Y'all can have a super fast gaming PC with an RTX 3080 graphics carte onboard and other speedy components. And yet, if you have a deadening connection, your online gaming capabilities will be severely limited. So much and so that a person using a slower PC, but a faster connectedness, will be able to react better to your movements, and will trounce yous almost every time. This also applies to game consoles. Your opponent tin can utilise the aforementioned equipment, but your gameplay will be based on - well - frustration and salty comments if yous have an insufficient connection.

Of form, nosotros could signal out the obvious and advice you to become a faster internet connection or choose the all-time ISP available in your surface area, however, bold you've already maximized what you can afford or tin get in your household, in that location are a few things you tin try that can better your existing connexion. Let's begin!

Ping & bandwidth: How fast is your cyberspace?

Earlier making any changes, let's first past checking the quality of your connectedness and find out what ping you tin can expect in games. Ping is a uncomplicated way to measure how fast your internet connexion can send data packets to a given IP address and receive a response.

This has a straight impact on online games, which you may interpret as latency. For case, if your ping is 350 ms, it means you tin can see in-game events 350 ms after the fourth dimension they actually happened. To play online games comfortably, you lot need the lowest ping possible. However this volition also depend on the type of game y'all're playing.

Some titles will be unplayable with a ping over 200 ms, and some with over 50. Equally for gameplay itself, each additional 50 ms is noticeable and worsens the comfort of playing. Also, bear in mind that ping is not universal.

You have to ping a specific location and that measure volition be good for a particular server response. You can apply GameServerPing to exam your connection against a given server for a specific game. A fast ping means a more responsive connectedness, especially in video games, where timing is everything.

As you lot can run across on the prototype above, my cyberspace connection can probably play with low latency on European servers and fifty-fifty try to play on Us servers also. Japan and Commonwealth of australia are out of the question, though. But this is why AAA online games take multiple server locations and you should play on the closest possible geos.

Different and recommended ping ranges:

Less than 20ms - Neat: Optimal value for gaming. Yous will not feel any lag during the game. If something is running slowly, information technology certainly won't be your connection mistake.

20ms - 50ms - Good: Pop range for gaming. Still a sufficient value, although the virtually enervating players definitely prefer not to exceed xx ms.

50ms - 100ms - Fair: This range can be considered as "average." You may experience lag, and in some games y'all may find that your opponent has a articulate advantage over you.

100ms - 300ms - Poor: Gameplay is still possible, but there volition be lag. It is annoying (and potentially deadly) for y'all and perhaps for your opponents.

More than 300ms - Unplayable: This kind of connection is unsuitable for smoothen online gaming.

In addition to ping, the speed of your internet connection is a central factor. Super fast broadband is non required for online gaming, simply you should have at least xxx Mbps at your disposal (download). Now, suppose several people are sharing the aforementioned connection when you are playing games: your sis has a video telephone call, and your parents are watching a movie on Netflix. These activities volition significantly strain the bandwidth available. If this sounds familiar, you should probably opt for a 100 Mbps or faster connection. Of form, the more, the amend.

To bank check how fast your connection is, have a simple examination. We recommend using SpeedTest or Fast.com. Those are among the most popular tools of its kind, though you might as well try SpeedOf.me and SpeedSmart.net.

SpeedTest.cyberspace automatically suggests connecting to a nearby server, meaning your ping should be very low in that scenario. But what if you are playing against someone from a dissimilar continent? Personally, I like to play Dark Souls three on PS4 Pro and connect with players from Nihon practically every day (and I'k from Poland!). With such distances, a higher ping is a given.

Hither are some of my tests results from SpeedTest.net:

SpeedTest.internet Wi-Fi Ethernet
Recommended server
(aforementioned city)		 Ping: eight ms
Download: 260 Mbps
Upload: 101 Mbps		 Ping: 7 ms
Download: 945 Mbps
Upload: 104 Mbps
Berlin, Deutschland Ping: 32 ms
Download: 174 Mbps
Upload: 75 Mbps		 Ping: 27 ms
Download: 400 Mbps
Upload: fourscore Mbps
St. John's, Canada Ping: 148 ms
Download: 89 Mbps
Upload: 74 Mbps		 Ping: 146 ms
Download: 130 Mbps
Upload: 76 Mbps
Hokkaido, Japan Ping: 281 ms
Download: 75 Mbps
Upload: 68 Mbps		 Ping: 277 ms
Download: 84 Mbps
Upload: 69 Mbps

#one: Use an Ethernet cable

Information technology's always a good thought to choose an Ethernet connectedness over Wi-Fi if available. No affair how good your connection and router are, a wired connection volition always provide more consistent speeds and lower latency. However, you will need to connect your PC or console with an Ethernet cable to the router or local network, sacrificing the convenience of a wireless connection.

Make certain you're using gigabit Ethernet ports that can handle speeds of upwards to ane,000 Mbps and up-to-date cables that support high speeds (True cat 5e or Cat 6).

If your router is besides far from your computer or console and you can't connect with an Ethernet cable, at that place are diverse ways y'all tin extend your network. Powerline adapters tin can be hit or miss, but are not inherently bad. Wi-Fi extenders are a big no. Mesh networking is a more modern solution and mesh networking equipment has gotten better and more than affordable in the last couple of years. The idea is that y'all can only connect wirelessly to your router, make sure your Wi-Fi signal is as strong as possible.

#2 Reposition your router (Wi-Fi just)

One of the reasons for irksome wireless connection speeds are concrete barriers such as walls and floors. The altitude betwixt your device and the router, equally well every bit the number of devices using the Wi-Fi network, will affect the connectedness.

Try to place the router in an open up spot. Since this is a wireless connection, distance, whatever obstacles (walls, floors, ceilings, large piece of furniture), electronic interference, and the number of users on the network are all factors to consider.

If yous're using a single router, identify it in a centre location of your home and in an open area. To get the best signal possible, ideally information technology should also be positioned above most furniture and away from other electronic devices that may cause interference, such as microwave ovens and baby monitors.

Another valid advice is to position the antennas perpendicularly: one horizontal and the other vertically. A Wi-Fi device works all-time when its antenna is parallel to the router's antenna - if you accept two antennas, one should be pointing up and the other pointing sideways.

Once yous are settled on your router's location, you tin use a mobile app such as Wi-Fi SweetSpots (for iOS) or WiFi Signal Strength Meter (for Android). These can aid you recognize wireless blind spots in your home and determine where signal force is best and adjust accordingly every bit needed.

#3 Use the right channel (Wi-Fi only)

Adjusting a few settings into the router'south configuration tin can be useful. For this article, nosotros're using a adequately typical Asus RT-AC68U AC1900 router to illustrate the recommended changes. Bear in mind that the functions may exist available in a different location, depending on the router.

Tip: If you oasis't inverse your router's settings, the default login and password volition probably be default admin/admin. If that doesn't work, cheque out your router'due south transmission or visit routerpasswords.com, which contains a database of common credentials for different router manufacturers.

The 2.4 GHz band is part of the wireless spectrum that was used by the first Wi-Fi standards. Information technology uses overlapping sets of frequencies that we call channels. However, the 2.4 GHz band is used by many wireless devices, so it tends to be more than crowded, particularly when y'all live in a densely populated surface area (lots of neighbors!) or homes with lots of wireless devices.

Nosotros also accept the v GHz band, which has no overlapping channels, is less crowded, and can provide more bandwidth. Still, it does this at the expense of range -- you'll become a better and faster signal at v GHz, but it has a shorter range than the 2.4 GHz band. Running a test using both is a good thought.

Interference can occur mainly in the 2.four GHz band because information technology tin transmit on 11 channels in the The states, of which but iii will not overlap (channel one, 6, and 11). The five GHz band, on the other hand, has 23 non-overlapping channels. This makes it and so much easier to go a good connectedness in crowded places.

To select the proper channel, analyze your network with Wi-Fi Analyzer or inSSIDer.

Check which channel is used the least and set up information technology in the router settings. If something seems confusing, the creator of Wi-Fi Analyzer provides relevant tutorials and advice.

Your router may besides exist able to change the frequency automatically. If possible, yous can cull motorcar-switching between channels and frequencies for the optimal setting.

#4 Enable Quality of Service (QoS)

Another feature found in most routers is Quality of Service (QoS), which allows you to prioritize certain types of online traffic. In the router settings, find the QoS tab and select the games that should have priority, or the continued devices.

Our router offers Adaptive QoS with pre-defined, drag-and-drop presets such every bit gaming, media streaming, spider web surfing, etc., and Traditional QoS for prioritized applications and tasks via manual user-defined parameters. We can also use Bandwidth Limiter to set limits on download and upload speeds for devices.

1. In our Asus router, to enable QoS function all you need to exercise is click the QoS switch.

two. Next, you can select which way should be active. We recommend Adaptive QoS.

three. After selecting Adaptive QoS you tin can prioritize traffic by arranging categories in the preferred society.

4. Click Save. Now your QoS function is activated.

Once this is established, your Wi-Fi network will manage traffic queues to prioritize what you have chosen to be most important. It will ameliorate your in-game connection, especially when other people or devices connect to Wi-Fi simultaneously.

#5 Turn off other devices and limit background applications

Needless to say, if you want to maximize your connexion speed for playing games online, background processes and programs in your PC that consume bandwidth, including your web browser, should exist shut downwardly. And certainly, do not download whatsoever files while playing online.

Taking things to a certain extreme, yous may also desire to turn off network connectivity on devices that utilise the aforementioned connection. While it may be impractical, this will maximize your connectedness speed for online gaming. This is where QoS comes in handy. If you have it enabled, yous tin worry less about other devices in your network.

#6 Play in your region

Going dorsum to our explanation about server location and ping, this volition ultimately depend on the game, and your preferences. If it'southward possible, select a game server that is closest to you, e.g. in your country or continent.

It will take a highly positive consequence on ping and latency, ensuring faster advice. For example, in Nighttime Souls three there's a cantankerous-region selection called "Matchmaking." When it'southward turned on, you tin connect to players from all over the earth. When off, players from Europe tin't play with players from the U.s.a. or Asia.

#vii Enable MU-MIMO (Wi-Fi only)

Multi-user MIMO (multiple-input, multiple-output), amend known every bit MU-MIMO, decreases the time each device has to await for a signal and can dramatically speed upward your network.

You will notice this feature on more mod routers (and devices), which allows them to communicate with multiple devices simultaneously. Without MU-MIMO, the router has to handle each device individually and this is how Wi-Fi has worked for the past couple of decades.

Both the router and your device demand to be uniform with MU-MIMO to take reward of the feature, then multiple devices/users can access router functions without the congestion, meaning MU-MIMO increases your router's chapters and efficiency, allowing information technology to handle more Wi-Fi-intensive activities, such as streaming and gaming.

To be clear, MU-MIMO does non increase the maximum speed of the Wi-Fi network, rather it makes sure you don't lose speed when multiple devices are continued to the network.

#8 Alter DNS servers and reboot your router

If you've never tweaked your network settings, you're likely using your Internet service provider's DNS servers which are rarely height quality. Changing DNS servers can noticeably speed up your connection and even secure you lot from certain attacks. Switching to a third-party DNS is quite piece of cake, too, just follow these steps:

1. Go to Settings / Control Console > Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center and choose your network.

2. Then become to Properties and select the TCP / IPv4 cyberspace protocol.

In the "Apply the following DNS server addresses" field, enter 8.viii.eight.8 for the Preferred DNS server and 8.8.iv.four for Alternate DNS server. Those are Google's DNS servers. If yous want to use others, beneath y'all can discover recommended and free DNS:

Provider Preferred DNS Alternate DNS
Google 8.viii.8.8 viii.8.iv.4
Quad9 9.9.9.9 149.112.112.112
Cloudflare one.1.1.ane i.0.0.i
OpenDNS Abode 208.67.222.222 208.67.220.220
CleanBrowsing 185.228.168.9 185.228.169.nine
Verisign 64.six.64.six 64.six.65.6
Alternate DNS 198.101.242.72 23.253.163.53
AdGuard DNS 94.140.14.xiv 94.140.xv.15

You may likewise arrange the default DNS servers at the router level, significant it volition encompass all your devices in your network. Although every router maker uses a different user interface for configuring DNS server settings, look for an choice where DNS server settings are specified and you will be entering the same IP addresses as above for preferred and alternating DNS.

When all else fails... upgrade?

These days, most every household is packed with phones, computers, smart TVs, and many other devices, all fighting for bandwidth. The need for a quality router has never been greater and if yous're using one provided by your Isp, information technology's quite possible that device will underperform for gaming.

You volition find gaming routers on the marketplace that take congenital-in functions to optimize your connection, just don't buy a "gaming router" simply because it says so in the box. Gaming routers are a catchy category and they aren't the best solution for anybody. As explained in a higher place, games are almost e'er dependent on latency instead of bandwidth.

Still, high-end routers can offer useful features that meliorate performance and make the system easier to utilise. For example, OFDMA increases spectral efficiency and network capacity, 4x4 MU-MIMO which nosotros covered before, multiple LAN ports, or link aggregation for those of you with gigabit internet connections.

I of the best ways to speed up your wireless network is to use the latest hardware. Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) enables faster speeds, lower latency, and greater capacity.

Once again, using a direct wired connection if at all possible is one of the best and more obvious optimizations tips you can effectively use for improving your online gaming experience, but if you're shopping for a new router that offers meliorate throughput, range, and features, bank check out TechSpot'southward meridian picks. You may besides want to consider picking a new Wi-Fi 6 model, for further reference bank check out our article Wi-Fi 6 vs. Wi-Fi five Benchmarked.

Shopping Shortcuts:
  • Asus RT-AX3000 Wi-Fi half-dozen on Amazon
  • Arris SURFboard mAX Pro on Amazon
  • TP-Link Deco X20 on Amazon
  • Asus ZenWiFi XT8 Mesh Wi-Fi 6 on Amazon
  • Netgear Orbi Tri-Band Mesh Wi-Fi 6 on Amazon
  • D-Link DIR-882 on Amazon