Any online gamer would know that a good internet connection is a must for smooth gameplay. When internet services throttle performances, the gameplay gets affected. It is infuriating and all the work that gamers have put in gets ruined by higher latency, resulting in not being able to react in-game. There are multiple factors at work here, and those will be discussed in this article.
The quality of the internet connection
This might not seem much, but choosing an internet service provider is also one of the factors that will affect gaming. Because the quality of internet connection that they provide will impact online gaming, and it can mean a difference between winning and losing. And if gamers are in it for prize money, then the stakes are even higher. Therefore, it is important that the kind of ISP they go for can fulfill their online gaming demands.
For instance, Xfinity internet services have everything that gamers would need when considering an internet connection for their games; their prices make up for their reliable connectivity, lower latency rate, faster speeds, wider availability, and higher data caps. Xfinity has all of these. Gamers also need to stay updated about their favorite players, which is why they can stream their favorite online gaming channels with Xfinity TV. However, to save their budget, gamers can look up Xfinity double play deals for internet and cable TV services at the same time for a reasonable price. Have their Twitch play through Xfinity Flex or ESports channel on Xfinity TV box, all the while having a lag-free gaming experience.
Ping Rate
In the gaming world, ping rate is used instead of latency. It is the time it takes for the system to respond to an action. The time it takes for a gamer to input a request to the server, and the server to process that request. The server also needs to process other gamers’ actions towards the first one and send the information back to him. These actions are carried out in milliseconds; the lower the ping rate, the faster is the transfer of data to the server and back, and the more advantageous is the game for professional gamers. Using the ping monitoring tool, you may keep an eye on the ping rate. Additionally, you can identify network issues so that you may play online games without interruptions.
What ping rate is good? If the ping rate is at 350 ms, it means that in-game events are viewed 350 milliseconds after they actually happened. Less than 20 ms is an ideal ping for gaming, where gamers will not experience any lag. 20 to 50 ms is still good and has a sufficient value, though gamers don’t prefer to exceed 20 ms. Above 50 ms is average ping and gamers may experience lag, and above 100 ms is potentially deadly and will ruin the game.
What affects the ping rate? The physical distance between the computer and the server is one factor that impacts the ping rate. Because signals experience multiple obstacles between the computer and the server and the long journey they take, the more obstacles they will face. Also, the type of internet connection has impacted the ping rate. Satellite internet has the highest latency since its wireless transmission travels to space and back. Cable connections have a lower latency rate than a phone internet connection, and fiber internet connection has a lower latency rate than a cable internet connection.
Also apart from that, it is better for gamers to go for a wired internet connection instead of wireless, because there is a lot of interference in wireless signals.
Internet connection speed
Internet connection speed can affect the pings rate or latency. A higher internet speed sends and receives data much faster, resulting in lower pings or latency rates. On the other hand, a slower internet connection results in higher pings, making the game lag too much. Satellite, cable, and fiber all offer higher internet speeds, but only cable and fiber connections will provide lower pings. A dial-up connection with 56kbps will have higher pings as compared to other broadband connections.
Internet bandwidth
Bandwidth isn’t very important for streaming games, but gamers will need to ensure that they have enough bandwidth for uploading. Insufficient bandwidth results in higher ping rates, prolonging the amount of time it will take for data to be sent and received and lagging the game. The connection bandwidth is also affected by the number of devices in a household since those devices might be using streaming services, or downloading heavy files. More devices connected to the internet means higher pings.
Firewall
There is a built-in computer software called Windows Firewall that monitors all the data and information that the computer sends and receives. This process can end up taking a lot of time, resulting in a slowing down of internet connection and higher ping rates. Users can then disable the Windows Firewall to lower their ping, or they can make the game an exception to the Firewall. This can be made possible by going to the firewall settings, managing configuration in a way that ports for the game are open to traffic.
In conclusion, all households have multiple devices connected to an internet connection nowadays, all of them fighting for bandwidth. Hence, there is a need for a quality internet connection with a good router, that will provide a seamless and lag-free gaming experience.
