How to lower your ping: what works and what is a myth
UPDATED
Every fix that really lowers ping, ranked by impact, and the popular tips (DNS changes, more bandwidth, ping reducers) that do nothing.
Most “lower your ping” lists mix real fixes with myths. Here are the fixes that actually move the number, roughly in order of impact, followed by the ones you can skip.
Fixes that work
- Play on the closest server. Distance is the biggest part of your ping. Every 1,000 km adds about 10ms. See what is a good ping.
- Use a cable instead of Wi-Fi. Usually saves a few ms on average and removes most spikes. See Wi-Fi vs Ethernet.
- Stop other traffic on your line. Downloads, updates, cloud backups, streams on other devices. A full line can add 100ms or more. That is called bufferbloat.
- Turn on SQM or QoS in your router. Keeps your ping low even when the line is busy. The best long-term fix if you share your connection.
- Restart router and modem, and replace old hardware. Ten-year-old routers struggle with today's traffic.
- Check your ISP's routing. If one region is much slower than its distance suggests, your ISP's route may be the problem. Report it, or try a gaming VPN for that specific case.
- Switch connection type if you can: fiber and cable usually have lower ping than DSL, and DSL lower than mobile or satellite internet.
Myths: things that don't lower your game ping
- Changing your DNS server. DNS only translates names to addresses when a connection starts. It does nothing to the ping of a running match.
- Buying more bandwidth. Games use very little bandwidth. A 50 Mbit/s line and a 1 Gbit/s line have the same ping to the same server, unless the slow one is being filled by other traffic.
- “Ping booster” programs that tweak Windows settings. Most do nothing measurable. Test before and after.
- A VPN on a good connection. A VPN adds a detour. It only helps when your ISP's own route is bad.
Whatever you change, measure before and after: Run the Rekt-al Net test.