How To Avoid Packet Loss On League of Legends | WTFast
There are plenty of things that can cause a reduction in your in-game performance. One of those things is packet loss. If you have been gaming for a while, you probably know how much of an annoyance packet loss is. Here is everything you need to know about how to avoid packet loss on League of Legends.
What Is Packet Loss On League Of Legends?
When you are playing a match of League of Legends, your computer is constantly sending data to the game server and then receiving data in response from the game server. When some of the data does not reach the game server or gets lost, then it is called a packet loss.
Packet loss is measured in percentages. So, if you have a packet loss of two percent, two packets from every one hundred packets will not reach the game server. Packet loss also includes data that is coming from the game server.
How Does Packet Loss Affect Gameplay In League Of Legends
When you play League of legends, you are doing tons of complicated things like moving from one part of the map to another, buying items, and performing attacks. Imagine that you click on an enemy to initiate an attack, but the data that informs the game server that you have just initiated an attack gets lost because of packet loss. How frustrating would that feel?
Usually, packet loss just includes information about the movements of in-game characters. So if you have packet loss, the gameplay will feel choppy. This is a serious annoyance when you are trying to win and may cause a serious dip in your in-game performance. In severe cases of packet loss, the game becomes completely unplayable.
What Causes of Packet Loss On League Of Legends?
Packet loss usually occurs because of some issue in any of the components that make up your network. This can include wires, router, ISP, and the route that your ISP uses to connect to the game server.
One of the main issues that cause packet loss is network congestion. When the network that you are using gets congested with traffic, there is a high possibility that some of the data never reaches the destination.
Network congestion can arise from all sorts of reasons. It can arise from unnecessary downloads, other users connected on the same internet connection, or peak-hour internet traffic. Other issues that cause packet loss include faulty wires, old routers, and wireless connections.
How To Fix Packet Loss?
Most of the time when packet loss starts to occur, it fixes itself within an hour or two. Sometimes it may even take a day, but if there are no issues with your network connection, packet loss will go away. However, if the issue persists for more than a day, you can try some of the fixes that we have explained below.
Get A Wired Connection
If you have not been gaming for a while, you are probably still using a wifi router to connect your computer to the internet. However, what you may not know is that a wifi router is not something that you should be using if in-game performance is what you care about the most.
A wireless connection is especially bad for gaming because it is much more unstable than a wired connection and has much more chances of packet loss. A wireless connection has to deal with tons of obstacles like walls and furniture as it tries to transmit data.
So, regardless of whether you are experiencing packet loss or not, you should definitely consider replacing your wireless connection with a wired one. This will not only reduce the packet loss that you are currently experiencing but may also help eliminate the possibility of other network-related issues arising.
Close All Unnecessary Background Downloads Or Applications That Use Network
Imagine a race car that is using all its power to push itself and the driver across the finish line in the least amount of time possible. Now imagine that there are hundreds of bricks in the car. The car will have trouble moving faster now because there is tons of unnecessary load.
In the same way, if you are trying to play League of Legends while in the background you are trying to download something or running unnecessary applications that are chugging up all the bandwidth, your network connection won’t be optimal for gaming. Along with that, this is also another form of network congestion which is one of the main reasons for packet loss.
If all you care about is in-game performance and you don't want any kind of network issues to bug you while playing League of Legends, you should close all background applications and pause all downloads while you are playing the game. It will help reduce packet loss and any other kind of network-related issues.
Replace Faulty Wires
As we have already mentioned, another common source of packet loss is faulty wires. If the wires that you use to connect your PC with the router have some joints in them, have severe bends in them, or, even worse, have damage, you are bound to experience some packet loss.
Even if you are not experiencing any kind of network-related issue, it is recommended that you replace damaged wires or wires with severe bends in them. As a good rule of thumb, you should replace all your LAN cables after about five or so years. It does not cost a lot and saves you from a lot of trouble.
Get More Bandwidth
One of the major requirements of online gaming is a decent network connection with around five to six megabytes per second of bandwidth. If you are having issues related to the network on a bandwidth of just one or two megabytes per second, then sadly, you will keep on having those unless you get more bandwidth.
If you get more bandwidth, you will also not have to deal with peak-hour network congestion issues. It is because extra bandwidth will be allocated just for you, like a separate lane on a freeway. This will help in lowering or completely eliminating some of the packet loss you are facing while playing League of Legends.
Replace Old Network Hardware
While it is not that common to experience any packet loss issue because of old internet routers, it is still a possibility. If your router is not that old, maybe your router has some kind of issue because you dropped it or something.
To diagnose an issue with your router you can try using your router on one of your friends' gaming setups to see if they also face the same issue you are facing. If the issue persists on your friend’s setup, you should without a doubt get a new router.
If your router is way too old, like over seven or eight years, you should probably consider getting a new router in this situation as well. The thing is, old routers are not meant to handle the network bandwidths that we have today. Replacing your router may help in fixing packet loss and other issues related to the network.
Get A Separate Connection
One of the most common types of network congestion that causes packet loss in League of Legends is congestion from other users connected to the same connection that you use for gaming. Think of this as the same race car from the previous example, but this time instead of bricks there are 4 other people sitting in the race car.
Other users connected to your internet connection might not even know it and start downloading tons of unnecessary stuff in their background while using their devices, which may lead to packet loss.
If that’s the case, the simplest thing that you can do is get a separate connection for yourself. This way you won't have to worry about anyone using your internet connection and causing an unnecessary load on it. It will in turn lower your packet loss.
WTFast - The Ultimate Solution For Packet Loss In League Of Legends
As you can see, there are tons of potential fixes for packet loss. The worst part about these fixes is that if there is an issue with your routing, then none of these fixes will help you. Also even if you manage to find a potential fix for the packet loss you are facing, you will have to spend tons of hours finding the issue and then finding the perfect fix for it.
If you want to save your time and still avoid packet loss in League Of Legends, then WTFast is for you. WTFast is a one-stop solution for all kinds of network-related issues like lag, ping spikes, and also packet loss. WTFast is a gamers’ private network that reroutes your network connection onto a network that is optimized for gaming. For a near-zero packet loss experience in League of Legends, try WTFast today.
