Internet Speed And Data For Online Games

You finally got your fast uncapped fibre or lte connection, and now you want to game the hell out of it !

Chances are being a gamer you might opt for a capped fibre  or lte packages instead of an uncapped packages. You know for better latency and less throttling.

 

Now you probably have been wondering, how much work does video games put on bandwidth and your precious data cap? Are video games demanding when it comes to making a connection? 

 

We spoke to Cade Clary of  Dawn Of Games -  Excellent Source For Gaming Info and he gave us some insight and numbers..

How much speed ( mbps ) and data  do you need ?

You use speed and data everyday! From just looking at this article you are using data  from your internet package. Even if you are using an uncapped package it might count towards their ISPs fair usage policy.

For your everyday family or singles home, you can look at our other article about how to calculate how much internet speed you need.

 

For streaming in HD from Netflix for example its recommended to get a minimum of 5mbps connection.

How much for video games?

Now you are probably saying, aren't we talking about video games? Well yes we are. Here are some popular games that use your bandwidth and data.

 

Data Usage For Popular Games

Game	Data Per Hour
World Of Warcraft	10MB/hour
Destiny	1GB/hour
Counter Strike	250MB/hour
Battlefield 1	100MB/hour
The Division	100MB/hour
Diablo 3	16MB/hour

Source:

https://www.nbnco.com.au/blog/entertainment/how-much-data-does-gaming-use-through-popular-examples

 

Bandwidth Requirements For Consoles

Console	Min. Download Speed	Min. Upload Speed
Xbox One	3Mbps	0.5Mbps
Playstation 4 (PS4)	3Mbps	1Mbps
Nintendo Switch	3Mbps	1Mbps
Nintendo Wii U	1.5Mpbs	1Mbps

 

Source:

https://www.highspeedinternet.com/resources/how-much-speed-do-i-need-for-online-gaming

Speed Test Online:

Whenever you see yourself  respawning a bit too much or lagging continuously it's worth it to do a proper fibre or mobile speed test for your internet connection, especially if you are in South Africa and the game servers are overseas. Just be careful with speed test on mobile since it can suck your bandwidth and data dry.

 

How to save bandwidth:

You may be reading this to solely find out how to save bandwidth and you are in luck. Here are the top ways you can save bandwidth quickly and effectively.

1. Watch YouTube in low resolution - 720p looks almost as good as 1080p for most people.
2. Disable automatic updates 
3. Close unwanted tabs 
4. Fully close yours apps

 

Conclusion:

So from what you can tell, if you have a lot of gamers and 4K streamers on your street, especially if they use the same LTE Tower  as you, your connection will drop regularly. In these cases, it’s worth hunting down the fibre network that has coverage in your area. The connection speed will be lightning fast compared to your heavily used LTE connection 

 

Cady Clary is the owner of https://thedawnofgames.com/ and an avid gamer !