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#4326023 - 01/05/17 12:25 AM WiFi/internet gaming speed question  
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LC Offline
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LC  Offline
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Hi guys, this household has become quite busy with the internet after Christmas this year. My mother decided to buy all three boys an ipad each. Add in the fact that they are also gaming on a wired Xbox One, with two cell phones running wifi also and the desktop computer you can imagine the 12mbps download and less than 1 mbps upload speed internet we have now starts to lag on youtube videos and gaming with the xbox/playstation.

My question is, I could upgrade my internet to a 40mbps download with a 6 mbps upload package that isn't very much more per month than the 12mbps. However, I wonder if it will be enough? I know its a very vague question as it depends on much more than download speeds and such; but with so many connected devices and with no restraints what would you suggest?


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#4326196 - 01/05/17 03:51 PM Re: WiFi/internet gaming speed question [Re: LC]  
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Entil'zha
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Entil'zha
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Internet gaming on wifi is ok when it's the only device.
Personally, my PC is wired to the cable modem and the wifi is used for everything else that's NOT gaming.

The wifi activity doesn't disturb my wired connection at all, or vice versa. Yet streaming a video on one wifi device WILL impact another device's bandwidth because it's constrained at the router as well as the cable modem.

More expensive routers can handle multiple devices better, and let you assign bandwidth to them in some cases. You could give priority to gaming devices if the router supports that.

I have 110 down and maybe 6 up, I forget the up exactly but it's never an issue. It could be the reason the PC is never disturbed is because of the 110 down, but in some parts of the house the wifi is so weak that tests show 3 down!

I will be getting a mesh router setup soon to alleviate this.



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The anteater is wearing the bagel because he's a reindeer princess. -- my 4 yr old daughter
#4326217 - 01/05/17 05:00 PM Re: WiFi/internet gaming speed question [Re: LC]  
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Raw Kryptonite Offline
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IMO, you should be fine but do need the upgrade.
Typical night around here:
2 smart tv's streaming netflix/Vudu or youtube (HD content)
4-5 cell phones on wifi, 2 probably going constantly doing lord knows what
gaming console, X1, playing online MP
a tablet or two browsing
even a Steam Link taking up a ton of the local wifi bandwidth sometimes.

I've got around 90Mbs down, 12Mbs up.
With all of that going on, I'm using not even half of our bandwidth down and less than that up. Upload is important for online gaming. That 1 Mbs you've got now is pushing it. Back in the original Xbox days I remember needing around 512Kb to host a MP room of 16. Even that was sketchy. Considering how far things have come since then, you can see how that might not be so great.

Wifi is fine for gaming. No one short of Superman would notice the difference as long as it's a solid connection with enough bandwidth. However, wifi is susceptible to interference. Factor in 2.4GHz vs 5GHz and things change a bit again, as I've been experimenting with a lot lately with the Steam Link. I think your upgrade is needed, but don't be surprised if you also need to do some troubleshooting to perfect your wifi.

On a tablet or smart phone, download a wifi analyzer. Find out what channel your neighbors are using for their wifi. Usually channel 6 by default. Change yours in your router config to an unused channel. Check each of your wifi device locations (including height) to be sure you've got all bars. If not, work on it until you do. Outlet plug in wifi extenders can help, or powerline adapters to use your house wiring. Those can be had in the $50-$80 range.

Get familiar with your router configuration if you aren't already. Like Jedi said, there are QoS (quality of service) settings of some sort on pretty much all routers. It might be automated, it might have a a simple switch for gaming mode or you can get detailed and prioritize devices or dictate bandwidth allowances for devices on the LAN if things are really getting tight. The router will prioritize gaming and streaming packets as best it can.


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#4326324 - 01/06/17 12:10 AM Re: WiFi/internet gaming speed question [Re: LC]  
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LC Offline
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Thanks guys.

The two most important devices connected by wired connection are the Xbox one and PC. But even Ive noticed with the wireless ipads running it will cause the wired connections to slow. Hence the upgrade. Sounds like it will help. Thanks for the info. I guess I don't know how to get into changing the router stuff but once the new one comes in I will read up on it.


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#4326329 - 01/06/17 12:27 AM Re: WiFi/internet gaming speed question [Re: LC]  
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Man I feel your pain. Lived with that kind of connection or worse for years.

Now that I have a a killer connection (100+ down, 10 up) I hardly game anymore. Saves me tons on my phone bill though. hahaha


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#4326500 - 01/06/17 09:57 PM Re: WiFi/internet gaming speed question [Re: LC]  
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archermav Offline
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archermav  Offline
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Black Country, England.
This is something that I've been trying to get my head around. My PS4 is plugged into some passthrough sockets as is the router, however, I'm getting terrible lag when online gaming. The lad is upstairs online gaming, daughter streaming youtube etc etc so I assume a bandwidth issue.

Good luck LC with your search. Not sure it helps, but I'm on fibre with around 70mb download.

#4327203 - 01/09/17 03:32 PM Re: WiFi/internet gaming speed question [Re: LC]  
Joined: Feb 2000
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Entil'zha
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Entil'zha
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It could be the PS4's packets have insufficiently high priority and they're being forced to wait. If it's plugged directly into the modem and you're seeing this, it means the modem sucks at it. It's not bandwidth really, as most games require little bandwidth but low latency. Having 50% of the bandwidth available won't matter if your latency goes into triple digits while it's also servicing requests from non-gaming devices. Those are the ones that can wait 100+ ms for a response, not a gaming device.

Your only real solution would be to plug it into one of the ports on the wifi router and have it do the packet prioritization, assuming your model offers that feature. If it doesn't, you may need to replace it with one that does.



The Jedi Master


The anteater is wearing the bagel because he's a reindeer princess. -- my 4 yr old daughter
#4327526 - 01/10/17 10:29 AM Re: WiFi/internet gaming speed question [Re: LC]  
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archermav Offline
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archermav  Offline
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Thanks for the reply. I'm having to google that stuff about packets as it's lost on me for now, but I'm researching.

#4327590 - 01/10/17 02:53 PM Re: WiFi/internet gaming speed question [Re: LC]  
Joined: Feb 2000
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Jedi Master Offline
Entil'zha
Jedi Master  Offline
Entil'zha
Sierra Hotel

Joined: Feb 2000
Posts: 49,716
Space Coast, USA
Roughly speaking, all internet data goes over packets. They can only go sequentially, it's essentially a super fast telegraph where you can only say one thing at a time. So when you have 5 devices in your house all trying to send and receive packets at the same time, some go first and some go last. Browser requests can get low priority because it only means waiting another second or two. Gaming packets need top priority or you get lag.
Streaming video buffers, so the rate can wax and wane as long as there is enough bandwidth to pull in the stream faster than you're watching it which of course is at a steady rate unless you pause or skip around.

There are two ways to prioritize. Either a "smart" router that recognizes what kind of packets are going through and knows to give games more and browsers less, or a router that lets you do all that stuff manually thru its interface. That can require more knowledge on the part of the user, of course, depending on how intuitive the interface is to use. Some simply let you give priority by IP address, so you statically assign your PC and consoles and leave the others dynamic and then give those IPs priority.



The Jedi Master


The anteater is wearing the bagel because he's a reindeer princess. -- my 4 yr old daughter
#4327954 - 01/11/17 08:28 PM Re: WiFi/internet gaming speed question [Re: LC]  
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archermav Offline
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archermav  Offline
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Nice one thumbsup thanks for the explanation.


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