Anyone who plays competitive games online wants to improve their ping. What is this about and what tricks are there to pep up your management?
Do you have an Internet line with 100 megabits per second (Mbit / s) and still have a bad ping in games like “League of Legends”, “Counter Strike – Global Offensive” & Co.? This is not unusual, because the bandwidth, i.e. the 100 Mbit / s, only has something to do with the ping to a limited extent.
In order: Think of your line like a postman delivering parcels from a server to your computer. The bandwidth, in your case 100 Mbit / s, only tells you how many packages the messenger can carry at one time.
The ping or latency shows in milliseconds how fast it is delivering the packets. Conversely, it means that the ping depends on how far the server and computer are from each other. If you play League of Legends on a server in Frankfurt, your ping will be better than if you play the same game on a server in North America.
Because then the messenger has to travel further to transport the pacts back and forth. So you should make sure that you always select European servers in the game settings. In the Test the internet.
1. Improve ping: Cable instead of WiFi
If you play online on your computer, you don’t want to do it over your home WiFi network under any circumstances. Compared to cables, the wireless connection is more prone to failure and nothing is more annoying than a disconnection in the game because the WLAN is twitching.
The simplest option for the lowest possible ping is a cable connection between the computer and the modem – no matter how long it is. When purchasing the cable, make sure that it is a Gigabit ethernet cable acts. It offers a data throughput of a maximum of 1,000 Mbit / s. Some cables only fit 100 Mbit / s – stupid if your line should get bigger in the future.
Usually the modem is in impossible places in the house and you would be forced to lay a cable across the room. Nobody wants that. The closest to the cable connection come so-called Powerline adapter. These are plugs that forward the data packets over the power grid.
So your messenger takes a little detour via the socket before delivering the parcels to your computer. As with cables, you want to keep an eye on the data throughput of the adapter. The bandwidth of your connection will again decide which Powerline set is right for you. If you have a line with a width of 250 Mbit / s, slow down powerline adapters that only allow 100 Mbit / s through.
With the TP-Link TL-PA7017KIT AV1000 but that doesn’t happen to you. According to the manufacturer, the set offers a bandwidth of 1,000 Mbit / s. With the Powerline adapters, you should be well equipped for the next few years. If you want to integrate more of the devices into the network, you can buy them individually.
2. Improve ping: Firewall settings
What does a firewall actually do? She checks the packages your postman delivers to the computer. It doesn’t take a lot of time, but it can be avoided. Sometimes the firewall also decides not to let individual packets onto the computer. In online gaming, the “package loss” is called lost packages. You want to avoid that.
Fortunately, you don’t have to turn off the entire firewall. It is sufficient if you enter your favorite games on a “whitelist” in the settings of the respective firewall. This is a list that signals to the firewall that the program’s packets are harmless. The digital bouncer waves the messenger through without checking his cargo.
3. Improve ping: keep line free
Do you remember the bandwidth tells you how many packages the courier can carry? This also means that you have to keep an eye on which packages it transports first. An example: You go into a gaming session and notice that your ping is bad.
When checking the network, you notice that your iPhone and iPad are downloading an update, someone is in the next room in the online conference and the youngsters are streaming a movie. Your line is full and the messenger cannot deliver packages. So you want to keep the line free as possible:
- Turn off background programs on your computer that are connected to the Internet
- Temporarily disconnect other devices from the network (flight mode for smartphones and tablets)
- Prioritize your computer in the router settings
Regarding point three: See the router as the messenger’s guide. Most routers offer the setting option to prefer individual devices within the network. If the line is full, your gaming computer will still receive the packets first. You can access the router settings via browsers such as Firefox or Chrome.
The access data and the URL that you have to enter in the address line of the browser can be found either on the bottom of the router and / or in the operating instructions. For the sake of family peace, however, do not betray anyone when you prioritize your computer – otherwise, a bad ping is the least of your problems.
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