Contant Player Disconnects

[WilliamRiddle]

My apologies if this is an old topic, but my group is nearing its wits end.

For the past 5-6 months we've been experiencing constant disconnects during our games, at least 3-4 times per player in a 2-3 hour session. No errors, no warnings, just disconnecting at what seems to be random times. I've combed through the FAQ list and tried everything that would apply to our group, and nothing seems to help. This is also happening regardless of what ruleset we're playing -- 5E, 5E Tales of the Valiant, 2e D&D, Pathfinder 2E, and XCore are the ones we use the most.

Here is what we've tried:
* Turning off firewalls and/or making exceptions for FG.
* Turning off antivirus and/or making exceptions for FG.
* Turning off all but needed extensions, and in some cases having none at all.
* Making sure everyone runs an FG update prior to the game.
* Making sure our Windows/Linux systems are up to date.
* No apps running other than Discord running during the game.
* Turning off all other internet devices in our homes.
* It's happening on wired and wireless connections.
* We have games on Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat, and Sun - happens regardless of any increased "weekend" traffic.

Nothing seems to help. However, I have noticed one "consistency" when this happens.
* Players seem to disconnect when they are not actively doing something in FG, and/or when a player's portrait is in "ZZZzzzzzz" mode (not sure what it's called).

Also, I have other friends that host games and do not have these issues as often. So as the DM/GM is there anything else I should be doing?*
* I have a lot of old extensions in my folder, ones I'm not using anymore - should they be deleted?
* Is there any sort of other "clean up" of my files I should be doing on a regular basis?
* I know we don't have to worry about port 1802 anymore, but are there any recommended things that could be done to my router?

Any help here would be greatly appreciated. This is really starting to affect our enjoyment of using FG.

Thanks in advance.
WR

[Zacchaeus]

How big is your campaign folder? Can you screenshot the contents of the folder showing the full details of each file. Can you also let us have a copy of the DM logs and at least one players log files as well. https://fantasygroundsunity.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/FGCP/pages/1725825027/How+to+ZIP+Your+Campaign+for+Support+Developers

[Moon Wizard]

Usually, disconnects are caused by something on the machine, router or Internet Service Provider account which blocks/disconnects. We have a wiki article that attempts to point out scenarios that can occur, such as filtering/throttling.
https://fantasygroundsunity.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/FGCP/pages/1981349889/Network+Troubleshooting

In this case, based on your comments on the "inactive" time, my guess is that the security software on your machine or a setting on your router is set up to "close" inactive connections. I would do a full review of all the settings on your router to look for anything that filters, throttles or automatically closes connections; and then check any security software you have installed on your machine as well.

Regards,
JPG

[WilliamRiddle]

Zacch - my campaign folder is around 900mb. I did clean up some old games, if that helps. Sorry, I'm not going to post the contents of my campaigns for the world to see. Not sure I know how to grab the DM logs, I'll have to look into that. My players are not skilled enough to send me their logs, unfortunately.

JPG - Thanks for the info. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like my router has a setting like this. All of the setting I could find to meter traffic were internal to the network, not external coming in. I did just find out my router, a Netgear R6350 is now End of Life as of 2025, so that might be something to look into.

We no longer need the open 1802 port, right? I still have mine. Could that be causing an issue? Should it be deleted?

Any other ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks,
WR

[Moon Wizard]

Getting the campaign is a way to check to see if there is anything in the data, extension state, module state that could impact performance.

As for the networking side,
* Since the disconnects happen to all players when they are inactive, it is most likely a GM side issue.
* Port 1802 is not required unless you are running in LAN mode.
* Internal network settings could still impact if they affect the traffic between the router and your machine.
* It's not just the router; but it could also be security software (if you are running anything other than Windows Firewall), or a "security" setting on your Internet Service Provider account (you'll have to review the settings there).
* Most likely, the logs will only be able to tell us that the connection was closed external to the program; though the player logs would tell us whether they connected directly or through a relay (due to higher than normal network security on the GM or player side)
* Are you running wireless connection, or wired connection? If wireless, possibly the connection is getting dropped from time to time. Try running wired or closer to wireless router if so.

Regards,
JPG

[WilliamRiddle]

JPG,

Wanted to put a pin in this post and says thanks for the feedback. Turns out my 6-year old router was the issue, probably because it dropped to EOL without me realizing it. Ran a game last two nights and no further disconnects. I only bought the router four years ago, so I guess it's time to look more closely at retailers selling older equipment. I bought the router at Walmart when my old one died.

Thanks again!
WR

[DCrumb]

I would also say to be wary of routers at Warehouse stores (Costco, Sam's Club, etc.) as they be made specifically for that store type and not be as full featured as the regular router.

[WilliamRiddle]

I would also say to be wary of routers at Warehouse stores (Costco, Sam's Club, etc.) as they be made specifically for that store type and not be as full featured as the regular router.

Yes, DC, thanks. I remember that, though I think since that surfaced they've updated their offerings. Netgear routers are still the best IMHO, though apparently now they come with internal "ENDPOINT" subscriptions that may or may not interfere with FG. I was not going to take any chances and disabled mine, though they do not make it easy to find that setting.

The biggest issue with my previous hardware was apparently I bought a model that was already two years into a five year end of life cycle. So best anyone looking into a new unit to check the release date and if they have an EOL indicator.

WR