4GEE/5GEE IPv4 gateway changes affecting Diablo4/WoW

[Uirel]

Sometime around June 1st 'something' changed inside the EE network. Ive noticed that my IPv6 address changed from 2a01 to 2a00 prefixed address at the same time, which i take as another flag that some EE network work occured.
I also note that the gateways IPs have changed and are now listed as BT IP ranges, previously they were EE ranges.
https://www.whatismyip.com/ip/31.94.37.42/ the same is true for our IPv6 address space, its now BT ranges not EEs.

So i assume BT brought the EE mobile BB network inhouse around this time.

In diablo4, connection stability is non existant, anywhere between 30s and 10mins ingame and the connection drops, changing the IP routing that the diablo.exe is following the 6to4 gateway being used changes and then Diablo just dies.
Other users are reporting the same issue -
https://eu.forums.blizzard.com/en/d4/t/connection-issues-with-diablo-4-using-mobile-hotspot-5g-ee-ne...

Same for WoW, Ipv6 connections nice and stable, but WoW is not ipv6 exclusive and you end up in a situation like this frequently.

 This occurs when the gateway changes and the game struggles to reconnect. It does eventually reconnect but this can be anywhere between 1-5mins just in time for the gateway to change again.

Outside of gaming, overall performance through the 5GEE hub has deteriorated massively, downloads swing back and forth betwen KB/s and MB/s, i started downloading a 21MB file as i started typing this post...its still going now almost 8 mins later. Steam which could normally sit steady at 15MB/s (yep 150mbs) struggles to get above 2MBs now and seesaws constantly.

Ive reset my 5GEE hub a few times, im not using a special APN. This occurs on wifi and on lan. Signal to the hub is strong, the tower is less than 500m from my house with direct line of sight and no occlusion from trees (its accross an open field).

[sammythomas1991]

I'm having exactly the same problem, can't get passed 10 minutes of gaming before losing connection. I was on the phone to tech gurus for over an hour to finally be told they didn't understand the situation and couldn't help any further. Has there been any progress or resolution to this? I have read that VPNs have been used to provide a fix but after signing up to express VPN I'm still having no luck. If any gurus could get in touch it woild be much appreciated. As mentioned above there is no mention of incompatibility to online game on sign up to EE so I'm feeling pretty ripped off having spent over £60 on this game and now another £60 on a VPN service

[Christopher_G]

Hi @sammythomas1991 

Welcome to the community.

What happens when you try to connect? Do you get any error messages? 

Chris

[Uirel]

HI All,

Ive been back and forth with support a couple fo times on this issue, and simply put as someone else has said, they dont understand the problem so wont take it as an issue.

The concepts involed are quite deep, CGNAT is not for the faint hearted. The simple fact here is that EE has elected to go full IPv6, leaving Ipv4 to gateways. While the rest of the internet is still IPv4 at heart.

We are now sharing those gateways with the rest of the BT network so are getting gateway hoped often.
Unless they fundamentally change how their network operates this will never change.

As such, if you want to game mobily....EE is not the network to do it with. You can bodge it with VPNs to work around EEs network decisions. Im using Mullvad myself until my EE contract is up and then ill be moving on.

[Uirel]

Hi Chris,

You get connected, and can even play for a period of time. But eventually get gateway hoped and just "connection lost".
Its 100% EEs network design at fault here, specifically anyone who does not have an assigned IPv4 address at the modem level, which as i understand it is bascially anyone FWA.

EE/BT either need to assign you to a gateway and not load balance you around, or assign ipv4 addressing to FWA users. This is something that has to be dealt with and decided upon at a corporate level as either option is not cheap.

[sammmmm]

EE is not suitable for online gaming. Do not get EE mobile internet for online games, it just doesn't work in a stable manner.

They won't fix it, they can't fix it, the tech team are about as tech savvy as a newborn tadpole.

I'm now using old copper wire internet with a 30m cable from my house to my office and although it's ancient it's 100x more stable than EE mobile internet. 

[sammmmm]

This is a joke of a reply l, have you even read the thread?

[sammythomas1991]

Hi Chris

No I don't get any error messages, the game just simply stops responding and I have to eventually close and reopen. It just seems that Internet drops for a split second, enough to lose the connection then I'm fine to reboot and reopen and join tbe game again. It's effectively unplayable as this happens anywhere between 30second to 10 minutes of connection

Thanks

[sammythomas1991]

Just to confirm Chris, this is exactly the problem I have and have seen many online with the same issues. Has this not been escalated or investigated previously that the entire EE mobile network community cannot play online games. Surely this isn't new information and a resolution would have been investigated? 

[Christopher_G]

Hi everyone.

Thank you for contributing to the thread.

I've passed your comments over to part of the business that will be able to look into this.

Chris

[sammythomas1991]

Thankyou Chris. 

Let me know if the situation changes or there is a tech team I can call for real time advice 

Cheers