Having an advanced gaming PC will work wonders for offline gaming. But when it comes to online gaming, you need to have the right kind of router with the right settings for gaming performance.
It does not matter how many frames your system can push through games. Basically, your router needs to send and receive data faster. Only then, you can bring out the best from your online games.
You can get the best out of your online gaming experience, you need to improve your online connectivity. To learn how to set your router for optimum gaming performance, read on.
Steps to Set Your Router for Better Gaming Performance
You can get optimum online gaming performance from your device by ensuring the following aspects on your router:
1. Check Your Internet Speed
Before you consider adjusting your router settings, check your internet speed. This will give you a better idea of whether you are getting the speed that you pay your internet service provider for.
The easiest way to do it is to visit Ookla internet speed test. Once you visit the website, click on the big Go/Start button. Within a minute, the website will give you your average download and upload speed. If this is the speed that you are expecting, then it is okay. However, if you are expecting higher speed, contact your ISP to troubleshoot from their end.
If you use the internet for gaming or related purposes like game development, 15-20 Mbps will do wonders for you. However, it also depends on the number of devices that are connected to your router. The more devices that are connected, the more the bandwidth is shared. Hence, when no one else is using the router, you can have better bandwidth.
This will help you to play games or develop online games better. Contrarily, you can create your own game by contacting a 2d game development company.
2. Choose Ethernet Over Wi-Fi
Despite various advancements, Wi-Fi is still no match for a good old ethernet connection. Hence, if you want to get a stable and reliable connection on your device, plug your device directly into your router with an ethernet cable.
Apart from that, make sure that you are using a fast ethernet cable like Gigabyte. This will bring the best performance, if you are expecting speeds over 100 Mbps. Otherwise, using a Wi-Fi connection to connect your computer will slow down the speed.
However, this will not work if your PC is far away from your router. In such cases, you need to use alternative options.
3. Invest in Powerline Adapters
A powerline adapter will enable you to route your internet connection from one location to another. It does it using your powerlines/outlets that are already present in your home. Moreover, the best part is that they are easy to set up and priced reasonably.
4. Enable Quality of Service (QoS)
QoS is one of the best features available with newer routers. Primarily, with this setting, you can prioritize devices and/or applications that you want to dedicate more bandwidth to.
However, the level of performance is different with different routers. For instance, some routers offer a better user interface, better device prioritization, and more. On the other hand, with some routers, you will get automatic settings, where the router will adjust as per your requirements.
5. Use Dual Band Routers
Nowadays, there are dual band routers available – meaning they have two different types of channels. Hence, wireless devices can connect to the 2.4 GHz channel as well as 5 GHz.
Here, the 2.4 GHz is older and is more in use since older devices connect to it. Also, they can transfer data to greater distances. Hence, if the building is larger, there is a better coverage. However, 2.4 GHz frequency is slower and contains more overlapping channels. Therefore, if you connect more devices to it, it becomes more difficult to handle requests.
6. Use Multi-User Multiple-Input Multiple Output (MU-MIMO)
Having multiple devices connecting to the same router will not allow you to enjoy optimum gaming performance. Hence, use the MU-MIMO on your devices.
Once you enable it, your router will send out data packets through more than one stream (up to four). So, it will reduce or fully eliminate the waiting time for connected devices.
7. Turn Your Router Off and On Again
Although as dumb as it might sound, it still works for almost every case. Sometimes when there is a problem with the hardware, all you need to do is switch it off and one to see it perform well.
Basically, your router needs a reboot once in a while. This will help you to resolve the problem when your Wi-Fi behaves weirdly.
8. Get a Gaming Router
If you use an older router, it might affect the speed of the internet, which will surely impact online gaming performance. Hence, you need to get a new router device altogether. There are many gaming routers available which offer you newer features like MU-MIMO and QoS. Hence, now is the time to upgrade if your router is more than five years old.
Start Gaming
If you want to get the best of your online gaming experience, use the tips above. Start by checking your internet speed and connect your PC to your router using an ethernet cable. Also, spend in a dual band router with QoS and MU-MIMO capabilities. However, if you feel your router is old, replace it with a new gaming router. Do you have more suggestions for a better gaming experience using routers? Please share your ideas and opinions in the comments section below.
