For many people around the world, gaming and online gaming can be a coping mechanisms for stress and anxiety. For others, lag, and slow internet traffic in gaming can be the cause of their stress and anxiety. We have some pretty epic gamers in the world that rely on good internet speeds and server reach to enhance their game time and gaming experience. So, how can we fix high Ping ms?

Having a VPN can, in some cases, be good for gaming experiences. VPNs can reduce your ping time if you’re having issues with connecting to a gaming server. VPNs can also reach a wider range of servers to connect you to games you wouldn’t usually have access to. 

Not everyone will need a VPN for a good gaming experience. The simple truth is that VPNs can be good for some, while worse for others. If you generally have a good ping speed, you probably don’t require a VPN unless you’re trying to reach a gaming server not usually accessible to you. Keep reading to find out the advantages of a VPN for gaming and how it might come in handy for you. 

Does VPN Help with Ping?

VPN can help with ping, “can” be the keyword here. 

VPNs can take a long time to transmit information, they are, after all, busy encrypting your data and ensuring your privacy which can result in slower internet speeds while the VPN does its thing. 

Paid VPN servers, however, put a lot of time, effort, and money into providing fast internet speeds so that your internet experience is not hindered by using a VPN but is better off for it and not just for privacy reasons. 

• If you have a good VPN, it can help with your ping time. 
• If your server is remote and not located near a gaming server, a VPN can reroute your internet traffic to the gaming server quicker than your ISP can
• With VPN you can select a gamer server closer to you

What is Ping?

It’s not like “ping!” I have an idea, Ping in gaming is an administration software networking utility that allows a user to test how far their IP address can reach. For the sake of gaming, the ping helps gamers to see how fast their server is transmitting and communicating with the gaming server.  

Ping is measured in milliseconds and the lower the ping, the better the gaming experience. The higher the ping, the worse the gaming experience. It’s as simple as that really. 

You could say ping is a measure of delay and the greater the ping the worse your internet and gaming speeds. The worse your internet and gaming speeds are, the quicker you fall behind on the leaderboard. 

Once you understand what ping is, you can test your ping on most gaming platforms to see how well your gaming performance will register. 

Here’s a quick recap:

• Ping is what measures the speed of your internet traffic time
• Higher ping causes lag
• Low ping = good and fast internet connection

How to Measure Ping and What is a Decent Ping Speed for Gaming?

As mentioned above, ping is measured in milliseconds and the lower the milliseconds, the better the game performance will be. 

If I’m playing a game against you and my ping is 1ms (millisecond), I’m getting information faster than the click of your fingers, whereas if you’re receiving ping in 100ms, your lag will cause you to receive information much slower than my server. 

Here is a scenario for you:

Say you and I are playing an online game of Call of Duty (COD) and we are not on the same team. My ping is less than 20ms while yours is around 100ms. If we both happen to control our soldiers around the map and run into each other around a corner, I have probably already killed your soldier before your server has been able to transfer the information to your screen. I saw you first, I killed you first.

Here is how to test your ping speed:

Keep in mind that this is a general way to test ping speeds and it may differ depending on the game you’re playing. 

1. Select the game settings icon (in-game) or Task Manager
2. Select the option that says “display performance” – this might not be the same heading in all games but will always be something similar to “network/system options”
3. There should be a “ping test” option to give you the most accurate results

The Packet Internet Network Groper (PING) is a simple networking software that basically sends out a “ping” in search of how fast the response signal can go. This is how the test works and lets you know the average speed in milliseconds of your ping. 

There are other ways to test your ping, it’s easy enough to look it up for the game you’re playing to find results online that walk you through how to test your ping for a specific game. 

Check out this YouTube tutorial by Gameranx to see how you can test your Ping for online PC games. 

What are Decent Ping Speeds for Gaming?

• Less than 20ms is ideal for a superior gaming experience
• Less than 50ms is the most common for those with good gaming setups. This is ideal for racing and first-person-shooter (FPS) games, like COD for example. 
• Less than 100ms is getting to the stage where lag might be present at times depending on your connection to the gaming server. This is where having a VPN can benefit you.
• Anything above 100ms isn’t ideal for gamers and those who play to keep their stress and anxiety levels down. You will lag often, but not often enough that you can’t still play, it just won’t be a pleasant experience for you or your teammates. 
• Above 300ms is at the point of no return. Pack up your console or keyboard and give it a rest because your lag time will exceed any amount of playtime and your place on the leader board will be nonexistent. Seriously, don’t bother, or find a way to reduce your ping asap. 

Are VPNs Good for Gaming?

While a VPN is used for providing you access to a wider range of servers and to assist in securing your privacy, it might not make sense at first that VPNs can be good for gaming. But VPNs are, indeed, good for gaming in some instances. 

As an online gamer, a fast and stable connection is key to a desirable gaming experience. VPN can help protect your security and keep your server anonymous so you can play games not usually accessible to you, but can a VPN help with reducing your ping?

Here is how having a VPN can work to your benefit:

• Having a VPN can connect you to better servers for a better online gaming experience 
• Having a trusted (and most likely paid for) VPN can unblock websites that you don’t usually have access to
• You can access multiple and a broader range of streaming content
• By having access to different and better or closer servers your ping could be improved which reduces your lag time
• Having a VPN can protect your server identity which keeps your online activity anonymous and safe from stalking
• If you’re connecting from a public source, a VPN will secure your privacy by encrypting your server and IP address

Conclusion

As mentioned earlier, not everyone needs a VPN for better ping speeds and gaming performance but it can be something valuable to those who experience lag and slower internet traffic speeds often. Aim for a lower ping that receives online information faster for a better gaming experience by turning off updates, closing background applications, and seeking a higher bandwidth through the use of a VPN service.