The Best Internet for Online Gaming

The Best Internet for Gamers: Finding the Right Plan

If you’re serious about online gaming, you’ll have trouble getting very far in your hobby with a slow, laggy internet connection. No one likes getting dropped from a match because the internet lost connection, or dealing with seconds of freezing and lag while your competitors get the edge on you.

It’s worth investing in a fast, reliable internet connection. Here’s what to look for in a good internet plan for online gaming.

What do gamers need from their internet connection?

If you’re serious about online gaming, your internet service needs to be two things: fast and reliable. Issues like slowed, lagging connections, or poor overall speed, can make or break an online match.

While this is especially relevant if you’re into online multiplayer gaming, bad internet connections can affect single players games as well. (Many of which require a stable internet connection, often for reasons like verifying DRM.)

So you’re looking for an internet plan with two main things: high speed, and low latency. If possible, serious gamers tend to benefit from investing in a premium or top tier service plan – ideally with a fiber connection, which offers significantly higher speeds than any other option out there.

What’s the best type of internet connection for gaming?

There are several options nowadays for internet service, with availability depending heavily on where you live and what ISPs and infrastructure you have access to.

If it’s available in your area, fiber is definitely the way to go. (You can click here to find out whether Fidium offers service in your area.)

The most common kind of internet connection in most places is cable. This uses the same infrastructure as old-school cable television, and has become the usual standard for broadband. 

Typical cable speeds tend to run from around 100-200 Mbps (megabytes per second), though some plans may be able to reach speeds higher than this. However, you won’t find the kinds of high speeds – up to 2 Gb with some packages – that you’ll get with fiber.

So if you have fiber in your area and you’re into online gaming, it’s definitely the way to go. Along with high speeds – often well in excess of the minimums needed for a smooth gaming experience – fiber also has a significantly lower ping rate than cable internet does.

A lower ping rate means that you likely won't experience issues with slowing during peak usage times, an issue that's common with cable. This means you won't experience significant slowing or connection loss that could interfere with gaming sessions.

If cable is the most available option for you, you’ll probably want to opt for the fastest service tier that your ISP offers.

The best gaming internet for speed

We’ve mentioned already that fiber blows pretty much anything else out of the water as far as pure connection speed.

But what kinds of speeds do you actually need?

How fast does my internet need to be for online gaming?

As far as an absolute minimum, you’ll need a connection speed of at least 25 mbps for most online gaming. (This refers to download speed. While fiber offers symmetrical upload and download speeds – that is, both are the same – this isn’t true of cable.)

Keep in mind that this number is a low minimum. Realistically, especially if you’re hardcore about gaming, you’ll want something considerably faster. 

Your household structure and setup can also affect how fast your internet needs to be for gaming. If you live with family or roommates, and there are usually multiple people at any given time using the internet for data-heavy things like gaming and video streaming, you’ll need more speed than you might need if you live alone. 

Realistically, a good minimum for cable internet speed for gaming would be more like 100-200 Mbps.

Fiber is your best option for speed

Fiber’s high speeds make it an obvious choice for gamers in areas where it’s available. At Fidium, our highest tier Fidium@Home service plan can reach speeds as high as 2 Gigs – perfect when you need your connection to be as fast as possible.

The best gaming internet for latency & Ping Rate

Along with speed, latency is another top concern for gamers. Latency refers to delays in processing data, and lower latency greatly reduces the risk of lag or connection loss. (Which can be a huge issue for gaming.) 

While cable internet has lower latency than its technological predecessor, DSL, it’s still significantly higher than what you’ll see with fiber internet. 

Fiber offers symmetrical upload and download speeds

For gamers, symmetrical upload and download speeds can also be a major plus – especially if you live stream via Twitch, Youtube, or other platforms. 

With cable internet, you’ll get two very different speeds for data downloads versus data uploads, with downloads being significantly faster. This means that you’ll find your connection is much slower when you’re doing something like streaming video on Twitch, or uploading video files to Youtube. 

With fiber, you can upload just as fast as you can download.

The best internet for gamers? Fiber is a clear winner

Due to its superior speed and reliability – all available at affordable price points – fiber wins out as the best type of internet connection for gamers. If you have fiber in your area, you can’t go wrong with a good fiber internet plan.

Ready to make the switch? Click here to check whether Fidium@Home is available in your area, and say goodbye to frustrating lag forever.