While most of your network's traffic can rely on loading data ahead of time to smooth out hitches, online video games are unique in how much they depend on a stable, low-latency connection to get the best experience. The exact steps to improving your gaming network performance will vary between devices, but here's a list of general guidelines you should follow.
Use Wired Over Wireless
Your Wi-Fi network is a great tool for getting high speed service to every nook and cranny of your home, but there are plenty of factors that will impact the speed and stability of those connections. Even with a fast link to your Haywire equipment, traffic from nearby wireless devices and neighboring access points can cause split-second interruptions to your connection known as network jitter. Pair that with a weak signal strength or slow Wi-Fi chip in your device, and your gaming session will be full of lag spikes no matter what your service is rated to handle.
On the other hand, a wired connection acts as an isolated, constant stream of data to your devices. As long as you have the bandwidth to spare and at least a Cat 5e Ethernet cable, you can expect a reliable gaming experience with lightning-fast download speeds to boot. Many of our serviced properties include Ethernet ports on the underside of your living room's access point, and any available Ethernet wall jacks in bedrooms and offices can easily bring a more dependable connection straight to the devices that need it most.
Check Your Server Ping
When connecting to an online game server, you may see the latency of your connection labeled in-game as your ping. This number measures the total time (in milliseconds) it takes for data sent from your device to reach the server and then return back to you. A low ping means other players will respond to your actions more quickly, while a high ping can lead to delayed button inputs, choppy player movement, and an overall worse experience.
Besides the quality of your local connection, the biggest influence on your ping in games is the physical distance between you and the server you've selected. If you're noticing your ping consistently holding north of ~100 ms, you may want to look for a server closer to where you live.
The Effects of NAT Type
The NAT type of your connection is a term used to describe how your devices' can communicate with the open internet. Haywire has configured your service's NAT type to strike a great balance between security and ease of use, but you may see discussions insisting your devices will require an 'Open' or 'Full Cone' NAT to properly function. Because of this, it's important to demystify the topic and properly set expectations for how NAT will affect your gaming experience:
Games that connect players through a central game server or proxy server should not experience any NAT-related connectivity issues.
Games that rely on peer-to-peer (P2P) connections will still properly function as long as the host's NAT type is not 'Strict' or 'Symmetric.' This stems from their own network configuration and is not an issue with your network.
If you are wanting to host a game server that requires certain ports to be open, you will need your own personal router and a public IPv4 address that bypasses your NAT. You can read about renting an public IPv4 address here.
Services that take advantage of IPv6 do not interact with your NAT and should function regardless of your NAT type.
If you have any specific questions regarding this topic, you can open a request with our support team.
Know What to Expect
Just like your network at home, the services you use when playing games have a limit on how much traffic they can handle at once. Because of this, you may see more network-intensive actions, such as large game downloads, get lower than expected speeds during peak traffic hours. If a highly anticipated online game releases on a weekend, that surging number of new players trying to connect all at once can also degrade server performance and cause your connection to feel unstable. Playing or downloading your games during quieter hours ensures your devices won't be fighting to share bandwidth with others.
If your gaming device is having trouble keeping a solid connection, it may also be worth comparing service quality with other online devices you may own. It's one thing when every device is having issues getting online, but a problem that's limited to just a single device or game may indicate a situation unrelated to your internet service. For issues with specific game servers, you should always check for any planned maintenance windows or verify their server status first with a tool like Downdetector.
For more general information about the speed of your network, please read our article on speed tests here.