Nowadays Everyone owns a console or a PC with an internet connection, you can download a game, invite your friends, hop in the game, play together and have a chit chat while you are gaming. They are great platforms to socialize and spend time with your friends but all of this could be ruined just by one thing, High ping. It’s a nightmare for any gamer and one couldn’t even think of facing this problem during clutch situations in-game. Ping tells you how fast your computer or console is sending signals to the game server. It is measured in ms (milliseconds). The lower your ping is the better response and reaction will be between your PC and the game client-server
Why Is My Ping So High?
It is a common problem among internet users, especially gamers. It can be frustrating to experience high ping in-game, and not many gamers know the actual cause of this happening. And to be honest, there are many factors, both internal and external, that can affect the latency of your internet. It is easy to get confused about what the actual issue your internet is facing. Here are the issues that can negatively affect your gaming experience.
#1- Because Of Your Internet Service Provider (ISP)
One of the major reasons that your ping is higher than usual is the bad connection from your ISP. your isp may not be providing you with better service, and that can cause major problems for you, especially if you are earning from games and you are a professional streamer. Always make sure that your ISP is allowing you to test their speed and latency before you choose to use their services; a good ISP will always care about customer satisfaction first. Changing your internet service is a better option and reasonable solution for this issue.
#2- Bandwidth Is Not Adequately Sufficient
Before choosing a package, you should be well aware of your needs and your requirement for bandwidth; what do you use the internet for? Are you a streamer that uploads their highlight clips on a daily basis? These factors are important to consider before choosing a plan, inefficient internet speed will cause major problems, you will take a lot of time to browse the internet, which can be quite frustrating, you will face difficulty and latency issues while gaming and streaming at the same time. Low internet speed will cause huge delays in sending signals and overall slow the process. Always pick a moderate bandwidth package that can be reasonable for your needs and not heavy on your pocket every month but of course, if you can afford you can go for the premium packages and enjoy gaming without any worries.
#3- Firewall Configurations
A firewall is a security measure that monitors incoming and outgoing traffic filtering out unsafe packets to protect your device from digital threats. It keeps checking on the traffic and causes a delay between signals that are received by your PC. This blockade can negatively affect your internet and slows down the process of your PC receiving signals from your router device. This can easily be disabled from windows settings, or you can exclude your preferred software and games to be affected by the firewall. With this, your PC will ignore these apps, and you can bypass the firewall without disabling it completely.
#4- Distance Of Your System From The Router
Distance from your router deeply affects the strength of your internet signals if you are on a wireless connection. Even a single drop in Wi-Fi signals can decrease the internet performance; various items in your house can act as a blockade between you and the signals, walls, furniture, or if you are on different floors. Moving close to the router will decrease the signal interference by a lot. This only applies to Wi-Fi users, no ethernet users, ethernet users are limited by the wire connecting to the router, so they are closer to it.
#5- Geographical Location
Distance from where you are playing the game to the actual server you are playing on matters a lot in calculating the difference between pings. Let’s suppose you are playing a multiplayer game, but you are living in Asia, and you are playing on a server that’s based in Japan; you will experience significant lag and unstable ping because the long distance between these servers is causing delays between signals. If there is an option to select servers, always choose the closest one to your location.
#6- Websites Running In The Background
There is a chance that you may have left some websites unintended, and you are unaware of them. Just like online games, websites also consume some part of your bandwidth, and not only that, processor usage will be higher than usage while gaming because of the running apps in the background. If these programs are using ram and processors while they are running in the background, there will be less memory left for your game to utilize, and this can cause latency issues. Always check and close background programs so you can enjoy uninterrupted gaming.
#7- Streaming Services Are Running
If you have a show that you have liked and added to your list, the app can automatically start downloading whenever there is a new episode release, and this can happen without your knowledge. These streaming programs offer high-quality episodes, so 1080p or higher can be tough on your bandwidth and can ruin your gaming session. Always make sure you have closed these programs or set the downloading preferences according to your needs so that they won’t interfere during your online games.
#8- Something Is Uploading Or Downloading
If you are living with your family that actively uses the internet on a daily basis, you can have issues during your gaming. A lot of times, when I am experiencing high ping and unbearable lag, I get mad at my ISP but then sometime later, I find that my sister is using the internet to download her favorite tv show, and that was the actual cause of the high spikes in latency. The number of devices connected to your internet can deeply affect the consistent latency of the internet as the bandwidth is being distributed to many devices at the same time. It doesn’t matter if you are using an ethernet cable, the bandwidth will be divided among other devices, and you will be getting a mere portion of the internet. I suggest that you disconnect unnecessary devices when you are using your PC. check your mobile phone and if you don’t need it while gaming on your PC, you can disconnect from Wi-Fi and other devices that are not being used at that moment.
#9- Overheating
Wi-Fi routers work 24/7, every day, every week without any interruption or rest. They are designed like that to provide us with the internet every second of their lifetime. But routers can get old, and failing parts can cause them to overheat if they are kept working for too long. Overheating of your router means that there may be dust collecting inside your router that is causing your device to fail. This causes high heat to produce, and with overheating, your router won’t perform correctly. High pings, unintentional lag spikes will become frequent, and you will notice a significant decrease in gaming. Try to cool down your router every once in a while or change it with a new and better model.
What Is Latency?
Latency is often used as a term to define the time it takes a signal to move from one destination to another. In this case, I am referring to the time it takes your internet to transfer signals from your router to your game client servers. Latency has a major role in online games; everything depends on the good and consistent bandwidth in multiplayer competitive games. Low latency gives you a huge advantage over your other opponents in the game. The response to the in-game server will be immediate and quicker if you have low latency. Let us create this scenario, you are about to face another player in a 1v1 soon. You have your weapon equipped on screen, and as soon as you spot the player, you press the fire button, and your PC will immediately acknowledge the action, all because of low latency. You will shoot quicker, the response time will be significantly lower. This is a huge advantage over other players in any multiplayer combat game. If your latency was higher than it should be, even if you pressed the correct button to fire a weapon, your game will take time to register it, and your bullet will not shoot on immediate press. The lower your latency is, the better.
What Does Lag Mean?
Lag and Latency go together like peanut butter and jelly. Even though they are very similar, some minute differences separate them. They both affect each other, you can say they have a very close relationship. The definition is self-explanatory, the lag can exist because of latency. As I have told above, latency is caused by a bad internet connection, lack of strength, or bad rerouting of servers. The latency in the game causes a player to lag, i.e., they are unable to keep up with others or fall behind. High latency increases the responsiveness of the in-game servers, and when you try to do some action, you will notice that the said action is not immediate but rather slow, or it doesn’t go into effect at all. A delay will occur instead that will keep you from engaging with other players and bring you to a huge disadvantage competitively. This is what we can say as Lag, you can eliminate lag in the game by maintaining low latency, but unlike lag, latency always remains. It can be reduced to the point where it is nonexistent and doesn’t affect you in any way, but there is no way you can eliminate latency. However, lag can exist by numerous other factors instead of latency. Even if you managed to keep the latency to its lowest minimum possible, you could still face the issue of lag if you are using old and weak components, HDD with bad sectors that are unable to read and write the game, or overheating of your PC components. But if you are sure that your hardware is up to date and is in pristine condition, then you can pretty easily figure out that one of the main reasons for Lag is latency.
How To Lower Your Ping
Now that I have mentioned and defined all the possible reasons you are experiencing high ping, latency, and an unstable internet connection, it’s time to focus on the possible solutions to these problems. High ping is one of the most frustrating issues that any gamer can face, and there are various possible ways to fix this issue. So what can you do about this? Let’s break down these problems and see their solutions.
#1- Move Your PC Closer To The Router
If you are an ethernet user, then you can ignore this section. This is strictly for wireless internet users. It doesn’t matter you have a PC or laptop; if you are using wireless internet, there is something that you should take care of if you don’t want any ping-related issues during gaming. In every household, there are many items like furniture, walls, or some other objects that can reduce the signals of your Wi-Fi router. Make sure to use your laptop or PC in the same room or the room that is closest to the router. Other electronic devices, like TV, microwave, wireless speakers, can interfere with the router signals, so make sure your router is in an isolated place.
#2- Restart Your Router Or Modem
A very old-school trick, but it works, so there is nothing wrong with using this method. Old routers can get outdated, get overheated frequently if they are working for a long time. Sometimes this can affect the speed and connectivity of the router. It is better to let them rest for a while. Pull the plug off the wall, let it rest for a few minutes and then plug it back on. Doing this will allow your router to refresh its server link and optimize the internet traffic. It’s like a quick nap for your device.
#3- Improve Wi-Fi Signal Strength
Another thing you can take care of is to improve your router’s Wi-Fi signals so you can have consistent connectivity during your gameplay. The signals from the Wi-Fi routers are fairly weak, and they need clear space to spread out and reach your devices. Improving the placement of your router helps a lot in this scenario. Make sure you are avoiding playing your router in the same space as your other electronic devices like TV or microwaves. Wi-Fi range extenders help a lot in increasing the range of your Wi-Fi signals if you are unable to get close to your router for some reason. You can get these extenders from online stores or even the local PC markets at fair and cheap prices.
#4- Close Any Background Programs And Websites
You may be unaware of some websites that might run in the background without notice. This is normal, and you can disable this by opening task manager, going to startup, and disabling the applications that you don’t want running in the background. It’s just better to keep them from running in the background as you’re just dedicating resources to background programs at the cost of a higher ping. It’s not something that couldn’t be fixed with a little help from the trusty task manager.
#5- Use A Wired Connection
Wired connections are generally faster than wireless Wi-Fi, and this is due to a multitude of reasons. Even the most common Ethernet connections have relatively faster speeds than the highest Wi-Fi protocols. One reason why Wi-Fi is slower than wired is that it is more susceptible to interference than wired. Wi-Fi is severely affected by even minute radio wave disturbances, and small increases in distance cause lower signal strength by quite an amount. This slow signal strength will be responsible for slow transfer speeds and ultimately result in a higher ping. Let’s face it, the words “higher ping” just fall too harshly on the ears of any gamer, so if you want to save yourself from the dangers of a higher ping, the wired connection should be on your list instead of Wi-Fi. Different types of ethernet cables can affect connectivity. The most commonly used ethernet cable for households is CAT 6 which can support up to 10gbps of bandwidth which is a lot by household standards. The newly introduced CAT 8 cable type is a huge improvement over the previous version, and this cable allows more than 25 Gbps of internet data to run through it. If you ask me, this is quite an overkill for regular users.
#6- Reduce The Number Of Devices Using Wi-Fi
One thing to know about the connection is the more the number of devices connected to the internet, the more the bandwidth is shared which cripples internet speed. And this speed is crippled further if the connected devices are streaming or downloading large files. So at any time, for a low ping, you want to make sure that the least amount of devices are connected, and if the price for a lower ping is being a bit selfish, then so be it.
#7- Optimize Your Network Adapter Settings
You can control several aspects of your wired and wireless connections through the network adapter. If you are not aware, then to explain, the option to change your adapter options can be found in Ethernet on the left column under Network and settings. Now when you are making changes, remember to only change the adapter with which you have an active internet connection. So if you have a wireless connection, then make all changes to the Wi-Fi adapter and vice versa. Once there, you can mess around with your DNS server address. There are many DNS server addresses, some are fast, some are secure, etc. You can find that out for yourself. The recommended DNS server address is Cloudfare’s. You can also disable file and printer sharing as it is not important for a single pc environment.
#8- Change Your DNS Address
As previously mentioned, changing your DNS server could be beneficial and potentially improve connection, subsequently decreasing ping. Now unless your internet service provider is a world-renowned corporation, they usually don’t have their DNS address instead they use Google’s DNS address which is 8.8.8.8 – 8.8.4.4. To change your DNS. The address you need to follow is the following path. Settings > Network & Internet > Change Adapter Settings. After this right-click a connection with active Wi-Fi and select Properties > IPv4 > Properties. Finally, select “Use The Following DNS server address”. The recommended DNS address is Cloudfare’s. Which is 1.1.1.1 / 1.0.0.1
#9- Play On A Local Server
Playing on a local server is always preferable then playing on a foreign as a local server offers drastically lower ping, so while in Rome, do as the Romans do. Low latency communication requires close physical proximity, so the servers of your continent or country are always a better option because with current technology, a ping of less than 100 ms with a server host distance of greater than 15 thousand miles. When the traveling path is not complex, packet congestion is negligible, and the game company has bought even bandwidth to prevent traffic. If you are playing highly time-sensitive games like a counter strike or any other multiplayer game, you should just stay within your continent to avoid high ping.
#10- Temporarily Disable Updates
Windows downloads and updates can bring down your internet speed to a severe low and cause ping to overshoot. They are also terribly annoying as automatic windows updates can’t be stopped once they have begun. You want to have as much of your bandwidth free as possible for a lower ping and a better gaming experience, and thanks to Windows 10/11, you can decide how much of your bandwidth you want to dedicate to downloads and updates by going through the following path Settings > Update And Security > Advance Options > Delivery Optimization > Advance Options. After this slide, the first slider to around 10 percent for downloading updates.
#11- Reset Network Settings
You should reset your network settings to lower ping. Consider this an early warning as resetting your network settings uninstalls every installed network adapter on your computer. As for the procedure, go to Start Menu > Settings and choose Network and Internet. Afterward, choose a status in the left navigation plan and then scroll down to find the Network reset link. Click the reset link and read the information message carefully; after you are done, select reset now and then ‘yes’ as this will start the procedure and restart the system. Do not forget to reconnect to your network, as when you reset your network settings, the previous connection was released. There won’t be a need to do it manually if your internet settings are set to automatically detect, in which case the system would automatically detect the appropriate connection and connect without any trouble.
#12- Adjust Your Frame Rate
You might not be familiar with the term Texture Streaming, it is not commonly used, but in some newer games, you can see this in the graphic settings tab. This feature downloads and renders texture in real-time while you are gaming. Enabling this setting, your game will download the graphics and high detailed textures from the internet as you play the game. This can cause your ping to lag spikes, and your ping will fluctuate very frequently. You can disable this setting if you are worried about having high latency during gameplay. Lowering down your graphics, on the other hand, won’t affect your ping by any means. It will help you with the FPS increase, but your ping stays dependent on your internet connection.
#13- Avoid Using VPN Or Proxy
Although split tunneling has been a popular thing in the gaming community for quite some years, it is not always guaranteed to work. If the connection between your home and the game server is already as fast as it can go, then a VPN is of no use because then all the data will have to travel longer. Consider the following
Without VPN User —-> Server
After VPN User —-> VPN Server —-> Server
As the data take longer routes, the only thing that will increase is the lag.
Should You Upgrade To A Router With QoS Feature?
Nowadays, modern routers come with QoS service, which is a useful tool for gamers. It prioritizes the bandwidth of your internet so that your preferred applications receive more internet bandwidth than other applications. Any gaming router with the QoS feature will allow you to download your favorite show while you are streaming your game at the same time. Of course, you will need to manually set the specific bandwidth for different applications, but it is not rocket science, you can easily do it yourself. It seems like it is not a bad choice to choose a router that includes this handy feature, it can improve your daily internet experience by a lot. You can prioritize your games, so they are no chance of lag, and your games are the first to receive data first before anything else. This feature will become a necessity if you are living in a big house with only one Wi-Fi router installed. Your sister or brother wants to download their favorite tv shows, your spouse wants to browse Facebook, and you are thinking of playing video games, but with one router and so many users, the bandwidth will divide among all the connected devices. There might not be enough juice left for your internet to let you play your favorite multiplayer game. With this feature, you can be a little selfish and prioritize your games over anything else. You don’t have to tell your family members about this. Just a little secret between you and your little router.
Using Quality Of Service (QoS) To Get Better Ping
Using Quality of Service to get Better Ping. Quality of Service (often abbreviated as QoS) is a technology that allows you to give priority to network traffic that you see is the most important, and with QoS, the ability of a network to run high priority applications under limited capacity becomes guaranteed. There are so many things trying to compete for your bandwidth, and with so many of them, you need something to manage the traffic, which is QoS. In plain terms, it works like a traffic police officer by managing network traffic in your limited bandwidth space. Most of the QoS services are managed by your router, so if you have a gaming router, it will prioritize your game over other data, and you will find that your game is running smoothly even the part of the bandwidth is blocked by traffic. This can surely knock down your ping by a lot. You can find QoS settings in the advance section of Router Control Settings. Now there are two approaches when using QoS. The first data priority is to give priority to a certain device so that it doesn’t get stuck in network traffic. You may need to manually add the devices to achieve this using their IP address or MAC address. The second data priority is to prioritize an application over others. This way, QoS prioritizes a certain instead of a whole device. If you know the port number through which all the data of one of your apps goes, then you can either assign the port a high or a low priority, depending on your choice. When you give a port a higher priority, its data is processed first, and not just that, it is also given the bandwidth it needs to function perfectly. So if you are having trouble with ping overshoots like sudden spikes, a look at your QoS settings might make life a little easier.
What Is A Good Ping Response Time?
Ping is a term used to describe the transfer of data from one device to device. The signals you send from your data takes some time to reach other device and then ricochet back to your device. Ping tests are used to judge internet speed and how much time it takes for your internet to respond. It is measured in Milliseconds, so it is no surprise that low ping is always favorable and expected for better results. In gaming, low ping gives you a huge advantage over other players. Low ping will immediately register your action in-game, and you will act on button press. Normally anyone would love the lowest ping possible in-game. You can hope for 0ms ping, but that is impossible unless you are playing on LAN servers. But right now, many multiplayer games provide access to different servers and regions all over the world, so 0ms might be a tall order, you can go for 20ms -50ms ping for best results. This is the sweet spot for most gamers. You can go for something like 100ms, but anything over 100ms will make you notice some lag and delayed actions. The lower the ping is, the better you will enjoy your gaming. There is always a chance that your ping may go unstable, but now that you have read this guide, you can figure it out yourself. Having low ping levels can give you a significant advantage over everyone in your gaming lobby. However, there is still no way to reduce latency completely. Latency remains no matter what you do, but it’s not a bad thing. Keep it low enough so that it won’t hurt your gameplay, and with lower ping levels, you can play any game without worries.
#1 – What causes high ping?
There are different reasons as to why you are facing high ping. It could be your router, or your internet bandwidth is insufficient for you to play games. There may be some websites opened in the background that can use a significant amount of data while you are playing some games.
#2 – Is 10ms ping good?
The ping should stay as low as it can for the best results. The lower your ping is, the more responsive your game servers will be, and you will action will feel immediate. 10ms is excellent for your game; however, there are not many games that can go this low, but if you are playing on servers that are closest to your location geographically, then it is possible to achieve low ping levels.
#3 – Is 30 a good ping?
Most players prefer to get ping under 100ms consistently. There is not a huge difference if you are staying under 100ms during your whole match, so 30ms is a sweet spot for most gamers.
#4 – Do gaming Routers reduce ping?
Gaming routers are targeted toward gamers, and they have a specific feature that optimizes your latency for better gaming performance. These routers will automatically select the closest server to your region, so the latency stays lowest. If you have bad internet, these routers will try to minimize the lag as best they can.
#5 – Is 0 ping possible?
0 ping level is amazing and the best thing you can experience during gaming, but due to various reasons, it is hard to get 0 ping unless you are playing on LAN. in multiplayer games, it takes a while for data to reach the server, so its gonna take time.
#6 – Why is my warzone ping so high?
Various reasons can contribute to bad latency and high ping. You can check with your ISP if your internet speed is slow or if you are not getting enough bandwidth to play games. Bad servers can also play their part in unstable ping. This usually happens at the start of the new season when the majority of players try to log in and play the new content. This can cause servers to become unstable, and you can experience high ping and lag.
#7 – How do I check bandwidth?
One of the most common ways to check your internet bandwidth is to open the task manager and select the performance on top. There you can see the Ethernet or Wi-Fi section (it depends on whether you are using a cable or not). Click on it, and you can get basic details about your internet and the current usage of bandwidth.
#8 – Why do I have a high ping at night?
If you are living with your roommates or family members and they are sharing the same internet in the house, your bandwidth will be shared among all users, and chances are there will be little left for you to game on. Usually, people download, browse and stream tv shows at night, so the user traffic can be high at midnight.
#9 – Does graphics affect ping?
Graphics are entirely dependent on your hardware. What kind of GPU and CPU are you using? How many gigs of ram have you installed? There is no connection between graphics and internet connection. Tweaking your graphics won’t affect your ping in any way.
#10 – How do I test my ping?
If you are a Windows 10 user, you can test your ping with a command prompt. Type cmd in the search bar to open up the command prompt. Type ping and press the spacebar. Now you need to write the IP address and then press enter. The results will show you your current ping.
#11 – What is the best free ping reducer?
Ping reducers divert your internet traffic to the server closest to your location so you can get better latency and low ping. Various ping reducers offer this feature without making you pay for them. Battleping is one of the most used ping reducers in gaming apart from Kill ping, which is paid. Battleping does the job just right without requiring you to purchase it.
