At Xataka Móvil we have talked a lot about this necessary equipment that allows us to access the Internet. Our router is a essential tooland therefore we must take good care of it, with a series of recommended adjustments and without forgetting that just because it is more expensive it is not better.
We say that it is a basic equipment and at the same time very important because it intervenes in all our connections to the network. We have many devices connected, from mobile phones to home automation, including consoles and PCs to play. Focused on the sector gamingthe router will be decisive when we play online and these settings will help you improve latency.
The most basic: forget WiFi and use cable
It is true that we all tend to pull WiFi when we try to connect to a router. It is the simplest, easiest, and cheapest because all our devices have this connectivity. However, whether a gaming pc or a console, It is not recommended to do it via WiFi.
Connect your console or gaming PC through an Ethernet port
Because? Well the short answer is that we will not have the same stability. In a WiFi link, different sections intervene, such as the distance to the router, the quality of the signal, the device’s WiFi card, the saturation of the WiFi bands, the configured channel, and a long etcetera.
To play multiplayer games we don’t need incredibly fast bandwidth, but latency is relevant. We can briefly define latency as the time it takes for a data packet to travel from the source (your PC or console) to the destination (online server).
And in this sense, compatibility with WiFi 5 and WiFi 6 can be your best ally. But if we don’t want headaches and we look for be competitive in online gaming, the cable has no rival. And no, just any cable is not enough, in fact, it is very important to choose the right network cable.
Some aspects that you can look at in your router to be victorious
Now, getting into purely technical matters, it will be advisable to enter the configuration of our router to configure some settings:
- First, it is interesting that the firmware of our team is up to date. Manufacturers release patches that correct certain bugs and problems. It could be the case that we have a very high latency that prevents us from playing optimally, and the fault lies with our router system.
- open ports: This thing about ports may sound familiar to you, and when it comes to opening servers it is necessary that they be open. On other occasions, opening the access port to the online servers can improve latency, therefore it is equally recommended. Here we explain how to do it, and in most routers the option has a similar name.
- Take advantage of the QoS service: These acronyms refer to settings that offer quality of service (Quality of Service, in English), that is, small options that will improve our connection. It is about telling the router which activities should have priority when accessing the network, so activating it for our console or gaming PC seems ideal.
Keep an eye on your bandwidth, just in case
As we have mentioned previously, bandwidth is not so determining when playing competitively. In fact, the games they barely consume bandwidthlatency being more important.
However, if we have many devices connected to the router, and depending on our contracted bandwidth, it could cause some problems when playing. Therefore, it is necessary to take a look to see if there are devices downloading at maximum speed and occupying that bandwidth, which, although small, it is necessary.
A solution could be disconnect WiFi on other devices, lightening the workload of the router. Because they not only consume bandwidth, but also resources on the router side. Reducing this load and the amount of traffic on the network will improve latency on the computer where we play.
An extra: your router may have a game mode
To conclude, we cannot rule out a possibility. We refer to game mode that some models provide. By configuring it, it can help us reduce latency and increase our performance in multiplayer games. But this, as we say, depends on the model in question.
From the Movistar app, we can configure the game mode present on the company’s router. Image from Xataka Smart Home
For example, if you use a Movistar router, you got it. It is best to go to the manufacturer’s official documentation, whether it is the manual or the website where we see the specifications of our router. If you can’t find it, you can ask technical service.
If we seek maximum competitiveness in online gaming, we must reduce latency as much as possible. And these settings will help you do it
In short, we usually focus on the characteristics of our PC or console when we want to optimize multiplayer games, but the truth is that we discard the router, which is a absolute protagonist.
From now on, with these tips you will achieve reduce latency, so important when competing in multiplayer games. Incidentally, this will give us a certain “advantage” in the game, in which we will respond faster than our opponents.
Image | Stable Diffusion XL
In Xataka Mobile | Your old router can still give a lot of trouble: this is all you can do with it