[progeny]

Hi,

My mother (aniko2) has been experiencing occasional "freezes" when playing BBO. I'll provide as much detail as I can:

Hardware: HP G60 w/ AMD 2.1 Ghz processor + 3GB RAM. Conventional US keyboard.
OS: Windows Vista Home Premium SP2. "Rating: 3.5"
BBO User Type: Web-based, she doesn't use the BBO client.
Browser: Google Chrome, but her BBO pal has also had this problem in Firefox
Resident Bloatware: Kaspersky Internet Security 2010, HP printer software, Ultra VNC.

Symptom: Unable to "play" BBO. Unable to see characters when typing in chat window.
Solution: Close, then reopen browser, login, game continues.

How could we better isolate the problem? Is there a log file I could post?

Thanks,

Robert

[diana_eva]

Please write a mail to support@bridgebase.com and they will send your mom a Guide to help her improve connectivity.

However first thing to try is clear browser's cache memory - that usually helps:
www.wikihow.com/Clear-Your-Browser%27s-Cache

She can also try using another internet browser.

[progeny]

So here's the email:

This guide should help in case you are either unable to connect to Bridge Base Online 
or experience many disconnects / lags / freezes to the point of making BBO unusable.

Since your connection to BBO is made up of a long chain of links, starting with your 
computer and ending with our server, the problem with disconnects could be anywhere.

Things that might be helpful if you are running the browser version:

1. Clear your browser's cache. Choose your internet browser from the list below and 
follow instructions to clear cache memory:

http://www.wikihow.com/Clear-Your-Browser%27s-Cache

2. Reinstall the latest Flash Player from www.adobe.com.

3. Make sure your TCP port number 3336 is open. If you have a firewall (Windows only) 
or a router please consult their manual on how to open a port. If you are connecting 
from inside an office building or university for example, please contact your network 
administrator or internet provider and make an enquiry about opening that port.

4. Try to use a different browser (there are plenty of free ones available on the 
internet: Firefox, Opera, Chrome, etc).

Other useful hints:

1. Reboot your computer. Weirdly, this sometimes helps.

2. If you are running Windows, scan your PC for viruses and "adware", both of which 
can disrupt your connectivity.

3. If you use a telephone to connect to the Internet, try another access number or 
service provider.

4. Turn off (close) programs that are not needed while playing.

5. If you are using wireless, try replacing the wireless with a wire and see if that 
makes a difference.

6. If you are behind a router try bypassing it.

7. Ask your ISP to monitor your connectivity while you are connected to our server 
and as a last resort have a technician of theirs visit your home to personally notice 
your connection problems.

We'll try clearing the cache and updating flash, those are the things on this list that would be most applicable. Unfortunately, her connection problems are intermittent. Is it correct to say that there's no BBO diagnostic information that's visible or available for me to find out if/how a particular session ended? (e.g. timeout / TCP reset, etc.)

Robert