Gamers Need Consistency More Than Speed

When it comes to an internet provider, speed is important. If you're an online gamer, you need to be sure that your connection is consistent as well. Take a look at what consistency means and what you can do to get the right support for gaming needs.

What Does Consistency Mean With Internet?

At the most basic level, consistency means how often your Internet connection stays active. Broadband Internet is a little different from dial-up, as it tends to be less likely to disconnect like a call. Unfortunately, even if you don't see any indicators on your computer or router, there are going to be some small dips and drops in service that are faster than your system's detection.

These small drops in connectivity are not full disconnects, but they affect your consistency. The speed of your connection is irrelevant for many activities such as gaming if the speed drops to a lower than acceptable level on a regular basis.

Consider an Internet connection plan with 10mbps (megabits per second, not to be mistaken for megabytes per second) download service. You'd expect something near that speed at all times, but you're actually paying for a capacity. There isn't a constant push of 10mbps, but instead the ability to demand 10mbps if necessary.

The demands of basic Internet activities changes every year, but average Internet usage doesn't need a constant 10mbps. Such high capacities are for downloading files or streaming movies, but what happens if your heavy downloads begin to drop in speed? It could be the actual website or service you're using, but it may be your Internet connection--an issue that can be easily checked by asking others if the website or service is having problems.

If it's your Internet, there are many possible causes. It could be your computer has a virus, or your modem/router in the case of hardware issues. The Internet Service Provider could be the problem, which can be anything from poor wiring in the area to congestion caused by customers in your area. All of these can be checked by calling your Internet Service Provider, so don't stress too much over troubleshooting every single section of the connection.

What Does Consistency Mean For Online Gaming?

The term streaming is popular for music and videos that can be watched while you're downloading, but gaming is another major streaming method. Many online games are played in real-time, which means all of the players on the game are interacting with a changing world and each other within milliseconds.

Although every online game has different Internet requirements, they don't generally need an extremely fast connection by 2016 standards. For gaming, fast Internet is more for other Internet activities running at the same time, just so you or others can download files and watch videos without affecting the game.

When online games are affected by consistency, there is a delay in the real-time delivery of information from your game to the game server. This means that you'll be slow to see the enemy coming up to you, or you'll be late from dodging fire from a dragon. To avoid delays--also known as lag--contact an Internet Service Provider, like http://www.rtconline.com, to discuss consistency and speed together.