Is my internet speed enough?

[Pc Guru_07]

Guys i have a 2mbs internet connection.It is wired and DSL.It is unlimited but i get 2mbs speed upto 20gb then it drops down to 256kbs.I would like to know is that enough for any online game like BFBC2,Cod games.I have a powerful pc and i have played the single player version of most shooters.But i never tried MP.I get download speeds of 200 to 220 kbs while downloading files.Is my connection enough or i need a faster connection.Also what is the bare minimum required for online shooter games?

 

[Pc Guru_07]

No i really get speeds of 220kB/s.2mbs divided 8 equals real speed.so 2000 divided by 8 equals 250 kbs.When i download files google crome reports speed of 200 to 220 kB/s depending upon server.

 

[Pc Guru_07]

My ping is 260ms.What is the recommended ping time?How can i improve it?And is 250kb/s enough for shooter games.If i play online games how quickly my 20gb cap will be finished?Sorry if i sound stupid but i am clueless about serious online gaming.

 

[JDFan]

My ping is 260ms.What is the recommended ping time?How can i improve it?And is 250kb/s enough for shooter games.If i play online games how quickly my 20gb cap will be finished?Sorry if i sound stupid but i am clueless about serious online gaming.

A ping of 260ms is pretty bad for gaming - Pingtest.com would rte it as a high D or low C rating ( SEE HERE ) -- this explains the Ping ratings and gives you an idea of what is needed

Your 2Mbs connection should be fine for most games ( 1 - 1.5 Mbs is pretty normal and acceptable ) but the Ping time will make the game lag (ie. you'll press the shoot button and the shot takes awhile before it shoots and\or the enemy has already moved which can lead to frustrating times !)

 

[Pc Guru_07]

so how can i improve my ping times?My ISP is airtel broadband.Should i call them and ask for help?What is DNS server?

 

[JDFan]

Ping times will depend on where you are and where the game server is and each connection that the signal goes through on the way there and back -- so there is not much that can be done to adjust it on your end (it is more controlled by the service you are using and their hardware) -- Normally when connecting to a game there will be a list of servers to choose from and you will want to pick one that has a low ping time to your system at the current time (it will vary depending on the route your system is taking to the server)

Though googling Airtel and Ping times does bring up numerous posts about very high ping times on their service - so might want to look for another ISP if possible.
I use AT&T Uverse (12Mb\s Down 2Mb\s Up) and it has a fairly high Ping time compared to some other services around here -- Here is a copy of the latest Ping test I ran and also a Speed test.

As you can see the Ping moved from 56 to 73 to different servers within the same city due to the route to the server.

 

[Pc Guru_07]

Ok i am from India.Here most ISP donot provide that much speed.Airtel has a plan which provides 16mbs speed but the prices are rather high.I again ran speedtest and this time i choose a server which was inside India.And i got better ping time 112ms.So when playing online games i should try choosing server which is present in my country or near my country.Do cod or bad company 2 games have any server in India?Also how much data is transferred while playing online games.I get 2mbs speed for 20gb only.Then it drops back to 256kbs.They have some stupid fair usage policy.

 

[JDFan]

Correct - with some countries trying to use a server located in another country uses a much higher Ping rate due to the way they have the hardware setup. Not sure whether those games have servers in India or not but best thing to do is look through the list of available servers and choose based on the best Ping times.

And unfortunately there is not much else that you can do if there is not better ISPs available for decent prices. As a general guidline an Online game will use about 100MB per hour of gameplay +\- depending on the game but it is not really alot of data going back and forth (most of the heavy data still comes from your system HDD) but it can add up though you should be OK with 20GB per month if you are not doing a lot of other downloading etc.

 

[Pc Guru_07]

Thanks you very much for clearing my doughts.I have a 5850 and Q9550 based system.I have played almost all SP shooters game.But now with my 2mbs internet connection i will try playing MP shooter games also.Again thanks.BA given.

 

[Pc Guru_07]

Best answer selected by Pc Guru_07.

 

[Kewlx25]

Correct - with some countries trying to use a server located in another country uses a much higher Ping rate due to the way they have the hardware setup. Not sure whether those games have servers in India or not but best thing to do is look through the list of available servers and choose based on the best Ping times.

And unfortunately there is not much else that you can do if there is not better ISPs available for decent prices. As a general guidline an Online game will use about 100MB per hour of gameplay +\- depending on the game but it is not really alot of data going back and forth (most of the heavy data still comes from your system HDD) but it can add up though you should be OK with 20GB per month if you are not doing a lot of other downloading etc.

An FPS like Bad Company2 will use 14KB/sec or ~50MB/hour. An RTS like Starcraft will use closer to 3-4KB or ~14MB/hour

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey