Imagine that after a long hard day at work, you want to play your favorite game, only to find out that you can’t enjoy a single minute because you’re constantly disconnected from the game server. Why do you keep experiencing this? Because you have high ping!
In our opinion, this is how ping times should be classified:
- Low ping – anything under 50 ms.
- Average/ Good ping – between 50 and 100 ms.
- High ping – over 150 ms.
Of course, these are just some general values. For example, pro gamers prefer ping under 20 ms. But the truth is that even with a ping of 80 ms, you can still enjoy any online game without having to worry about lagging or freezing.
The real problem is when the ping goes higher than 150 ms because you’ll experience server disconnects frequently. Worst case scenario – your teammates will be disconnected and the game’s outcome will be affected as well.
Why Do You Have High Ping?
1. Internet Connection Speeds
Even if you have a high-end gaming PC, it’ll be almost useless if you have a bad internet connection. The good news is that in most cases, your internet service provider (ISP) can help you with it.
But before you give them a call, reset your router first. This will wipe any unnecessary data stored in your device’s cache. Once the data is deleted, there are high chances that you’ll have better internet speeds.
If you still have problems with your internet speeds, you can choose to upgrade to a faster internet plan or a better internet router.
2. Geographical Location of Your Gaming Server
Connecting to a server that’s on the other side of the world can increase your ping, and ultimately, you’ll experience lags and freezes.
And this is because data packets take more time to travel from your device to the game server and back. Of course, we’re talking about milliseconds here, but still – the way you experience a 60 ms ping and 120 ms ping is huge!
One of the best things you can do to improve your ping is to connect to a server that’s closer to your physical location.
Here’s why!
Let’s say you’re from Hungary and you connect to a game server in South Korea. The data packets will have to travel from your devices through a lot of different countries until they reach the server in South Korea.
But if you connect to a server in Austria (which is Hungary’s neighbor), your data will reach that Austrian server faster and your internet connection will be more reliable.
3. Firewall Configuration
Your firewall must monitor all internet traffic coming and going from your device to make sure that everything is secure. And that’s because your firewall’s job is to protect you from being hacked or infected with malware.
Sometimes, your firewall takes a bit too long to check all the network traffic that comes from the game server, especially if it’s a crowded server. And the longer it takes, the higher your ping will be.
To avoid this, you can add specific games to your firewall exception list. This way, the traffic that comes and goes from the game travels freely, which boosts your internet speeds.
Your Room Needs to Be Redecorated
Oh, we know what you’re thinking – Wait, what? I don’t want to renovate my entire home just so I can play my favorite game!
But rest assured that by redecorating, we don’t mean you need to start and looking up remodeling companies in your area.
Sometimes, the WiFi signal can be blocked by huge pieces of furniture, thick walls, and even other electronic devices. So whether you choose to move your devices closer to the router, or place the router in a room with more open space, that will be enough to boost your internet speeds and lower your ping.
Is It True that a VPN Can Lower Your Ping?
It depends, you might be lucky and lower it a bit, or you can make it worse.
The main role of a VPN (virtual private network) is to hide your IP. To do this, your traffic will be rerouted through a VPN’s server, and only after that, it will access your game server.
Now, let’s start by saying that even if we know that your internet traffic is traveling through cables, no one knows what route your internet connection takes exactly. Fun fact: did you know that when it reaches the sea, it travels through cables under the sea?
And this is the same story when you connect to a VPN – you won’t know which route your data packets take to reach the game server.
But, there might be some chances that when you connect to a VPN, their internet routes will be faster than your ISP’s. Let’s say, instead of traveling through 8 countries, it has a quicker route through only 5 countries.
But this is just speculation. However, you can always try your luck! Maybe you find a faster connection to lower your ping by 40 or 50 ms. It’s still an improvement though!
But keep in mind that a VPN can’t increase your original ISP speed. It might lower your ping, that’s true, but this doesn’t mean that a VPN can increase your internet speed.
Conclusion
Fortunately, high ping is manageable so you don’t have to worry about it. Just a few adjustments here and there and you’ll get back in the game, ready to pull out a perfect kill streak!
Have you experienced high ping constantly? Share your experience in the comments section and let us know what was the most efficient method to lower your ping!
