Why is my online game so slow?
A game's online performance can be attributed to many factors. Below is a listing of some of the different causes of why an online game may be slow or laggy.
Connection speed
If you are using a modem to connect and play online games you are going to notice a much higher ping then other players who may have a better connection than you. If you have a broadband connection and are experiencing lag test your Internet connection to see what your throughput is.
How fast is my Internet?
Testing your connection speed can be helpful to determine if your if the slow connection is because of your connection or the server connection.
Server
Where a server is located, its connection type and speed, as well as how many players are currently using it, all affect the online gaming experience. Below are a few recommendations to try.
See if all users are experiencing high pings or high latency. Often if all users are slow it is likely the server is a slow computer or has too many players for the connection being used.
Try an alternate server. Servers can be located anywhere in the world and if the server you are playing on is in another country it can affect your connection speed with some games.
Play the game at a different time of day. If the game's server is being utilized for more multiple titles or other tasks it could be currently experiencing a heavy work load, which lowers performance.
Updates
Verify you have the latest updates for your game, as well as the operating system you are using to play the games on. Often updating the game to the latest version, updating the hardware drivers, and updating the operating system can improve a game's performance offline and online.
More complex environment
When entering an area with other online players, the stress on your computer increases because of the requirements needed to load each of the characters and their actions. If your computer's performance decreases when there are other players on your screen, reduce the video quality of your game through the "Settings" or "Display Settings" in the game.
How do I view the ping in an online game?
Many online games have a feature that can be enabled or disabled and allows you to see the ping or latency of your connection with the game server. Unfortunately, where this information is located and how to enable/disable it is all dependent on the game. See your documentation or ask other players in the game how to display this setting.
How do I know if my ping is high?
As mentioned above, the higher the ping or latency value the worse your connection. However, whether or not it is high when compared with other users on the same server depends on the game and the server. Some online games have color coded ping/latency/connection indicators. For example, red for bad (high ping), yellow for ok, and green for good (fast or low ping).
Can I manually change my ping?
Some games allow you to manually specify the ping or there may be hacks that allow you to change your ping. However, this is only changing what is being displayed and will in no way improve your ping. However, it may allow your computer to connect to a server that requires a low ping.
Not enough video memory
With games in general, if your computer does not have enough video memory to properly render and display the game screen, the game will be slower to respond and appear laggy.
For online games, low video memory can result in very slow game performance and lag because the computer has trouble rendering the game graphics.
To improve video performance, try reducing the quality through the game's "Video Settings". If you don't want to reduce the game's video quality, you may need to replace the video card with a more powerful one.
Additional information
Why is my overall Internet connection so slow?
See our slow definition for all links relating to slow computers.
Computer game help and support.
A game's online performance can be attributed to many factors. Below is a listing of some of the different causes of why an online game may be slow or laggy.
Connection speed
If you are using a modem to connect and play online games you are going to notice a much higher ping then other players who may have a better connection than you. If you have a broadband connection and are experiencing lag test your Internet connection to see what your throughput is.
How fast is my Internet?
Testing your connection speed can be helpful to determine if your if the slow connection is because of your connection or the server connection.
Server
Where a server is located, its connection type and speed, as well as how many players are currently using it, all affect the online gaming experience. Below are a few recommendations to try.
See if all users are experiencing high pings or high latency. Often if all users are slow it is likely the server is a slow computer or has too many players for the connection being used.
Try an alternate server. Servers can be located anywhere in the world and if the server you are playing on is in another country it can affect your connection speed with some games.
Play the game at a different time of day. If the game's server is being utilized for more multiple titles or other tasks it could be currently experiencing a heavy work load, which lowers performance.
Updates
Verify you have the latest updates for your game, as well as the operating system you are using to play the games on. Often updating the game to the latest version, updating the hardware drivers, and updating the operating system can improve a game's performance offline and online.
More complex environment
When entering an area with other online players, the stress on your computer increases because of the requirements needed to load each of the characters and their actions. If your computer's performance decreases when there are other players on your screen, reduce the video quality of your game through the "Settings" or "Display Settings" in the game.
How do I view the ping in an online game?
Many online games have a feature that can be enabled or disabled and allows you to see the ping or latency of your connection with the game server. Unfortunately, where this information is located and how to enable/disable it is all dependent on the game. See your documentation or ask other players in the game how to display this setting.
How do I know if my ping is high?
As mentioned above, the higher the ping or latency value the worse your connection. However, whether or not it is high when compared with other users on the same server depends on the game and the server. Some online games have color coded ping/latency/connection indicators. For example, red for bad (high ping), yellow for ok, and green for good (fast or low ping).
Can I manually change my ping?
Some games allow you to manually specify the ping or there may be hacks that allow you to change your ping. However, this is only changing what is being displayed and will in no way improve your ping. However, it may allow your computer to connect to a server that requires a low ping.
Not enough video memory
With games in general, if your computer does not have enough video memory to properly render and display the game screen, the game will be slower to respond and appear laggy.
For online games, low video memory can result in very slow game performance and lag because the computer has trouble rendering the game graphics.
To improve video performance, try reducing the quality through the game's "Video Settings". If you don't want to reduce the game's video quality, you may need to replace the video card with a more powerful one.
Additional information
Why is my overall Internet connection so slow?
See our slow definition for all links relating to slow computers.
Computer game help and support.
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