server choice

[Guest zanther0]

I'm new to VATSIM but not to flight siming in general. Finally got around to install SB and had my first two flights today, lots of fun but not as many ATC as I would espect. I'm sure it's the time of day I was logged. Anyway my question is does it matter what server you log on to? Meaning that if you log on to any server you should still have access to every area you fly to correct? In other words VATSIM is one big united community no matter what server you log onto?Zan

[GetStill 0]

Largely, yes, you can log onto any server. The one closest to your geographic location usually provides the best results.Kyle

[simondix 0]

When you say log onto the one closest to your Geographical point do you mean Physical or Virtual. For example I live in the UK but want to fly in the states. Do I log on to UK or the USA servers. I know this might sound stupid but I am a Newbie to this.

[Mats_J 2]

Hi,Log on to the one closest to you physically! If you have ServInfo you can ping all available servers and the one with fastest response and fewest users are usually the best choice.Hope it helps,

[simondix 0]

Thanks for the info. I'll have to learn how to use Server info as well. It's certainly a learning curve.

[Vulcan 14]

ServerInfo is one of the best things to every happen to on line flying.When you learn more about it you will be amazed at what it can do for you, how I ever flew on line without it I will never know :-)Thank you Michael.

[hopskip 253]

Yes Deftinatly closest to you,or use servinfo to see if your unsure. For instance heres the tool we use in servinfo to see which is the best server to join.I for instance live in Sydney, Australia.from this picture you can see that the Ociania server in Melbourne, Australia is the best server for me. The other green ones (USA-1 and San Fransisco) are also options if the Ociania goes down or is otherwise unavailable for some reason (very rare but does happen on occasion) The yellow ones are connectable but have a bit longer ping times. you can see that for some reason Beaufort and Texas can't be accessed at all from where I am, as well as the one in Turkey. I wouldn't be able to connect to these servers from my machine at all, however I can still see all the traffic and ATC that are connected to those servers because the whole network shares it's info, so I can fly in Texas and Turkey (and with someone on those servers, ie Tel Aviv Approach etc) if I wish.http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/48075.jpg