Best WiFi Adapter for Low-Latency Gaming?

xXCowGoesWoofxx · Jan 13, 2015

I recently got a new gaming notebook, the ASUS GL551JM, if anyone's interested. All has been great with it so far, except for my internet connection. I am on the same floor as my router and it is in the adjacent room, but I still get connection drops and huge ping fluctuation in online games (I'm talking like 20ms-1500ms in an instant). I have read about the card itself, (Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-N 7260), and people are having the same issues that I am. Does anyone know what the best laptop WiFi adapter is for gaming? I was looking at the Killer Wireless N adapters, but I'm not sure how good they are as I don't normally use wireless for gaming. I need really good signal strength and low latency, any reccomendations? Thanks in advance.

digitaldoc · Jan 13, 2015

Gaming, where latency is critical is one of those situations where you will be better off with a wired connection. If you are getting connection drops, there may be issues with the signal from the router, and//or interference from competing networks, in addition to the problems with your card.

You can certainly look at a better wifi adapter.

http://www.asus.com/us/Networking/USBAC56/

I would also consider going with a Powerline adapter instead of wifi as the connection will be more stable.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IBPLI48/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=35L7HI4OUJSR7&coliid=I2WKWXMFJYVJFN&psc=1

mrmez · Jan 13, 2015

I don't think spending $$$ is necessary.
Any decent brand USB should be fine. Make sure you get something with an arial. The weaker a wifi signal the lower the speed it connects at. Renegotiating a new speed can result in momentary ping spikes.

My work Mac connects at 450Mbps. A low priority machine in the factory gets 50Mbps.

Interference may also be an issue. Try different channels. In reality there are only 3 2.4Ghz channels. 1, 6 and 11/12. Anything between actually overlaps.
5Ghz will give you much more speed, but less range.

xXCowGoesWoofxx · Jan 14, 2015

digitaldoc :

I'm actually pretty interested in the powerline adapter. I read that it actually uses the copper wiring already in your house as an internet connection. Does the distance the signal needs to travel affect speed with them? Would I see any kind of latency problems if I use it? Thanks for the great suggestion

digitaldoc · Jan 14, 2015

xXCowGoesWoofxx :

The latency is better over powerline than wifi in general. Powerline sends the signal though the electrical wiring. It works well for most folks. It has a limit of around 300 m, but this hotly debated, and the data speeds do not drop off with distance like wifi.

mrmez · Jan 16, 2015

Pinged www.apple.com 10 times:

-2007 Mac Mini. Wifi at 48-54Mbps
Average ping: 48.654ms

-2009 iMac. Gigabit ethernet 1,000Mbs
Average ping: 48.726ms

Now the standard deviation was as you expect, almost zero for ethernet and ~5ms for the wifi.
This goes some way to proving that slow Wifi is not a bottle neck for WAN ping, but the renegotiation of connection speed can cause bumps.
Keep in mind that even the slow wifi was connected to all Apple hardware, and can assume thats a best case scenario. Different brands could take longer and cause much larger spikes.

LAN ping can easily get down to ~10ms, but ~30 is the best you can expect from a WAN ADSL connection, and then only from a low latency server.

I still think a $30 usb wifi with external arial will do the trick.

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Best WiFi Adapter for Low-Latency Gaming?

xXCowGoesWoofxx

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digitaldoc

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mrmez

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xXCowGoesWoofxx

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digitaldoc

Expert

mrmez

Splendid

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