Gaming connection speed

GoJeff!

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May 30, 2007
2,011
Los Angeles
My son is constantly complaining about his ping during gaming. Since I don't really care, I tell him there is nothing I can do about it. And that might be true, but I thought I'd check here.

He's on PS4, although using it with a keyboard in PC mode.
I have Charter Spectrum, with 100 Mbps speeds. It clocks in at around 114 Mbps most of the time. I don't have any other service options in our area, although conceivably Spectrum has a faster speed tier.
He is hard wired to our router. It's a fairly cheap ASUS (ACRH-13), but new enough to be AC wireless, etc.
I have not tried any QOS stuff, but he thinks it is slow even when no one else is online.
His ping is around 15. It is definitely higher sometimes--I think our Spectrum service slows down at night when everyone is on netflix--but he even complains about 15.

Can I get the ping down? Or should I tell him to shut up and do his homework?
 

LogansDad

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Nov 15, 2006
29,059
Alamogordo
I would tell him to shut up and do his homework. 15 MS is actually a really good ping rate. If you were seeing consistent numbers in, say, the hundreds or something, then it might be something worth looking into, but it sounds like your son just wants to find an excuse for his losing (NOTE: I have a 14 year old son who does the same thing).

(Edit: Even better than telling him to do his homework, just tell him to "get good".... they love that)
 

drbretto

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Apr 10, 2009
12,075
Concord, NH
15ms is excellent ping. I really don't think it can even BE much lower than that.

I'd guess he's looking for excuses for losing. Next thing he's going to ask you for is a 240hz monitor. I agree, the best response to this is Git Gud.
 

mostman

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Jun 3, 2003
18,740
Yeah I'm on a 1Gb line here with top-end equipment from me to the pole. If I run a speed test I can pull 3-5ms for a ping. But when I'm gaming, 10-15 is what I usually see.
 

LeoCarrillo

Do his bits at your peril
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Oct 13, 2008
10,394
In a grouchy voice, just tell him he should be happy. Back when you were a kid, you didn't even have ping. You had Pong.
 

Red Sox Physicist

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Jul 15, 2005
296
Natick, MA
Tell him he needs to do his physics homework. To put the 15 ms in perspective, the speed-of-light is about 186,000 mi/s. For a 15 ms ping, that's about 2,800 mi round-trip (or a server ~1,400 mi away), and that doesn't account for processing delay at each hop which will reduce that distance considerably.

For a 60 Hz monitor, the frame time is 1/60 s or about 17 ms. His ping is less than one frame one the monitor. It is much lower than human reaction time.

Upgrading your internet speed is unlikely to help ping time either. Ping is a measure latency, but your 100 mbps internet speed is a measure of throughput. Going to say gigabit would allow you to download more data per second, but not improve the time to communicate with the servers.

I'll happily send you physics problems for him if he complains again. :)
 

NortheasternPJ

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Nov 16, 2004
19,271
Tell him he needs to do his physics homework. To put the 15 ms in perspective, the speed-of-light is about 186,000 mi/s. For a 15 ms ping, that's about 2,800 mi round-trip (or a server ~1,400 mi away), and that doesn't account for processing delay at each hop which will reduce that distance considerably.

For a 60 Hz monitor, the frame time is 1/60 s or about 17 ms. His ping is less than one frame one the monitor. It is much lower than human reaction time.

Upgrading your internet speed is unlikely to help ping time either. Ping is a measure latency, but your 100 mbps internet speed is a measure of throughput. Going to say gigabit would allow you to download more data per second, but not improve the time to communicate with the servers.

I'll happily send you physics problems for him if he complains again. :)
Don't tell him that, else as Drbretto said he's going to want a 240hz monitor!
 

drbretto

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Apr 10, 2009
12,075
Concord, NH
it actually DOES make a difference, that 240hz monitor:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV8P6T5tTYs
This is far from a serious scientific study, but the tl;dr here is that the better refresh rates helped all three players in every way they measured, and by more than just the 12ms head start. It's actually significant. I kind of wish they compared it to a 144hz as well, but there's definitely a difference going from 60 to 240.

But, just because you need that kind of equipment to be an actual pro doesn't mean it'll make him one, either.
 

Red Sox Physicist

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Jul 15, 2005
296
Natick, MA
it actually DOES make a difference, that 240hz monitor:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV8P6T5tTYs
This is far from a serious scientific study, but the tl;dr here is that the better refresh rates helped all three players in every way they measured, and by more than just the 12ms head start. It's actually significant. I kind of wish they compared it to a 144hz as well, but there's definitely a difference going from 60 to 240.

But, just because you need that kind of equipment to be an actual pro doesn't mean it'll make him one, either.
A PS4 can't output more than 60 Hz anyway, and most games for it are at 30 Hz.

Crap, now he's going to want a gaming PC and the 240 Hz monitor.