Broadband for gaming

You can technically use your mobile device to play games. But a 3G or 4G connection can be a temperamental choice for gamers.

For example, the last thing you want is to be mid-game, and your connection starts buffering and there’s a major lag. Therefore, we advise against mobile broadband for gaming.

The faster your broadband connection, the better your experience will be – and this is no joke. If you’ve got an unsteady or slow signal, you’re going to experience a lot of buffering, which can get really annoying, really fast.

Technically, you might only need a few Mbps of speed to play your favourite online game. But remember, if there are any updates you want to run as you play it, or if you’re downloading other games, the speed you need will quickly shoot up.

Also, if you’re planning on streaming your gameplay, or talking with your friends online at the same time, that will put more of a strain on your connection.

Ping is similar to latency. To put it simply, it refers to the reaction time of your connection. In other words, it’s the time between your input as a game player, and your server’s response to that input.

For example, if you’re playing a shooting game and you see characters teleporting, this is down to bad ping. Ping is measured in milliseconds (ms). The lower the ping, the better. So, a ping of 15ms or less is fantastic.

Having a fast internet connection is crucial for a good gaming experience. So, you should aim to get a broadband package with as fast a download speed as possible.

Think of your fibre broadband connection as a data “pipe” running into your home. The capacity of that “pipe” is constant. But there are also things you can do around your home to ensure you are getting the maximum flow from that pipe.

For instance, make sure you have a solid WiFi connection when you are gaming. Try moving the position of your router closer to your gaming station.

Sometimes, technical and environmental factors can affect your WiFi signal. In these instances, it is often good to switch to a wired connection. Doing so will certainly speed up your online and cloud gaming experience.

Also, if you have multiple devices using the same broadband connection for playing or downloading games, disconnect any that you’re not using.

But it’s not all about speed either. Latency is another crucial aspect of a good gaming experience.

Speed is essential for a good online gaming experience and there are several excellent reasons why speed should be a consideration. At the end of the day, the faster your internet, the better your gaming experience.

You’ll probably know some broadband providers including Virgin Media, Sky, BT, etc. But if you’re based in one of the more rural parts of the UK, you’ll want a broadband provider that can give you a decent connection, which they don’t always provide for more rural areas. And you do deserve just as strong broadband services compared to anyone living in the city.

Don’t necessarily go straight for attractive introductory rates or only the cheapest deal. You might get a better than average upload speed for cheap and be delighted with how fast web pages are loading at first, but then the prices might shoot back up in a short while.

Instead, you should:

shop around for the best broadband packages
take the time to speak to different providers
see if they have gaming broadband deals for new customers
ask if there are deals for existing mobile contract customers

If you’d like to start looking today, we have lots of information for you. To compare broadband deals, check out our wireless and fibre broadband packages for gamers. We offer five different broadband deals so you can find the best average speeds for your needs.

Download and upload speeds are a crucial factor when it comes to deciding between broadband providers. You could say that broadband speed determines whether it is suitable for playing online games.

Online gaming can be blighted by the need for large updates, and the inevitable digital game downloads. These put pressure on your broadband connection, especially if your download speeds are slow.

Typically, you should be looking for an unlimited broadband package offering uploads and download speeds averaging at least 10Mbps to get a good experience gaming online. There are lots of major providers that will have lots of packages that give you this facility.

But don’t just jump at any cheap package, especially if you’re living in the more remote parts of the UK.

If that’s you, you’ll need your broadband to effortlessly connect to your gaming devices and platforms. That’s as well as making sure anyone else in your household can access your connection at the same time as you. It pays to compare broadband thoroughly.

Online gaming enthusiasts don’t really discriminate between one broadband package and another. What matters is you find the right provider who gives you a fast, reliable broadband connection. Then, you should be able to enjoy a great gaming experience.

In the UK, professional gamers will usually select a full fibre broadband connection with as fast a speed as possible. It’s quite common to find broadband packages that offer speeds up to 1Gbps, or 1000Mbps. Airband offers Full Fibre 900 which gets you download speeds of 900Mbps and 200Mbps upload speed.

Professional gamers tend to opt for full fibre connections because these provide a lower level of latency than other connections. Indeed, it is low latency that is more important for pro gamers. If given the choice of sacrificing speed for lower latency, most would definitely go with a broadband provider that offered low latency.

Of course, many pro gamers stream their games. So, faster speeds and no download limits are crucial for them to play games online.

You can learn more about streaming in our blog: what is live streaming in gaming?

Some might say that a superfast connection is not essential for playing games online. But, it does make a massive difference to many other services that require fast speeds to run smoothly. For instance, you can download and update games much quicker if you have a speedy connection.

As far as your overall gaming environment and enjoyment, is concerned, a fast connection will improve things.

Putting the physical aspect of gaming aside for a moment, a fast broadband connection enables you to improve almost every other online activity. For instance, downloading movies, streaming media, sending large attachments, uploading files, and others will all get done quicker with a speedy connection.

Let’s face it, waiting around to complete these things can be frustrating. And it can distract you from the important stuff – online gaming! But just what is a good download and upload speed for gaming?

Of course, there is no definitive answer to this question because it can be subjective. For example, if it’s just you in your household, you may not feel like you need top-level speeds.

Whereas imagine someone who lives with a bigger family who all need the internet at the same time for different activities. Naturally, they would need a faster connection to cope with multiple users at once.

Let’s not forget that new games come online all the time, many with differing system and connection requirements.

Perhaps a better way to address your broadband requirements is to ask yourself “how much broadband do I need now and in the future?” The answer to this is as much as possible within your budget.

That’s because modern games can place a heavy burden on your hard drive, so cloud-based games might be your best option for gaming. For instance, at 200Gbps, Call of Duty Modern Warfare will soon eat up any spare space you have on your hard drive.