How To Lower Ping for Gaming

Your gaming ping is a representation of how responsive your internet connection is. A low ping is essential for any online game that’s played in real-time: shooters, racing games, MMOs—pretty much everything except turn-based games. This guide will help you achieve the lowest ping possible so you’re not gaming one virtual step behind your competition.

What is ping?

Your ping is a measurement of your connection’s latency; the terms latency and ping are often used interchangeably. The game sends a test signal or “ping” to the gaming server and waits for the server to respond. Your ping (measured in milliseconds) measures the time between the outgoing test signal and the response from the server.

To stay competitive in real-time multiplayer gaming, you need as little delay as possible between your mouse clicks and button presses and what’s happening on your screen, and a high ping means a long delay.

When gaming with a high ping, you might notice that every time you take a shot or adjust your aim, it takes the game a little too long to complete that action. This puts you at a big disadvantage and causes immersion-breaking disorientation.

Learn your gaming ping

Most multiplayer games supply a ping measurement, often in the game’s scoreboard. Start by checking your in-game ping measurement as it targets the specific server the game is using. If you have a high ping score, you should confirm the results with a speed test ping or latency measurement.

If your ping is high in the game but low on the speed test, the problem likely originates outside of your home network. Your next step is to check your ping in a different game. If your ping is only high in one game, it may be the result of a specific gaming server and have nothing to do with your home network or internet service. You can try switching the gaming server you’re playing on if the game allows for it, but sometimes problems like these are just the internet god’s way of telling you to chill on Call of Duty for a bit and relax with something a little less latency-dependent, like Animal Crossing.

If you have high ping measurements from multiple games and a speed test, it’s worth troubleshooting your home network for latency.

What causes high ping?

The reason for your high ping fits in one of two categories: home network issues or wide-area network (WAN) issues. Home network issues that could cause high ping include Wi-Fi issues, faulty cabling, using the wrong router settings, among other things—most of which you can fix on your own.

WAN issues are tougher to solve because the issue originates outside of your home network, but there are still a few tricks you can try and ways to navigate around them. We’ll go over the best fixes for all the main causes of high ping.

Top ways to lower your ping

While some causes of high ping are out of your control, there are still several fixes you can try to get your latency woes under control.

Use an Ethernet cable

The convenience of Wi-Fi is tempting, but, for gaming, nothing beats the rock-solid stability of a hardwired connection to your router. Wi-Fi broadcasts from your router are subject to interference from a wide range of sources; it’s not always easy to fix and can lead to hours of unfruitful troubleshooting. Even worse, many Wi-Fi issues are intermittent, making it even more difficult to pin down the cause.

Using an Ethernet connection removes these potentially lag-inducing complications. Depending on where you keep your router, setting up an Ethernet connection may be inconvenient. But if you can swing it, Ethernet is easily the best setup for online gaming.

If your gaming setup is in the same room as your router, this is easily achieved by getting an Ethernet cable long enough to run along your baseboards from the router to the gaming system.

If your gaming setup is in a different room than your router, consider moving the router or gateway. How difficult this is depends on your internet service and the layout of your home network. Check out our guide on moving your router to another room for more details.

Switch to a closer gaming server

Some games let you choose the server you play on, and choosing a physically closer server can have a tremendous impact on your performance by shortening the round trip of your ping. Often, games will automatically choose the closest server, but not always. It’s worth checking, especially if you’re having lag issues.

Restart your router

A router restart often works wonders for home networking issues because it gives your router a chance to flush out any glitches or inefficient processes. Restarting your router is usually as simple as briefly disconnecting the router’s power cable or using a restart function through your router or ISP mobile app. See our router restart guide for more details.

Optimize your router settings for gaming

There are a few common router settings that can improve your gaming ping. The most notable of these is QoS, which prioritizes certain connections on your home network. With QoS prioritization set to your gaming devices, you can make sure your online gaming is always in the fast lane in your home network. If slowdowns happen or you use up all your bandwidth, the slowdowns and lag will impact your other devices before they affect your gaming.

Next, you can optimize your Wi-Fi if you’re not using an Ethernet connection. Choosing the best Wi-Fi frequency band (6 GHz is best), making sure you’re not using a crowded Wi-Fi channel, and optimal router placement can all have a big impact on performance. Lastly, do not use a Wi-Fi range extender or Wi-Fi booster if you’re after the lowest possible gaming ping. Most of these devices simply retransmit your Wi-Fi signal which doubles your latency.

Upgrade your router

A higher-quality router comes with more than a cool look. Some gaming-specific routers take QoS to a new level by allowing you to not only prioritize certain devices, but also applications within those devices. For example, you can prioritize a game’s web traffic above other background processes on your PC. Additionally, some routers have specific optimized settings that can be set for each of your games, so when you launch the game, the router automatically activates the ideal parameters for that game.

Aside from gaming-specific features, gaming routers often have top-of-the-line Ethernet and Wi-Fi components and specs. See the best gaming routers of 2024 for more information.

Wi-Fi and internet technology evolve quickly. You don’t need a new router every year, but you should periodically update your equipment if you’re expecting the kind of performance needed for top-tier online gaming.

Check for damaged cables

Cable damage is often overlooked because you usually can’t see it. Home networking cables like Ethernet and coax transmit internet signals over their copper cores, and it’s common for those copper cores to become damaged without any indication on the exterior rubber shell (the part you can see).

To identify a damaged cable, look for kinks and harsh bends in the cable. Also, take note of cables lying in an area where they are repeatedly crushed by chair wheels, foot traffic, or chewing from pets. Check the cable connectors as well. An Ethernet cable should make an audible click when inserted into an Ethernet port, and coaxial cable connectors should be snugly attached to the wall outlet and modem or gateway.

The easiest way to deal with damaged cables is to simply replace them. See our article on the best Ethernet cables if you need a replacement.

Don’t use a VPN

VPNs disguise your IP address by passing your traffic through another server. This adds an extra stop in your gaming data’s journey to the server, increasing your latency. Definitely avoid VPNs for the shortest possible ping times.

Switch to fiber or cable internet

Fiber internet provides the most responsive connections for gaming. Fiber internet signals persist longer than other connection types, requiring less amplification and processing which reduces latency. If you can’t get fiber internet, cable internet is your next best option, and the difference in latency between the two is often negligible.

Upgrade to a gaming router FAQ