Wondering what speed you need to do online gaming and what are the requirements to make sure that your internet works fine while you play your favorite game? There are a few things that you need to take care of. We will help you out in this guide and will let you know the things that will have an impact on your gaming sessions.
If you play online games a lot, whether you’re giving a hard time to your friend in FIFA, winning Fortnite, or just building whatever you can dream of in Minecraft, you don’t want the internet to hold you back. Slow internet speeds can cause games to lag or worse, get removed from a server. The following guide will walk you through some of the more technical considerations, such as bandwidth, ping, and data limits.
What can be a good download and upload speed for online gaming?
Download speeds for online gaming
When companies who provide internet services do marketing of the internet speed, they generally talk about the internet download speeds. When it comes to gaming, download speeds determine how fast your computing system or console can retrieve information from the gaming servers. Most gaming setups only require download speeds of around 5-10Mbps to run smoothly, but there are other factors as well that matter.
Any device connected to your internet connection that could be your smartphone, maybe a laptop or tablet, will affect your internet speed. If you will be connecting multiple devices to your internet connection, you won’t be able to reach the maximum speed because the speeds will be distributed among the devices connected to your internet connection. (this is also why providers offer speeds “up to” a certain amount). If you live alone, and you don’t connect a lot of devices then this is not a big problem. But if you live with your family and if someone is streaming Amazon in HD while you do online gaming, your internet will have to carry more data at the same time, which can result in slower speeds.
If you are connecting multiple devices with your internet connection, you need to make sure that you get services through an internet service provider that offers you the download speed that you need to do online gaming, streaming, or whatever you want. Companies like Spectrum offer download speed ranges from up to 200Mbps to 940Mbps. You can check Spectrum deals and can pick any plan that suits your budget and your needs.
Upload speeds for online gaming
Online games require more than just a good download speed: every time you try to hit an opponent, fire a weapon or execute some other command, your game must send that data to the gaming servers. This is where upload speed will play its role. Broadband Internet upload speeds are typically much slower than the download speeds, typically single-digit Mbps, as most people upload far less data than they download.
If you get services via a fiber optic connection, you can get equal download and upload speed that means that if you are getting a download speed of 200Mbps, the upload speed will also be 200Mbps. That is why fiber optics is the best option for competitive gamers. Online games are constantly sending information upstream, and console manuals suggest it should be at least 0.5 Mbps. But it’ll be better if you get a higher upload speed.
Ping and latency
The delay that comes in sending and receiving the data is called latency. You can determine latency by a few factors that include internet download and upload speed, how good your router is It is determined by a combination of factors including internet speed and the performance of your router, etc.
If routers lose information packets, this information must be sent again, and that will increase the latency. It’s like you’ve sent a gift to your friend and If the gift package is returned to you for any reason, and your friend doesn’t receive the package on time, it will have to go through the mail twice which will take more time and that same thing happens when the packages get lost. This is essentially what happens when packages are lost.
Ping is basically a measure of latency. You can check ping through different websites. If the ping is constantly more than 150 ms, your game will probably suffer: In that case, you should either upgrade your router or should change your internet service provider.
What Internet connection should I use for online games?
There are different internet connections available in America through which people are getting internet services. Different internet service providers use different internet connections. In some areas, you can get internet services via different internet connections and in some areas, you might get internet services via only one or two internet connections.
Different internet connections can work for online games include fiber optic, coaxial cable, or DSL. Some people use mobile and wireless connections as well which are fine too, although they can have their own problems. That is, dealing with the weather and other conditions (mobile) and signal strength (wireless). If you are getting internet services via a satellite internet connection, you will face issues like more ping and high latency and will probably not be able to play shooting games like Fortnite or COD. You can play online games like casino games if you have a satellite internet connection. If any internet connection other than satellite internet connection is available in your area, go for that.
If both fiber optic and cable connections are available in your area, then go for the fiber optic connection as it offers high download and upload speed. If cable and DSL are available in your area then always go for cable as it offers better download and upload speeds and also offers more reliability and consistency.
Wi-Fi vs Ethernet
When we talk about a wired Ethernet connection, you get a fast speed of the internet with no connection interference. You will only be facing interference if your modem or your cable is damaged. If everything is good at your end, you will not be facing issues regarding the performance.
The performance would be incredible with the wired Ethernet connection and it will be reliable as well. It is less costly as you just need a cable wire to connect the internet to your PC system or console. It would not be so convenient if the modem were far away. With the wireless connection, you get a good speed of the internet but it would be shared with other connected devices as well.
You might face issues like high latency, more lag, and more ping when you connect your device to the wireless connection so it is not as reliable as the wired Ethernet connection. However, with the wireless connection, you can connect your device to the internet from anywhere in your house within the router radius, you just need good quality signals. Therefore, it is more convenient than an Ethernet connection. It can be expensive because you will need a good quality router. For online gaming, the Ethernet wired connection is best.