How To Improve WiFi For Gaming

A slow internet connection is a turn-off for gamers and that is why you must learn how to improve WiFi for gaming.

One of the worst experiences you could ever get as a gamer is to be kicking butt and all of sudden your internet is lagging. That alone could cause you trauma for the whole day.

Games will always lag if your internet is not fast enough to keep up with the speed of the game. The files cannot upload or download as fast as the game requests them.

If you are already having this kind of issue, there are lots of solutions you can try out. One solution doesn’t fix these kinds of problems so you will have to combine multiple solutions. These are tested and proven to work solutions to keep your internet up to speed.

What is the ideal Wi-Fi speed for gaming?

It is difficult to tell the ideal Wi-Fi speed for gaming since home Wi-Fi comes for different purposes. But that is not to say I can not tell you how fast your internet must be to stop your games from lagging.

ideally, your game requires about 7 to 10 Megabits per second (MBps) of internet speed to keep up with the speed. This speed will be distributed for both upload and download.

With this in mind, you must know that the home Wi-Fi usually will not be used by only you for gaming. Other users will also have to use it for their personal things. Even if you have a dedicated Wi-Fi, you definitely have other devices connected to it.

So let us say you need about 50 MBps of internet speed at home to be able to run a gaming console without lagging.

5 Ways to improve WiFi for gaming

There are many ways you can improve WiFi for gaming and I am about to give five tested and working ways you can achieve that. It is very important that you combine more of these five tips for maximum results.

1. Move the router closer to the console

The very first thing to do is to move your router closer to your console. If your router is too far from your console, it reduces the speed of the internet speed since WiFi works with signal strength.

The closer the router, the stronger the signal and this also mean you will have more speed running to your console.

2. Use an ethernet cable

If your console has an ethernet port and your router is closer, then use a cable connection since the cable is faster than WiFi. No matter how advanced WiFi is, cable connections still seem faster

3. Use Mesh Network to improve WiFi for gaming

If for some reason you are unable to move your router closer to the console, use a Mesh network. I will never recommend a WiFi extender since they seem to slow your internet. Mesh nodes bring about a faster speed compared to WiFi extenders.

I have tested both WiFi extenders and Mesh networks and I can say that Mesh will improve your WiFi for gaming compared to extenders. Read my previous article about how to set up a mesh network.

4. Upgrade your router

There are routers still on band 2.4GHz which of course, your router could be one of them. If it is, upgrade to a band 5GHz. Make sure if you are upgrading your router, you compare the ability of your old router to the new one before you upgrade.

Upgrading is also one of the best options if you want to improve your internet speed for gaming.

5. Get a dedicated router

Overloading is also one of the causes of slow internet speed. Routers support usually up to 32 users simultaneously. That might sound like a great feature for a household router but trust me, it also means a slower internet speed.

10 users connecting to a WiFi simultaneously can reduce a single user’s internet speed by over 90%. If you really want to improve WiFi for gaming, get a dedicated router. Configure it for only a single user and connect it to only your console.