Knowing how to reduce ping when gaming online can give you the competitive edge when it comes to e-sports. High ping can seriously disadvantage players, resulting in them losing a game or being kicked out of the lobby because of connection issues.

Multiplayer online games are played by millions around the world. For a high quality gaming experience, fibre internet is needed to ensure a stable and high speed connection. WonderNet offers a variety of fibre internet packages, including those suitable for avid online gamers. Our fibre connections have low ping rates, making them perfect for a competitive e-sports enthusiast.

What is ping, exactly?

Latency is the time it takes for data to travel from one point to another and back again. The lower the latency, the faster the game will respond to your commands. Ping is the unit that is used to measure latency. It is used as a diagnostic tool to test how fast data can travel from one place to another. Low ping means better performance. 

When playing online, players input a command and the game’s server responds to it. For example, when a first-person shooting game like Apex Legends is played on a PC, the players use their keyboard and mouse to navigate a virtual world. If a player presses W, they move forward. 

Ideally, if the player has an internet connection with low ping, then their character will respond as soon as they input something with their keyboard or mouse. With high ping, the player will experience long response time. This can be highly frustrating and heavily impact gameplay. 

High ping in South Africa

While gaming online, if the game’s servers are located very far away from the player, then this can slow down ping. For example, 167 milliseconds is the average ping time from Johannesburg to London. For optimal gaming, players need between 40ms and 60ms. 

The world’s top online game, PUBG, currently has no servers close to South Africa. This means that players need an internet connection fast enough to compensate for this. The absolute minimum speed requirements that amateur players recommend is 12 Mbps (upload and download), although higher speeds ensure better gameplay. As a multiplayer cloud-based game, PUBG requires a strong and stable connection, like fibre, to get the most out of the gaming experience. 

How to reduce ping for online gaming

Closing down background apps will help to reduce ping for online gaming. If too many applications and programs are running at the same time, this can slow down your internet speed. It is also a good idea to do an in-depth antivirus and anti-malware scan to make sure your device hasn’t been infected. Computer viruses are often used to connect personal computers to the dark web without the owner’s knowledge, using up bandwidth in the background.  

Another way to reduce ping for online gaming is to select the game’s server that is the closest to where you are playing. There are a number of top games that have servers in South Africa. If this isn’t an option, then there are a few other tricks gamers can try to reduce ping:

• Adjust your frame rate. This is the speed and quality of the videos that are shown. A lower frame rate takes up less bandwidth and this will improve ping. 
• Connect your device to the router using an ethernet cable. A wired connection is stronger and more stable that a WiFi connection. 
• Move your router to a different place in your house to see if this improves your internet speed and ping. 
• Get a WiFi extender to boost the signal in the room where you are playing games. 
• Get a gaming router. These routers give priority to multiplayer online games over other types of internet use, such as streaming videos.  
• Upgrade your internet connection or internet service provider. WonderNet offers home internet packages that are suitable for serious online gamers.

How to check ping

There are several free internet speed tests available that test ping. Make sure you choose one that is located locally otherwise the results won’t be accurate. WonderNet customers can use this speedtest to check the ping on their connection. 

Test your internet speed at different times of the day to see if there are any fluctuations at peak times (i.e. evenings and at weekends). If there are, then consider changing your internet service provider because it may mean that you are using a contended line. This is one that is shared by multiple customers. At WonderNet, we believe you deserve only the best, so all our fibre connections are uncontended. 

Why online games need low ping 

The most popular online games are multiplayer survival games. For such games, ping can seriously affect your gameplay. The popular genre, Battle Royal, includes top games, such as PUBG, Fortnight Battle Royal and Apex Legends. With PUBG, up to 100 players battle against each other for survival on an island. To succeed in this multiplayer, last-man standing game, a strong internet connection with low ping is an absolute necessity.  

Not all online games need low ping. The New York Times has a handful of popular online games that require minimal bandwidth. Wordle, released at the end of 2021, quickly rose to popularity and currently has more than 300 000 daily players. So, if you don’t reduce ping to an acceptable level for a multiplayer shooting game, then you might have to swap your crossbow for a crossword. But before you do that, you can always upgrade your internet connection! 

Online gaming in South Africa

WonderNet offers high speed internet throughout South Africa. We recommend an internet speed of 25 to 35 Mbps to ensure the best gaming experience. To compensate for the fact that many gaming servers are not yet in South Africa, we recommend this speed for optimal multiplayer gaming. For more information about our fibre offerings or to get a quote for an internet upgrade, please contact us today or check if we’re connected to your address.