Lags while multiboxxing WoW Classic

[patbluestar]

Hi guys,

I just started boxxing recently. Everything works quite well and I love it.
However I am having lots of trouble with laggs. As soon as I start my multiboxxing team I can feel occasional laggs/spikes. Its only a couple of seconds but pretty annoying.
I can still play but I can see lots of rubber-band, spikes etc.

FPS is quite good and I have a pretty strong system, I dont think thats the problem. Also I have all graphic settings to lowest possible.
I did an ping/speed test while boxxing and internet-connection seems fine (~30ms).

Is there anything I can do?

https://pastebin.com/5TLvBwXU

Thanks for your help.

[WOWBOX40]

Zero info here... pc specs.. number of accounts etc...

[jak3676]

Looks like 5-boxing Classic with ISBoxer. But yeah, PC Specs are needed. What is taskmanager saying your CPU, RAM, GPU utilization are sitting at?

[WOWBOX40]

Use the isboxer.exe for 64 bit.

Use directx11legacy mode.

All games on settings 1.

Use 1080p.

Disable all addons except isboxer. Use the twitch app to keep your addons updated.

If you use nvidia, force the pc to use your spesific gpu, in the nvidia controlpanel.

Launch each game a few times, just to make sure settings were saved. Then try play again.

Then adjust settings from there, if you feel you have resources to increase some settings.

And: always handy to know: slotswap macros
https://youtu.be/KiyDPf7DCRs

[patbluestar]

Sorry.

Pc specs:
AMD Ryzen 5 1600X 6x 3.60GHz So.AM4 WOF
Asus Prime B350-Plus AMD B350 So.AM4 Dual Channel DDR4 ATX Retail
8GB Gainward GeForce GTX 1080 Phoenix Aktiv PCIe 3.0 x16 1xDVI / 1xHDMI 2.0 / 3xDisplayPort (Retail
16GB (2x 8192MB) G.Skill Aegis DDR4-3000 DIMM CL16-18-18-38 Dual Kit
2000GB Seagate SkyHawk ST2000VX008 5.900U/min 64MB 3.5" (8.9cm) SATA 6Gb/s
275GB Crucial MX300 2.5" (6.4cm) SATA 6Gb/s 3D-NAND TLC Toggle (CT275MX300SSD1)

4 Clients of WoW Classic that I start via IS Boxxer
Another client that I start separatedly, as I need it to boost the other 4

CPU around 25%
RAM around 50%
GPU 99%

Think I found the bottleneck?
Could this cause the laggs?

Could you explain please how I can start ISboxer for 64 bit?
And how can I use directx11 legacy mode?

thanks!

[Moorea]

set max fps on the manually started client to 30 or it’ll go max and lag the other

or start all 5 with isboxer as you should be able to boost and yet have all 5?

[jak3676]

Yup, seems like you found the bottleneck.

I'm kinda surprised that you hit that limit on Classic so easily. What resolution, how many monitors, FPS and graphics settings are you running your minions at? I can't speak to the IS Boxer side of this, but when I run 5 classic clients across 3 monitors I only cap out my video card when I run multiple clients at 4k 60Hz with all settings at 10. When I turn a few settings (shadows and SSAO are the 2 biggest GFX users and the settings I care the least about) down a bit I'm OK again.

I'm running a 1080Ti vs your 1080, but it seems like that'd be easy to cut back graphics settings on your minions a bit and keep everything stable.

[patbluestar]

Ok I changed some graphi settings and GPU is now much lower at around 40%.

Laggs are still there however unfortunately.

In my wifi I split between 5ghz and 2,4gz and was logged in into the 5ghz until now.
I switched to 2,4ghz now and it seems I dont have that much lagg anymore.
Does anybod know that 5ghz could cause issues with multiboxxing?

[Fuii]

Does anybod know that 5ghz could cause issues with multiboxxing?

4G is not that different to 5G Wifi.

4G can penetrate walls better aka higher range.
5G has higher bandwidth but lower range.

If your router is 4 rooms away with lots of thick walls in between, 5G might have its difficulties for a proper realtime connection.
Or your place is just crowded with 5G Wifis from other people around you that are sharing channels.

However, Wifi in general is bad for real-time applications like MMOGs; too many potential sources for interference.
Use LAN whenever possible.

[Ughmahedhurtz]

How often are the lag spikes?

Do you have more than one AP on that SSID?

Is your AP set to auto-select channel? (if so, turn that off)

There is a note in the ISBoxer wiki (and I think a dialog warning you about it) where if you don't have your power profile set up to keep the CPU cores at 100% speed, you can see some of this.

The other thing that might be at play is the SSD. How old is it? I've had some very odd stutter issues when testing some Chinesium SSDs for work, and that magically went away when switching to Samsung drives.

[patbluestar]

Laggs do occur every 10 seconds or so.
Its like: I press a key for example frost armor, character keeps walking and 3-4 seconds later he is casting the ability.
I think this only occurs in the client I start separatedly, but cant say for sure.

What does AP mean?
And how can I check to wich channel it is set?

[Fuii]

What does AP mean?
And how can I check to wich channel it is set?
AP means access point, commonly known as router (though being 2 different things technically).

He basically did ask, if there are multiple APs with the same visual name in your range - usually this is done in corporate environments.

And to check the Wifi channel(s) you have to logon to your router via its webinterface.
How this done depends on your ISP (If ISP-provisioned) and/or router model - google it.

[patbluestar]

Ok I tried including my main character (the booster) also in the IS boxxer team and I thiiiiink the laggs are gone now.
Strange but apparently this was the problem.

Im still testing though

[patbluestar]

So after still having laggs even starting all 5 clients via IS boxxer I remembered the tipp to set AP to a specific channel.
And wow this was really a game changer, no laggs so far.

Why does that make such a difference?!

Thanks all so much again for helping me!!

[Fuii]

So after still having laggs even starting all 5 clients via IS boxxer I remembered the tipp to set AP to a specific channel.
And wow this was really a game changer, no laggs so far.

Why does that make such a difference?

Imagine a WiFi channel like a road.
If its crowded with cars, everything will be slower and minor bump will cause issues for all following.

The Wifi technology built around the "collision avoidance", so one after another.
Setting a channel with less traffic is reducing the possibility of 'road bumps'.

The wired (LAN) connection instead is "collision detection" => as fast as possible until something gets lost.

[Ughmahedhurtz]

So after still having laggs even starting all 5 clients via IS boxxer I remembered the tipp to set AP to a specific channel.
And wow this was really a game changer, no laggs so far.

Why does that make such a difference?!

Thanks all so much again for helping me!!
The biggest issue with low-latency connections is that when the AP switches channels, there is a pause while the clients follow the channel change announcement and switch over to the new channel. Newer APs (not sure how new or which ones, honestly) can fairly rapidly switch channels to avoid contention. The algorithms that control that can also end up buggy and misbehave under unexpected conditions, so setting it to a single-channel will avoid all those issues. The downside is that if you end up with a lot of noise on a specific channel, it cannot switch away, though that's usually not such a big problem in residential setups.

Glad a simple fix got you sorted out! ;)

[patbluestar]

Yes this could very much explain what I was experiencing, just a couple of seconds every minute or so but of course for boosting this can be devastating.

Additionally I activated band-steering in my router settings and I think this further increased stability.

Thanks again guys for your help - really much appreciating it!

[Ughmahedhurtz]

Band-steering directs clients to 5GHz to get them off of the 2.4GHz which is usually cluttered by IoT devices and microwave ovens. :P If using 5GHz helps, that's a faster band anyway, and shorter range. I've had good luck with it and use it on my laptops and phones and leave my cameras and IoT stuff on the 2.4. Glad it's all going better for you!