Internet connection speed for online gaming

Your internet connection speed is crucial when you play games that require you to make split-second decisions. Internet speed, or bandwidth, is the rate at which information can be sent and received through your internet connection.

Connection speed is measured in megabits per second (Mbps). To play games online, you don’t need a bandwidth that is too high (3 to 6 Mbps). For example, you can play games like Fortnite and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War with a speed of around 4 Mbps. However, it’s recommended that you have fast speeds of at least 25 Mbps for a seamless gaming experience.

But why is a higher speed rate recommended for online gaming? You might be doing other things while you’re gaming (like chatting), or other people could be using your internet connection at the same time you are. You might also be accessing a game server at a high traffic time. An adequate internet connection lets you stay competitive even when your speed drops.

There is both download speed and upload speed:
Download speed is the amount of time it takes your computer or gaming console to receive information online. An example of a download would be buying and loading a video game on your PlayStation or Xbox. Another example would be streaming a film on Netflix.
Upload speed is how long it takes for you to send information online. An example of an upload would be sending an email or posting an image or video on a social media site.

When companies advertise their internet speed, they are usually talking about the amount of Mbps download speed their service has. Download speeds are faster than upload speeds in most internet plans.

Unlike other internet options, fiber-optic internet plans have symmetrical download and upload speeds. High upload speeds can be important if you want to do things like stream your gameplay on sites like Twitch. Frontier has several Fiber Internet plans with great download and upload speeds.

Internet latency for online gaming

Low ping and low latency rates are both important for gaming online. Ping rate is the amount of time it takes for a signal to get from your system to another computer. Latency is the lag time in between you making an action on your gaming device and the game or application responding to your request. Both latency and ping rate are measured in milliseconds (ms).

You want to make sure you have as little latency as possible. A noticeable delay between pressing a button and seeing the result on the screen can be extremely frustrating.

There are a few things that could affect your latency. The pathway that your connection is using, and the quality of your router can contribute to latency. For example, if you’re using an ethernet cable, you’ll have much less latency than if you’re using a wireless connection to play games.

The distance between two computers can also cause increased latency. For example, if you’re playing someone in New York, but you’re located in another country, it will take longer for your signals to reach each other than if you’re playing someone nearby.

Latency has a huge effect on gaming. If your internet connection has a higher latency than someone you’re playing against, your moves won’t register as quickly as theirs, putting you at a huge disadvantage. This is especially important when you’re playing fighting games like Tekken or Street Fighter. For online gaming, 20 to 40 ms latency is recommended, and your latency should not be more than 100 ms at the very most.

Internet data for game downloads

Downloading games online can require a lot of data. That’s why it’s important for your internet plan to have a data cap large enough to download games. Data caps can be soft or hard.

Soft caps simply charge you for the extra data that you use over your max amount of your plan.
Hard caps may shut off your service or charge you penalty fees if you go over your limit.

The amount of data that you’ll need for online gaming depends on the amount of gaming that you do as well as the type of games that you play. At the very least, you’ll need a data cap of 50 to 100 gigabytes. Online games can require from 1 to 50 GB, on average, just to download, and you’ll need some extra available data to play them.

If you are continuously downloading games on a cloud server like Steam, you can eat data extremely fast. In that case, it might be wise to get an internet connection with unlimited data.

Internet connection types and how they impact online games

There are several types of home internet options you can choose from. They vary in things like availability, speed and reliability. The type of internet you need will depend on different factors, like how many people are in your family and the kinds of games you play.

DSL internet

Digital subscriber line (DSL) internet passes information through the copper wiring of local landlines (phone systems). Because DSL internet uses phone lines, factors like how far you live from the phone company can make your DSL internet slower. It’s not as fast or reliable as other internet options like cable.

Cable internet

Cable internet is more reliable and faster than DSL and is better for gaming. It runs on the same coaxial wiring that companies use to offer cable television. It’s also widely available. One thing to be aware of with cable internet, though, is that its bandwidth will slow down during high internet traffic times. It can also slow down when people in your home are using the same connection on multiple devices.

Fiber-optic internet

Fiber optic is the fastest internet and most reliable one of all. Fiber-optic internet carries information through glass cables. It’s less likely to slow down during times of higher traffic. Because it’s made of electricity-resistant glass, it’s also less likely to go down during a power outage.

Another cool thing about fiber internet is that it has upload speeds that are virtually equal to its download speeds. This makes things like video conferencing or streaming your gameplay in real time much easier and with higher quality. However, fiber-optic internet isn’t as widely available as cable or DSL because it doesn’t use an infrastructure that is already in place (phone lines, cable television, etc.).

If fiber-optic internet is available in your area, it is your best option for online and cloud gaming. Take a look at Frontier’s Fiber Internet plans that can give you an ideal online gaming experience.