Gaming

I've gone out of my way so far to stay with ISPs that don't traffic shape. Gaming is high on the agenda for me and I currently get a great performance on a monthly contract, although I am paying more than I would like.

This half price deal for Talk Talk (the only LLU provider on my small exchange) is really sucking me in, but it seems such a gamble for me to switch to LLU, for 12 months not knowing how it will perform.

I hear p2p is throttled during peak times. Does XBox Live gaming use p2p? Will gaming during peak times be a lagfest.

Will moving to Talk Talk ruin my gaming expereince. Your advice would be appreciated.

In reply to a post by mikeyboy:

Will moving to Talk Talk ruin my gaming expereince. Your advice would be appreciated.

I have always got low ping in fact lower than when i was with my previous ISP and my PS3 never suffers so I dont see why XBox should.

My ping and speed - http://www.speedtest.net/result/1170752793.png

I only use my internet for PC gaming and have been with TT (full LLU) since Nov 09 and have not had any issues with any gaming experiences. Provided the servers aren;t in weird parts of the world that is.

Mostly gaming is done evenings with majority between 10pm onwards, but whenever on peak times - no probs there either.

I was with them for 4 years and gaming was my big thing at all times of day and night and there never once was an issue with throttling unless using torrents etc.

Go for it as its a good deal.

ask for a fast line or gaming profile when ordering

Can you actually ask for a gaming profile when joining TalkTalk?????

I mean I know you can ask for interleaving to be turned off, but can that not sometimes cause problems on your line?

Steve

In reply to a post by Spikester84:

Can you actually ask for a gaming profile when joining TalkTalk?????

I mean I know you can ask for interleaving to be turned off, but can that not sometimes cause problems on your line?

AFAIK, no - no need for a separate profile for gaming because TalkTalk don't traffic manage all traffic unlike many other ISPs. Throttling P2P is enough to not put unnecessary stress on network resources, hence helping keep pings nice and fast for gaming.

Interleaving is necessary on some poorer quality lines, if there are too many errors when using fast path (which will lead to sync drops, packet loss and/or slower throughput than expected). Generally though, if the worst comes to the worst, you can sacrifice a bit of your maximum line speed for increased stability and faster pings - TalkTalk will be able to set your connection profile to suit.

They really are very good for online gaming and it would seem by the other replies the massage is finally getting through .

But there a budget ISP and support , and in particular there telephone support is very hit or mis but for most the money saved and the improvement in there connection is worth the gamble and the fact most support issue can be dealt with through there forum ( that works really well ) .

TalkTalk will remove interleaving from your line , that's if your line is good enough and this improves pings .

I have been in many a lobby with my friends that are mostly with sky and regularly show a extra bar on my connection quality as sky won't remove interleaving from there customers lines , just reduce the depth , which does help allot but not as much as having it turned off .

TalkTalk LLU is probably the best ISP for gaming. P2P traffic is what causes networks to creep to a halt and that is why TalkTalk throttle only throttle P2P....excellent policy if you ask me, as it keeps the bandwidth rapists away. I don't do much gaming on Talktalk LLU but when i do, my pings are no more than 15ms, often much lower. You won't regret it mate

Thanks for the replies, looks like I will take the plunge then.

Hopefully based on past performnace, I shouldn't have any line issues so fingers crossed won't need to use telephone support.

Cheers

In reply to a post by mikeyboy:

Thanks for the replies, looks like I will take the plunge then.

Hopefully based on past performance, I shouldn't have any line issues so fingers crossed won't need to use telephone support.

Cheers

My advice would be register a.s.a.p in the official forum then if you have the registration problem many have you can sort it out rather than wait until you have a problem then find you cannot register (not that you will have a problem)