Lower Your Ping in Online Games

Ping is the measure of time it takes for information to go from your computer to the game server you are connected to, and vice versa. There are a lot of factors that could be increasing your ping, but the number one factor is the distance between you and the server you are connecting to. Beyond that, there are a variety of tweaks and fixes you can use to help improve your computer's and network's performance.

Steps

Quick Fixes

  1. Only play on local servers. The closer you are physically to the server, the better your connection is likely going to be. If you live in Australia, for example, you're going to get much better ping when connecting to Australian servers as opposed to US servers.
    • Many games allow you to sort game servers by location or country. This can help you connect to the closest server possible.
    • If you're not sure where the server is physically located, find the server's IP address and perform a Google search of it. The first several results should help locate the server.
  2. Close any running internet-based programs. Close any torrent clients, VOIP programs, chat services, and file-sharing programs. These programs can hog your bandwidth and significantly increase your ping. Torrent programs are the worst offenders.
    • Force-a-Program-to-Close-(Windows).
  3. Add your game to your firewall's "Allowed" list. This will reduce the time that it takes for game-related information to leave and enter your network. You may or may not experience any performance increases for adding firewall exceptions, but it only takes a moment.
  4. Turn off your antivirus's updater off. If your antivirus starts scanning or trying to update while you're playing your game, you may experience performance problems and increased lag. Turning off the antivirus updater or disabling the antivirus completely will help prevent this from happening. You can turn it back on when you're done playing.
    • You can usually disable your antivirus or stop the updater by right-clicking on your antivirus icon in the System Tray and selecting the appropriate option.
  5. Reset your modem and router. If your network equipment has been running for a while, it may not be functioning properly. Pull the power cables out of your modem and router and wait for thirty seconds. Plug the modem back in first and wait for all for the lights to come on. Once the modem is lit, plug the router in.
    • It may take a few moments for your network to come back online after plugging the router in.
  6. Move your router and modem to a more ventilated area. Overheating network equipment can lead to decreased performance and increased lag. If your network equipment is inside a cabinet or behind other devices, it may be getting too hot.
  7. Clean the inside of your computer. Like your network hardware, the network adapter inside your computer may be overheating as well. If you haven't cleaned the inside of your computer in a while, dust build-up may be causing your network adapter to slow down.

Advanced Fixes

  1. Switch from a wireless to a wired network. A wireless network is great for convenience, but can take a serious toll on gaming. If you want to get the best performance from your network when you're playing online games, you'll want to ensure that your computer is wired directly to your router.
    • This may involve running Ethernet cables through walls or between floors. Install-Cabling-in-a-Pre-Built-Home.
  2. Run a full antivirus and adware scan. If you have viruses and adware, they may be connecting to the internet and sending data, which could be severely slowing down your connection.
  3. Reinstall your operating system. If you haven't formatted and reinstalled your operating system in the last year, there's a good chance that it's performing slowly and bloated. Reinstalling your operating system and starting fresh can help get rid of a lot of old network processes that may be affecting your ping.
  4. Try editing the Windows Registry to change your network settings. This trick isn't guaranteed to work, and may actually make things worse. Many users report dramatic ping improvements, though others claim that it just changes the way ping is reported without making any actual changes.[1]
    • Create-a-System-Restore-Point.
    • Press the Windows key + R, type regedit, and press Enter.
    • Open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\
      services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces      .
    • Select the subfolder that contains the most entries in the right frame.
    • Right-click in the right frame and select "New" → "DWORD (32-Bit) Value". Name it TcpAckFrequency.
    • Create another DWORD named TCPNoDelay.
    • Double-click each entry and change the Value to 1.
    • Reboot your computer and try your game. You may notice a significant decrease in your ping. If you notice worse performance than before, return to the Registry Editor and remove the two DWORDs you created.
  5. Change your router's QoS (Quality of Service) settings. This is an advanced trick, and will not always produce favorable results. This is best used when you are sharing your network with others and you can't control what they do with your shared bandwidth. Improve-Video-Streaming.
    • QoS adjusts your network traffic priority so that download programs like BitTorrent take less priority over games. Not all routers have QoS settings. "Gaming" routers come with preset QoS settings, but these can often be achieved on standard routers.
  6. Download and run TCP Optimizer. This is a free utility developed by SpeedGuide.net that will examine your computer's network settings and then make changes automatically to attempt to improve performance. You can download it from www.speedguide.net/downloads.php.
    • Run the downloaded program. It does not need to be installed.
    • Use the slider in the "General" tab to set your maximum download speed. You can find your maximum download speed by Check-Your-Internet-Connection-Speed.
    • Select your active network adapter from the drop-down menu.
    • Select the "Optimal settings" option at the bottom of the window.
    • Click Apply changes.
    • Reboot your computer and test your connection. You may see an improvement on your ping.
  7. Subscribe to a VPN service. A VPN (Virtual Private Network) allows you to connect to a remote server. You can use a VPN to connect to a server in a different country and potentially get much better ping. There are a large number of dedicated gaming VPNs tailored towards specific games, or general-use VPNs that are simply gateways to a different country's network.
    • Click here for detailed instructions on connecting to a VPN.
    • Most VPNs have a monthly fee.
  8. Upgrade your internet. While this is obviously the most expensive and inconvenient fix, sometimes it's the only option. Ensuring that you have a good upload connection is more important than getting a large download connection when it comes to online gaming. Contact your provider to see what other options may be available.

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Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://windows7themes.net/en-us/how-to-improve-latency-in-wow-in-windows-7/

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