the game without using my router. I have run the game on an alternate router ( HP ) and yes, I did do a reset of my router (Belkin) back to the default factory settings a while back.
3. I paid for and increased my DSL connection speed from a 1.5Mbps to a 3.0Mbps connection last week to see if that helped any. Other than that I have not made any ISP changes and have been playing EQ2 since 2004 on the same connection without any trouble until late last year ... November/December 2011.
4. I have run the game using the Launchpad. I have run the game not using the Launchpad ( at the request of a TSR ).
5. Contacted my ISP. See above.
6. I uninstalled Everquest II using the Add/Remove programs feature in the control panel and then manually deleted anything else that I could find that had anything to do with SOE or Everquest, including EQ1 and Vangard, ( Which oddly enough I have never had any connection issues with those two games, or with Lord of the Rings Online ), and I did a fresh, clean installation of Everquest II into the default location.
The game ran great for a day or so and then I got dropped to character select zoning to the guild hall and again a few times when zoning to various houses, mostly the Vale of Halfpint Delight since I was doing a decorating project there, as I have posted above.
7. I played the game without having EQ2Maps installed, or any other UI modifications. Just the basic, default game installed.
All of the above have been done several times ( except for the fresh installation, which was only done once a few days ago ) or more at the request of TSR's and friends and under every circumstance the game will still hang up randomly "waiting on zone server" when zoning and I will still get dropped to character select at random.
I have asked in the game channels and many other folks have had very similar issues, over and over. Quite a few folks in the guild that I run have the same issues, over and over. Other folks have posted in this very thread stating that they have the same issues.
I'm out of ideas.

Glenedhel@Antonia Bayle wrote:

Are you able to take your computer some place else and get on the internet through a different carrier? Also, it's my understanding that AT&T is not a DSL provider, but rather, a wireless Internet provider! Could you confirm that with us?
At any event; it's not your computer, game code or the belkin router that is causing the issue. Your issue is "classic" connectivity issue with immediate ISP equipment at your residence or upstream neighbor (router on the Internet) that is causing this, and that is why I'm asking you to bypass your residence and bring up your computer at some other location. That way, you have ammunition in telling the ISP that the problem exist with them.
I cannot tell you how many times I've heard from a particular ISP stating that everything checks out okay at their end, but in reality, it was the equipment they supplied to the customer or some other equipment at a particular router hop that was faulty.

AT&T does and has for at least the last 9 years offered DSL in my area. I subscribed with them when it was finally available and have been with them ever since.
Here is a link : http://www.att.com/dsl/shop/plansSh...ss_id=undefined
I'm on the DSL Pro plan, 3.0 Mbps.
I wish I knew somebody close by that I could take my computer to and try that out. I really do not know anyone close by that I would be able to do that with and I would have to leave my computer there and play there for days since this issue is completely random. I can go days, even weeks and not have a single issue and then all of a sudden I'll get dropped or stuck waiting on zone server over, and over and over. The worst was 11 times in one day of playing, which was about a 6 hour period. That was not too long ago.
I was dropped to character select once today during a 5 hour play period.
I still have not had a response from my petition yesterday that was "escaladed to the advanced technical team".
I started a new topic asking folks how often these two issues happen to them and have had some responses already. All of them are stating that they have had the same problems so far. I do not know any of the responders. I am curious to see what other people are experiencing if people continue to respond because when I ask about it in game on the public channels I see a lot of other people claiming to have the same troubles with "waiting on zone server" and being dropped to character select.

Glenedhel@Antonia Bayle wrote:

Sweetpea, this is EQ2 You're going to crash a lot. That's just part of the game. I just had 2 accounts crash for absolutely no reason at all, which I can only assume was a server hiccup on Sony's side since I got the "Trying login server #2...."

edited.. double post.

Laenai@Oasis wrote:

"That's just part of the game"
Well, that's not a part of the game that I have played over the last 8 years. These issues started for me in November, early December of last year, 2011. Right about the same time that Game Update 61 and the Freeport revamp went live. Before that it was very rare that I had any trouble with the game. I can't speak for anyone else though.

Glenedhel@Antonia Bayle wrote:

Then request a new DSL modem from AT&T. Also, determine if all the wall connections to the phones and DSL/Modem either have dsl filters or all don't have dsl filters. Can't have some devices with filters while other connections don't!
Dropping to character select screen and/or "waiting for connection" have been typical issues since the inception of EQ and EQII, and is related to Internet connectivity issues with ISP, Routers, Cable/DSL modems or other Internet Routers along the line. So what I'm saying is that at any given point in time, a select few of us folks experience connectivity issues with the game that has nothing to do with game code.

I actually just crashed out of game and the game couldn't find my login for over an hour. Thanks, SoE.

I have three phone jacks in my house and all three of them have had and still do have a filter attached to them whether or not I have any device connected. The only wall jack that has a device connected is the one here in my gaming room. That filter has the DSL and the phone line attached.
While thinking about it I am going to disconnect the telephone and see if that makes any difference.

Laenai@Oasis wrote:

This happened to me for the very first time ever yesterday. I was dropped from the game while playing ( grouped in Thundering Steppes ) and could not log back in for almost 25 minutes. I repeatedly got the "Trying login server #1, #2, #3... " and so on over and over until I was finally able to log back in. Once back in I asked my guild how long had the server been back up and everyone told me that the server had never gone down and that none of them had been dropped.

Stuck waiting on the zone server three times already this afternoon. Twice zoning to the guild hall and once zoning to the Felwithe Mansion.

Dropped to character select upon logging into the game.

Stuck "waiting on zone server" again. This time when trying to zone into the Thurgadin Grand Hall to tour it.

Was stuck "waiting on zone server" this morning while trying to zone to the Thurgadin Grand Hall.

Dropped to character select while zoning to the Lavastorm Winter Retreat.

Dropped to character select twice in a row this morning zoning into the Thurgadin prestiege housing.

The very first time that I logged in this morning I was kicked right back to the character select screen.
I was camped in the Thurgadin Grand Hall when logging in. I got kicked back to the character select screen when the welcome window popped up, before I could move or anything.