Hing ping in Valorant is actually more common than you think. But, before we start pointing fingers at Riot Games for not upgrading their servers, chances are, it’s your own device and setup that caused your sluggish gameplay.
Perhaps we can provide some answers to your pondering question on why is my ping so high in Valorant, and what to do about it.
For starters, ping technically refers to internet latency. But really, you want to know what is ping in gaming and how it drastically affect your gaming experience.
In layman’s terms, is the time taken for your device to send a command to the game’s server. To minimize the delay between user and server, Valorant has region-specific servers across the globe to cater for their distributed global playerbase. In most cases most users have access to a server with sub-50ms delay. However, if all the servers in your list have insane delays, the problem might be in your setup.
For instance, if you live in Southeast Asia, the Singapore server is the closest geographically. Hence, ideally, you want to have approximately 5ms ping, but even at 70ms, most players still find the experience viable if everyone has roughly the same delay. Problems arise only when some users has drastically better or worse ping then everyone else on the server. Issues like de-sync and improper movement stop popping up, breaking the game-play and potentially the enjoyment one might have.
Various factors contribute to Valorant high ping issues, such as server location, Internet speed or even your gaming station and internet setup. In order to get a decent playing experience in your matches, try the following fixes.
1. ACTIVATE NETWORK BUFFERING
Network buffering is a feature designed for people with unstable connections and high ping in Valorant. The settings vary between Minimum/Moderate/Maximum, and each setting sets how often your PC “talks” with the Valorant servers, and gets data packets back. The worse your packet loss is, the higher the setting you should go for.
At maximum settings, there will be less packets sent between you and the servers, and the game will attempt to automatically predict the movement of players. As a result you will get very smooth gameplay, but you will face difficulty winning duels against enemies due to the long delay it takes for your PC and Server to communicate.
Valorant developer RiotStealthyJesus explains it well in the following Valorant Reddit thread.
2. USE A LAN CABLE
It might sound a bit silly, but plenty of users forget that LAN cables are a necessity when gaming. WiFi connections are notorious for their delay and packet loss due to obstacles and the signal traveling through the air instead of a wire. Plugging a LAN cable from your router to your device is another method of obtaining a seamless connection and prioritizes the internet speed for your directly connected device.
Now if you really don’t have access to the router, but still want to play Valorant via wireless connection or even mobile data (we know you people exist), try minimize the number of obstacles between you and the router itself. Look for those bars and signal to be strong before starting your match.
3. MAKE VALORANT A HIGH-PRIORITY PROGRAM IN TASK MANAGER, AND CLOSE ALL OTHER APPS
Our PC often run background applications on start-up, some necessary, but others might just be downloaded apps that you have running in background.
First up, try to close all tasks that are not related to your game. Ideally you should only have the Game Client and Riot Vanguard up. Any additional app might be using internet in the background to self-update and eat up your valuable connection. Additionally, locate the Valorant app, and set it as a high-priority program on the Task Manager. It also goes without saying that you do not want to download mixtapes while playing Valorant. As the resources are distributed between these resource-hungry tasks.
Some apps like Razer Cortex or WTFast are able to achieve the objectives mentioned whenever you launch Valorant or any games.
4. GET A BETTER INTERNET PLAN
If there is infrastructure in place, use it. Say you have some cash to splurge, then the easiest solution is to upgrade your internet plan. If you plan to dedicate time to this game, it’s better to spend some money and save your health and nerves from delay and lag causing your losses.
A 100mbps high-speed Internet plan usually cost around $20 and can be decent to achieve low ping. However, that’s provided you aren’t sharing your Wi-Fi with too many household members. The megabits per second get distributed evenly among the number of active connections, so internet speed can dip. Also, consider playing Valorant during non-peak hours.
We hope high ping in Valorant will not be an issue affecting your gaming experience. If you get beat, we hope it’s cause your opponent is better or you really suck.
These are relatively conventional solutions to improve the Valorant high ping if you are experiencing it. Hence, the next time somebody calls out on why is my ping so high in Valorant, you know the three factors to fix. Of course, an important disclaimer to note is, no surreal solutions will be able to improve your Valorant gameplay if the closest Valorant server is not exactly close to your country. Take Australian players, for instance, who had to play in Singapore server when Oceania server didn’t exist.
Remember, playing with high ping sometimes has its advantages. When you get used to anticipating player movement to get winning trades, you will end up being exponentially better when you head over to play in LAN.
Imagine you’re in the middle of an intense game. Maybe it’s a battle and you’re shooting or slashing your sword. Or perhaps it’s a sports match. Whatever it might be, imagine you’re just a few points from winning. You take the winning shot and your game momentarily freezes so your shot happens a few seconds later instead of instantly. Then you discover your opponent took the shot first and you’ve lost…all because your game lagged.
Game lags are when there’s a delay between the action of the players and the reaction of the game server. Alongside the internet connection cutting out, they’re one of the most frustrating things a gamer will experience. It’s irritating because it doesn’t matter if you pressed the button first. If your game lags, the server won’t react instantly so if your opponent’s game is faster, they have a much better chance of winning.
Luckily, there are several things you can do to minimise lags and maintain a consistent gaming experience.
1. Check Your Internet Speed and Bandwidth
You don’t necessarily need business-speed internet to be able to game seamlessly, but you do need at least 15-20Mbps if you’re going to play games. But you also need to think about your bandwidth.
If you or other people in your household are going to be doing other internet-based activities (such as streaming movies, video chatting and browsing the web) at the same time, it can strain the bandwidth. Activities like streaming videos and downloading files are particularly big as they require a lot of data – a lot more than gaming, in fact. This can significantly slow your internet and game down if you don’t have enough bandwidth to support it all. Here are some myths about broadband connections for gaming.
2. Aim for Low Latency
Network latency is how long it takes for data to travel between its source and destination. The lower the latency, the better. If you’re gaming with high latency, you might tell your character to walk forward but they won’t actually move for a few seconds. This is what causes lag. The best combination is to have high-speed internet with low latency.
A good latency is a ping rate of below 150 milliseconds. 20ms is considered to be great.
What Causes Latency?
Like bandwidth, latency depends on more than just your broadband connection. It’s affected by your network hardware, the remote server’s location and connection, and the router.
When data packets travel from their source to their destination, it’s not usually a direct route – they often pass through different points along the route. The longer the route and the more stops they have to make, the longer the delay. How far your router is from your computer/console also adds to the delay.
3. Move Closer to Your Router
Items like the walls, floor, furniture and other physical objects can get in the way of your wireless signal. Enhance your WiFi signal and improve your line of connectivity by moving your computer or console closer to your router.
If you find that you still experience lag, it’s deteriorated or there’s no way you can move the router, try changing your gaming position. For example, placing your console at a different angle. You can also reduce signal interference from other household appliances like wireless speakers, microwaves and mobile chargers. This can help the wireless signal travel a more direct route to your device.
4. Close Any Background Websites and Programs
Bandwidth-heavy sites like Netflix, YouTube and downloads severely affect your ping rate and latency. Close any you might have running as this can impact your gaming performance.
Reducing the number of devices you have connected to the WiFi can help. The more devices connected to and using the WiFi, the more bandwidth is required. You could even put your devices on Airplane Mode while you game.
5. Connect Your Device to Your Router via an Ethernet Cable
If you live in a household where you have to share a WiFi connection with your family members or housemates, it might be difficult to ask them to stop using the internet when you’re gaming. You can try to squeeze in a game whenever they’re out of the house or you could connect your device to the router via an Ethernet cable.
As long as your router isn’t the problem, this should dramatically lower your ping.
6. Play on a Local Server
Playing on a server in your country or side of your country can significantly decrease your ping. The closer the server is to you, the better.
7. Restart Your Router
A router that has been on and in use for a while can become strained. Restarting your router can help to refresh your internet connection and can improve latency. If you’re a Gigaclear customer, you’ll have a Linksys router and can learn how to restart it here.
8. Replace Your Router
Old routers can affect your connection strength, speed and reliability. A router optimised for gaming can be the best choice. Gaming routers have special features designed to enhance all the conditions needed for gaming (including internet speed, ping rates and latency). One particular feature is Quality of Service (QoS), which allows you to prioritise the internet traffic on your console so you can get the best gaming experience.
9. Upgrade Your Broadband Package
Better broadband can be the best and most straightforward way to reduce game lag and increase internet speed. Consider upgrading your broadband package to an option that offers better conditions for gaming. Sometimes, it might be your specific area that has patchy WiFi signals so you could look for another broadband provider who offers a better, more reliable internet connection.
Gigaclear is a broadband provider who specialise solely in bringing ultrafast full fibre broadband to rural communities. We know and understand the frustrations rural communities face with poor and unreliable internet connections.
Whether you’re gaming, online shopping or streaming your favourite TV show, you shouldn’t be at a disadvantage just because of your location. Our ultrafast broadband allows you and your household to stay connected so you can go about your normal online activities with ease.
Modern online games require a lot of resources from your computer. But sometimes, even if you have an above-average or a top-spec machine, it’s still possible to experience ping issues. Ping is measured in milliseconds (ms) and represents the time passed between the moment your computer sent a data packet to a server and the server received it.
When playing multiplayer games online, a decent ping is anything below 60 ms, while a pingvalue of 20-30 ms is near perfect. Unfortunately, there are times when you just can’t achieve a high enough ping to overcome your opponents. If you can relate, check out the rest of this article to learn how to improve your ping.
Since there are numerous factors that affect the quality of your connection to the gaming server, there’s a list of things you can do.
Make sure to turn off any updates that might be running in the background. These are the most likely cause of high pings, as they will download without you realizing it, taking up your internet bandwidth. For instance you can go to Settings > Update & Security > Advanced Options, select Pause updates and set a value.
If you are running multiple apps in the background while playing an online game, this can also use a lot of your device’s resources and cause connection issues. The best practice, in this case, is to close any background apps and allow your computer or console to fully dedicate to the game you’re playing.
If you’re using a Wi-Fi connection, the first thing to try is to reset your router.
Next, try moving the router around in the hope that your gaming device will catch a better signal.
Sometimes, there might be a device or two nearby which interferes with the Wi-Fi signal. Try moving any suspicious devices to another room, just to make sure it’s not them causing the issue.
If none of this works, then you should connect your device directly to the router using an Ethernet cable. This will provide a connection that’s much less sensitive to any outside interference.
Finally, check the system requirements for the game you’re playing. If your computer can’t manage to process all the information on time, that’s when a network lag might appear. To resolve this issue, make sure to use graphics settings that the game automatically recommends. If this doesn’t resolve the high ping, try lowering the screen resolution or quality of visual details.
If none of these options helps you to significantly improve your ping, you might try playing around with the game’s settings. Since every game has specific features, the next few sections will deal with some of the most popular games today.
When playing Roblox online, the first thing to do is to check the game’s graphics settings. Depending on your computer setup, lowering the graphics quality a bit might improve your ping.
Hit Escape on your keyboard to bring up the main menu.
Now, click Graphics to open the relevant settings.
Change the Graphics Mode from Automatic to Manual.
Now try lowering some of the available options and see how well the game plays after that.
Once you find the right balance between the look and performance, your ping will probably improve.
If you’ve done your best to make the connection to the game server the best it can be, it’s time to check the game options which might help you out.
While in the game, hit the Escape key on your keyboard.
Then, click Settings.
From the top menu, click the game settings icon, the one that looks like a cog.
In the Language and Region section, go to the Matchmaking Region option.
On the right side of the screen, you should see the available regions you can use. Select the one with the lowest latency – the number in the parenthesis next to the region’s name. For example, you might find something like this: NA-WEST (52MS). This relates to the western part of the North America region, which has a decent ping of 52 milliseconds, on average.
Once you switch to the region with the lowest ping, simply exit the settings and continue playing the game.
Select Wi-Fi or LAN, depending on which connection you’re currently using. To avoid confusion, LAN is the Ethernet cable connection.
Choose your router from the list and press the Option button on the controller. Now you can check whether it’s working on a 5 GHz or 2.4 GHz frequency. If your PS4 is in the same room as your router, choose 5 GHz. If not, go for the 2.4 GHz option.
After you’ve tried the steps described in the first section of this article and your Xbox is still having ping issues, you might have to force-reset its network settings. Here’s how to do this:
Since most of the suggestions from the first section of this article also relate to PCs, you should try all of them first. If they don’t help, here’s another thing you can try.
Since your computer’s probably using some kind of firewall or antivirus or even both, it would be wise to add your online games to their white lists. Thanks to this, the firewall and/or antivirus will treat the communication between the game and its server as ordinary traffic. This will reduce the number of security scans, thus preventing potential drops in the connection speed responsible for high pings.
If you’re experiencing a high ping in Valorant, there isn’t much you can do about it apart from the steps you can find in the sections above. Go through each one of them, especially focusing on connecting to servers that are geographically closest to you.
To resolve the lag in your Minecraft session stemming from a high ping, try significantly reducing the graphics settings in the game. If the high ping persists, you’ll know that it’s not the game settings that are causing this.
While in the game, open the main menu choose Options, and go to Video Settings.
When talking about reducing your ping, this also means you’re trying to improve your connection speed. As mentioned above, you can reduce your ping in various ways. If using Wi-Fi, try moving your router around or connect it to your computer using an Ethernet cable. Also, make sure to connect to servers that are dedicated to your region or the ones that are geographically nearby.
There could be many reasons for this, with the most common including poor Wi-Fi reception, network interference from nearby devices, or connecting to a server that’s far away from you. Also, the game’s graphics settings might be too high, causing the game to lag occasionally.
No, it’s not. A higher ping shows you how much time it takes for your computer to send a signal to the server. If it takes longer than it should, you’ll have higher ping values. You want to keep it as low as possible, meaning there’s almost no latency in the communication between your computer and the server.
Hopefully, now you know how to lower your ping when playing video games. Whether it’s an issue with your network settings or something specific to the game you’re playing, chances are you’ll manage to resolve the issue.
Just keep in mind that most of the time, the ping issues stem from a poor network connection, rather than the game itself. And sometimes, the fault is not at your end at all – the server you’re on might be experiencing issues at that moment.
Have you managed to lower your ping? Which game have you had the mostping issues with? Please share your experiences in the comments section below.
Team Fortress 2 High Ping has been taking away the fun of players all around the world. Like any other steam game, high ping during intense gaming sessions tends to make players furious. Team Fortress 2 (TF2) isn’t an exception to it as well.
Today, I will elaborate on some essential workarounds that will help you tackle your high ping issue in the game. But before going into more details, it is first important for you to make sure that you are fulfilling the PC requirements recommended for the game to run properly.
While TF 2 has some basic requirements to run, I have mentioned those that will allow you to run it with the best possible results. Implementing these steps will ensure that TF2 high ping does not bother your PC’s performance.
Basic Workarounds
Once that you have set your system requirements right, then it is time for you to work on the steps mentioned below:
1. The first thing that you can do to help yourself reduce Team Fortress 2 high ping is by making sure that you have closed all the unnecessary applications in the background. This will allow you to put all your PC bandwidth to Team Fortress and not any other application that might be leeching onto the bandwidth.
2. Poor router connection is one of the main reasons why many people complain about Team Fortress 2 high ping. This, in many cases, happens if your PC is located far from the router or that your router is not providing the signal strength that it should. You can move your router closer to your PC get the required signals. The best thing, however, is to switch to a wired connection, so you free yourself from the hassle.
3. You might not be the only one using the internet when playing the game. Siblings, parents or anyone could also be using your bandwidth. This gives little to no room for you to play the game with ease and hence you face Team Fortress 2 high ping. A good way to cover that up is to limit your bandwidth for others so that you have got more bandwidth while playing the game.
4. Bandwidth congestion is also considered to be the reason for high ping. This happens a lot in old routers, so it’s better you restart your router each time you are in for long gaming sessions.
5. Check your ISP. One good way to do this is by pinging your gateway to see if you aren’t facing any problems. If the ping is too high, then you might have to call your ISP to rectify the problem.
Now that you are done with the basic stuff, it is time for you to move onto the advanced, more complicated workarounds if you are still facing high ping in TF2. Be attentive, however, as this requires to be an expert to tweak these settings. Otherwise, don’t bother yourself to mess things up for yourself.
1. Go to command prompt and write “regedit” and press Enter
4. Here you will need to find the file that shows you the IP address. If you are assigned an IP through an HDCP server, then you will have to search for DHCP IP address instead.
5. Now right-click on that interface file and select New – DWORD (32-bit). Name it “TcpAckFrequency.” Next, select it and modify it by entering “1” in Hexadecimal
6. Right-click on the interface file once against and select New – DWORD (32-bit). Name it “TCPNoDelay.” Next, select it and modify it by entering “1” in Hexadecimal.
7. Make sure that both files are now showing in the interface that you selected.
8. Exit “regedit” and restart your PC.
Implementing these workarounds will surely help you reduce TF2 high ping to a considerable extent.
While the things mentioned above help in reducing TF2 high ping, there are also many cases where doing all of it doesn’t help a bit. This is because of many network issues that may hinder your PC’s performance. Consequently, you continue to face high ping in Team Fortress 2.
Network congestion, distant data routes, and a number of hops are just some of the reasons why there might be high ping in TF 2. Kill Ping comes in as the savior in this regard and provides you with the ultimate solution to high ping in almost any game.
Without going into the technical aspects, here is a pictorial representation of how Kill Ping will reduce your TF 2 high ping down to the minimum.
If you have tried all the above-mentioned workarounds to fix high ping in the game, but still haven’t received any positive results then its time for you to bring in the best ping reducing software, Kill Ping. With its advanced routing algorithms and servers across the globe, Kill Ping will make sure you get the least ping not matter where you are playing from.
So quite thinking and give Kill Ping a try if all else has failed.
If you enjoy playing multiplayer games on your PlayStation 4, you might occasionally suffer from high or unstable ping (also known as latency). Since there are multiple causes for this, this article will present some solutions that you can try out.
Ping is usually measured in milliseconds (ms) and should ideally be below 60 when playing multiplayer PS4 games online. Anything above a ping of 80 and you can expect various difficulties, such as lagging during multiplayer games.
Typical ways to improveping on PS4 include checking your Internet connection, connecting your PS4 to the Internet via cable instead of Wi-Fi, using a VPN and changing the default DNS servers configured on the PS4.
If all of this sounds a bit complicated, don’t worry; we describe all the options in detail below.
Check your internet connection
As a first step, use the PS4’s built-in connection-check tool to make sure that your Internet connection isn’t the problem, or to find other clues about what could be causing your high ping.
Try connecting your PS4 to your router with an Ethernet cable. Often, a poor Wi-Fi connection is responsible for ping being too high when playing games, especially if you are far away from the router.
If your PS4 is not near your router and there are no network cables in your home, try using a powerline adapter, which is the next best solution in this situation.
In many cases, a VPN connection can help stabilize or even reduce your ping, since it allows data packets to take a more direct route to the game server and cannot be prioritized by your internet service provider (ISP), depending on the service.
Although the PlayStation 4 does not support VPNs by default, you can still use one on the PS4 with the help of a trick: the Shellfire Box.
If the trick with the VPN doesn’t work or you don’t want to use a VPN at the moment, you can also try to change the DNS server on your PlayStation 4.
This is possible via Network > Configure Internet Connection. There, you can select manual mode under the DNS settings and enter a new DNS server. You can try it with one of the following options, for example:
If changing the DNS server doesn’t reduce or stabilize the ping on your PS4, there’s nothing to stop you from reverting the settings back afterwards.
Play on servers that are geographically closer to you
Sometimes high ping is simply due to your geographical location being too far from the server you are playing on.
In this case, try to use servers that are geographically closer to you, if possible.
Conclusion
There are numerous causes for a too-high ping on PS4, and thus there are also numerous different solutions, of which we have explained the most important ones in this article.
Do you suspect that your problem is different? Have you found another good solution for improving ping on PS4? Feel free to leave a comment below this article so we can adapt and improve it in the future!
Written by Kyle Chivers, a NortonLifeLock employee
March 15, 2021
What is ping? Ask any gamer, and they might say it’s the biggest bane to their gameplay. That’s because when video games lag, the signs most often point to a too-high ping.
Ping is a measure of latency, or how quick a signal is sent from and returned back to your computer. To put it in a gaming context, it’s the amount of time a game takes to recognize your gameplay. For example, when playing Zelda, you want to know right away if Link slayed his enemies, not wait for your computer to register if they’ve even crossed paths.
And while pro gamers are able to avoid high pings at all costs, perhaps even by upgrading their equipment to the latest and greatest hardware, recreational online gamers generally are left to troubleshoot their own devices. To that end, consider this your ultimate guide on how to lower ping and, ultimately, reduce lag in video games.
Internet connection speed, above all else, affects ping. And for online gamers, internet connection speed is everything. Speed can also be affected by how much data a network is juggling and how many users are on that network at the same time.
To put ping in a non-gamer context, think of playing fetch with a dog. The farther we throw the stick and the rougher the terrain the dog has to take to get to it, the longer it will take them to bring it back. The amount of milliseconds — ping is measured in ms — that we’re twiddling our thumbs waiting for the dog to return with our thrown stick is called latency or, in gamer terms, lag for short.
So, when gamers are scratching their head asking, “Why am I lagging?” The answer is often high ping. For this reason, to reduce lag, you need to reduce ping.
How to lower ping? You can do this by improving the route your internet takes to connect to gaming servers. In other words, you can help establish a better connection between your computer and gaming servers.
Lower ping is better than high ping, because low ping means less lag. And less lag means smoother gameplay. On the flip, high ping means a longer lag. It also means you probably have a poor internet connection speed.
Remember, ping is how long it takes a device to “go fetch” data from another server. So, the less time it takes — meaning the lower the ping — the quicker your game can be played.
There are a number of reasons why ping can be high, many of which you can correct yourself. Some reasons your ping might be high include:
Routers and how updated they are, where they’re placed, and whether their firmware is up to date
Computers and whether they’re outdated, un-optimized for gaming, or need to be cleaned
Caches on your router or modems whether they’re full
The number of devices your network is supporting
A game’s settings and whether they’re over-optimized
Applications and programs running in the background on your device
Auto-updates that go into effect during your gameplay
You might also be wondering “Well, what is a good ping?” Realistically, anything below 100 ms is playable, but everyday gamers could strive for a ping of 50 ms or lower. Professional gamers, on the other hand, might want a ping around 20 ms or lower.
You can run a ping test on most computers, though how to do so differs across manufacturers. Some online ping tests also exist. To simplify, an internet speed test can also provide context to your ping rate.
At the end of the day, if your game is performing just fine, you probably don’t need to worry about your ping. But if your game is lagging, lowering ping is crucial to level up your gaming performance. It’s also very doable, beginning with a few troubleshooting steps.
How can you lower ping? It all begins with optimizing your internet connection speed, because this is what most often affects pings. As tempting as it may be, you might want to wait to tinker with your game settings or gaming setups until you’ve taken the following steps to improve your home’s network connection. This will help you troubleshoot whether it’s really your network connection that’s the culprit of your high ping or if it’s something directly related to your gaming setup.
Step 1: Conduct computer maintenance
Running through a computer maintenance checklist can go a long way in speeding up your device and how clearly it can communicate with a gaming router. Even dust that’s piled up overtime can cause overheating, because our computers are not receiving proper ventilation.
Another consideration: Are your ethernet cables up to date? Ethernet cables are available in categories ranging from 3 to 8, or Cat 3 to Cat 8. The higher the category, the better your internet bandwidth and transmission speed. Most households have a Cat 5 or greater ethernet cable, which suffices for gaming because it can handle internet speeds of 1,000 Mbps or higher. Outdated cables, however, might not even be able to handle speeds higher than 100 Mbps.
Step 2: Revisit your router setup
Our routers are the mainframe of our internet connectivity and they too deserve a little TLC. Consider the following router maintenance tips:
Clear your router’s cache: A full internet cache bogs down our devices. Do a hard reset on your router to clear cookies entirely and give your device a clean slate.
Place your router in an open space: Objects and even walls can obstruct our wireless internet connections. Evaluate whether your router is in an open space and maybe reposition it to a higher spot, because signals angle downward. Also readjust the antennas.
Update your router’s firmware: Think of how our devices slow down when software or security updates are necessary. The same can be true for routers, so make sure your router’s firmware is up to date.
Step 3: Run an internet speed test
Now that your devices are up to snuff, it’s time to do an internet speed test to determine whether it’s really your internet connection that is affecting your download speed.
You can conduct an internet speed test by inputting “internet speed test” into Google. Click the “run speed test” button for a gauge on what your current download speed is. If your speed score is low — below 100 Mbps — this could be an indication that the internet may be the problem.
Keep in mind that internet speeds vary depending on the number of users that are on your network at the same time. For this reason, consider doing a few internet speed tests throughout the day to determine if your bandwidth is overwhelmed. You might also want to plug your computer directly into an ethernet cable to see how the numbers change.
An unfortunate truth is we sometimes have to make sacrifices to improve our gameplay, including ditching Wi-Fi altogether, disconnecting other devices from your network, and even lowering the visual quality of games.
But one thing you should never sacrifice to lower ping is your video game security — even though it can be tempting, don’t disable your gaming security software or VPN to achieve a faster connection. Instead, consider the following pointers to reduce ping, listed from the least to more painstaking sacrifices.
1. Close background programs and applications
There are a lot of things fighting for our computer’s attention, programs, and applications running being one of them.
By force closing these, you’re directing your device’s attention entirely toward what’s important: your game. You’re also minimizing your internet bandwidth because there are less programs and applications nursing off of its connection.
2. Temporarily disable updates
Enabling automatic updates for software and applications is a great way to stay on top of your cybersecurity and ensure your devices are running optimally. Still, these updates can require a lot of your computer’s attention. For this reason, if you’re experiencing lag in video games, you might want to consider temporarily disabling your updates so that they don’t hinder your gameplay. Just be sure to enable them once you push pause for the day.
Think of an ethernet cord like an IV. It’s providing direct nourishment to your device — in the form of an internet connection — because it’s plugged directly into your device. While it’s not the most convenient of ways to lower ping, because your ethernet cord might not be near your gaming setup, you can invest in a powerline adapter to connect to an ethernet cable away from your router.
Still, using an ethernet cord most often provides a more stable internet connection versus Wi-Fi, which is being tugged and pulled by many users and devices. In the event Wi-Fi is your only option, be sure you’re on a 5GHz network versus 2.4 GHz.
4. Remove other devices from your network
Just like those programs and applications that fight for our device’s attention, our connected devices, too, are competing for our Wi-Fi. And when you consider the rise of IoT, our routers have to juggle a lot. There’s smart TVs, computers, cell phones, smart watches, even our wireless gaming headsets. Then, multiply that by how many people live under one roof and your internet connection might simply be overwhelmed. If you’re experiencing lag in your video game, consider disconnecting these other devices or even users from your network — looking at you, roommate who’s always on TikTok.
It can sometimes be the case that it’s not you or your internet connection’s fault for a high ping — it might be the server of the game you’re playing that has a low ping. If you know the game server’s IP address, you can check this or you can visit sites such as Game Server Ping that list popular video games. If the game server’s ping is high, that could be a clear indication of why your ping is also high while gaming.
6. Select a gamer server closest to you
Another thing to consider is how close a game server is to your device, physically. The farther apart you are, the longer it takes for the two to communicate, so the higher your ping will be. Just think of how fast you can communicate with someone sitting beside you versus someone in another country. Good news is some games allow you to choose which game servers your device communicates with. If this is the case for your game, always pick the gamer server closest to your physical location.
7. Adjust your frame rate
Nowadays, gaming visuals are downright impressive. But the better the visuals — consider HD quality versus standard — the more energy it takes for your device to compute them. If you’re experiencing high ping, you may need to optimize your game’s settings, beginning with your frame rate. Worth noting is the higher your frame rate, the better quality your game’s animation will be. In your game’s settings panel, try lowering the frame rate on your game and see if it improves your gameplay.
8. Upgrade your router
The fact is equipment deteriorates over time, including the router that supports our internet connection and, in turn, affects lag in video games. Consider how old your router is and also consider upgrading it if the rest of these troubleshooting steps and tips haven’t been a success.
A newer device should give you the latest and greatest range and strongest signal for your wireless connection. Avid gamers might even want to consider springing for a gaming router that, as the name alludes, is optimized for gaming. Some include a Quality of Service feature that means the router will prioritize gaming traffic above other internet traffic.
9. Contact your internet service provider
If you can’t seem to find a solution for the lag in your video game, it might be time to call in the professionals. Contact your internet service provider for advanced troubleshooting tips to lower your ping and, finally, reduce lag in video games.
The bottom line: Lowering ping improves your online gaming performance
While people turn to video games for different reasons, with some considering gaming a form of relaxation and others determined to beat their competition, no gamer wants to experience lag — and every gamer wants to reduce lag. Thankfully, just maintaining your devices can make a big difference in your gaming experience. So, go forth, lower your ping, and higher those leaderboard rankings!
There is nothing more frustrating than gaming with your friends online and then all of a sudden the game begins to lag. Maybe you are seconds away from reaching the next level of that first-person shooter game or scoring the winning goal in your favorite sports game, and your device bugs out. If this has ever happened to you, then you know how frustrating it can be to have your gaming experience interrupted.
One of the reasons this may be happening is that you may be playing with a low-quality ping. Ping is the measure of latency from your device to the server and then back to your device. Essentially, it is a measurement of connection speed that influences lag, which can affect your gaming experience.
If you have been experiencing a lag while gaming, then it may be useful to understand more about ping testing so that you can play with fewer to no disturbances. Explore this guide to learn about the difference between a good and bad ping, as well as ways to improve your ping.
In online games that require quick reactions, you not only need to react quickly using your mouse, keyboard or controller, but you also need your PC or game console to communicate quickly and smoothly with the game’s server. This is where a good ping is vital.
While there is not a universal guide to good ping, as it depends on the game servers and other factors, generally a ping that is over 100 milliseconds (ms) is poor. Most gamers should strive for the lowest ping possible, as this means network devices are able to transfer signals back and forth in less time.
There are many options for performing a ping test. Luckily, most online games allow players to check their ping directly in the game. Explore the game settings and look for “network options.” Once there, follow the directions to get your ping test results. Another simple way to perform a ping test is by using CenturyLink’s internet speed test, which includes ping in addition to download and upload speeds. You can also check out any of the specialized online ping testing sites, and simply follow the directions on the site.
If you have been experiencing high ping that is interrupting your gameplay, follow these tips and methods to help improveping:
Close out background applications. Since many gaming sites need a good bandwidth, be sure to keep any other large programs and applications closed while gaming. If these programs are running while you’re gamming, it could cause an increase in ping, which may cause lag.
Plug in a wired connection. If you are using a wireless (WiFi) connection for you gamming console or computer, this can impact your overall speed as well as your ping. For better performance, consider foregoing WiFi in favor of a wired Ethernet connection. If a wired connection to your router isn’t possible, consider using a WiFi extender to boost the WiFi signal in areas that are farther from your router.
Consider a higher-bandwidth internet plan. If you want to stream large music files while also gaming or if multiple users in your home need to access the internet at the same time, then consider making the switch to a higher-bandwidth internet plan like CenturyLink’s Fiber Optic Internet.
Pick a game server that is close to you. For faster communication between your computer and the server, consider picking a server that is closer to you.
Do not let lag or low latency keep you from gaming. Next time you notice interrupted gameplay, try using one of these ping-testing tips to help you get back in the game. For more tips and guides on how to improve your gaming experience, check out the CenturyLink Gaming Hub.
