Ask Our Expert

Online gaming - slow speeds and disconnection

Our Broadband Expert says...

Hi Mick, the reason that Call of Duty keeps disconnecting while Pro Evolution works online is that a first person shooter game like Call of Duty uses a lot more data than a game like Pro Evolution where there is a set pitch and a set number of characters on the screen.

Call of Duty is a complicated game that requires more bandwidth.

Average broadband speeds

1Mb for a gamer isn’t really a good enough speed. As well as the problems you’ve already experienced - where the game disconnects - you could find yourself being kicked off of gaming servers if your speeds are too slow and your latency and ping are too high as you will be affecting other people’s gaming too.

According to Ofcom, the average UK broadband speed is 3.6Mb - so 1Mb really isn’t very good. However, broadband speeds are affected by a number of factors, and your distance from the local exchange can really slow things down.

Use the Availability Checker on the Sam Knows website and click on the Locality option in your summary box to see how far you are from your local exchange.

Boost your broadband speed

There are a number of things that you can do to try to increase your broadband speed and the first is talking to your broadband provider. Speak to technical support at your broadband provider to see if there’s anything they can do to improve your speed.

You should also try to wire in your Wii rather than using wireless broadband, though you might have to pay extra to do this, and make sure that your network is secure by using adequate WEP and WPA passwords.

Check out more tips in our Complete guide to speeding up your broadband.

You can also buy gaming-specific routers, such as the D-Link Wireless 108G gaming router, that allow you to tweak specific latency and other gaming settings.

However, you would still need more than 1Mb to get a good gaming experience with a game like Call of Duty.

Broadband for gamers

A number of broadband providers offer packages specifically designed for gamers - with faster connections to gaming servers, low latency and lag and up to 50 per cent less ping.

Be Broadband (www.BeThere.co.uk) specialises in the gaming market, with superfast broadband packages offering download speeds of up to 24Mb and uploads at up to 2.5Mb - perfect for gamers. Both of the ISP’s 24Mb packages come with “unlimited” downloads - subject to a very generous fair usage policy, a free wireless router and a static IP address.

Be users also have access to a members’ forum that can help with a range of issues including online gaming problems.

Plusnet Pro from Plusnet Broadband (www.Plus.net) has been designed with gamers in mind, prioritising all gaming traffic on the up to 8Mb package, with a 15GB monthly download allowance - though more data can be added if needed - free usage between midnight and 8am and a free wireless router for £19.99 a month. You can also get a static IP address and turn interleaving off if you need to.

Freedom2surf Broadband’s (www.Freedom2Surf.net) Broadband 4 Gamers tariff, or BB4G as it’s also known, comes with speeds of up to 8Mb, a massive 50GB download allowance and free connection for £24.99 a month. And there’s no throttling on any traffic to Freedom2surf’s gaming servers.

However, you don’t have to get a gamer-specific broadband package to boost your speed. O2 Broadband (www.O2.co.uk) offers speeds of up to 20Mb for less than £10 a month for existing customers and its broadband has won loads of awards for being fast and reliable - perfect for online gaming. O2 also runs a line check before and after installation to ensure you’re getting the best speeds your line can handle.

Compare broadband

Before switching broadband provider make sure that you compare broadband packages to ensure that you get the best deal. And ask for a speed estimate before signing up so that you know what kind of speeds you can expect.

NB Best buy tables (orange background) are always current.

Examples in the text of the article (white background) are correct at time of publication.

Ask us a question

If you have a general switching or provider query please email us at OurExpert@broadbandchoices.co.uk

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