For those who default to blaming the game servers with the remark of “But I have fast WiFi” this quick guide might help you understand why you sometimes have high packet loss or connection issues.
Connection Speed & Connection Stability
Internet Speed
- Definition: How fast data is downloaded and uploaded from the internet.
- Measured in:
- Download speed (Mbps or Gbps): How fast you receive data.
- Upload speed (Mbps or Gbps): How fast you send data.
- Impacts:
- Streaming (buffering time and quality)
- File downloads/uploads
- Game patching, loading assets
- General browsing responsiveness
Internet Stability
- Definition: How consistent and reliable your connection is over time.
- Measured by:
- Ping (latency): Time it takes to send and receive a packet (ms)
- Jitter: Variation in ping values (ms)
- Packet loss: Lost data packets (should be 0%)
- Impacts:
- Online gaming (rubberbanding, lag)
- Voice/video calls (glitches, freezes)
- Remote work tools (disconnections, syncing issues)
TL;DR:
- Speed = How fast.
- Stability = How consistent.
- You can have high speed but terrible stability — great for downloads, horrible for gaming or calls.
Connection Stability to Game Servers
Key Metrics:
- Ping (Latency): Time (in ms) it takes to reach the game server.
- <50ms = Excellent
- 50–100ms = Playable
-
100ms = Noticeable delay
- Jitter: Fluctuation in ping.
- <10ms = Good
- High jitter = Inconsistent responsiveness
- Packet Loss: Lost data during transmission.
- Should be 0%; anything >1% causes problems (lag spikes, rubber-banding).
Why It Matters:
- Physical distance = more hops = higher latency.
- Playing on a far server (e.g., Europe from Asia) can cause +100ms ping. (OCE I feel your pain)
- Game server infrastructure quality also matters - Though in this case majority players are fine.
Tips:
- Choose the closest region to your country.
- Use wired Ethernet, avoid Wi-Fi if possible.
VPNS
A VPN relies on what is easiest described as a false report and same time - almost impossible to change the “routing”. False reporting changes the “location” your speed test pings to. Your local to international routing runs as follows :
Your Local Machine
Your ISP
Your Regional HUB
Your National HUB
International Exit point
Inverse on target country
With that - on a global scale - line providers (Mostly Tier 1 and Tier 2 ISP) bundle all similar data packages by priority and “QOS - Quality of Life”. Example on a user level :
a. Google/Facebook/Netflix/VOIP/etc is High Priority - Most users with similar data send
b. Gaming/“other popular” usually sits in medium priority
c. MyRandomWebsite/low impression sites usually sits in low priority
By adding a VPN to the chain you only add another “link” in the data flow that does not result in anything physically positive. Only thing a VPN is good for is to get that Netflix episode that is not available in your country.
Useful Tools to monitor your connection and connection speed
Speedtest (Advanced Speed & Jitter)
Speedtest (Basic - Reminder to change the region as speedtest automatically locates the closest local hub)
TLDR : It is not always the game fault - sometimes you just have the luck of the draw on either bad routing on a national level or your ISP is having a undesired moment. If you are playing on WiFi then the blame can almost never be put on the game servers.
