First time poster, recent addict to SOASE. I've enjoyed the massive single-player games and I brought over a friend to try multiplayer with. Sadly, about halfway through the game there are lag, or pauses rather, every 15-20 seconds that last 2-3 seconds. Before a long list of "your specs" occurs, I'd like to get straight to answering your questions ahead of time in hope of pinpointing the cause of this:

Computer A = Mine

Computer B = Hers

1. Ram: A = 4 gigs, B =1 gig

2. Processor: A = 4.2ghz Dual-core, B = 3.6Ghz single-core

3. Video: A = ATI 4800 1G video ram, B = ATI 4000something, 512mb video ram

4. HD speed: A = 7200 rpm Sata II 3.0mbs 500g, B = 7200 Sata 1.5mbs 125g, (both defraged and kept clean from maleware, viruses, etc)

5. Internet speed: A = 20Mbs cable @ 35 average google ping, B = 8 mbs cable @ 56 average google ping

6. Game Settings: A = All Highest @ constant 180fps/60fps with vsynch, B = Mixture of High/Highest @ average 50-55fps/20-30 with vsync

7. Background processes: Both computers are streamlined and optimized. Very few things running in the background, and we've also tested it with active Antivirus turned off.

8. When does it happen?: Even on a 1v1v1, halfway through it will begin to go through it's pausing fits. On a full 10-person map it's exactly the same.

9. CPU when hosted?: A = Usually the hoster, CPU never goes above 34%, B = CPU averages 50-60% when connected to host A

As you can see, it is not a game settings issue. We are not experiencing cpu or video lag in the slightest. Our latency is excellent and there's nothing interfering with the transfer, nor do we have packet issues. This is a DIRECT IP connection, and we are not using ICO.

Thoughts?