BF3

Some kind of DNS issue with PunkBuster is causing major connectivity issues for BF3 players on PC. EA has posted a warning on Battlelog:

PC: We are aware of the connectivity issues on PC and are investigating. You should currently be able to join servers that have Punkbuster set to “off.” Stay tuned for more info.

Electronic Arts EA_AgentX explained the situation in more depth:

Hey soldiers,

Apparently there is some intermittent server issues with PunkBuster, causing a game crash whenever you try to join PunkBuster enabled servers.

At this time, even their website http://evenbalance.com [evenbalance.com] is not responding.

As soon as we get any new info, we’ll update this Sticky.

Quick Fix

A temporary solution is to overwrite your BF3 PunkBuster files with the latest version.

1. Download https://www.dropbox.com/s/prcyy0ffjr3llz5/PunkBuster.zip.
2. Extract the arhive to your C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\Battlefield 3\ directory and overwrite.
3. Play the game!

Or you can change the DNS on your Ethernet adapter to those of Google which are 8.8.4.4 and/or 8.8.8.8.

Update: EA have posted the following message on Battlelog:

PC: We have resolved the issue affecting connectivity for PC users, and thank you for your patience.