The Advantages of Gig Speed for Gaming

By Kim Key

From “CS:GO” to “Among Us,” whether you play on a PS5 or a PC, games are fun when you can play with other people. But lagging console or computer connections put a damper on the good times and can bring your multiplayer gaming session to a halt. Having gigabit internet service with low latency is a good all-around solution for successful online gaming.

Let’s examine some of the reasons why you should invest in the highest internet speed for gaming, and what you can do right now to improve your gaming experience.

Why is my game lagging?

Game lag occurs when you can see a noticeable delay between the actions you take as a player and the actions the game server registers. For example, when you’re playing “Rocket League” and are trying to beat an opponent to steal their boost, you’ll zoom forward toward the goal. Having high latency on your end may mean your opponent will get to the boost first because the game servers register the player with the lower latency first. You miss your chance to steal, the opponent takes a successful shot on goal and suddenly you’re losing the match, all because of latency.

The reasons for lagged games can be as complex as high latency, or as simple as strained bandwidth. When it comes to bandwidth, it’s a good idea to know whether other people in your house are also doing bandwidth-intensive activities, like streaming movies or downloading files, while you’re trying to play games, and then monitor activity.

Latency is the round trip measurement between two computer pings. Latency matters a lot when it comes to gaming speed. If you can, always opt to use an Ethernet cable instead of Wi-Fi to reduce latency issues while you’re gaming.

What is a good internet speed for gaming?

Faster internet gives you a buffer against latency issues. If you’re trying to stream games or play multiplayer games, gigabit internet is an excellent option. The fast speeds from fiber can result in optimal internet for online gaming. You can also prevent slow game-loading times by closing programs that are running in the background and updating your graphics card drivers.

Faster internet speeds also mean you can download games a lot quicker, so you can download more games and play them all a lot sooner. As an example, someone tried to download the very graphics-intensive “Microsoft Flight Simulator” using his sluggish cable internet service. After over 24 hours of downloading, it still wasn’t complete. His friend with gigabit internet service in her home downloaded and installed the game in six hours.

What is a good upload speed for gaming?

You’ll want to do everything you can to get the most out of your gigabit internet service. A good upload speed for gaming is over 3 Mbps. A good download speed for gaming is over 5 Mbps. You’ll want to conduct an internet speed test for gaming by visiting M-Lab’s site. The results can tell you the download, upload and latency statistics for your connection.

Good internet for online gaming really depends on your latency numbers. You can improve your latency by moving closer to your router, making sure your router is patched and, in some cases, buying a new router to replace an old, slow one.

How can I improve my connection for gaming right now?

One way to improve your online gaming experience is to use a Gamers Private Network (GPN). Your internet service provider usually chooses the routes for your data, and if you’re online gaming during a peak traffic time, you can run into network congestion.

A GPN figures out what internet traffic is gaming related and then routes that traffic to a more efficient path. It behaves like a virtual private network (VPN), in that it reroutes your data, but unlike a VPN it doesn’t encrypt your data or mask your IP address. A GPN can lower your ping (an action sent across the network to a different computer), which lowers your latency, which means you have less lag.

Does Frontier offer gigabit internet service?

We absolutely do. Sign up for our fiber internet, and choose gig speed (and it’s getting faster). See if it’s available at your address here.

Whether you’re a gamer or not, having a fiber internet connection can help you download and upload data faster and easier. That said, online gaming has more to do with your latency numbers than your internet speed. Frontier’s gigabit internet speed connection, using a newer, more reliable infrastructure than cable, can give you those lower latency numbers you’re looking for.