There are 44 million gamers in the UK, with that figure continuing to rise yearly. If you’re not a gamer yourself the chances of there being a gamer that lives in your home or that visits your home on a regular basis will be highly likely.
Online gamers rely on fast broadband speeds and an excellent internet connection to enjoy the full gaming experience.
Call of Duty, FIFA, GTA, Minecraft and Fortnite are some of the most beloved online games on the market. It’s important to make sure that your bandwidth isn’t limited so that the whole family can enjoy their digital experiences uninterrupted.
Which is the best broadband for gaming?
Firstly, you need to know the minimum download and upload speed recommended for gaming.
We recommend a download speed of at least 25Mbps and an upload speed of 3Mbps for every person that wants to connect to your broadband. If you want to use the internet at the same time as your gamers without causing disruptions for each other then fibre broadband speeds of 50-100Mbps are recommended.
The faster your download and upload speeds are the more people that can connect to your broadband at the same time.
Full fibre broadband is the fastest and most reliable broadband technology, we offer broadband packages reaching highs of 900Mbps. Imagine what your gamers could do with speeds of up to 900Mbps!
What can gamers do with a speed of up to 900Mbps?
To put into perspective just how much of a difference broadband speeds make to gamers, here’s how fast you could download the most popular video games of 2023.
What is ping, latency and lag?
If you’ve ever experienced or heard gamers complain about their game ‘lagging’ this is when the game is delayed and commands aren’t actioned immediately.
Lag is a common outcome of high ping and high latency. Ping is the difference between winning and losing in many cases. It is the signal sent between the player inputting a command and the server responding. The higher your ping is, the more frustrating it is for gamers.
Latency is used interchangeably with ping and both are measured in milliseconds. The difference is that latency is the time it takes for your data to travel from your device to the server.
Low levels of ping and latency are needed for gamers to have the best online experience possible.
Full fibre broadband is the best option if you’re in need of low levels of ping and latency.
What is packet loss?
Just like high ping, packet loss can cause lag and in-game issues. The difference with packet loss is that it can occur even with a fast broadband connection.
As you play online games your device constantly exchanges “packets” of data. Packet loss is the loss of data between your device and a game server. If a packet never arrives then it must be re-sent, causing lag.
Potential causes of packet loss include:
- Network congestion
- Faulty game servers
- Software corruption
- Underpowered devices
To fix packet loss you need to check the network connectivity of your devices and ensure the network is configured correctly with no interference.
Home broadband packages
If you have a busy home network with multiple users wanting to connect at the same time. Choosing an unlimited fibre package with faster speeds will allow you to carry out data-heavy tasks like playing games online and live streaming.
Contact our customer service team if you would like to upgrade your current broadband package or our sales team for more information.
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