Secondlife and Wifi

[Celestria Niosaki]

Does secondlife no longer run on wifi??  I have been using secondlife for many years on wifi but since the new update and now even the older versions does not work on wifi.  I have put in a ticket to both linden labs and firestorm and they state it's my connection.  I contacted my provider and my connection is fine.  I have other programs I use on wifi and they run just fine on my connection including playstation games.  This is what happens... I log into secondlife viewer and firestorm viewer and within 30 seconds give or take my avi freezes and then the viewer quits, stating it has lost connection.  I have tried everything so I am wondering if the game just doesn't support wifi connections anymore.  If anyone else has had this problem and knows how to solve it or if someone knows that wifi isn't supported anymore please let me know.  I will then let linden labs and firestorm know, that is the problem.   

[Rolig Loon]

Linden Lab has advised against using wifi for many many years, back to at least 2010 and probably before that.  There are way too many potential sources of interference from nearby electrical equipment and your overhead fluorescent fixtures to your neighbor's garage door opener.  You're almost always better off using a direct cable connection.  Having said that, many people use wifi all the time with no trouble at all.  It all depends on how reliable your router and modem are and how noisy the area around them is.

Edited November 29, 2020 by Rolig Loon

[Rowan Amore]

I use wifi all the time.  Always have and never had a problem with it.  What do you mean when you say you've tried everything?  Usually if I'm having issues with my wifi, a reboot of the modem usually takes care of it.  Run a speedtest to see what your wifi speed is at.  Reboot your modem and then check again'

[Celestria Niosaki]

The last time I have used a direct connection to a router was back in 2009/2010.  I have used the same provider and connection since with no problems at all.  I just don't understand why since this last update I am having problems.  Believe me I have tried everything.  I am the only one in the house and the only other thing that runs off my wifi is my phone, unless I connect something else with the wifi which I know it can get crowded with too many things running so I make sure if I'm running one thing on wifi anything else that could cause problems are shut down.  As for outside interference, I doubt that could be it because I have been in this house for 4 years and have not had any problems since the last couple months.  Well since this last update.  I don't know  I'll just hold off until the next update and if it still persists, goodbye secondlife.  Thank you for the reply though 

[Celestria Niosaki]

@rowanminx  I have done all of those as well.  I tried again this morning and still the same problem.  I even logged into an old avi that still has a system avi and nothing on and still have the same problem.  I even turned off my modem overnight and turned it back on the following morning and still the same problem.  My Mbps is 201.4

[Gage Wirefly]

It could very well be your router itself. If it cannot handle many http requests that SL viewers generate, it will 'choke' the connection when using wifi. You may also want to look into broadband over electric adapters.  You place one at the router , and then the other where your computer is. It basically routes the cable (assuming you have a cable internet connection here )internet signal along the wiring in your home. I've been using this for a few months, and no issues and I get the full speed of my connection always. It's tons better than wifi. 

[Lyssa Greymoon]

Yes it works on WiFi. LL's recommendation against WiFi is as dated as all of their other recommendations.

Since it's just started in the past week, my first inclination would be to think it has something to do with Uplift and everything being moved to AWS in their cloud. Something either in your computer or router may be interfering with getting a reliable connection. One way to test this would be to login to a region that's still hosted on LL's servers, but I don't know what that would be. If anyone does know maybe they'd post it here.

If your computer is a laptop, try logging in on another network, or a wired connection if you can. That would either confirm or eliminate your router as the problem. Try another WiFi adapter if you can. It's kind of a long shot, but you may have a bum WiFi adapter in your computer.

Finally, check your router to make sure no one is mooching your WiFi, do a malware scan and a hard drive scan. Make sure your clock is set right.

[bigmoe Whitfield]

38 minutes ago, Lyssa Greymoon said:

Yes it works on WiFi. LL's recommendation against WiFi is as dated as all of their other recommendations.

Since it's just started in the past week, my first inclination would be to think it has something to do with Uplift and everything being moved to AWS in their cloud. Something either in your computer or router may be interfering with getting a reliable connection. One way to test this would be to login to a region that's still hosted on LL's servers, but I don't know what that would be. If anyone does know maybe they'd post it here.

If your computer is a laptop, try logging in on another network, or a wired connection if you can. That would either confirm or eliminate your router as the problem. Try another WiFi adapter if you can. It's kind of a long shot, but you may have a bum WiFi adapter in your computer.

Finally, check your router to make sure no one is mooching your WiFi, do a malware scan and a hard drive scan. Make sure your clock is set right.

It might be dated, but LL know their system and know how pings and other related work with wifi it's why they reocmmend using direct connection,  wifi has habits of dropping packets, which can make the viewer go "oh you are not there anymore, good bye"  which is happening to the op in question.   just because it works for certain people and they never have problems, does not mean others have it the same.   5ghz is good for wifi useage, 2.4ghz sucks and is over congested.

[Rolig Loon]

3 minutes ago, bigmoe Whitfield said:

5ghz is good for wifi useage, 2.4ghz sucks and is over congested.

It really depends on where your router is, relative to your computer.  5 ghz wifi doesn't penetrate solid objects like walls as well as 2.4 ghz does, so it may not be a good choice if you are in a different room from your router.  I almost always log in to SL with my desktop, which is connected to the router by cable. If I use my laptop, though, I have no choice but to use wifi.  I've had to install a wifi extender in the stairway to relay the signal downstairs for those times when I connect from the family room.  Without it, the signal wouldn't make it past the floor.  I would use the 2.4 ghz option, which would penetrate the floor better, but then I'd lose signal quality for the HDTV downstairs and I'd get crummy performance in SL. As you say,

19 minutes ago, bigmoe Whitfield said:

2.4ghz sucks and is over congested.

 

[Nick0678]

1 hour ago, Celestria Niosaki said:

  I have tried everything so I am wondering if the game just doesn't support wifi connections anymore. 

Second life will work fine even on long distance WiFi connections as you can see in the video below as long as the wifi link is stable, my router is ~150meters away so i never use cables. You need to do more troubleshooting, connect your pc wifi to your cellphone so that you can use your data plan to log in to sl and see if you get logged out from that one too.

 

[Celestria Niosaki]

Thank you everyone for the feedback.  I did try everything you all suggested.  My problem was I couldn't understand why is it that nothing change in my world such as any new electronics in the home, no change in internet connection in the last 5 years, my nearest neighbor is 2 miles away.  The only change was second life's update.  Well behold! I found the culprit!  I logged on this morning to try and see if anything has changed and when I logged on i received a notice that a shape I was wearing was failing to be found or whatever.  I have been wearing the same shape for many many years on SL because I just never changed it due to wearing a mesh body for some time.  Well I detached the shape and attached a shape from a mesh head I recently purchased and VOILA! no problems.  WTF?? So all this BS I have been trying to figure out thinking it was my connection was because of an old shape I was wearing.  Who knows...at least i'm inworld now and happy about it so far.  Thank you again! 

[Lindal Kidd]

Glad you found the problem.  Now try clearing your inventory cache, relog, and try wearing that shape again.  If the problem recurs, you can maybe try using a backup copy of the shape, if you have one.