I have all the time problems with connection. My 2mbit connection seems okay( if i make download and upload tests ), but in LFS pings are high or just i can't see no racers.
Maybe someone can give some advice...
But i can see messages when i can't see racers etc...
I am having a similar problem, the server might have a 70 ms ping in the server browser, but when I connect my ping skyrockets and the game is unplayable. This wasn't a problem playing on the demo servers.
ronin, don't be so quick to ask for a refund. There is a problem on YOUR computer somewhere, has to be. Someone knowledgable will help you out and get it sorted out for you. LFS has the best netcode out there. On what else could I connect halfway around the world and race every night on my 56k dialup! And, I'm not the only one. I'm in the US and I was racing the other night on a UK server with someone from Australia who claimed he was running on a 28.8 k connection. I never saw lag from him, though, he did get disconnected a couple of times But I know I very very rarely have a problem. I probably get disconnected 5% of the time and I can pinpoint probably 95% of my problems to something on my end, trying to download skins in the servers or going to windows and trying to get a quick read on a forum or something when spectating for example. It definitely isn't a problem with LFS.
I was just joking about the refund thing, and I think I might have even found the solution to my problem. There seems to be a bug or mistake in the network code of the Q patch. Other members have experienced the same symptoms I have. Switching to the P patch has cured the problem, and thankfully I still can play on Q servers. I won't be so quick to say my problems are solved, but so far so good.
*edit*
This forum is cursed, everytime I think I have the solution and the game is running fine again, I post my solution here and BAM, the lag comes back. I am up for any suggestions you all might have. Computer specs below:
AMD 4000+
A8N-SLI
(2) Nvidia 6800GT - SLI'd
2gb Ram
(2) WD Raptors
Creative labs Audigy 2
Cable modem connection
Windows XP Pro
Drivers are all up to date. Game runs at 60+ FPS at 1600X1200 with FSAA 4X and AA 8X
I'll be checking in here often for solutions also, as I'm on a 10Mbit ethernet connection from college, and multiplayer is basically unusable in LFS, way too much lag, players vehicles disappearing and reappearing out of no where, pings skyrocketing,ect. It used to work perfect, so I dunno, was kind of excited hearing that it might be the Q patch.
Guess no solutions for this? :-/ I was in a rally server today and things seemed okay to me but other people said I was lagging...don't understand this at all. Worked perfect in S1, 10Mbit connection should not be lagging.
Are you guys using any wirless networking? There has been other threads with similar problems on wirless hubs check them out if so...
Also at least one of you have indicated you are on a university network, so therefore there is much that is out of your control (i.e. how many are online at one time, whether or not there is any problems within that network, or even the possibility that alot of other students are using P2P and IM software) also on a uni network it's quite likely they have Quality Of Service paket scheduling and maybe LFS pakets aren't getting high priority
From an MSDOS prompt type "ping www.liveforspeed.net" press enter. Do it a few times, do you get fast ping every time or is there some poor ones mixed in? Can also try "tracert www.liveforspeed.net" might help you identify the problem... take your computer to another location were there is a different broadband connection altogether and see if it behaves better, if it does it's something to do with the network your on
P.s. Not all claimed broadband is equal, cable broadband for example is shared bandwidth so can vary alot depending on demand, 2-way satalite is great for downloading surfing the net etc but abismale for online gaming (it has high latency and is also shared bandwidth), for online gaming you really need a broadband service that isn't shared and has low ping (ADSL, ADSL2, ISDN, and possibly new generation wireless connections to name some). For LFS if you are not hosting a server the actual bandwidth is not really that important, whats more important is the quality of service and low latency.
Hmm it is probably not your firewall or settings but the college firewall and network setup I'd guess... I'd say if you really wanted to get a good connection to LFS through your college network your going to have to contact the college network admin and convince him to set QOS packet scheduling for LFS packets
But I'd say you need to look at getting a dedicated connection if possible
I'll have to look through the Universities computing policies and see if online gaming is against their rules. I don't see why it would be...students need some entertainment away from studying and classes. If this is the case then they must have implemented it this year, cause multiplayer use to work wonderfully from my dorm.
Heh, i can run only LAN server i think, because i have a shared connection. I will try it soon. But interesting is next: no problems in other multiplayer games(rfactor, cs, enemy territory ...) - ping seems OK and other's ping too.
Every multiplayer server i enter i can race for up to about 10 minutes, then my connection to the server is lost. Everytime!
All cars around me go blank, "lag 1, 2, 3..." GONE, "Lost Connection"...
This just started happening last week, what is the deal? Nothing like this happens on CS:S and my connection is never dropped to the internet... illepall
NO p2ps, no extra programs in the background... whats going on??? I'm on a universities wired internet service... very fast, but now I can't stay in any severs... any help would be appreciated...
check them out if so...
did you do it several times? Try ping 
illepall