Unable to join game: Aoeii

[Jon2010]

UNABLE TO JOIN GAME error for Microsoft Age of Empires II.
I have a Franklin Wireless FW300DOWMX USB modem. I use a Sprint 3G connection. The internet works great in terms of speed and reliability. The only problem I have is when it comes to playing Microsoft Age of Empires II: The Conqueror's Expansion.

I play on Voobly (Voobly | Welcome) , similar to the old zone or IGZ. It is very strange: I can play with no problems whatsoever on a few occasions, but usually i have limited success playing on the server. I simply get the "unable to join game" error message, after the computer "tries" to connect for 45 seconds or so. Sometimes I can click ok, and go back to the room and click Join, and the second attempt will let me in. But this isn't consistent either. (Many times I am able to play only when particular people host. I can rarely if ever join a host located in Asia.)

I have turned off my firewall, I DON'T have a router (just USB modem). I even turned off the advanced firewall. I also turned off antivirus in case it was causing a problem. I still receive the same vascillating results.

My ports are already open because I am using a modem, and Sprint told me they are not blocking any ports. I have run the basic internet connectivity diagnostic tool from Microsoft, and it shows that all things except UPnP are supported. And UPnP shouldn't work for me because I don't have an internet gateway device, so I don't think my problem lies here.


http://www.speedguide.net/analyzer.php?DATA_OFFSET=40&TCP_Options_string=020405b40101080a1db23e28000000000103030101010402&IP_MTU_DISCOVER=1&WIN=33580&RWIN=67160&MSS=1460&SCALE=1&TTL=44&TSOPT=1&SACK_PERM=1&IP_TOS=0&IP=68.28.41.225&timestamp=1271381296

Using the above tool, I discovered that all of my settings seem okay except the RWIN value.


« SpeedGuide.net TCP Analyzer Results »
Tested on: 04.15.2010 21:28
IP address: 68.28.xx.xxx
Client OS: Windows Vista

TCP options string: 020405b40101080a1db23e28000000000103030101010402
MSS: 1460
MTU: 1500
TCP Window: 67160 (multiple of MSS)
RWIN Scaling: 1 bits (2^1=2)
Unscaled RWIN : 33580
Recommended RWINs: 64240, 128480, 256960, 513920, 1027840
BDP limit (200ms): 2686kbps (336KBytes/s)
BDP limit (500ms): 1075kbps (134KBytes/s)
MTU Discovery: ON
TTL: 44
Timestamps: ON
SACKs: ON
IP ToS: 00000000 (0)

I have downloaded their TCP/IP Optimizer and changed the value to 64240, which falls under their recommended list. And also is within range (I believe) for an RWIN value when autotuning has been disabled (I have tried several times to disable the autotuning and set the new RWIN value manually through the optimizer program, with no luck). I continue to "fail" that test, and the value that i entered never shows up on the test readout. I have not received any heuristic messages that tell me that windows heuristics overrode my settings. Bear in mind I HAVE used the "RUN AS ADMINISTRATOR" option to ensure that CMD was permitted to actually make the changes.

I tried using the SG Vista TCP/IP patch a few times also but that didn't fix it (in fact some of the settings that the patch uses reverted some things, such as the disabling of the autotuning).

I have exhausted everything I could think of to address this problem, and my knowledge of computers is simply outmatched here. I would be embarrassed to tell you how many hours of my already limited free time I spent trying to get this game to work. Please help me if you dare.

 

[David3]

Have you tried Port Forwarding???