Find yourself an empty server and make note of your average ping.
Below is a list of pointers to help you with the the basic connection.
Your Modem lead is the first connection to the phone line, you`ve not got answer phones faxes extensions plugged in before it. The more connections before your modem the higher the chance of a high ping.
Hopefully an external modem is sitting next to your computer Internal modems can seriously higher your ping don`t use one replace any internal with an external one. Why replace it the dam thing cost me £15 quid. It cost you £15 because your computer is doing some of the work normally done by a modem hence a time delay=higher ping.
You have got the most up to date drivers for your modem, graphics card, motherboard ?????
Shut down any programs you don`t need running in the background.
Don`t run any messenger type programs like I.C.Q./M.S.N/ yahoo instant messenger turn them off before playing.
Auto up daters don`t run them or have them running in the background.
Firewalls can be a pain I don`t use one nor does anybody I know when playing Quake 3 Arena perhaps if you have a static ip a firewall may be a good idea.
Use Q3 own internal server finder try not to use gamespy.
Whats running on startup look at the tray on the bottom right is it full. Do you need all that stuff running in the background if your not using it turn it off. An example to disable I.C.Q. net aware (this works for most other programs too) to go start button select run and type msconfig then click on ok (see fig below).
A new window will open (fig below) see the startup tag on the top right of the new window click on it. A list of programs which run on startup will be displayed. The one we are interested in I.C.Q. netaware is top of the list to stop it running on startup simply click in the box and remove the tick then click on the apply button windows will then ask you to reboot now or later. Remember some of the programs are needed mouse and keyboard drivers goback etc. Turned the wrong thing off just click in the box so the tick is shown then click on the apply button windows will then ask you to reboot now or later.
Quake III is the first thing you do running email programs messenger type programs FTP or anything which uses your TCP/IP stack is not a good idea play Quake 3 Arena first then look at your mail etc.
Have you got a second phone line hopefully its a standard phone line and not D.A.C.S. (Digital to Analog Conversion System) its a technique to provide additional capacity over existing cables by multiplexing two lines together. You don`t have any contractual right to insist on a non D.A.C.S. line from BT (its normally BT) because your agreement is for voice only make a fuss and they should switch you back.
Can`t connect at rates above 33.6 and your using a v90 modem your not using a second line ask the nice man at BT to turn the gain up on your line.
Which operating system are you using most connection problems iv`e come accross are from people using Windows 2000 and ME the best PC operating system for Quake III Arena is Windows 98 unless your a Mac or Linux user.
Service Providers.
Choosing your I.S.P. is very important when playing Q3 its always best to pick an I.S.P. who has its own Quake 3 servers Demon, Lineone, Barrys World, then again if playing Quake III is not the most important thing to you there all pretty much the same.
My ping can go up 20 or 30 when playing quake after six 0`clock.
Try more than one I.S.P. my ping Varies between service providers BT Internet is better on some and Freeserve is better on others.
Connection Tweaks.
Windows Me, Xp, 2000 users have a look at other tweak sites for some great sites offering information about tweaking your modem connection.
Here we go its time for the tweaking stuff now you have read the above and made some basic changes downloaded the most up to date drivers unplugged the four phone extension leads removed unwanted programs from startup got rid of auto up daters.
I have put my connection back to its default state and removed my autoexe.cfg and q3config.cfg files my ping on Connect For Free 212.85.249.214:27960 free for all server is now 180-240 with lots of red spikes see lagometer below. Reading the lagOmeter is explained in frequently asked questions.
Some tweaking is needed click on My Computer then Dial-Up Networking Your connection should now be displayed my main connection is called BTINTERNET (see fig below).
Right click on the connection icon and select Properties (See fig below).
Click on the Configure button in the new window (See fig below).
Your modem name or type should be displayed in the window (See fig below) the important thing to adjust in this window is the maximum speed this should be set as high as it will go some serial ports will only allow you to connect 115200 which is fine. Its possable to get some serial ports to work at higher rates to do this you must install high speed drivers and adjust the registry by hand I have done it and it works. Feeling brave and you want a go at getting a faster serial port ok click here and visit the Laessig Software web site this site has gone now but I have found a copy in the web.archive.org. Only do the high speed serial port bit the rest is covered here and will form part of the whole tweaking package. The Shsmod utility mentioned on the Laessig Software site is available from here
Click on the Connection tab (see fig above) the window below will then open.
Click on the Port Settings gadget in the window above and slide the proportional gadgets all the way to the right (fig below) and click on ok.
Now click on the Advanced gadget and the window below will open adjust your settings so they match this window click on the ok gadget and close all windows.
Its now time to adjust the basic connection type if this is set wrong it can take an age to connect and verify passwords.
click on My Computer then Dial-Up Networking Your connection should now be displayed my main connection is called BTINTERNET (see fig below).
Right click on the connection icon and select Properties (See fig below).
Click on the Server Types tab in the new window (See fig below).
Adjust the settings to match the ones displayed below.
Thats basically it if you`ve followed the above your modem is now tweaked ok lets try it on the same Connect for free Quake 3 Arena server 212.85.249.214:27960 free for all server my ping is now 150-170 no red spikes (yippee) see lagOmeter below.
The End
This connection was done for my I.S.P. BTInternet if your using a different I.S.P.Check out the sites below they will explain in more detail other things or options you have for tweaking your modem connection.
Laessig Software Modem tweaks page this site has now gone but I have found a copy on web.archive.org.
Click here.
Lagless Modem Tweaks by slime this site has now gone but I have found a copy on web.archive.org.
Click here.
Is that all that you can do to tweak your connection no. Graphics Tweaks and autoexec.cfg files are explained in Graphics Tweaks. and rate, snaps, maxpackets, and the reading lagOmeter are explained in frequently asked questions.
Modem Tweaks
Getting Started
Your Modem lead is the first connection to the phone line, you`ve not got answer phones faxes extensions plugged in before it. The more connections before your modem the higher the chance of a high ping.
Service Providers.
Connection Tweaks.
The End