| Updated: January 18, 2025
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A low ping is vital for smooth online gaming, ensuring faster response times and giving you a competitive edge. This blog outlines practical ways to reduce ping:
By implementing these tips, gamers can enjoy a smoother, more responsive gaming experience.
The online gaming industry has reached $27.9bn this year and is projected to grow 5.2% yearly, reaching $32.5bn in 2027. More and more multiplayer games are released every day, which shows that this industry will be here for a longer period of time.
Players need an active internet connection and a new-age device to play these games with their friends and family members. However, there is one thing that can make or break the online gaming experience: ping.
A lower ping results in a better gaming experience no matter what kind of multiplayer game you are playing. I have discussed the best ways to reduce ping and why ping increases, so read on.
Simply put, ping is the time it takes for a data packet to leave your devices to the gaming server and back again. The data travel is measured in milliseconds (ms), and a lower ping is ideal for every game.
Ideally, ping should be between 20-50ms; however, anything below 100 is also considered. You can start to see lagging and glitches if your ping is above 100ms, which is unacceptable, especially in first-person shooting games.
But don’t worry, there are a few tricks you can use to reduce your ping for the best gaming experience.
A lower ping rate is essential for most online games because it ensures your inputs are registered quickly by the game server, allowing you to make new moves before your opponents. Here are a few ways you can reduce ping.
One of the oldest and most effective ways to reduce ping is to connect to your router using an ethernet cable. With a wired connection, there is no signal loss, and all your data travels through the cable.
Modren laptops might not have a LAN connection. You can connect an ethernet adopter to connect your router to your PC or laptop. I do the same and use CAT6 ethernet cable to reduce latency and ping while gaming.
If you are using a WiFi connection to play games online, make sure your PC is within a 10-foot radius of your router for the best speed and lower latency. The logic is simple: the further you go, the more time it will take to send and receive data from your device.
However, modern routers are technologically advanced and can cover an area of up to a 100-foot radius. I still recommend that gamers stay as close as possible to the router if they are using Wi-Fi for gaming. If moving close to the router is difficult, you can also get a Wi-Fi extender.
Restarting your devices to make them function properly is one of the oldest tricks in the book —and surprisingly, it works. Your router is a small computer with a microprocessor; restarting it lets it reboot its original settings, which often results in fast internet.
However, if your internet is not working from the ISP end, this won’t help.
Disconnecting unused devices from the router can help increase your internet speed. I have tried this technique, and it boosted my gaming experience while playing Call of Duty.
Once a device is connected to your router, it saves its login key and stays connected. However, the applications running in the background continue to run and consume data, which can cause slow internet speed and gaming lag.
Your gaming PC might be causing connectivity issues. Rebooting your computer to its default setting can easily resolve this. Restarting your laptop or PC might help in reducing ping.
You can tweak your router settings to prioritize your gaming traffic over normal internet usage. This option is available in almost all routers in the Quality of Service (QoS) section. Moreover, you can change your router’s channel to one with less congestion, increasing your internet speed and reducing ping.
If all of the above-mentioned tricks don’t work, maybe it’s time to upgrade your internet package. Most of us use the internet connection in our homes to play online games. We don’t know what other family or house members are doing, like they can be streaming or gaming as well, which is causing a deterioration in speed.
If you upgrade your internet package and add more MBs, the slow speed issue will disappear. I recommend getting a separate internet connection for gaming so you can enjoy any game with the highest speed and low latency. However, if you are low on budget, here is a guide on increasing your internet speed.
I improved my gaming experience by opting out of the peak gaming time and switching to odd timings. Gamers also believe that the server can take time to send back ping if there are many players simultaneously.
I used to join the gaming server after office time because it’s the time when everyone is online. But for this test, I joined the server after having dinner. The number of players was less, but I got the best latency.
Ping is the most important thing in gaming, especially if you are playing a first-person shooting game. It acts like a messenger between you and your character; the less time it takes to complete the message cycle, the greater the gaming experience.
As I mentioned earlier in this article, my gaming setup was 8 meters away from the router, which sometimes caused lag. I tried moving as close to the router as possible, which significantly reduced the ping.
Multiple factors contribute to a higher ping rate. Here are a few common causes and how to fix them.
| Problem | Solution |
| Underperforming gaming server | Connect to a geographically closer server or switch to a less crowded server. |
| Router issues | Reduce the distance between your gaming device and the router; limit the number of connected devices. |
| Wi-Fi connection issues | Use an ethernet cable for a more stable connection; reduce interference from other devices. |
| ISP interference | Use a VPN to bypass throttling or contact your ISP to address the issue. |
| CPU problems | Close unnecessary programs to reduce CPU load or upgrade to a more efficient CPU. |
A VPN changes your IP address and moves you virtually to a closer location to your gaming server. For example,e if you want to join a gaming server in Germany, select it from the VPN app and enjoy playing whatever games on the German gaming server with German players.
However, for a lower ping and the best gaming experience, you should use the best VPN server and fast VPN protocol. I advise gamers to subscribe to a premium VPN and avoid free and cracked VPNs.
By following our guide and methods, you can effectively reduce ping and enjoy the most out of your gaming servers. Ping can increase due to long distances, crowded servers, Wi-Fi connectivity, etc.
There are also a few ways you can check your system and setup to reduce ping. I mentioned my eight points after personally testing them. One more will definitely work for you and will reduce the number of pings.
Some of my fellow gamers also recommend using a VPN to reduce ping, but I personally don’t do that. I believe that adding a VPN server to the process will take more time and can increase ping instead of decreasing it. However, it can help maintain a stable connection with a specific location. If you want to enhance your gaming experience with a VPN, get a dedicated IP address.
There are several ways to reduce lag in online gaming: use a high-speed internet connection, stay close to the router if using WiFi, or switch to an ethernet cable for a more stable connection.
Both ExpressVPN and NordVPN provide top-notch VPN servers for gaming and streaming. I have personally used NordVPN with the NordLynx protocol for a lag-free gaming experience.
“The issue might be caused by the gaming server being far from your location. I recommend using a VPN to connect to a server closer to your gaming server to reduce ping and improve performance.
The best solution is to move closer to your WiFi router. If the issue persists, connect your device via an ethernet cable for a more stable connection. Alternatively, if you’re gaming on an Android or iPhone, try switching to mobile data for better performance.
Mustafa is a cybersecurity analyst and a co-founder of VPN for What. Since 2017, Mustafa has gained international experience, working with governments, NGOs, and the private sector as a cybersecurity and VPN expert and advisor.
