It’s your first race against other players in Gran Turismo 7. Going into turn one, you see an opportunity to pass another racer. You send the command, but your car doesn’t respond right away. Meanwhile, the other driver is through the corner and gone. You’re certain you have the best internet speed for gaming, so what caused the delay?
The Importance of Speed and Bandwidth
While a fast fiber internet connection is absolutely desirable, a few other factors come into play when you’re considering the best internet speed for gaming. These include your download speed, your upload speed and the bandwidth you have available.
- Download Speed vs Upload Speed – Download speed is a measure of the amount of time it takes data to reach you after being pulled from a server. Upload speed is how long it takes data you send to reach the server. Providers tend to focus on high download speeds because the way most people use the internet—streaming music and video, as well as viewing web pages—relies on downloading. However, gaming relies just as heavily on uploading as it does on downloading, so you need fast uploading speed too.
- Why Bandwidth Matters– You can have the fastest internet connection available and your gaming experience could still be slow if other devices are sharing your internet connection. The more devices you have using your connection at one time, the slower it will run because of bandwidth constraints. Bandwidth is a measurement of your connection’s ability to transfer large amounts of data simultaneously. A good way to think about this is to compare a two-lane road to a six-lane freeway. Generally, a six-lane freeway has the capacity to move more cars during a given amount of time than a two-lane road. Thus, it can be said the six-lane freeway has more bandwidth. In other words, the greater your bandwidth, the more data you can transfer at a faster rate.
Latency is The Primary Factor
While speed and bandwidth are important, latency is also an important concern when you’re trying to figure out what internet speed you need for gaming. Latency—the delay that occurs between your commands and the game’s responses—can be a limiting factor, regardless of the advertised speed and bandwidth of your internet connection. In all likelihood, your command arrived a moment too late to pass that other car because you had a higher latency rate than your opponent.
- Causes of High Latency – The hardware your network uses, where a server is located, and the type of connection you have to that server all come into play when you’re considering latency. Data (your turn command for example) travels over the internet in packets. The speed at which it travels, how far it has to travel, and the number of routers through which it must travel will determine the amount of time it takes a packet to reach its destination and move your car. Your router can also be a chokepoint. That’s why it’s a good idea to get the fastest, most efficient router you can find for gaming purposes.
- How to Measure Latency – A ping command can be used to measure the latency rate between your gaming device and the game’s server. The lower your ping rate, the more responsive a game will be to your commands. A ping rate of 20 milliseconds or less is good. Up to 50 milliseconds is considered okay. Anything above 50 milliseconds usually won’t cut it in games that have a lot of action.
- Minimizing Latency – Do everything possible to ensure your gaming device is the only thing using your network when you’re playing. A direct Ethernet connection is also less subject to latency than a wireless connection. However, if wireless is your only choice, make sure you’re as close to your router as possible when you play. Also, the closer you are to your game’s server the better. Always select the closest server to your location when you have a choice.
So, What’s The Best Internet Speed For Gaming?
While it does matter, internet speed is just one of the factors you need to consider. Ideally, you’ll have a hard-wired, dedicated internet connection for your gaming device. A fiber connection offering fast upload and download speeds is preferred too. And, always choose the closest game server to your location when you have the option to do so.
As for speed, 500 Mbps or better will work, assuming you have all of the other factors in check. ALLO Fiber offers 2.3 Gbps of upload and download, with a typical latency of four milliseconds. We also offer complete control over your home network, so you can prioritize your gaming system over the other devices in your home. This will ensure you have the optimal bandwidth to cross the finish line in first place.
