Gaming On WiFi Vs Cabled Network

When you are gaming, the biggest key to having a great experience is reducing latency. Latency is something that you will experience when your connection isn’t stable. This is typically one of the factors which will contribute to a high ‘ping’ in game. Another factor will be directly related to how close or far you are from the actual game server in terms of your location. Obviously, we cannot necessarily control our relation to the game’s server, but we can control our latency with our own network. This is why it is always recommended to avoid gaming on WiFi. Below, we will be going over some of the downsides to gaming on WiFi.

Gaming On Wireless

Downsides To Gaming On WiFi:

1. High Latency.

Unfortunately, WiFi is not something that you want to use when you are looking to maintain a stable connection. Even with a high-speed Internet provider and a very good wireless router, you will likely experience significant drops in your gaming experience when you game on WiFi because even the fastest Wi-Fi cannot fix your connection issues. Anything that minimizes your connection throughout your gaming session can result in a spike in latency because it can interrupt the signal you are receiving. This is especially true when you are gaming on WiFi with a bunch of different devices scattered throughout your home and a cluttered bandwidth in your specific area such as in an apartment building. If you’re using a mesh networking kit like the Google WiFi, for example, latency and speed are even worse since the signal has to travel over a node or two before it reaches its destination.

Wireless Router

2. Slower Connections.

Even though you might be paying for a very fast connection, you are going to be capped to the speeds that you are able to achieve when it comes to gaming on WiFi because there will be a lot of interference you have to deal with and you might even have your gaming system located in a ‘dead zone’ or poor location for signal in your home.

Overall, gaming on WiFi is never recommended if you are truly looking for a good gaming experience.