What is a Good Upload/Download Speed for Gaming

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It’s understandable to be curious about the ideal internet speeds for gaming.

Good gaming internet isn’t the same as good internet for watching shows or movies! And beyond just how fast your internet is, there are other things that matter for a smooth gaming experience.

In this article, we’ll go over what to look for when it comes to your internet and gaming.

Best Upload and Download Speed for Gaming

Surprisingly, how fast your internet uploads and downloads isn’t actually that important for playing games online. It might seem odd, but there’s a good explanation!

Most online games don’t require a lot of data transfer, whether sending or receiving. Because of this, even a relatively slow internet connection of 10 Mbps should be sufficient for playing them.

Naturally, some games don’t follow this pattern. For instance, the Call of Duty series downloads game content while you play.

Generally, a quicker internet connection will provide a smoother experience. Otherwise, you might experience frustrating pauses and delays, something we’ve discussed previously with games like Black Ops 7.

Video games take up a lot more storage space now than they used to. Because of this, we suggest having a fast internet connection, even if you don’t play online, to speed up downloads and updates.

For most gaming, we suggest a download speed of at least 100mbps. Upload speed isn’t as critical; 5mbps is usually sufficient, unless you’re planning to stream your games.

But, again, speed isn’t the only thing to keep in mind if you do plan on playing games online!

More Than Just Speed

A fast internet connection isn’t the only thing that matters for playing games online; many other things have a bigger impact on how well the game runs.

Okay, so one of the first things I always check when I’m getting lag is how far I am from the game servers, or even the other players. The further away I am, the higher my ping gets, and that causes everything to feel delayed and choppy. It’s different for every game though – some games run everything through their servers, while others connect me directly to the other players, which is called peer-to-peer.

For the best performance, we suggest using an Ethernet cable to connect directly to your network. Wi-Fi connections can be less reliable and may cause frustrating delays, especially when playing fast-paced games like fighting games.

I’ve also run into something called bufferbloat, and it’s a real pain. Basically, it’s lag caused when my router doesn’t handle internet speed very well. If you want a really deep dive into what’s happening, the folks at Bufferbloat.com explain it way better than I can!

If multiple people in your home are using the internet at the same time, we suggest choosing a faster internet plan. This will help prevent slowdowns and buffering problems.

So, as a gamer, I’ve learned it’s really smart to pause any big downloads when I’m actually playing. I mean, something like Steam can totally hog all your internet speed when it’s downloading a new game, and that can cause frustrating lag when you’re trying to play online. It’s just a little tip that makes a big difference!

Occasionally, connection problems aren’t your fault. For instance, the issue might be with your internet provider. If you’ve tried everything you can and your connection is still slow, reach out to your ISP’s support team for help.

Conclusion

Generally, a download and upload speed of 10mbps is sufficient for online gaming. Speed isn’t the biggest factor when it comes to a smooth, lag-free experience; reducing delay is more important.

For a better online gaming experience, the things we discussed earlier are more crucial. At the very least, connect your device directly with an Ethernet cable rather than using Wi-Fi.

Generally, we suggest a download speed of at least 100mbps for gaming. Games are large files, so faster download speeds mean you can download and update them quickly.

As a gamer, I’ve noticed game sizes are getting crazy! Some of the newer, big-budget titles, or ‘AAA’ games, can be around 100 GB or even more. Just to give you an idea, downloading that much data at a decent speed – say, 100 megabits per second – would still take about two and a quarter hours. And that’s if your internet connection stays at that speed the whole time, which rarely happens, let’s be real.

Hopefully, this information has helped you figure out the best internet speed for gaming!

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2025-12-16 06:07