Online gaming - Ping vs bandwidth

[yoda313]

Hello,

I'm just starting to play games online with my new DSL and new Emachine celeron 2.66ghz.

I average 300kbs (I think it's kbs). But last night I got an average of 100 ping and I was told that is VERY GOOD. The game play was smooth with about 5 or 6 people on Jedi Knight 2 an older pc game.

So my question is: is this adequate for most games?

Also, I'm going to go wireless with my Xbox. Will this be good for that as well? And Does ping change on every session?????

Kevin

[pacmania_2001]

Ping depends on the server and its location to you. If you are using the same server everytime it should theoritically remain about the same. Of course things like network congestion occur so that can change it.

A ping of 100 should be right for most games.

[yoda313]

Ping depends on the server and its location to you. If you are using the same server everytime it should theoritically remain about the same. Of course things like network congestion occur so that can change it.

A ping of 100 should be right for most games.

Hello,

Thanks

So know about bandwidth - I'm on the lower end of DSL speeds. Will I notice lag????

What if I were playing with a bunch of cable modem users. Would I feel the difference in speed?????

Kevin

[pacmania_2001]

Depends on the game and how much information it needs to send back and forth amongst other factors.

I haven't played online games in quite some time but in my experience a DSL connection usually is good enough for most games not to lag.

In the end the best advice is just to give it a go and see, if you've got a ping of 100 and a DSL connection that is on a pretty good line I think you'll be okay.

[yoda313]

Hello,

Thanks pacmania

I'll enjoy this a lot

Kevin

[shoozleboy]

I play a ton of Battlefield:Vietnam online with a good group of guys and a ping of 100 on a US based server would make us go to another server.

It's going to depend on the game itself most times. If they game relies on a lot of data transfer to run smoothly, then the lower the ping, the better. Bad netcode in a game really just sucks. The online games that have stood the test of time have good netcode and it shows in lower pings and less bandwidth needed.

In BFV, we get pings in the 120's when connecting to servers in Europe, but around 40-60 when connecting in the US. Anything over 180 and the game is almost unplayable.

With higher pings, we have to lead our targets a little more than we would with lower pings. It really just comes down to how the game plays for you. If you are comfortable with the play of the game then all is good.

Oh, we have about a 50-50 split amongst our group of cable modem and DSL users.... we all get nearly identical pings on the same servers. We even have one guy from Japan that plays and his pings are constantly in the 20-30 range!!! It has something to do with the infrastructure over in Japan, they have a more advanced internet system over there, so his pings always beat ours. (no - he's hot japanese - he's Aussie by birth, grew up in the US, then moved to Japan to teach English - like Beavereater teaches)

[yoda313]

Hello,

Shoozelboy - thanks

I'll have to experiment more and find out how it works.

I'll also have to get some newer games now that I can run them

Kevin

[stiltman]

Pings aren't bad at 100
You just have to watch the dropped packets. That's what kills you.

[yoda313]

Pings aren't bad at 100
You just have to watch the dropped packets. That's what kills you.

Hello,

Is there a monitoring package available for gaming connections?

Kevin

[shoozleboy]

Pings aren't bad at 100
You just have to watch the dropped packets. That's what kills you.

Just depends on the game itself, bad netcode and 100 pings will get you no where. I agree that there are games that run fine at 100 pings, it just depends on the abilities of the game programmers when they made the thing.

[yoda313]

Hello,

I played Jedi Knight 2 again Saturday night with a friend.

I tried to get Medal Of Honor and Return to Wolfenstein working but something wasn't clicking. I'll try again when we can do voice chat at the same time - it's easier than typing to do it talking to troubleshoot.

When I was playing three or four other people who had joined were flying around like crazy. Later on the stat screen showed pings of 30! I was right around 100. It was like the super low ping guys were on speed or 3 cans of Mountain Dew!!!!

It'll be more fun when I get the newer games to work online

Kevin

[VCDHunter]

Return to Wolfenstein

Man I haven't played this for ages - I must get reconnected to the internet.

[yoda313]

Return to Wolfenstein

Man I haven't played this for ages - I must get reconnected to the internet.

Hello,

Yep it's a pretty good game.

I'll like it when I can get it to play online....

I also need to pick up some newer pc games now that I can actually RUN them...

Kevin


5 0 0 0

[Faustus]

World of warcraft. I played for an hour and a half with an ok ping on a 56k modem. COuld have been better, a little lag.

total data downloaded in that time? 2mb. 1.2mb uploaded. Ping matters more.

[yoda313]

World of warcraft. I played for an hour and a half with an ok ping on a 56k modem. COuld have been better, a little lag.

total data downloaded in that time? 2mb. 1.2mb uploaded. Ping matters more.

Hello,

WOW! I didn't know you could realistically play a MMO on dialup...

Well I'll definetely have to pick up some newer games to play online

Kevin

(I'm glad it seems like my ping will be decent enough )