Specifications Needed to Receive 1 Gig Download and Upload on Laptop

How Much Speed Do I Need for Online Gaming?

Mar 18, 2022 Share
Brand Guides, Gaming, Internet Speed Guides

You don't need a lot of speed to play games online. It's non a bandwidth-intensive activity, so all you need is a 5 Mbps connexion or faster.

But keep in mind that no amount of speed is going to stop your game from lagging if your latency ranges into hundreds of milliseconds. At that place's a lot more to having a skillful gaming experience online than signing upwards for the fastest internet plan on the planet.

We've boiled down the about important points of internet speed for gaming online, so you know exactly what kind of connection you demand 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 i of our other best internet providers for gaming is.

Download speed and upload speed

Playing games like Halo Space and Fortnite online doesn't crave a lot of bandwidth. Unlike an online video—which is streamed over the internet to your device—the graphics chip in your figurer, game panel, or mobile device renders (draws) the virtual world locally and displays information technology on your screen. In fact, very picayune information passes between the gaming server and the gamer. Both sides exchange the following data:

Keyboard input
Mouse input
Controller input
Player location (y'all and everyone else)
The current world state
Thespian communication
Server notifications (similar in-game announcements)

Out of the items on the above list, player location can introduce slowdowns, particularly in massively multiplayer online (MMO) games. These games can take more existent on-screen players than the typical online gaming scenario, causing frame charge per unit drops and "teleporting" players.

Overall, many modernistic games with high-definition graphics need a download speed of at to the lowest degree 3 Mbps to play online.^1,ii,3

Upload speed plays an important role also

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

The typical game with high-definition graphics needs an upload speed of at to the lowest degree 1–two Mbps.^ane,two,3

Do yous need a connection with amend upload speeds?

We prefer fiber over other internet connections because it has symmetrical speeds. Enter your naught lawmaking to notice out which options are available to you.

Minimum speed requirements across game platforms

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

As long every bit your cyberspace connection meets these requirements, you can play games online. Notwithstanding, if you want to have a consistent online feel, we suggest having a slightly better connectedness.

Our speed recommendations for playing games online

Since the actual speed requirements are so low, games and game systems often don't give specific recommendations. Instead, they merely require a "broadband internet connexion."

The Federal Communications Committee (FCC) defines a broadband connection equally having a download speed of 25 Mbps and an upload speed of iii Mbps—more than enough for you to take several consoles playing online simultaneously.⁵

If you're not sure you have a broadband connection, you tin can have a speed test to brand certain. Unfortunately, speed requirements don't bear upon the disquisitional question for playing games online: latency.

High latency is your worst enemy

Latency is the amount of fourth dimension a data packet uses to make its trip to a remote server and back. Picture a racquetball bouncing off a wall—how long does that brawl take to come dorsum to you?

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

Then, if your latency gets as well high when you're playing a game online, y'all start to feel lag.

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

Factors that impact latency

There are a number of factors that bear upon latency. These include the post-obit:

The physical distance between you and the server

Games that support co-op and multiplayer use regional servers because geolocation does matter, even if a server is just a few states away.

Why? Because y our point moves through multiple "hops" every bit it 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 between you and the remote server can as well cause a slowdown, too, delaying your controller input.

Your net connection type

Certain types of internet connections inherently take more latency than others.

For case, satellite cyberspace has the highest latency because information technology's a wireless manual that travels int o space and back to attain a remote server. Insulated cable connections have lower latency than uninsulated telephone lines, while cobweb optic cables have lower latency than both.

Go on in mind that the speed at which your signals travel dorsum and along is different from your download speed or bandwidth. A movie volition download at a slower rate over a 5 Mbps DSL connection than it will over a 50 Mbps satellite connection.

When playing games online, however, the DSL connection would be much more responsive than satellite because the gaming data doesn't launch into infinite and dorsum. The high latency of the satellite connection would cause and then much lag that most fast-paced games wouldn't even be playable online.

The best internet connections for gaming online

A cobweb-to-the-home (or edifice) internet plan from a provider like AT&T, Google Fiber, or Verizon Fios is the all-time connection for playing games online. Cable internet comes in at a close 2d, with some 5G networks besides providing stable connections with low latency. Other wired connections generally innovate more latency just are still meliorate for gaming than wireless connections.

Consequent and reliable latency data is hard to assemble. The FCC was a source for some of the about comprehensive studies of internet latency. However, the agency has since stopped including latency in its almanac broadband reports, and then newer technologies similar 5G and home 4G LTE are not included.

Although 5G is nevertheless an emerging wireless applied science —especially its gigabit millimeter-wave connections— information technology promises to take lower latency than any other wireless connectedness . 4G and 4G LTE connections generally have much more lag than wired connections only are capable of reaching our recommended latency of beneath 100 ms.

How to reduce lag

If your latency is loftier enough that you're starting to experience lag when playing games online , yous tin can accept a few steps to help reduce your latency and keep your game running smoothly.

Don't use Wi-Fi if you can

Wireless connections, even fast ones, will add a bit more delay to your connection. Wi-Fi is convenient, but information technology adds an additional translation step betwixt your gaming devices and your net connection. Plus, you lot'll run across a delay if at that place are more wireless devices connected to your router than it can handle at one time.

To bypass this filibuster, connect your gaming device to your router using an Ethernet cable. You won't come across the latencies associated with Wi-Fi or the dramatic speed fluctuations, making your connection that much more responsive.

If you must use Wi-Fi, connect your wireless device to the 5 GHz band. It has a shorter range than a ii.iv GHz connection simply is faster and less congested, resulting in reduced latency. Stay close to your Wi-Fi router, too—inside l anxiety or so, depending on the router—and keep a articulate line of sight to the router with as 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 it to your network. The Nintendo-approved Dual USB Playstand works with the Switch and Switch Light.

Y'all tin can use a similar adapter on a notebook or desktop that doesn't accept an Ethernet port.

Power cycle network devices

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

To power cycle, unplug your modem or wireless gateway, wait 30 seconds, and plug it back in. Do the same with a standalone router when your modem comes back online.

Update drivers and firmware

Hardware manufacturers release updates to improve device performance. Updates typically include security fixes, lawmaking optimizations, improved device compatibility, and increased stability. You should always keep your firmware and drivers electric current to forbid bug that can slam the brakes on your cyberspace connection. Be certain to exercise the following:

Update your computer'south drivers and operating system, peculiarly the graphics drivers
Update your console'due south operating system
Update the firmware for all controllers and peripherals
Update your router'southward firmware

Turn off unnecessary applications and devices

If your connexion yet struggles while playing games online, try to reduce the corporeality of traffic on your home network. Make sure that someone isn't streaming 4K video in another room when yous're well-nigh to first a new match.

You tin also foreclose other devices from bogging down the network by turning off smart devices and pausing software and OS updates while y'all play—just remember to reactivate everything when you're done.

Utilize the closest server

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

Games virtually always connect you to the nearest server, just if you're experiencing unexplained latency issues, double-check that you're not connecting to the European server when yous're playing in N America. You may demand to switch servers if the current ane is experiencing bug.

Employ port forwarding

Online gaming networks like Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network advise 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 change over time, a static accost never changes.

When you assign a static IP accost, you can tell the router to forward data to that address through specific ports. A port is just a "dock" that handles a specific blazon of "ship" (data) 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 brand the changes in your router or wireless gateway. Port forwarding works with any device—not just gaming consoles.

Use Quality of Service (QoS) controls if bachelor

You lot may be able to allocate more than bandwidth to your gaming devices by making a few adjustments in your router or wireless gateway. The router volition consider this traffic every bit "critical" and will prioritize your gaming data over other applications, like Netflix and YouTube.

On some routers, you can only constitute ane specific bandwidth amount and list the devices that tin can employ that bandwidth. There are no means to prioritize specific traffic, similar gaming or streaming.

Avoid peak hours

Yous may see a slowdown during peak hours when everyone in your home accesses the cyberspace at the aforementioned fourth dimension. Plus, a router is express to how many wireless devices it tin handle simultaneously earlier slowdowns occur. This heavy load is why we always advise using a router with four or more streams to better handle decorated homes.

Elevation hours are also associated with cable net, just it's no longer the case now that providers like Spectrum and Xfinity apply fiber as their network backbone. Rural areas that are nevertheless 100% cable may still experience peak hour slowdowns, all the same.

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

Check your connections

A bad Ethernet cable tin lead to gaming lag woes, whether information technology'southward the cablevision connecting your router to your modem or fiber ONT, or the one tethering your computer to the network. Also, bank check your modem'due south internet connection, equally a loose cable will cause lag-inducing instability.

Upgrade your net

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

Desire to run across what providers are available in your expanse? Enter your zippo code below.

Downloads can also strain your connection

Playing your games online will push button the limits of your net connection more than than whatsoever other online activity, but information technology's not the only manner that games tin put a strain on your connection.

Many modern games accept up a lot of storage infinite on your computer or panel . This means that downloading games from an online distributor like Steam or the Microsoft Shop can take a long time. It tin can also eat through monthly data caps in no fourth dimension flat.

Updates tin be data hogs too. For example, Bethesda's Steel Reign update for Fallout 76 weighs a hefty fifteen.nine GB when downloaded from the Microsoft Store, and 7.1 GB when downloaded from Steam. ⁸ Bethesda's long-awaited Doom Eternal Update half dozen patch calculation ray tracing to the visuals is around 4 GB on Steam.

Latency should all the same be your number-one priority in choosing an internet plan for playing games online , only choosing a programme with unlimited information will relieve you a lot of headaches. Fast download speeds also assistance out with those big new games. After all, having extremely long download times on Day One isn't much fun.

Livestreaming

Your internet needs become a scrap more complicated if y'all stream your games on Twitch or YouTube. Streaming has all the normal requirements for a low-latency connection for playing games online, plus the boosted 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 alive video game streaming. We also provide a guide on how to stream on Twitch that offers all the data you lot need.

Game streaming

Deject gaming services like Stadia and PlayStation Now store and run their games in a virtual automobile you stream from their servers. Rather than download and run these games locally on your computer, console, or mobile device, yous stream them from the cloud. This eliminates any hardware bottlenecks that could foreclose 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 case, you can stream Stadia on a low-cease Chromebook or a Chromecast—Google's servers do all the heavy rendering, not your devices.

The downside to game streaming is that games are rendered on the server and and so streamed across the internet in Full HD or 4K resolutions. And because these experiences are interactive and not passive (like Netflix and Hulu), input latency tin be an issue.

To play these services without any major issues, you lot need a skilful internet connection to back up game streaming. Here are the internet speed requirements for the four major gaming streaming services:

Note that Microsoft suggests an upload speed of at least 4.five Mbps for Xbox Remote Play. An upload speed of nine Mbps or more is platonic.^ix

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 then invite iv or more Steam friends to play remotely. It's optimized to stream games to 4 other players at 1080p and 60 frames per second, then Valve suggests using a connexion of 10–thirty Mbps at the least.

This speed suggestion probably besides applies to Remote Play Together+Anywhere, which still streams the multiplayer game from a PC, but now the game owner is streaming remotely too. Meanwhile, Remote Play Anywhere streams to one customer only, so the necessary cyberspace speeds shouldn't need to get beyond 10 Mbps.

Online games vs. playing games online

Nosotros spend a lot of fourth dimension discussing games y'all tin play online, which are games that target the unmarried-player feel commencement and include multiplayer components. Games that autumn nether the "play games online" umbrella would include Doom Eternal , Pokemon Sword and Shield , Destiny 2 , and Halo Infinite . They can experience latency when played in co-op and multiplayer modes, especially when more than a few players are moving on the screen.

Online games, still, can exist highly susceptible to latency. These include The Elder Scrolls Online , World of Warcraft , and similar MMOs. The player count is typically high, which means both the server and the customer (your game) must continue track of every histrion. This can exist a huge processing load even if you have the best connection bachelor. Your frame rate may drop and your input may experience deadening.

The lesser line: continue your latency low

If gaming online is your master concern when choosing an cyberspace plan, pick the i that gives yous the lowest latency, like Verizon Fios. But keep in mind that other online activities like downloading games, livestreaming, or cloud gaming (not to mention things like watching video, working online, or doing schoolwork) have their own requirements that yous should consider.

Sources

Nintendo Customer Support, "Troubleshooting Ho-hum Download and Upload Speeds," Accessed December iii, 2020.
Xbox Support, "Troubleshoot your network connexion speed," Accessed December 4, 2020.
PlayStation Assistance & Back up, "PS4 Fault Code NP-37667-nine," Accessed December 4, 2020.
PlayStation Aid & Support, "PS4 Error Code NP-38497-1," Accessed December 4, 2020.
Federal Communications Commission, "2015 Broadband Progress Written report," Feb iv, 2015. Accessed December 4, 2020.
Stadia Assist, "Bandwidth, data usage, and stream quality," Accessed December v, 2020.
Federal Communications Committee, "Seventh Measuring Broadband America Fixed Broadband Written report: Appendix F-1," May 20, 2011, Accessed December 16, 2020.
Bethesda, " Fallout 76 Update Notes ," July seven, 2021. Accessed July 13, 2021.
Microsoft, "Understanding Your Remote Play Setup Test 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 15 years as a reckoner developer, game developer, filmmaker, and author. His writing has been praised by outlets similar 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's edited all things net for HighSpeedInternet.com for five years. She graduated with a BA in English language and a minor in editing from Brigham Young University. When she'south non editing, she makes tech accessible through her freelance writing for brands similar Pluralsight. She believes no 1 should experience lost in internet land and that a good net connection significantly extends your life span.

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