12.08.2009, 14:59
The red bars indicating "timeout" in HL are IMHO meaningless. If a server has "reply to ICMP" switched off (most have for obvious security reasons) you'll get the red bars no matter how low their latency actually is.
On another note, the aping.exe that HL launches for this purpose also chews up another 30 valuable MBs of memory whether you're in a game or not (using 30MB for what should be a simple 3 lines of code PING application does seem a bit stiff, I wonder what freight train they latched on that application?).
My advice? Disregard the bars. Using "ping" to measure connection quality is a thing of the past, a blowback from the days of IPoCP (IP over Carrier Pidgeon), semaphore flags, jungle drums, smoke signals, loud horns and bonfires on mountain tops.
If you have trouble connecting to your own server from work, it's probably not a "ping" issue but more likely your friendly company network joey/manager that has blocked all outgoing ports except the bare necessities.
On another note, the aping.exe that HL launches for this purpose also chews up another 30 valuable MBs of memory whether you're in a game or not (using 30MB for what should be a simple 3 lines of code PING application does seem a bit stiff, I wonder what freight train they latched on that application?).
My advice? Disregard the bars. Using "ping" to measure connection quality is a thing of the past, a blowback from the days of IPoCP (IP over Carrier Pidgeon), semaphore flags, jungle drums, smoke signals, loud horns and bonfires on mountain tops.
If you have trouble connecting to your own server from work, it's probably not a "ping" issue but more likely your friendly company network joey/manager that has blocked all outgoing ports except the bare necessities.