The internet speeds you need for gaming in 2023

The internet has changed gaming forever. Once a solitary or small group activity, gamers would sit in front of a monitor or TV screen to play alone or with family and friends.

And while that type of gaming is still huge business today, modern broadband connections have now opened up a multi-billion-dollar industry ( gaming will be worth well over $350bn dollars by the end of this year).

In today’s gaming market, online games serve huge online communities, allowing players from across the world to play against one another.

The growth of eSports, Twitch and streaming has ushered in a brand-new era of video games, introducing us to an age of microtransactions, battle royales and MMOs. Games consoles and PCs are becoming more advanced and powerful, providing truly immersive online experiences that serve up seamless gameplay and ever more true to life graphics.

However, without a strong home broadband connection, it can be hard to enjoy any of this. Fast internet speeds are now essential for making the most of our online gaming experiences, with modern connections helping to overcome traditional obstacles like lag and jitter.

Why internet speed matters for gaming

The faster your internet connection, the lower the risk of lag. Faster internet speeds ultimately widen your bandwidth, increasing the amount of data that can be processed through your broadband at the same time. When you’re connecting to the internet via multiple devices (such as through your games console, TV and smartphone), this bandwidth can become congested.

When that happens, your broadband is less capable of processing the large amounts of data involved with gaming, streaming and everything else you’re doing online, ultimately resulting in a jumpy, inconsistent connection that can ruin your gaming experience.

In extreme situations, inadequate connectivity can even result in disconnection from whatever game you’re trying to enjoy.

If your broadband connection is up to speed, you’re more likely to enjoy a smooth, uninterrupted gamin session that provides responsive gameplay and, most importantly, lets you have fun. And doesn’t every gamer want an enjoyable, lag-free connection?

What is a good internet speed for online gaming?

The speeds required to enjoy online video games will typically vary between different consoles (or PCs) and games. But on average, the majority of online gaming sessions will require an upload speed of at least 1Mbps, and a download speed of no less than 3Mbps. That’s covered by pretty much every broadband connection. However, these are the minimum speeds you need to have spare, so you certainly need to consider the data usage of other devices when picking out your next broadband package.

In short, the quality and reliability of your online gaming sessions will typically depend on three things:

• Download speed: how fast your console can receive data from the server.
• Upload speed: how fast your console can send data to the server.
• Ping rate (also known as latency): the reaction time of your connection, largely affected by physical distances and network traffic.

While higher download and upload speeds are important for a smooth gaming session, you’ll want to keep your ping rate as low as possible. Again, ping rates will differ between gaming platforms and the size of the server you’re joining, but it certainly needs to be lower than around 100-150ms, and ideally no more than 40-60ms.

Although the majority of  broadband packages will now provide those minimum download and upload speeds, a high ping rate is what will likely affect your gaming experience the most. The higher the rate, the longer it takes your console to connect to the game’s server, typically resulting in jolting, delayed gameplay. When you’re with your friends in the middle of a war zone, such a poor connection will inevitably result in ‘game over’.

PC online gaming: minimum internet speed requirements

Whereas most games consoles recommend the speeds and ping rates listed above, these requirements are slightly different for PC gamers. Depending on the game, those playing video games via a PC or Mac will typically require a download speed of at least 6 Mbps - since so many of your opponents will be using the very latest tech alongside an ultrafast fibre connection.

Unless you want to risk being at a serious disadvantage, you’ll want to make sure your broadband is able to keep up with these speeds, particularly if you’re playing a competitive MMO such as World of Warcraft. These ‘massively multiplayer online’ games often involve incredibly large servers, with players based all over the world, so you may experience some lag if your ping rate is much higher than 40 or even 30ms.

These requirements will inevitably vary between different systems, but there’s no question that your broadband speeds need to be up to scratch if you want to ensure smooth gameplay when you’re in the midst of a battle.

Searching for high internet speeds capable of handling your favourite MMO? Check out the range of broadband packages and upgrades with Zen!

How to speed up download times on Playstation and Xbox

Most modern gamers are no longer investing in physical copies of games, instead choosing to download games directly from their consoles or via Steam (for PC gamers). Completely removing the need to line up in store or anxiously wait for the post to arrive, the ability to simply download a digital copy undoubtedly makes the buying process much more convenient.

When your download speeds are too slow, however, this convenient solution can quickly transform into a time-consuming nightmare. While modern games are constantly becoming more advanced and showcasing increasingly impressive graphics, the size of these new releases are continuing to grow to near eye-watering levels. Of course, this means some users can be waiting hours, even days, for their new purchase to finally download and become available to play.

Although the most effective solution may lie in  upgrading your broadband package, console users can attempt to speed up their downloads by using an Ethernet connection or pausing (and then restarting) the process. Whether you’re playing on PS5, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch or good old fashioned PC, try to make sure you’re only downloading one thing at a time and avoid playing other online games while the download is in progress.

How to increase your internet speeds for gaming

When your internet speeds aren’t fast enough for gaming, you’ll soon know about it. For many gamers, there’s nothing worse than becoming truly immersed in an online match, only for the game to start jumping and lagging. Not only does this ruin the entire experience, but it also leaves us so frustrated we end up giving up on the game altogether.

Fortunately, before you end up throwing your controller out the window in sheer frustration, there are a few simple ways you can attempt to improve your connection:

• Check your bandwidth: Although a quick game of Fortnite may just need 3Mbps to run smoothly, you need to make your sure bandwidth isn’t being congested by other internet-enabled devices. So, if you’re streaming Netflix in the background, try turning this off to make room for your online game.

• Sign up to Zen EveryRoom: If your router is positioned too far away from your console, it may lack the range to provide an adequate signal. EveryRoom helps to boost that signal around your house, providing a smooth connection in, well, every room.

• Relocate your router: Alternatively, you could try moving your router closer to your console. However, you’ll need to consider how this change could impact the connectivity of your other devices.

• Use a wired connection: WiFi signals can often suffer from interference and negatively impact online gameplay. Or your gaming device might not be built to benefit from modern faster WiFi standards. A wired connection can offer a much more consistent – and often faster – experience and reduces the risk of the signal dropping altogether.

• Upgrade your broadband package: If none of the above steps help to improve your performance, or you simply don’t want to compromise when it comes to enjoying your broadband connection on multiple devices at once, it may be time to consider investing in a faster connection. With modern full fibre broadband rolling out to more locations every single day, it appears that you really can have it all.