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How Much Speed Do I Demand for Online Gaming?

Mar 18, 2022 Share
Brand Guides, Gaming, Cyberspace Speed Guides

You don't demand a lot of speed to play games online. It's not a bandwidth-intensive activeness, and so all yous need is a v Mbps connexion or faster.

But keep in mind that no amount of speed is going to stop your game from lagging if your latency ranges into hundreds of milliseconds. There's a lot more to having a practiced gaming experience online than signing up for the fastest internet plan on the planet.

We've boiled downwards the most important points of internet speed for gaming online, and so you know exactly what kind of connectedness you need to go the about out of your online gameplay.

Looking for the best internet provider for gaming?

Verizon Fios has the lowest latency in our tests. If it'due south non in your expanse, come across if one of our other best cyberspace providers for gaming is.

Download speed and upload speed

Playing games like Halo Infinite and Fortnite online doesn't require a lot of bandwidth. Unlike an online video—which is streamed over the internet to your device—the graphics chip in your estimator, game console, or mobile device renders (draws) the virtual world locally and displays it on your screen. In fact, very little information passes betwixt the gaming server and the gamer. Both sides exchange the following data:

Keyboard input
Mouse input
Controller input
Actor location (you and everyone else)
The current world land
Player communication
Server notifications (like in-game announcements)

Out of the items on the above list, player location can introduce slowdowns, peculiarly in massively multiplayer online (MMO) games. These games can have more real on-screen players than the typical online gaming scenario, causing frame rate drops and "teleporting" players.

Overall, many modern games with high-definition graphics need a download speed of at to the lowest degree three Mbps to play online.^one,2,3

Upload speed plays an important office also

Since games are interactive, you also have to consider the speed at which information from your computer or console travels to a remote server. Even a poor connection can usually meet the necessary speeds, which is why upload speed oft takes a backseat to more of import factors.

The typical game with loftier-definition graphics needs an upload speed of at to the lowest degree 1–2 Mbps.^ane,two,3

Do you need a connectedness with meliorate upload speeds?

Nosotros prefer fiber over other internet connections because it has symmetrical speeds. Enter your zip lawmaking to find out which options are bachelor to you.

Minimum speed requirements across game platforms

* Based on suggestions made past Bungie for Destiny 2 on PC. ^ten

Every bit long as your internet connection meets these requirements, you can play games online. Even so, if y'all want to accept a consistent online experience, we suggest having a slightly ameliorate connection.

Our speed recommendations for playing games online

Since the actual speed requirements are so low, games and game systems often don't give specific recommendations. Instead, they simply require a "broadband cyberspace connection."

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) defines a broadband connection equally having a download speed of 25 Mbps and an upload speed of three Mbps—more than enough for y'all to have several consoles playing online simultaneously.^v

If you're not sure you have a broadband connection, you lot tin can have a speed test to make certain. Unfortunately, speed requirements don't impact the critical question for playing games online: latency.

High latency is your worst enemy

Latency is the corporeality of time a data packet uses to make its trip to a remote server and back. Moving picture a racquetball bouncing off a wall—how long does that brawl take to come dorsum to you?

The ping utility answers this question by throwing a ball of data at a specific destination and recording the entire trip'southward elapsing—in other words, it pings the server. Latency is also referred to as "ping rate."

So, if your latency gets too high when you're playing a game online, you commencement to experience lag.

For example, you move a mouse and your game reports that movement to a remote server. The server acknowledges the motion and sends a response showing your movements along with all the other player movements. Your game renders the response, merely because your latency is high, your movement appears delayed compared to the other players.

Factors that affect latency

There are a number of factors that touch latency. These include the following:

The physical altitude between yous and the server

Games that support co-op and multiplayer use regional servers considering geolocation does matter, even if a server is but a few states away.

Why? Because y our betoken moves through multiple "hops" as it travels between you and the server. The more hops your signal must traverse, the longer its journey takes—which translates to a college latency. Traffic congestion between you and the remote server can also cause a slowdown, likewise, delaying your controller input.

Your internet connectedness type

Certain types of internet connections inherently have more than latency than others.

For example, satellite internet has the highest latency because it'southward a wireless transmission that travels int o space and back to achieve a remote server. Insulated cablevision connections take lower latency than uninsulated phone lines, while fiber optic cables have lower latency than both.

Keep in mind that the speed at which your signals travel back and forth is dissimilar from your download speed or bandwidth. A movie will download at a slower rate over a 5 Mbps DSL connexion than it will over a 50 Mbps satellite connection.

When playing games online, however, the DSL connection would be much more responsive than satellite because the gaming data doesn't launch into space and dorsum. The loftier latency of the satellite connection would cause so much lag that most fast-paced games wouldn't even exist playable online.

The best net connections for gaming online

A fiber-to-the-home (or building) cyberspace plan from a provider similar AT&T, Google Fiber, or Verizon Fios is the best connection for playing games online. Cable net comes in at a close second, with some 5G networks too providing stable connections with low latency. Other wired connections generally innovate more latency just are however better for gaming than wireless connections.

Consequent and reliable latency data is difficult to gather. The FCC was a source for some of the most comprehensive studies of net latency. However, the agency has since stopped including latency in its annual broadband reports, so newer technologies like 5G and home 4G LTE are not included.

Although 5G is still an emerging wireless technology —especially its gigabit millimeter-wave connections— information technology promises to take lower latency than whatever other wireless connection . 4G and 4G LTE connections by and large have much more than lag than wired connections merely are capable of reaching our recommended latency of below 100 ms.

How to reduce lag

If your latency is loftier enough that y'all're starting to experience lag when playing games online , you tin have a few steps to help reduce your latency and keep your game running smoothly.

Don't use Wi-Fi if you lot can

Wireless connections, even fast ones, will add a bit more delay to your connexion. Wi-Fi is convenient, but it adds an additional translation step between your gaming devices and your cyberspace connection. Plus, you'll come across a filibuster if there are more wireless devices connected to your router than it can handle at once.

To bypass this delay, connect your gaming device to your router using an Ethernet cable. Y'all won't run across the latencies associated with Wi-Fi or the dramatic speed fluctuations, making your connectedness that much more than responsive.

If you must use Wi-Fi, connect your wireless device to the 5 GHz band. It has a shorter range than a 2.4 GHz connection only is faster and less congested, resulting in reduced latency. Stay close to your Wi-Fi router, too—within 50 feet or then, depending on the router—and keep a clear line of sight to the router with as few obstructions as possible for a amend connection.

With the Nintendo Switch, we recommend playing it docked and using a USB-based Ethernet adapter to connect information technology to your network. The Nintendo-approved Dual USB Playstand works with the Switch and Switch Low-cal.

You lot tin use a like adapter on a notebook or desktop that doesn't have an Ethernet port.

Power cycle network devices

Power cycling your router and modem can sometimes improve their performance. Since very small differences in latency can brand a big bear on on the amount of lag you experience in a game, information technology's worth restarting your equipment.

To power cycle, unplug your modem or wireless gateway, await 30 seconds, and plug it dorsum in. Do the same with a standalone router when your modem comes back online.

Update drivers and firmware

Hardware manufacturers release updates to ameliorate device performance. Updates typically include security fixes, code optimizations, improved device compatibility, and increased stability. You should ever keep your firmware and drivers current to prevent issues that can slam the brakes on your cyberspace connexion. Be sure to practice the following:

Update your computer'southward drivers and operating arrangement, especially the graphics drivers
Update your console's operating organization
Update the firmware for all controllers and peripherals
Update your router's firmware

Plow off unnecessary applications and devices

If your connection still struggles while playing games online, effort to reduce the amount of traffic on your home network. Brand sure that someone isn't streaming 4K video in another room when you're about to first a new lucifer.

You can as well prevent other devices from bogging down the network by turning off smart devices and pausing software and Os updates while you play—but remember to reactivate everything when you're washed.

Use the closest server

Distance is one of the biggest factors in latency. Even if every device on your connection is running at height efficiency, it still takes fourth dimension for a betoken to travel to a remote location and back.

Games almost ever connect you to the nearest server, merely if you're experiencing unexplained latency issues, double-bank check that you're not connecting to the European server when you're playing in North America. Y'all may need to switch servers if the current one is experiencing bug.

Employ port forwarding

Online gaming networks like Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network suggest that gamers assign "static" IP addresses to their consoles and road incoming and approachable traffic to those addresses. While routers typically assign dynamic addresses to your devices which change over time, a static address never changes.

When y'all assign a static IP address, yous can tell the router to forward data to that address through specific ports. A port is simply a "dock" that handles a specific type of "ship" (information) arriving to and leaving from your router. Gaming networks typically send and receive net information through specific ports.

To create a static IP address and open ports to that address, yous must brand the changes in your router or wireless gateway. Port forwarding works with any device—not just gaming consoles.

Utilise Quality of Service (QoS) controls if available

Y'all may be able to allocate more bandwidth to your gaming devices by making a few adjustments in your router or wireless gateway. The router will consider this traffic every bit "critical" and volition prioritize your gaming information over other applications, similar Netflix and YouTube.

On some routers, you can only establish i specific bandwidth amount and list the devices that tin use that bandwidth. There are no means to prioritize specific traffic, like gaming or streaming.

Avert peak hours

Y'all may meet a slowdown during peak hours when everyone in your home accesses the internet at the aforementioned time. Plus, a router is limited to how many wireless devices it can handle simultaneously earlier slowdowns occur. This heavy load is why we ever suggest using a router with four or more streams to amend handle busy homes.

Peak hours are also associated with cable cyberspace, just it's no longer the case now that providers similar Spectrum and Xfinity utilize cobweb equally their network backbone. Rural areas that are still 100% cablevision may still experience elevation hour slowdowns, however.

We suggest that yous play games later in the evening, or upgrade your router if information technology has less than 4 streams.

Check your connections

A bad Ethernet cablevision can lead to gaming lag woes, whether it's the cable connecting your router to your modem or fiber ONT, or the i tethering your calculator to the network. Besides, check your modem's net connection, as a loose cable will cause lag-inducing instability.

Upgrade your internet

If you've tried all these steps and are still experiencing more lag than you tin tolerate, yous may need to upgrade to a ameliorate internet connection.

Want to run across what providers are available in your area? Enter your zip lawmaking below.

Downloads can also strain your connectedness

Playing your games online volition push the limits of your internet connection more than than any other online activity, but it's not the simply way that games can put a strain on your connection.

Many modern games have up a lot of storage space on your computer or console . This means that downloading games from an online distributor like Steam or the Microsoft Store tin take a long time. It can also consume through monthly data caps in no time apartment.

Updates tin be data hogs besides. For case, Bethesda'due south Steel Reign update for Fallout 76 weighs a hefty xv.nine GB when downloaded from the Microsoft Shop, and 7.1 GB when downloaded from Steam. ⁸ Bethesda's long-awaited Doom Eternal Update 6 patch adding ray tracing to the visuals is around 4 GB on Steam.

Latency should nevertheless be your number-one priority in choosing an net plan for playing games online , but choosing a plan with unlimited information will save you a lot of headaches. Fast download speeds as well aid out with those large new games. After all, having extremely long download times on 24-hour interval I isn't much fun.

Livestreaming

Your internet needs become a fleck more than complicated if you stream your games on Twitch or YouTube. Streaming has all the normal requirements for a low-latency connection for playing games online, plus the boosted upload speed you demand to keep a steady bitrate on your livestream.

For more information on what to look for in an internet connection for livestreaming, check out our guide to net speed for alive video game streaming. We also provide a guide on how to stream on Twitch that offers all the information you lot need.

Game streaming

Cloud gaming services like Stadia and PlayStation Now store and run their games in a virtual auto you stream from their servers. Rather than download and run these games locally on your computer, console, or mobile device, you stream them from the cloud. This eliminates any hardware bottlenecks that could prevent a game from running at its highest quality on your device.

That said, you don't need a $four,000 desktop or the latest console to play these games. Instead, you just need a browser or an app, depending on the platform. For example, you can stream Stadia on a low-stop Chromebook or a Chromecast—Google's servers do all the heavy rendering, not your devices.

The downside to game streaming is that games are rendered on the server and then streamed beyond the internet in Full HD or 4K resolutions. And because these experiences are interactive and non passive (like Netflix and Hulu), input latency can be an issue.

To play these services without any major bug, you need a skilful internet connection to back up game streaming. Here are the cyberspace speed requirements for the four major gaming streaming services:

Note that Microsoft suggests an upload speed of at to the lowest degree 4.5 Mbps for Xbox Remote Play. An upload speed of 9 Mbps or more than is ideal.⁹

What almost Steam Remote Play?

Valve Software suggests speeds only in regards to Steam Remote Play Together. This service allows 1 Steam gamer to run a purchased multiplayer game locally on a PC and then invite four or more Steam friends to play remotely. Information technology's optimized to stream games to four other players at 1080p and 60 frames per second, so Valve suggests using a connexion of ten–thirty Mbps at the least.

This speed suggestion probably also applies to Remote Play Together+Anywhere, which however streams the multiplayer game from a PC, but now the game possessor is streaming remotely also. Meanwhile, Remote Play Anywhere streams to i client merely, and so the necessary internet speeds shouldn't need to go across x Mbps.

Online games vs. playing games online

Nosotros spend a lot of fourth dimension discussing games you can play online, which are games that target the single-actor experience outset and include multiplayer components. Games that fall under the "play games online" umbrella would include Doom Eternal , Pokemon Sword and Shield , Destiny 2 , and Halo Infinite . They tin can experience latency when played in co-op and multiplayer modes, especially when more than a few players are moving on the screen.

Online games, withal, can be highly susceptible to latency. These include The Elderberry Scrolls Online , World of Warcraft , and like MMOs. The player count is typically high, which means both the server and the client (your game) must keep track of every player. This can be a huge processing load fifty-fifty if you have the best connection bachelor. Your frame charge per unit may drop and your input may feel slow.

The bottom line: proceed your latency low

If gaming online is your main concern when choosing an net plan, choice the one that gives you the lowest latency, like Verizon Fios. Only keep in mind that other online activities like downloading games, livestreaming, or cloud gaming (non to mention things like watching video, working online, or doing schoolwork) have their ain requirements that you should consider.

Sources

Nintendo Customer Back up, "Troubleshooting Deadening Download and Upload Speeds," Accessed December three, 2020.
Xbox Support, "Troubleshoot your network connection speed," Accessed Dec four, 2020.
PlayStation Assist & Support, "PS4 Fault Lawmaking NP-37667-9," Accessed Dec four, 2020.
PlayStation Help & Support, "PS4 Error Code NP-38497-1," Accessed Dec iv, 2020.
Federal Communications Commission, "2015 Broadband Progress Study," February iv, 2015. Accessed December 4, 2020.
Stadia Aid, "Bandwidth, data usage, and stream quality," Accessed Dec five, 2020.
Federal Communications Commission, "Seventh Measuring Broadband America Fixed Broadband Report: Appendix F-1," May twenty, 2011, Accessed December 16, 2020.
Bethesda, " Fallout 76 Update Notes ," July 7, 2021. Accessed July thirteen, 2021.
Microsoft, "Understanding Your Remote Play Setup Test Results," Accessed December 22, 2021.
Bungie, "Network Setup: Wifi vs. Wired Connections," Accessed Dec 22, 2021.

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Writer - Peter Christiansen

Peter Christiansen writes nigh satellite internet, rural connectivity, livestreaming, and parental controls for HighSpeedInternet.com. Peter holds a PhD in communication from the University of Utah and has been working in tech for over 15 years every bit a calculator programmer, game developer, filmmaker, and author. His writing has been praised by outlets like Wired, Digital Humanities Now, and the New Statesman.

Editor - Cara Haynes

Cara Haynes has been editing and writing in the digital infinite for seven years, and she's edited all things internet for HighSpeedInternet.com for five years. She graduated with a BA in English and a pocket-sized in editing from Brigham Young University. When she's not editing, she makes tech accessible through her freelance writing for brands like Pluralsight. She believes no one should feel lost in internet land and that a skillful internet connection significantly extends your life bridge.

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