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If you’re wondering what is ping in gaming then we’re going to break it all down right here.
If you’ve played online gaming you have felt the effects of ping time, whether you know about it or not. Ideally, you would never have to think about it, but unfortunately, high ping time can break havoc on your gaming sessions.
Ping time is a measure of latency, which is an essential delay between an instruction being sent and it being followed. In online gaming this means the time between your console or PC sending information to the gaming server and then receiving its reply.
It is affected by all sorts of things, such as whether you’re using WiFi or ethernet, 4g or 5g amongst other things. If you are struggling with laggy online gameplay time you can check out the most common reasons for a high ping time, as well as how to lower your ping time.
Why is ping time important in gaming?
The exchange of information between gaming devices and online servers is the bedrock of online gaming. All players in a lobby will be communicating with the same server which will be making sure everyone is seeing the same things happening at the same time.
If your ping time is higher, you will be a few steps behind everyone else. This will cause lagging, stuttering or for players to suddenly appear out of nowhere, as your console or PC suddenly has to catch up with information it was late to receive.
Meanwhile, if your ping time is low, around 20 ms is considered the best for gaming, you will have an advantage over everyone else playing, as there will be less input delay.
Ping time is also disconnected from your other hardware capabilities. Meaning that having the best GPU for high frame rates or the best 360Hz gaming monitor won’t help reduce lag in online gameplay if your ping is low.
Frequently asked questions
How do I measure my ping time?
You can measure your ping time by running a ping test. To do this go to the windows start button, type CMD and click the icon to open the Command Prompt program. In the window type ping 8.8.8.8 -t and press enter. After around 30 seconds press Ctrl and C to stop the test. Look at the second line to see your average ping time over those 30 seconds.
Does a VPN help with ping?
Yes, in certain circumstances a VPN will help reduce your ping time, though this is not a given.
