Wifi for competitive gaming?

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t0bi
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri Mar 01, 2019 1:47 pm

Wifi for competitive gaming?

Post by t0bi » Tue Mar 12, 2019 2:22 pm

I've been procrastinating on whether should I switch to ethernet or not. I play csgo competitively, my question is: will a ethernet connection would provide better experience of the gameplay? because on wifi i get 0 packet loss chokes etc and im pretty satisfied with it. Also the router is very far away from the room of my pc, I'd have to get 8-10m wire. Suggest me some ethernet cables, these look good https://appuals.com/best-ethernet-cables/ but still i need veteran advice.

pcquiet
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Feb 25, 2019 5:36 am

Re: Wifi for competitive gaming?

Post by pcquiet » Tue Mar 12, 2019 2:54 pm

what's your ping at the moment?

CA_Steve
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Posts: 7650
Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2005 4:36 am
Location: St. Louis, MO

Re: Wifi for competitive gaming?

Post by CA_Steve » Tue Mar 12, 2019 7:01 pm

Thanks - that was a humorous link. As pcquiet suggests, if you don't have packet loss, then the only other thing that matters is ping times (assuming your wireless router is of a recent age and can easily pass the little bit of bandwidth CS:GO might need). Note that the wireless router might only add 10's of microseconds over a wired lan....and ping times won't affect your play unless it's adding 50-100's of milliseconds.

Look at it this way..
fast monitor refresh rate of 144Hz -> ~7ms
typical ping times from home to a decently run game server in your time zone -> 30ms
average human reaction time to video stimulus -> 250ms
really fast human reaction time to video stimulus -> 150ms

So, check your ping time to your server and see what you get. If it looks oddly high, try using some of the tools at dslreports.com to run a traceroute (to see what steps along the way are causing the high ping) and/or ghost ping (to see how stable your ping times are over time).

If you really want to go with ethernet cable, then pick a CAT5e cable from Monoprice. It'll handle Gigabit speeds well over this distance.

mingv7v
Posts: 32
Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2015 1:08 pm
Location: Vancouver B.C

Re: Wifi for competitive gaming?

Post by mingv7v » Wed Mar 13, 2019 4:27 pm

t0bi wrote:I've been procrastinating on whether should I switch to ethernet or not.
AmazonBasic 50ft CAT6 cable goes for something like $12. Get one and see if it makes a difference in your game play. If it makes no difference, return it.

BlumKram
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Jun 10, 2019 2:04 am
Location: Chicago

Re: Wifi for competitive gaming?

Post by BlumKram » Mon Jun 10, 2019 2:17 am

I would not recommend playing on PC through WIFI, because it can suddenly get laggy and your ping is likely to have major shifts.

Richard97
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Jul 03, 2020 12:00 am

Re: Wifi for competitive gaming?

Post by Richard97 » Fri Jul 03, 2020 12:09 am

The cable is more reliable and cheaper. If you have a router in the same room you should not feel the difference. Unless the signal has to go through several walls

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