Playing Games Online In Bangladesh With Sirius Broadband/Zip BD
A lot of readers asked me to detail my experience with Sirius Broadband/Zip BD and online games, so here goes. You can check out the in-depth review (along with tons of useful reader comments) of Sirius Broadband/ Zip BD here.
Its All About Ping
The determining factor in whether you have a superb (or lousy) experience with online gaming is your connection’s ping, the time it takes for a data packet to travel across the internet and back to your computer. Download speeds of over 20 KB/s (160 kb/s) is enough for most online games, but the all-important variable is ping. If you plan to have VOIP enabled consider a speed of above 30 KB/s (240 kb/s). Fortunately, I constantly get speeds around 30 KB/s with Sirius Broadband. While playing Team Fortress 2 online, i had a pleasant experience with voice chat, coordinating with my team mates and assaulting the enemy’s location.
The Problem With Online FPS
However, ping was a problem and especially with online shooters. I had pings of around 300ms on UK servers (US servers were hardly playable) and most players were on 20ms-80ms connections. In peak hours, my ping jumped to as high as 500ms. It is crucially important to have a good ping, otherwise they can out strafe and out gun you. The problem with some servers (Team Fortress2 and Battlefield 2142) is that they automatically kick you if your ping is above a certain threshold (200ms) so I had to pick servers carefully. Note that this is not a problem with Peer2Peer games, as in Modern Warfare 2. But high pings is still a disadvantage in FPS.
World of Warcraft Is A Blast (Even With High Pings)
Other games, such as racing, RPG and RTS do not require “twitchy-fingers” and high ping usually isn’t a problem. I made the mistake of choosing Oceanic servers for WoW, instead of selecting EU servers, so I get pings of 800ms-1000ms. Even at these pings, it isn’t a problem doing quest and raiding dungeons with your guild mates but be prepared for occasional disconnects. In fact, WoW had the most disconnects than others and re-connecting can be a real pain (especially if you’re in the middle of a dungeon boss).
Port Forwarding And A Host Of Other Headaches
One problem that Sirius Broadband/ Zip BD has is with closed ports. Ports are used to listen and communicate with other PCs. Different games use different ports, so one game might run perfectly fine (in my case World of Warcraft) while you won’t be able to find any game servers in others (Team Fortress 2). I used Steam for Team Fortress 2, and Sirius Broadband blocked those ports that Steam used. So, although the game downloaded and installed fine, it wasn’t able to find any online games.
I spent an entire night searching for solutions online, checking every network connections and even re-formatted my PC, until it dawned on me that the problem was with my ISP. Sirius Broadband is occasionally affected with virus outbreaks so they had blocked most of the ports. I didn’t even bother calling them and used VPN services to overcome the problem. If this is the case, I’d recommend StrongVPN (which I currently use whenever I play online). What it does is create a “tunnel” with one of their servers bypassing Sirius’s servers altogether (you still have to be connected to the internet). And since I chose a UK server, I get constant pings (300ms) throughout the day.
Experience Over Xbox Live
You have to pay $60 dollars a year for Microsoft’s Live service. Although my current subscription has expired, but I plan to renew it. Gaming over Live is good since its P2P based. One major problem is that voice chat doesn’t work at all with Sirius Broadband. Most of the time you will hear static, or even if you do hear what others are saying, you will constantly broadcast a whining noise which will distract other players. I’ve tried everything, including using different headsets, controllers, consoles but the results are the same.
I’ve played a good amount of Gears of War (both 1 and 2) co-op and had great fun. There was lag I admit, and even got disconnected now and then, but it was enjoyable. Others such as Project Gotham Racing 4 (I reached the top 1,500 players out of millions even on this laggy connection )and Dirt 2 fared better and I recommend these two.
One caveat is that Sirius Broadband locks your password to your PC’s MAC address, in order to prevent internet connection sharing. But you can overcome this by using your PC’s MAC address on the Xbox. PS3 users are out of luck though, since it doesn’t have this function.
There Is Still Hope
If you find that your internet connection is slow, worry not! Check out my guide Online Gaming For The Least Fortunate : How To Get The Best Gaming Performance From Your Slow Internet Speed for tips to get you up to speed quickly.
Is Sirius Broadband Worth It?
In my opinion, you do get good download speeds (I use the 1,500TK/month package) which is good for online gaming now and then. However, be prepared for frequent disconnects and kicks. I’d still recommend it though as I’ve been using it for well over 2 years and the others I used (GrameenPhone Edge and DTech) aren’t up to the mark. If you have better alternatives, please let me know in the comments section below.
Nov 21st, 2009 at 6:33 pm
I used to use ZIP before. Now I use IS Pros. I get 60-70 KB/s for 1800TK and pings are good. Ports are open too.
IS Pros is much better than ZIP was or ever will be.
Nov 21st, 2009 at 8:21 pm
@ Rajiv
I’ve also been having second thoughts about Zip. I have sent IS Pros an email and waiting their response. Heck, I might eventually switch, in which case, expect a new review. 😎
Nov 22nd, 2009 at 9:19 am
well muahfiq vai, dnt mind me asking, i get around 30 + KB all the time , will i be able to play online on my pc ?. also how can i play online n my ps2 and in ps3 and 30, thankx
Nov 22nd, 2009 at 1:04 pm
@ Upol
That speed is good for online gaming. But, you need original games to play online. Your best bet is PS3 since the PSN has no monthly charge. Just connect your internet cable to the back of the PS3’s ethernet port, go into network settings and put in your ISP’s username and password. You should be good to go.
Btw… what ISP do u use? Im considering switching my ISP.
Nov 23rd, 2009 at 8:29 am
well mushfiq vai, thankx for ur advice, i am thinking of buying ps3, inshallah i will buy it, i use BUCT communication here in farmgate, if u want their line plz contact at 01713040571, by the way i pay 1300 taka per month and they have no other fee except that you have to pay for the wires
Nov 23rd, 2009 at 10:27 am
@ Upol
Glad I could be oh help. Anyway, I’m thinking of switching to IS Pros. I’ve read about them over the internet and most of it seems good.
Dec 5th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
Well … I’vd been playing Counter-strike: Source with my Smile.bd connection (Now Using Silver 😛 )on DC’s server(BD Gaming), the only one CS:S server we have in BD :neutral:. But IS Pros users always complain about laggs and Packet loss. As far I know they don’t give real IP within 1000 to 1800 BDT package(s).
Dec 5th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
@ Dead Hasan
Aye, I know about the CSS BD server but I’m not into CS. My Zip connection is working absolutely fine and I’m planning on upgrading to the 512 kbps package this December 😀
Dec 5th, 2009 at 8:49 pm
What’s the 512kbps Zip connection like? How much is it?
Dec 5th, 2009 at 8:58 pm
@Rajiv
I’ll be getting it from the 10th-15th of this month @ Tk1,500/month
Dec 9th, 2009 at 8:54 am
wow mushfiq vai thats great
Dec 9th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
@ Upol
I sent a letter to Sirius Broadband yesterday stating that I wish to upgrade my service. I’m hoping I get the new package from tomorrow, in which case, stay tuned for a review.
Dec 30th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Well, he seems to be a canvasser for ZIP. He is just a liar. Zip dosen’t provide such kind of speed in cable-line(Fiber Optic). It just happening when zip provided connection in Radio-link. Only IS-pros, Smile, BDCom, Link 3 users can find such constant speed in cable.And their ping is <1 ms and 15 ms in pick hour. if he have more then 12 ms, he will be permanent disconnected in the meantime. So, brother don’t be a liar, if are a reseller/distributor of such brand,you can canvas it another way accept the gaming cause.Zip provide worst line in the country.
Dec 30th, 2009 at 9:45 pm
@ Savvy
Aye, I guess that’s directed at me. No problem. 😐 Well, I’m no Zip distributor but yes they do have a package of 512 kbps @ 1,500 Tk/month (I previously paid the same for 256kbps). However, after upgrading I’m getting really bad service. I couldn’t access internet for the whole day today. Speed is good above 45 KB/s. Can’t get the time to write a formal review.
If you still don’t believe me, add me to ur Xbox Live friends list, gamertag TUSHAR451. Halo 3, PGR4, GoW 2, you name it and we can have a match. If you’re into PC games, then I can outfrag you on Battlefield 2142 and Team Fortress 2. Play WoW on Saurfang server, we can raid a dungeon sometime. 😉 Hate CS:S though. 😛
Jan 9th, 2010 at 2:27 pm
for online PS2 gaming.. are original discs required? or will the 150 taka PS2 pirated discs work? 😀
Jan 9th, 2010 at 3:08 pm
@ Eric
It depends on the type of game. Most (okay, almost all) pirated PS2 games won’t work online. I’ve only had luck with PC versions of Borderlands, Burnout Paradise to work online.
Jan 10th, 2010 at 11:08 pm
@ mushfiqur rahman
dude i wus thinking of buying a ps3 and what i wanted to know is i have a 200kbps internet line with good ping say about 300-400ms, would i be able to play online with it or do i need more? and also is wimax good for ps3? p.s consider me a noob @ these network stuffs lol
Jan 10th, 2010 at 11:26 pm
@ shuvin
Hey bro, welcome to the site. Yup those speeds are good, but you might lag a little. Wimax is even better since you get a dedicated line but I don’t know about the ping.
Let me know how it turns out.
Jan 11th, 2010 at 12:05 pm
yeah i will. i think i’ll switch to wimax in february and get the ps3 in march.
Jan 11th, 2010 at 1:51 pm
@shuvin
Cool. Let me know how the wimax speeds are, although I heard there is a download limit.
➡ Found. Qubee Wimax BD @ http://www.qubee.com.bd/
They removed the monthly download limit on 256 and 5212kbps packages. Sweet.
Jan 16th, 2010 at 11:30 pm
bro from where the hell do u get original cds for pc, we need original games to play online from pc right?
Jan 17th, 2010 at 4:37 pm
@shuvin
Not necessarily. There are some free multiplayer games which you can play online. One is FEAR Combat. You can read more at http://www.gamersworldbd.com/2010/01/game-cheap.html
I almost always buy original games from online. You can read more at http://www.gamersworldbd.com/2010/01/where-to-buy-original-games-in-bangladesh.html
Jan 17th, 2010 at 9:52 pm
thanx bro
Mar 23rd, 2010 at 9:08 pm
😉 guyz i g3t a dowload sp33d of lyk 50-60kbps (it was 400kbps a year ago believe me!!!)…my net connection iz fast n cheap (monthly only tk200) thing iz dude itz in savar cantonment……………………..
Dec 18th, 2010 at 5:15 pm
@The Gaming Wiz,
hello, i recently changed my isp to zipbd sirious broadband i have the 512kbps package…Now, the thing is im not able to play online with it…I’ve played online successfully earlier…but with zip i can’t…So mine uses this PPPoE device i.e you have to enter the username and password to sign in..When i connect my internet cable to the back of my xbox 360 and test the connection , the xbox 360 reports that the cable is connected but it can’t establish connection to the internet and when i enter the pppoe details and then when i test the connection , it reports the internet cable isn’t even connected.. I tried configuring ip address and stuffs but no luck…I am willing to buy a router, but am not sure if it’ll work so no point in risking money..SO PLS HELP BRO…
PS- I am on the kinect dashboard.
Dec 18th, 2010 at 5:53 pm
@zunaidwcl
Zip tracks your internet connection through your PC’s MAC address. Just put your PC’s MAC address as your Xbox 360’s MAC and you’ll be good to go! Also, add me, my gamertag TUSHAR451, although it’s been some time since I was last online.
Dec 18th, 2010 at 11:31 pm
@ Mushfiq
I am using 512KB qubee.
Whan i play fifa11, a red bar named Latency come.. do u know what is it?
and during playing 11 some time the whole game slow downs, how can i solve this?
Dec 19th, 2010 at 11:25 am
@PlushGaming360
Latency or lag means that your internet connection is slow and ping times are really high. Check your net connection at http://www.speedtest.net and test your speed with a UK server.
Dec 19th, 2010 at 3:46 pm
hey..i think we need a modern version of this article with wimax experience..gamin wiz..if u get the time then do one article on wimax!
Dec 20th, 2010 at 1:02 am
@Wiz
speedtest.net shows 0.56MB speed & 308ms ping. US server.
Is there any way i can decrease the ping?
AS brotherhood & Hot pursuit working cool, only i face problem when playing fifa11 ( it produce problem some times) and street fighter 4 ( it makes a lot problem, some time the full game slow downs, some time work ok )
By the way my gamertag is PlushGaming360, add me on XBL if you play AS brotherhood multiplayer.
And can we get a review on DJ Hero 2 & Guitar hero games?
Thanks
Dec 20th, 2010 at 9:12 am
@PlushGaming360
No way for you to decrease pings as its dependent on your line connection and its quality. You’ll face even more problems in FPS. I’m playing AC: Brotherhood on PSN.
Dec 21st, 2010 at 12:38 pm
@The Gaming Wiz/Mushfiqur Rahman
Thanks man, you are a genius…once again thanks bro, no wonder GWBD is such an awesome site..and sorry for the late response…
Dec 21st, 2010 at 12:38 pm
@The Gaming Wiz/Mushfiqur Rahman
Thanks man, you are a genius…once again thanks bro, no wonder GWBD is such an awesome site..and sorry for the late response…