When it comes to gaming online with other people, there are many factors that come into play in regards to latency and connection speed. Even with the most advanced high-bandwidth connections, your game could still suffer greatly. While faster speeds do play a prominent role in certain situations, there are still several variables that you need to consider before throwing your keyboard at your monitor when you lose your connection at a crucial point in the game.
Network Switch Latency
When you connect to any game server, your signal may have to travel over long distances. This means you’re connection will be traveling through a long list of third-party switches in order to reach the server. If any of these switches are having latency issues, it can drastically reduce your gaming performance. Unfortunately, there is nothing you can really do if this is the case. However, a faster connection on your part has potential to accommodate some of the latency issues through these switches.
Server Distance
Although high-bandwidth connections can quickly connect to servers in other countries, there is still a great deal of latency that can develop. This is one of the primary reasons why most MMORPG game companies set up servers in other locations. Connecting to a Great Britain game server from California, USA may experience a great deal of lag.
Server Hardware
Some game servers may be using older hardware and networking equipment to connect you to the product. Usually, larger corporations for game production build superior networking systems. However, there are plenty of games where substandard equipment may be used for handling large number of players. This taxes the available bandwidth and often slows the game experience down.
Personal Computer Hardware
Even with a superior FiOS Internet connection, your computer can still play online games relatively slow because of hardware requirements. Everything from graphic rendering to movement can be affected by a computer that is not up-to-date. A fiber connection will make a difference, but a slow computer will still have problems operating the game as it was intended.
When you want an advantage over other online players, a faster connection to the game server will give you a competitive edge. Checking for things like Verizon FiOS availability in your area could improve your playing performance. Even though the game server may be at fault, a faster connection can reduce the latency you experience during play.