Ping is one of the most important factors that improve or hinder your online gaming experience. When you play an online game, especially where timing and position are crucial, then a lower ping is required. However, a lot of factors can negatively impact your ping and cause a lot of lagging and buffering in gaming.
Generally, ping and latency are often used interchangeably. Latency is referred to the reaction speed of the internet connection and the total time taken for the data packets to travel between servers to your device. While ping is referred to the unit that measures this latency. This ping is measured in milliseconds or ms. You should try to keep your ping at 15ms or less to enjoy a smooth gaming experience. If your ping is higher, then it will take your system a long time to send and receive signals from the gaming server. This will further increase the lag. Fortunately, there are ways to evade this situation and keep your ping lower while playing games.
Keep on reading this article to find out the reasons behind this ping fluctuation and what things you can do to improve your overall gaming experience. Let's get started, shall we?
An efficient ping rate can entirely vary from one game to another. Some games, especially racing games or FSP games require a lower ping while others can be played flawlessly with a moderate ping as well. Generally, a ping under 20ms is considered exceptional, and if it exceeds 300ms, then it becomes unplayable for gamers.
Hence, keeping up the ping at an optimal level is highly crucial. It's not that you will always require a low ping. But, while playing online games that require the fastest response from your system, a lower ping is a must. However, a lot of factors can negatively impact your ping rate including the physical distance from the server, a poor quality internet service provider, wireless setup, inadequate bandwidth, and whatnot.
Here is the list of issues that affect your ping:
Sometimes, your internet service provider slows down your internet speed by putting data caps on it when you exceed a certain limit. This is done to avoid network congestion and help other users enjoy optimal connections without any interruption. So, if your ISP throttles your connection to manage networks for other users, you will notice a decrease in internet speed. Your system will take longer to send and receive data from the server which will further increase the ping.
Besides throttling, it's also important to consider the upload and download speeds provided by your internet service provider. It's because your upload speed will play a more important role than your download speed when you play online games. Since these providers offer higher download speeds and lower upload speeds, you should always check the upload speed before playing games. Because an upload speed lower than 1Mbps will not allow you to play games online. In fact, some servers will drop you out of their games if your connection is incredibly slow.
If you're connected to a server that is geographically far away from you, then it will negatively impact your ping. For example, if you're playing games in India and your server is located in the UK, it will result in higher ping. Because all the data packets will have a long route to travel from the server to your system and vice versa. Therefore, it's recommended to choose a local server that is geographically near to you to avoid it affecting your ping.
If all your equipment including your router, software, and computer, are all outdated, then it will affect your internet speed which is related to an increased ping. Sometimes, your internet service providers provide you with optimal speed but the only thing that causes lag is your equipment. Maybe your system is unable to fetch the high-speed internet or your router isn't that capable to handle that. Therefore, you must keep everything updated to avoid this issue from occurring.
We have identified some of the possible culprits that cause you a high ping. Now it's time to know the fixes that you can apply to lower your latency and enjoy uninterrupted gaming experiences,
1. Choose A Local Server
Online games usually come with a choice of server options. Since servers located in a geographically far location will increase your ping, you must choose a local server instead to reduce ping and latency. For example, if you want to play a game in America, try to connect to the closest server there not the one located in the UK.
2. Quit All Background Applications
Well, inadequate bandwidth is often a common reason behind facing high ping-related issues. However, if the background applications on your computer are hogging your bandwidth, then it will barely leave any amount of bandwidth to process your gaming. Even when you're not actively using these applications, it may still affect your ping and ruin your gaming experience. Therefore, close all your background applications on the system to avoid facing a higher ping.
3. Choose a Wired Connection
Your internet service provider can connect you to the internet using either a cable modem, DSL line, fiber optic line, or a regular modem. Generally, a wired connection is highly preferred for gaming. In wireless setup, there are higher chances of signal interruption while the wired ones barely cause any issue. Therefore, you can ensure to keep up the proper amount of ping required for your gaming and other online activities.
4. Disconnect Other Devices From Your Network
Typically, people overlook the number of devices they connect to the same network. But, if all your devices in the household whether it is laptops, wireless printers, phones, or streaming media players are connected to the same Wi-Fi router, then it will increase the ping. It's because all these devices will share the bandwidth to complete their own processes.
This will leave you with a minimum amount of bandwidth to complete your high-end gaming process. Therefore, it's important to disconnect all your devices from the network to stop bandwidth sharing and help you enjoy the games flawlessly.
5. Consider Using a VPN
If nothing is helping you to lower your ping, then it's time to consider using a VPN. A VPN not only helps provide you with a more stable connection but also ensures your security in the online world. Generally, if you choose a reliable VPN service provider, then they will help you improve your connection speed, lower your ping and enhance your overall gaming experience.
A ping is most crucial when you play games. Generally, it doesn't impede other online activities if it remains at a moderate level. But, while playing games your ping needs to be lower to avoid any interruption and play it flawlessly. We have mentioned the reasons that could negatively affect your ping along with the possible solutions to come out of the problem. We hope this guide helped you lower your ping and improve your gaming experience.
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