Competitive gamers are constantly trying to improve their ping numbers so they can perform better in online video games. However, not all gamers know what ping actually is. Here is our complete guide on what ping is and how you can reduce high ping for a better gaming experience.

What Is Ping In Gaming

In the world of gaming, the term ping is synonymously used with latency. In other words, ping in gaming is the time it takes for data to go from a gamer's computer to the game server and then back to the gamer's computer. Ping is measured in milliseconds.

On average, gamers get a ping of around 50ms to 150ms. Getting a ping below 50ms is really difficult, and playing games on pings below 50ms is a great experience. However, anything below 100ms is great for gaming. As you go over 100 to 150, things start to get a bit laggy.

How Does Ping Affect Gaming Experience and In-Game Performance

Since ping determines how fast data will reach the game server from your computer and your computer from the game server, you do not want ping to be very high. Once ping starts getting high, you start to notice some delay with the inputs you make and the responses you get on your screen.

When the delay gets high, it is called lag. Lag can cause all sorts of issues while gaming like shots not being registered and enemies killing you without them appearing on your screen. One of the worst problems that high ping can cause is rubberbanding which can make a game completely unplayable.

Imagine that you are playing a match of Rainbow Six Siege. You see an enemy player, and you shoot them, but they don't get killed instantly. It happened because the data that has to tell the game server that you clicked on your mouse to shoot did not reach the game server fast enough.

Now imagine that before the game server gets the data that your computer is trying to send, the enemy sees you and shoots you. If the data from your opponent's computer reaches the game server first, you will die even though you shot first.

How To Reduce High Ping

There are plenty of issues that cause unusually high ping. In the same way, there are plenty of solutions that you can try to fix high ping. Here are some fixes that you can try right now to reduce the high ping you are getting. We have carefully selected these fixes for the highest probability of success.

Select The Game Server Closest To Your Geographical Location

One of the main things that cause high ping is the distance between a gamer’s computer between the game server. As the game server gets further away from your computer, you start to experience a higher in-game ping.

However, not a lot of gamers know about this. The thing is, most games these days allow gamers to connect to whichever server they want. Most gamers, not knowing that it will affect their ping, connect to a game server that is not the closest to their geographical location.

Sometimes it is not the gamers themselves that select a video game server. Sometimes, the game itself does this. Because most gamers don't know how this is affecting their ping, the thought of changing the server doesn't come to their mind.

The simple solution for this is to connect to a game server that is closest to you. For example, if you live in the UK, you should connect to one of the EU servers. The method for doing this is different for each game so you will have to do some googling.

Get A Wired Connection

Gamers that have been playing online video games for a while already know that using a wifi router for gaming is not ideal for in-game performance. Using a wifi router while playing online games will cause issues like high ping and packet loss.

You might be wondering why this happens. The thing is, wireless connections are always unstable. Not only that, but wifi routers will display different levels of instability even if you place two same exact wifi routers in the exact same location.

It is because wifi routers have to deal with tons of obstacles as they try to transmit data. While wifi routers are transmitting data, wifi signals have to deal with stuff like walls, furniture, and more.

The simple fix for this is getting rid of the wifi router altogether. Don't throw the router in the trash, just use a LAN cable to connect your computer to the router instead of a wireless connection.

Once you connect your computer through a wired connection, you will see significant improvements in your ping and overall gaming experience.

Get A Gaming Router

Let's face it, switching from a wireless connection to a wired one is not something that everyone can do. Getting a wired connection is a huge hassle for gamers that have their gaming setup in one room and the router in another.

So if they want to go wired over wireless, they would have to get a long ethernet cable for that and then go through the time-consuming task of managing all the length of the wire from the computer to the router.

Not only that but sometimes there are other restrictions, like maybe parents don't allow extra wires or maybe there is no proper route from the router to the gaming PC.

The simple solution for this is getting a gaming router. Gaming routers are designed for gaming use. Gaming routers provide a high level of stability and a much better connection between them and the computer.

Getting a gaming router will not only reduce the ping that you are getting, but it may also eliminate some other issues like rubberbanding or packet loss.

However, a gaming router is not cheap. Not everyone has spare cash to spend on fancy gaming equipment. So if you can't get a wired connection and can't get a gaming router either, we recommend that you at least move your wifi router as close to your gaming computer as possible. This is not an ideal fix for high ping, but it may produce significant results.

Remove Unnecessary Load From Your Bandwidth

Imagine that there is a race car that is trying to complete a race as fast as possible. However, you just placed tons of bricks in the trunk of the car. Also, you invited four other people to get in the car. The car won't be able to perform that well with all that load.

In the same way, when you put tons of unnecessary load on your internet and bandwidth, it will not be able to perform that well. You will start getting high ping that will completely ruin your gaming experience.

How do gamers put unnecessary load on their bandwidth? Well, firstly, most gamers open tons of Chrome tabs while they play a video game. Secondly, they keep their automatic updates on, or they download large files as they play online games. Or there are tons of other users connected to the same internet connection.

If you want to lower your ping, make sure that no unnecessary applications are running in the background and no updates or large files are being downloaded as you play an online game. For the other users, you can try getting a separate internet connection, or you can try increasing your bandwidth.

Get Better ISP

As we have mentioned, you should always connect to the game server that is nearest to your geographical location to get the lowest ping possible. However, sometimes, even if you do connect to a closer server, you start getting an even higher ping than before.

This happens because the routing that your ISP is using is not optimal for gaming. The route that your ISP is using to connect you to the closer video game server might cause data to travel an even larger distance than before. Along with that, some ISPs fail to provide the quality of service that is required for achieving low pings.

If you got an ISP that does not meet the requirements for gaming, then sadly, there is not much else you can do besides getting a new connection from a better ISP. Check out what the best ISPs are in your area and try out their service.

WTFast - The Ultimate Solution For High Ping

Diagnosing issues that cause high ping is not that easy. It requires tons of time and effort. Not only that, but some issues are extremely hard to fix, for example, bad routing from the ISP.

If you are suffering from high ping or any other issue related to the network, you should consider using WTFast for an all-in-one solution. WTFast is a gamers' private network that eliminates all kinds of network-related issues like high ping, packet loss, ping spikes, and rubberbanding. WTFast works by switching your connection onto a network that is optimized for game data traffic. Try WTFast today.

What Is Ping In Gaming & How You Can Reduce High Ping