Gaming ISP

I am currently with PlusNet who I actually hate as the "pro add on" which is meant to "guarantee low latency) does nothing. Just wondering if I should upgrade to PlusNet FTTC as it might lower my ping? (30ms at the min)

Another option is switching to another ISP like Be or O2 as I hear they are very good for gaming. Anything around £30 a month is fine

1.2km from exchange.

Hi,
If you post back your line stats a link to your exchange then it will be easier for people to advise you.

30ms is low. It sounds like you're interleaved.

as an FPS gamer myself, I know there is nothing wrong with a ping of 30 ms. The average reaction time is 215 milliseconds so lower ping won't help you. As long as your packet loss is minimal 30 ms is fine and this is what the profiling on plusnet is supposed to do. Practice more.

?
Surely if two people with 215ms reaction time are competing with each other, the one with 15ms latency will do better than the one with 30ms latency?

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

?
Surely if two people with 215ms reaction time are competing with each other, the one with 15ms latency will do better than the one with 30ms latency?

in a gun on gun battle that 15ms could be the difference between winning or losing . every single ms saved in FPS is a possible advantage .

It will indeed make a difference.

Anyway, if I switch to FTTC would this give me a lower ping do you think? Thanks

Edited by deleted (Sun 15-Jul-12 11:59:56)

Hey, thanks for the reply. I am on fastpath

Game servers don't work like that. For each connection they work out an average between all players and create sync compensations to bring all players in line.

Latency for gamers only becomes an issue when it's variable. The server takes time to adjust the sync as it uses an average.

My VM connection can range from 25ms to 85ms from one moment to the next so is not much good for online gaming.

My Be connection is sub 20ms with little or no fluctuation so is ideal for gaming.

Location?

There are a lot of variables some people will see a lower ping time than others because of their location . then there is wireless vs wired, if a serious gamer you will always use wired as wireless will add to ping times & cause other unwanted behavior
The peering used and the internal routing can also impact the latency, to overseas locations mainly , But switching to a FTTC based product may produce higher response times as FTTC connections are subject to DLM and bt profiling which has the ability to switch you from fast path to interleave automatically , But as the peering would be different if with another isp, then there maybe no difference or there could a significant one (big increase)

If within the uk using my BE connection the ping is quite steady but if say connecting to Ubisoft in Canada it shows a alarming amount of fluctuation at times, as for the average ping times the only sub 10ms ping i see is to the exchange equipment be gateway but I'm in the north of this wonderful broken over populated country

I am in Northern Ireland

Do you think I should go with Be?

30ms seems reasonable.

In reply to a post by steek:

Do you think I should go with Be?

I don't, as i'm pretty sure that 02/BE Retail customers in northern Ireland have been complaining about their quality of service ping, packet loss ect , not too long ago, The best way if your exchange has BE/02 enabled would be to try a be /O2wholesale product via one of the many reseller ISP's such as Vivaciti,or Xilo ,Aquiss/ADSL24 plus others too as are as i know all use different peering and other things that could influence throughput/sync rate and latency , so although it's got an 02 badge it will give a very different level of performance and according to those who subscribe to the wholesale products report positively (well those that post on here and other places ) ,
But the main difference being that the contract would be 1 month so if it was not to your satisfaction easy to switch provider again

Which one would you recommend?

Whats the voice condition like on the line? Do you hear any crackling?

Connect a wired phone to the line and dial 17070 and select option 2 for a quiet line test, all you should hear is a small hiss, if you hear a crackle report a voice fault to your landline provider (don't mention broadband)

I will tell you from experience, That you do not want a 25ms ping or below for online gaming on console, I have been playing since the release of cod4 on consoles, I've never had above a 25ms ping connection, Directly connected to my exchange at 200m, I've been in 2 different properties on my estate and the ping was the same in both properties, I've had several isp's over the years, And every single game i've played, COD4, WAW, MW2, Blackops, MW3, BFBC2, MOH, BF3, Uncharted, Has very bad lag compensation problems, I'm always out of sync with players, Rediculous hitmarkers, people taking half a magazine to kill them, Players ahead of you by 1,2,3 seconds.

The modern warfare games have horrible lag compensation I honestly cant understand how they are so popular when they have so many problems on consoles.

I have been with BE at two different property's in Edinburgh and have not really had any problems with them online. I currently have a virgin FTTC connection as well and it is just horrible for playing on live.

I use Zen Internet and now get 8ms pings on FTTC. Previously on their ADSL the pings were about 15ms. Both have very stable low pings at any time of the day. This is to UK servers.

Some modern games use unnatural network compensation such as BF3 or COD4 etc. Having a low ping is a benefit but you get some strange delayed correction affects. Games such as CS , BF2 and BF2142 don't do this and so play very well with a low ping.

Having a ping of 100ms or more will cause you problems and more experienced gamers will notice a ping of 50ms or more. Reaction time is not just about how fast you can move your fingers but also how fast your ears, eyes and brain react to on screen action. You don't move you fingers everytime something happens on the screen

Thing is with all FTTC based products great if you are lucky enough to stay on fast path , but DLM could change that at any given time sometimes without a good reason ,

In reply to a post by tommy45:

Thing is with all FTTC based products great if you are lucky enough to stay on fast path , but DLM could change that at any given time sometimes without a good reason,

Same with BT WBC based products!

In reply to a post by tommy45:

Thing is with all FTTC based products great if you are lucky enough to stay on fast path , but DLM could change that at any given time sometimes without a good reason ,

and nobody said FTTC interleaved was much different to fast path!

Hang on, you are wanting to move over a 30ms ping? That's a great ping. Plusnet are great for gaming tbh. I never have any problems with them and I play quite a few FPS and MORPGS etc.

I think you think you know more than you actually know. :/

I used to play on servers in the USA where the local players had sub 100 pings and mine was 300 (dialup days) . Didn't stop me from consistently coming top of the frag tables and that is a massive latency difference compared to 30 and 15.

usually get about 9 ms, today it is 10, seems to work well