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PAYDAY 2 Packet Loss: What is it and How to Fix it?
Get back to enjoying your favorite game
9 min. read
Updated onOctober 4, 2023
updated onOctober 4, 2023
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Key notes
PAYDAY 2is a fantastic game where you choose a character and posse up to pull a heist. Whether you plan on robbing a bank, a casino, or a safehouse with your peers, PAYDAY 2 can make you feel like a great heist artist.
Although you can play PAYDAY 2 solo, it goes without saying that nothing beats sharing the experience with your friends in the multiplayer mode. You get to manage roles and coordinate with a crew that understands the things you’ll inadvertently be yelling at them.
However, multiplayer means you’ll be facing specific connectivity issues from time to time. Especially if your connection is not precisely NASA-tier, which we have reasons to believe isn’t.
One of the most common connectivity issues you might encounter in PAYDAY 2 is packet loss. You’ll get to know exactly why it’s so common and why many people hate it with a passion.
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What is packet loss in PAYDAY 2?
Packet loss is almost the same, no matter where you encounter it. And just so you know, with PAYDAY 2 things aren’t wildly different. Therefore, you’ll probably be able to tell packet loss apart from other connectivity issues once you understand it.
Simply put, packet loss means data packets never reach their destination. It’s pretty intuitive. Due to their similar symptoms, packet loss and high latency (lag) may be easily confused. But make no mistake, one’s more severe than the other.
So it’s no mystery why packet loss is deemed the greater evil in this situation. Still not convinced? Here’s what packet loss can do to your PAYDAY 2 gaming session:
What causes packet loss in PAYDAY 2?
There are a lot of reasons why PAYDAY 2 packet loss may decide to spawn in your life. Incidentally, the wide variety of factors that play a role in packet loss incidence is also what makes it so difficult to conquer.
To put it shortly, if you have no idea what caused the problem, you may have a hard time figuring out a fix. That’s also why so many players treat packet loss using the trial-and-error method.
Poking in the dark can sometimes be effective, but it strictly depends on luck, there’s no science there.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the potential causes for packet loss in PAYDAY 2:
As you can see, the list of reasons is not exactly clustered around a single culprit. You may notice that packet loss issues can arise on either end of the connection and sometimes even in the middle.
So that you know, most of the time, you’ll be able to fix packet loss depending on where it occurs (if it’s happening on your side or your ISP’s turf). But we’ll get to that in a few.
How to detect packet loss in PAYDAY 2?
If you want to run a packet loss test in PAYDAY 2, you’ll need the server’s IP address you’re playing on. This can be not easy, considering PAYDAY 2 doesn’t run on officially-hosted servers.
Instead, players can be hosts or clients, so it’s more like a P2P connection between players. Thus, you’ll need to figure out a way to get hold of the server’s IP address, and the way you decide to go with this strictly depends on you.
Once you know the address, go through the following steps:
As we said earlier, packet loss can happen anywhere on your connection. This test will tell you exactly where, but without being too descriptive.
The pathping test will indicate which nodes are leaking packets, and you’ll have to figure out which part of the connection is that node related to. Just use the screenshot below for clarification.
Once you’ve identified the packet loss’s location, the battle is half-won. You’ll at least know how to proceed.
How to fix packet loss in PAYDAY 2
1. Use a VPN
More often than not, aVPNproves to be efficient in eliminating or at leastcurbing the nasty effects of packet loss. However, you must understand that this fix only works if your ISP is the one to blame for this problem, to begin with.
Whether it’s because they throttle your bandwidth or can’t seem to route network traffic in an efficient manner, these can lead to packet loss, and can subsequently be fixed by using aVPN.
Private Internet Access, for instance, is one of theVPNsthat can fix packet loss in PAYDAY 2. It’s brought to you by Kape Technologies and is currently one of the fewVPNproviders that offer 24/7 live chat support.
Additionally, your connection and privacy will also be secured, and you’ll be able to unblock geo-restricted content using aVPN. It’s a world of fun features just waiting for you.
Private Internet Access
2. Flush your DNS
ipconfig /flushdnsipconfig /registerdnsipconfig /releaseipconfig /renewnetsh winsock reset
Restart your PC just as soon as the last command is executed successfully. Re-launch PAYDAY 2 and check if there’s any improvement.
The reasoning behind performing thisactionis that sometimes cached data build-ups on your PC might mess with your connection, and flushing/renewing your DNS and resetting the winsock is one of the most simple ways to fix that.
You may even want to try switching to public free DNS instead of your ISP-assigned one. Doing so could dramatically increase your connection speed. We’ve tried both Google and Cloudflare, and we’re satisfied with the results.
3. Perform a bit of manual troubleshooting
Please note that none of the above suggestions may fully eliminate packet loss in PAYDAY 2. However, performing as many of them as you can at least improves your connection’s overall quality.
And we all know that a well-maintained connection is less prone to connectivity issues such as packet loss, high ping, orjitter.
Some of these troubleshooting steps can also help ifPayday 2 VR is not working, so you might want to try them out.
In conclusion, if you’re experiencing packet loss in PAYDAY 2, waiting it out is often the best solution, albeit not the most agreeable.
Using aVPNis, without a doubt, one of the easiest methods to eliminate packet loss in PAYDAY 2, but it must be caused by your ISP for this fix to work. That’s why running a pathping test is more often than not necessary.
Flushing your DNS also gives pretty good results in curbing packet loss occurrence. Last but not least, you can perform many manual troubleshooting operations to fix or improve packet loss.
More about the topics:Fix network issues,gaming,packet loss,VPN
Vlad Constantinescu
Vlad might have a degree in Animal Husbandry and Livestock Management, but he’s currently rocking anything software related, ranging from testing programs to writing in-depth reviews about them.
He spent 3-4 years as a software editor at Softpedia and another year as a VPN specialist before he landed his current job as an author at Windows Report.
In his free time, Vlad enjoys playing guitar, doing jigsaw puzzles, researching cybersecurity, and even having a good read on rainy days.
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