What points one should look to get the best internet connection for gaming

Finding the right gaming computer of your choice might not be a difficult exercise today when you can search for the best components of a computer within your budget online, order them, and get started building your computer. But after your PC, the next thing that can be equally important is the internet connection that can deliver a buttery smooth experience of gaming, obviously if you have built your computer, with online multiplayer gaming, as your primary focus in mind. If you have multiple ISPs in your area, you are actually having multiple choices to choose the pristine internet connection that will deliver the best internet connection for hassle-free gaming.

Having a very good ping, or very low latency is the foremost requirement, and you might already know about it, but that is the tip of the iceberg, as there are several aspects that affect the ping or latency of your internet connection. Besides lower ping, there are also some other things that are worth keeping in mind, before you make your decision of signing the contract document with your chosen ISP. After you get an internet connection from your preferred ISP, you will have to do some optimizations at your end, so that you can get the best out of the internet connection, at least at the time of gaming, if not every time.

So, without any further ado, let’s get started with the points that you should consider.

Get a wired internet connection

If you are going for an internet connection from a service provider with unlimited bandwidth, chances are, you will get a wired internet connection in your home. Even for internet connections with a bandwidth cap, you can get both a wired, as well as an unwired internet connection. But when it comes to getting an internet connection for gaming purposes, a wired internet connection is the only convenient option, as it offers very low latency, the most unwired connection can hardly offer.

The same goes for your local Network as well. If your internet service provider is offering you a wired internet connection, and you are using a wireless router to share the internet connection among multiple devices within your home, better connect your computer or laptop, whichever is your gaming device to that router using one of the RJ45 ports, using an Ethernet cable. Using a Wi-Fi might not result in a huge latency, but if you are having multiple devices in your home and other devices that operate in the 2.4 GHz band, the Wi-Fi signals can be polluted, which will result in performance issues while gaming. Even though a wireless internet connection is more convenient than a wired internet connection, a fully-wired internet connection will always offer you an upper hand while gaming.

Go for fibre or cable internet connection

If you are getting an internet connection for your gaming requirements, better go for cable or fiber internet connection instead of a DSL connection which offers internet to your house through the legacy phone lines.  In the case of DSL connections, the speed is not the only thing that is unsatisfactory and also depends upon the distance of your house from the nearest connection point of your ISP. However, in the case of fiber connections, you can get better speed and the latency will also be significantly less than that of DSL connections. 

If you cannot get an FTTH, in case there isn’t a service provider in your area who offer fiber optic connections, you can also go for a cable connection which can also offer low latency compared to that of DSL connection, however, it will not be as good as a fiber-optic connection. Most  DSL connections will also face issues with time and they are also not optimized for gaming, the reason for which, I will discuss later in the story.

Find how complex, the route is

This might not be something that the ISP authorities will not reveal in the first place, but the route that connects your computer to the ISP server can be a reason for increased latency at the time of gaming or doing other activities online. If there are multiple nodes between a computer and the ISP’s server, by implementing shared connections to allow multiple users on the same connection, which is the case in most low-cost ISP offerings, you might observe significant delays and higher latencies at the time of playing online games. However, a simpler connection between your computer and the ISP’s server with fewer hops will offer you a better experience of playing games due to lower latencies.

If you can’t get information about the route that your ISP implements to connect to the server, you can better ask about it from the technicians, who can give you some insights, or get some information about the same from your local friends who are into gaming and uses the internet connection from the same service provider. Otherwise, if the ISP is ready to offer you a trial for the internet connection, you can use it to check the traces and hops, and the overall quality of the internet connection to find out how good, the internet connection is going to be, to cater to your gaming requirements.

Look for decent upload speeds

The internet connection that you are going to get from the service provider might promote blazing fast speeds. However, in most cases, the advertised speeds are nothing but the downstream bandwidth. However, if you want to play games, you should pay importance to both the downstream and upstream bandwidth of the internet connection that is offered by your ISP. In most cases, the upload speeds will typically be 30 to 40% of the download speed that is offered by the service provider, obviously if it is a reputed provider, and sometimes, it can be even better. With better upload speeds, you can get better ping and low latency, which is one of the most important factors as you already know, when it comes to gaming online.

The upload speeds on DSL connections is significantly less than that of optical fiber and cable Internet connections, which is the reason I suggested to not go for a DSL  internet connection if you prioritize gaming over anything else, on your internet connection. The recommended upstream Bandwidth is a subject to vary depending upon the games that you will play,  however, you should at least look for 8 Mbps upstream bandwidth for the best experience of playing games.

Well, let’s now consider, you have got the best internet connection in town for gaming. But there are also a number of other points that you should keep in mind at the time of setting up the home network or make your computer handle the goodness of your internet connection so that you can enjoy the full potential of the internet connection that you have got for the purpose of gaming.

So let’s get started with some other points that are worth considering

Go for the right networking device

If the internet is reaching your laptop and computer through a router, you should always get a router that is capable of handling the high bandwidth at all times. I am not recommending a smart or a gaming optimized router, which can obviously be a good idea but are quite expensive at the same time, you can always get along with a normal router from a reputed manufacturer, and you will not regret that. As most routers nowadays come with Gigabit Ethernet ports, there isn’t something that you need to worry about, when it comes to choosing the most appropriate router.

Never compromise on the cables

After you have set up your gaming computer, got the best internet connection in the town, and a router to handle all your gaming needs, it is time that you should find the most appropriate cables for connecting your router to the computer. Even this might seem to be a trivial thing,  but, it isn’t so. Always try to go for CAT5e or CAT6 cables, as they offer less interference, and offer stable connectivity that is important for your gaming requirements.

Reduce the load on your local network

If you are having a wireless home network, which is the case for most users today, try to disconnect the unnecessary devices from your home network, as most of them constantly communicate with their servers, which can affect the performance drastically at the time of playing games. So, if somebody is watching a movie by connecting to your home network, that can also be a reason behind higher latencies and bad experiences at the time of playing games. You can use the quality of service or the QoS Settings to prioritize your gaming traffic and get a better experience to some extent, but, disconnecting the unnecessary devices from your home network is undoubtedly going to offer you a better experience. Even if you are downloading the next popular title at the time of playing games, postpone the download.

I ensure you will get a better experience of playing your favourite games, if you keep the following points in mind, and look at the mentioned points before getting the internet connection for your PC. Do you have any questions? Feel free to comment on the same below.