50Mbps is a great speed to have for gaming. Your internet will be fast enough to provide you with good latency as well as with a good download speed. Download really comes into play when you are downloading games, updates, and patches.
Having a speed of 50Mbps also gives a good amount of room for others to use the internet as well without impacting your gaming performance. This can happen with slower internet speeds of 12mbps or 25 mbps.
In this article we are going to take a look at why 50mbps is a great speed for gaming, how it affects latency, and how to keep your game running smooth.
Can You Game on 50Mbps?
Gaming on 50Mbps depends on a few factors. If you are heavily downloading or uploading files while trying to game, then you will most likely be negatively impacted. If there are others in your home streaming video in 4K or higher resolutions, this can use up a lot of your bandwidth.
If you are not heavily downloading or uploading files with your internet, then 50Mbps is more than enough speed to game on. You will be able to game while other people use the internet for basic video streaming, internet browsing, and more.
Is 50 Mbps Fast Enough?
50 Mbps can easily support three to four users. The loading of web pages, streaming 1080p, and multiple people playing video games. This speed can easily support smooth online gaming for more than one user at any given time.
To compare 50Mbps with a speed like 100mbps, a faster speed can support more users at once simultaneously without trouble streaming 4K and HD videos, running online games, web streaming, and watching Youtube.
Depending on the size of your household, 50Mbps can be more than enough internet speed for your needs. This mostly depends on the demands in your home. If your demands on internet are low, then a speed of 25 Mbps should more than suffice.
What Mbps is Good for Online Gaming?
As of right now, the standard for a good gaming experience is at least 20Mbps and up. You will still be able to play online games with a slower speed, but with games constantly growing bigger in terms of file sizes and internet demands, the higher speed you have the better.
Your gaming experience will also be heavily impacted by the usage of your internet in your household. Also, some games require more internet speed than others. This is especially true if you are playing games that have servers that are far away from you.
What Is a Good Speed for WiFi?
A speed of 50Mbps – 100Mbps is considered a very good speed for WiFi. These internet speeds will allow multiple users to Stream HD 4K, stream music/videos, browse the internet, and even work from home.
Also, with a high WiFi speed, always be sure that your modem or router supports 5Ghz capability. If your router only supports 2.4Ghz then your WiFi speed will be slow regardless of how fast your actual internet speed is.
How Does Mbps Affect Ping?
Internet speed is usually simplified into three variables. Download speed, upload speed, and ping. Ping, also known as latency or lag, is basically how long your internet takes to respond to your requests. This is usually also affected your download speed as well as the location of the host server.
Having a high download speed is great for downloading big files such as complete game downloads or updates. Having a high upload speed is great for sending or transmitting things through the internet like when using video chats or voice applications such as discord.
Having a low ping is very important to your online gaming experience. It will have the largest impact during your gaming performance and is mostly seen as a delay in action. A good example of this is if you are playing an FPS game, your shots may not be registering properly as your opponent may already be in a slightly different spot than what you already see them in.
How Do I Lower My Ping
There are quite a few ways you can lower your ping that don’t directly involve upgrading your internet speed. Before upgrading your internet speed, first take a look at a few of these tips to help lower your ping.
Close Unused Programs
Be sure to close any programs that you are not using that may be using your internet in the background. This can be programs such as file sharing applications, game applications, and even some antivirus software.
Turn Off Auto-Updates
Turn off auto updates on your computer as well as for other applications related to games. Files that download in the background will give you a negative experience in terms of your ping when you are gaming.
Use Dual Band Wi-Fi
If you are using Wi-Fi, be sure that your device and router both support Dual Band wifi. Using Dual Band technology will help you get the most out of your wireless internet signal.
Some games will also have a region setting when playing online. Always be sure to pick the region closest to you to get the best ping possible when playing online.
Hardwired Connection/Reset Your Modem
Try a hardwired connection if you are using Wi-Fi. Having a hardwired ethernet connection will always give you the fastest speed possible out of your internet.
If you are experiencing slow or choppy speeds, try performing a reset on your internet modem. Simply unplug it from its power source for a minute, and then plug it back in. Restarting your internet connection can sometimes fix lag or latency issues.
Contact Your ISP
Consider contacting your internet service provider and have them run a “quality of service” check on your line. This will essentially tell your internet service provider if your internet is running up to speed.
Sometimes there can be issues on your internet line that can negatively impact your ping and/or download speed. Most of the time these issues will require that a service technician visit where they will check your internet lines or replace your modem.
We recommend using a Netgear Dual Band Wifi Extender like this one from Amazon. Using a Dual Band extender will ensure that you will be able to obtain 90-100% of your internets speed through WiFi. This is especially true if your internet speed is 50Mbps or above.
Final Thoughts
50Mbps is a good speed to have if you will be gaming. This internet speed will be fast enough to download video games, patches/updates, as well as give you a decent ping while in game.
This speed is also good enough to handle multiple users in a household. You can have about 4 to 5 people streaming video, playing video games, or just browsing the internet without much performance loss at all.
If you are the only person that will be using the internet , then even 25Mbps should be able to suffice for gaming. The higher your download speed, the faster you will download games and updates. If your main concern is having good latency/ping, then 50Mbps is not required to have a good ping.