Video Games Use Download Mbps or Upload Mbps

How Much Speed Exercise I Demand for Online Gaming?

Mar xviii, 2022 Share
Make Guides, Gaming, Internet Speed Guides

You don't need a lot of speed to play games online. Information technology'south not a bandwidth-intensive activity, then all you lot demand is a 5 Mbps connection or faster.

Simply keep in heed that no corporeality of speed is going to cease your game from lagging if your latency ranges into hundreds of milliseconds. There's a lot more than to having a practiced gaming experience online than signing up for the fastest cyberspace plan on the planet.

We've boiled downward the most of import points of net speed for gaming online, and then yous know exactly what kind of connection you lot need to get the most out of your online gameplay.

Looking for the all-time internet provider for gaming?

Verizon Fios has the lowest latency in our tests. If it's not in your area, see if one of our other best internet providers for gaming is.

Download speed and upload speed

Playing games like Halo Infinite and Fortnite online doesn't require a lot of bandwidth. Different an online video—which is streamed over the cyberspace to your device—the graphics flake in your computer, game panel, or mobile device renders (draws) the virtual world locally and displays it on your screen. In fact, very lilliputian information passes betwixt the gaming server and the gamer. Both sides exchange the post-obit data:

Keyboard input
Mouse input
Controller input
Thespian location (you and everyone else)
The current globe state
Player communication
Server notifications (similar in-game announcements)

Out of the items on the to a higher place list, actor location tin can introduce slowdowns, especially in massively multiplayer online (MMO) games. These games tin have more real on-screen players than the typical online gaming scenario, causing frame rate drops and "teleporting" players.

Overall, many modern games with high-definition graphics need a download speed of at least 3 Mbps to play online.^1,2,3

Upload speed plays an important function too

Since games are interactive, you also accept to consider the speed at which information from your computer or console travels to a remote server. Even a poor connection can usually meet the necessary speeds, which is why upload speed often takes a backseat to more important factors.

The typical game with loftier-definition graphics needs an upload speed of at least 1–2 Mbps.^1,2,3

Do yous need a connexion with meliorate upload speeds?

We prefer fiber over other internet connections considering it has symmetrical speeds. Enter your nada code to find out which options are available to you.

Minimum speed requirements across game platforms

* Based on suggestions fabricated by Bungie for Destiny 2 on PC. ¹⁰

As long as your cyberspace connexion meets these requirements, you can play games online. Nevertheless, if you desire to have a consequent online experience, we propose having a slightly better connection.

Our speed recommendations for playing games online

Since the actual speed requirements are and so low, games and game systems often don't give specific recommendations. Instead, they but crave a "broadband net connection."

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) defines a broadband connection as having a download speed of 25 Mbps and an upload speed of 3 Mbps—more than plenty for yous to accept several consoles playing online simultaneously.^v

If you're not certain you take a broadband connection, y'all tin take a speed test to make certain. Unfortunately, speed requirements don't bear on the critical question for playing games online: latency.

Loftier latency is your worst enemy

Latency is the corporeality of time a information packet uses to make its trip to a remote server and back. Picture a racquetball bouncing off a wall—how long does that ball take to come back to you?

The ping utility answers this question by throwing a ball of data at a specific destination and recording the entire trip's duration—in other words, it pings the server. Latency is also referred to as "ping rate."

So, if your latency gets also loftier when you're playing a game online, you lot start to experience lag.

For example, you movement a mouse and your game reports that motion to a remote server. The server acknowledges the movement and sends a response showing your movements along with all the other player movements. Your game renders the response, but because your latency is high, your movement appears delayed compared to the other players.

Factors that affect latency

At that place are a number of factors that touch latency. These include the following:

The concrete altitude between you and the server

Games that support co-op and multiplayer employ regional servers considering geolocation does thing, even if a server is just a few states away.

Why? Because y our signal moves through multiple "hops" every bit information technology travels between you and the server. The more hops your signal must traverse, the longer its journey takes—which translates to a higher latency. Traffic congestion betwixt you lot and the remote server can also cause a slowdown, besides, delaying your controller input.

Your cyberspace connection blazon

Certain types of net connections inherently have more than latency than others.

For example, satellite net has the highest latency because information technology's a wireless manual that travels int o infinite and back to reach a remote server. Insulated cable connections have lower latency than uninsulated phone lines, while cobweb optic cables have lower latency than both.

Keep in mind that the speed at which your signals travel dorsum and forth is dissimilar from your download speed or bandwidth. A picture will download at a slower charge per unit over a 5 Mbps DSL connection than it will over a 50 Mbps satellite connection.

When playing games online, withal, the DSL connectedness would be much more than responsive than satellite because the gaming data doesn't launch into infinite and back. The high latency of the satellite connection would cause so much lag that nigh fast-paced games wouldn't fifty-fifty exist playable online.

The all-time internet connections for gaming online

A fiber-to-the-abode (or building) net program from a provider like AT&T, Google Fiber, or Verizon Fios is the best connection for playing games online. Cable internet comes in at a shut 2d, with some 5G networks also providing stable connections with depression latency. Other wired connections generally introduce more latency merely are nonetheless meliorate for gaming than wireless connections.

Consistent and reliable latency data is difficult to assemble. The FCC was a source for some of the about comprehensive studies of cyberspace latency. However, the agency has since stopped including latency in its annual broadband reports, so newer technologies like 5G and home 4G LTE are not included.

Although 5G is yet an emerging wireless technology —peculiarly its gigabit millimeter-wave connections— it promises to have lower latency than any other wireless connection . 4G and 4G LTE connections generally have much more than lag than wired connections but are capable of reaching our recommended latency of beneath 100 ms.

How to reduce lag

If your latency is high enough that y'all're starting to feel lag when playing games online , you lot tin can take a few steps to help reduce your latency and go along your game running smoothly.

Don't use Wi-Fi if you can

Wireless connections, fifty-fifty fast ones, will add a bit more delay to your connection. Wi-Fi is convenient, but it adds an additional translation step between your gaming devices and your cyberspace connection. Plus, you'll encounter a delay if there are more wireless devices connected to your router than it tin can handle at once.

To bypass this delay, connect your gaming device to your router using an Ethernet cablevision. Y'all won't see the latencies associated with Wi-Fi or the dramatic speed fluctuations, making your connection that much more responsive.

If you lot must utilise Wi-Fi, connect your wireless device to the 5 GHz band. It has a shorter range than a ii.4 GHz connection but is faster and less congested, resulting in reduced latency. Stay close to your Wi-Fi router, as well—within l anxiety or so, depending on the router—and keep a clear line of sight to the router with every bit few obstructions as possible for a better connection.

With the Nintendo Switch, nosotros recommend playing it docked and using a USB-based Ethernet adapter to connect information technology to your network. The Nintendo-approved Dual USB Playstand works with the Switch and Switch Calorie-free.

You can use a similar adapter on a notebook or desktop that doesn't have an Ethernet port.

Power bike network devices

Power cycling your router and modem tin can sometimes improve their functioning. Since very small differences in latency tin can make a big impact on the corporeality of lag you experience in a game, it's worth restarting your equipment.

To power cycle, unplug your modem or wireless gateway, await xxx seconds, and plug it back in. Exercise the aforementioned with a standalone router when your modem comes dorsum online.

Update drivers and firmware

Hardware manufacturers release updates to improve device operation. Updates typically include security fixes, code optimizations, improved device compatibility, and increased stability. You should e'er continue your firmware and drivers electric current to prevent problems that tin can slam the brakes on your net connexion. Exist certain to do the following:

Update your figurer's drivers and operating system, especially the graphics drivers
Update your console's operating system
Update the firmware for all controllers and peripherals
Update your router'due south firmware

Turn off unnecessary applications and devices

If your connection still struggles while playing games online, attempt to reduce the amount of traffic on your habitation network. Make sure that someone isn't streaming 4K video in another room when you're about to beginning a new match.

Y'all can also preclude other devices from bogging downward the network by turning off smart devices and pausing software and Bone updates while you play—just call back to reactivate everything when y'all're done.

Use the closest server

Distance is ane of the biggest factors in latency. Even if every device on your connexion is running at meridian efficiency, it still takes time for a signal to travel to a remote location and back.

Games nearly always connect you to the nearest server, only if you're experiencing unexplained latency issues, double-check that you're not connecting to the European server when yous're playing in North America. Y'all may need to switch servers if the electric current one is experiencing bug.

Use port forwarding

Online gaming networks like Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network propose that gamers assign "static" IP addresses to their consoles and route incoming and approachable traffic to those addresses. While routers typically assign dynamic addresses to your devices which modify over time, a static accost never changes.

When you assign a static IP accost, yous can tell the router to forward information to that address through specific ports. A port is merely a "dock" that handles a specific type of "ship" (information) arriving to and leaving from your router. Gaming networks typically send and receive internet data through specific ports.

To create a static IP address and open ports to that address, y'all must make the changes in your router or wireless gateway. Port forwarding works with any device—non simply gaming consoles.

Use Quality of Service (QoS) controls if available

Yous may exist able to classify more than bandwidth to your gaming devices past making a few adjustments in your router or wireless gateway. The router will consider this traffic as "critical" and will prioritize your gaming data over other applications, like Netflix and YouTube.

On some routers, y'all tin merely institute one specific bandwidth corporeality and listing the devices that can use that bandwidth. There are no means to prioritize specific traffic, like gaming or streaming.

Avoid peak hours

You may see a slowdown during peak hours when everyone in your home accesses the internet at the same time. Plus, a router is limited to how many wireless devices information technology can handle simultaneously before slowdowns occur. This heavy load is why we always suggest using a router with four or more streams to improve handle busy homes.

Peak hours are also associated with cable internet, just information technology'due south no longer the case at present that providers like Spectrum and Xfinity utilise cobweb as their network backbone. Rural areas that are still 100% cable may however experience peak hour slowdowns, even so.

Nosotros suggest that yous play games later in the evening, or upgrade your router if it has less than four streams.

Check your connections

A bad Ethernet cablevision can lead to gaming lag woes, whether it's the cablevision connecting your router to your modem or cobweb ONT, or the i tethering your computer to the network. As well, check your modem's internet connection, every bit a loose cable will cause lag-inducing instability.

Upgrade your cyberspace

If you lot've tried all these steps and are still experiencing more lag than you can tolerate, you may need to upgrade to a better internet connection.

Want to see what providers are available in your expanse? Enter your goose egg code below.

Downloads can besides strain your connection

Playing your games online will push the limits of your internet connectedness more than any other online activeness, but it'southward not the but way that games can put a strain on your connection.

Many modern games take up a lot of storage space on your computer or console . This means that downloading games from an online benefactor like Steam or the Microsoft Store tin can take a long time. It tin as well eat through monthly information caps in no time flat.

Updates can be data hogs too. For example, Bethesda'southward Steel Reign update for Fallout 76 weighs a hefty fifteen.9 GB when downloaded from the Microsoft Store, and 7.one GB when downloaded from Steam. ⁸ Bethesda's long-awaited Doom Eternal Update vi patch adding ray tracing to the visuals is around 4 GB on Steam.

Latency should notwithstanding be your number-i priority in choosing an cyberspace program for playing games online , but choosing a programme with unlimited data volition salvage you a lot of headaches. Fast download speeds likewise help out with those big new games. Subsequently all, having extremely long download times on Mean solar day One isn't much fun.

Livestreaming

Your internet needs get a fleck more complicated if you stream your games on Twitch or YouTube. Streaming has all the normal requirements for a low-latency connection for playing games online, plus the additional upload speed you need to keep a steady bitrate on your livestream.

For more than information on what to look for in an internet connection for livestreaming, check out our guide to internet speed for live video game streaming. We as well provide a guide on how to stream on Twitch that offers all the information you demand.

Game streaming

Cloud gaming services like Stadia and PlayStation Now store and run their games in a virtual machine you stream from their servers. Rather than download and run these games locally on your computer, console, or mobile device, you lot stream them from the cloud. This eliminates whatever hardware bottlenecks that could preclude a game from running at its highest quality on your device.

That said, you don't need a $4,000 desktop or the latest console to play these games. Instead, you just demand a browser or an app, depending on the platform. For example, yous can stream Stadia on a low-cease Chromebook or a Chromecast—Google'due south servers do all the heavy rendering, not your devices.

The downside to game streaming is that games are rendered on the server and then streamed beyond the internet in Total HD or 4K resolutions. And considering these experiences are interactive and non passive (like Netflix and Hulu), input latency tin be an issue.

To play these services without whatever major bug, yous need a practiced net connection to support game streaming. Here are the cyberspace speed requirements for the iv major gaming streaming services:

Annotation that Microsoft suggests an upload speed of at to the lowest degree iv.5 Mbps for Xbox Remote Play. An upload speed of 9 Mbps or more is ideal.^nine

What about Steam Remote Play?

Valve Software suggests speeds only in regards to Steam Remote Play Together. This service allows one Steam gamer to run a purchased multiplayer game locally on a PC and so invite four or more Steam friends to play remotely. It'due south optimized to stream games to four other players at 1080p and sixty frames per 2d, so Valve suggests using a connection of ten–xxx Mbps at the least.

This speed proposition probably too applies to Remote Play Together+Anywhere, which still streams the multiplayer game from a PC, merely now the game owner is streaming remotely besides. Meanwhile, Remote Play Anywhere streams to ane client but, so the necessary net speeds shouldn't need to go beyond x Mbps.

Online games vs. playing games online

We spend a lot of time discussing games y'all can play online, which are games that target the single-role player experience first and include multiplayer components. Games that fall nether the "play games online" umbrella would include Doom Eternal , Pokemon Sword and Shield , Destiny 2 , and Halo Space . They can feel latency when played in co-op and multiplayer modes, especially when more than a few players are moving on the screen.

Online games, even so, can be highly susceptible to latency. These include The Elderberry Scrolls Online , World of Warcraft , and similar MMOs. The player count is typically high, which means both the server and the client (your game) must keep runway of every player. This tin can be a huge processing load even if you have the best connection available. Your frame rate may drop and your input may feel slow.

The bottom line: go on your latency depression

If gaming online is your primary concern when choosing an net programme, option the one that gives you the lowest latency, similar Verizon Fios. But keep in mind that other online activities like downloading games, livestreaming, or cloud gaming (non to mention things like watching video, working online, or doing schoolwork) accept their ain requirements that you should consider.

Sources

Nintendo Customer Support, "Troubleshooting Deadening Download and Upload Speeds," Accessed December 3, 2020.
Xbox Support, "Troubleshoot your network connection speed," Accessed Dec 4, 2020.
PlayStation Help & Support, "PS4 Error Code NP-37667-9," Accessed Dec iv, 2020.
PlayStation Help & Support, "PS4 Mistake Lawmaking NP-38497-1," Accessed December four, 2020.
Federal Communications Commission, "2015 Broadband Progress Report," February 4, 2015. Accessed December 4, 2020.
Stadia Help, "Bandwidth, information usage, and stream quality," Accessed December 5, 2020.
Federal Communications Committee, "Seventh Measuring Broadband America Fixed Broadband Report: Appendix F-i," May 20, 2011, Accessed Dec xvi, 2020.
Bethesda, " Fallout 76 Update Notes ," July 7, 2021. Accessed July 13, 2021.
Microsoft, "Understanding Your Remote Play Setup Examination Results," Accessed December 22, 2021.
Bungie, "Network Setup: Wifi vs. Wired Connections," Accessed Dec 22, 2021.

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Author - Peter Christiansen

Peter Christiansen writes about satellite internet, rural connectivity, livestreaming, and parental controls for HighSpeedInternet.com. Peter holds a PhD in communication from the University of Utah and has been working in tech for over xv years equally a computer programmer, game developer, filmmaker, and writer. His writing has been praised by outlets like Wired, Digital Humanities Now, and the New Statesman.

Editor - Cara Haynes

Cara Haynes has been editing and writing in the digital space for vii years, and she'southward edited all things internet for HighSpeedInternet.com for v years. She graduated with a BA in English and a minor in editing from Brigham Immature University. When she'southward non editing, she makes tech attainable through her freelance writing for brands like Pluralsight. She believes no one should feel lost in net land and that a expert cyberspace connection significantly extends your life span.

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