How to Lower Ping Without Ethernet – Optimize Latency for Better Gaming
Lowered ping results in better frame rates, no latency, and overall better gaming
- There are other ways to reduce ping on your device without using Ethernet.
- If you would love to know these other ways, make sure you read the post to the end.
Any gamer knows that Ethernet can do wonders for your latency. That said, it’s not always an option.
New laptop models don’t have Ethernet ports, and while you can fix that with an adaptor, it may take a while if you don’t already have one.
So, is it possible to lower ping without using Ethernet cables at all? Yes, it is, and we’ll show you a few tricks.
But first, let’s shed some light on what ping is.
🕰️ Simply put, ping measures how long it takes your device to get data from a server on the internet.
The lower the ping rates, the better your speed. In contrast, high ping can make browsing unbearable and gaming impossible.
→ Acceptable ping levels range between 0ms and 50ms. Anything above that will cause noticeable lags in gameplay.
Normally, using Ethernet is the best way to enjoy browsing or gaming without ping and lag spikes.
However, you can’t use an Ethernet cable in all situations. So you’ll have to find other factors that influence latency and tweak them to decrease ping, even without Ethernet.
In this article, you will learn how to do this for faster and smoother browsing, or gaming.
How to optimize your WiFi connection
Optimizing your WiFi connection is the best way to deal with slow internet issues. So, here are a few tips to help you do that:
- Restart your router
This will help reduce latency and improve overall network stability. It gives your router a chance to stop all processes and refresh your connection.
- Move your device closer to the router
It should go without saying that the closer you are to your WiFi router, the better your connection speed will be. So make sure you’re in the same room with your router, not far far away from it.
- Close background apps
Background apps, especially those that require an internet connection can put extra load on your router and affect your speeds when gaming.
Therefore, closing any unused background apps will reduce the load on your WiFi, allowing you to experience faster speeds.
- Flush the DNS cache on your PC
Doing this releases any cache buildup that might be slowing down your internet connection.
- Search Command Prompt from your Start Menu.
- Select run as administrator.
- Type ipconfig /flushdns and press the enter key to run the command.
- Disconnect unused devices
Having multiple devices simultaneously sharing your WiFi network can result in slow internet speeds.
So, disconnect any unused ones
Automatically, the ping will decrease because without the Internet being overused, more bandwidth goes to your device.
- Switch to a 5GHz network
Gaming requires high-speed internet, and it’s a fact that 2.4GHz is slower than its 5GHz counterpart.
So you could change your network band and switch to the higher 5GHz network frequency to improve your WiFi connection significantly.
- Get a better router for gaming
All routers are not equal. Some are good enough to handle everyday tasks like browsing and texting.
But when you need the best network possible for a smooth gaming experience, getting a better router is your best option.
If you’re getting a new router, get one with quality of service (QOS), as it will enable you to prioritize your gaming traffic above all else.
How to manage your network traffic
Managing your network traffic is a good way to reduce ping without ethernet.
The more data you consume, the easier it will be for your internet service provider to throttle your network, thereby giving you high ping and making your game lag.
The best thing is it’s not difficult to do at all. All you have to do is monitor the apps and processes running in the background when you want to reduce ping.
While there are useful tools that can help you with that, you can also use the plain old Task Manager.
Check and close background apps not in use, and do the same with the processes.
When you eliminate all these apps, it will help your device direct all its network resources to your game.
It would be best to disable background downloads, as this ultimately slows down your network and affect your active apps. You can restart downloading them once you’ve finished playing your game.
Also, picking a game server closer to your location will help decrease your ping.
For example, if you’re playing Fortnite in North America, you don’t need to connect to a server in Cairo; you will only be wasting your network bandwidth.
But that’s not all. You can also use dedicated tools that can help improve your ping rate. One of the best options, especially for gaming is to:
Use a VPN 📉
Here’s the thing:
A VPN will allow you to route your internet traffic through some of the world’s fastest servers in multiple locations across the world.
Some of these servers will be closer to your game’s actual server locations, giving you better and more stable in-game connections.
Ultimately, this will help you improve ping, even without Ethernet.
One can argue that VPNs can also increase ping, given that your connection is not as direct. That’s true. But enabling the right features will actually let you reduce ping with a VPN.
Many VPNs have a split-tunneling feature that allows users to select which apps to route through the VPN’s servers.
This allows the system to dedicate the network’s resources to the selected apps for even faster speeds.
But that’s not all, using a VPN guards against speed throttling since your internet provider cannot know what you’re actually doing online.
This is huge, as many ISPs try to slow down bandwidth-demanding tasks, such as gaming and streaming.
Even more, by using a VPN, you will be protecting yourself against DDoS attacks and other security threats from malicious gamers.
There are several factors to consider before choosing the best VPN for the best gaming experience.
These include speed and security. Other important things to consider are server network, reliability, and ease of use.
In light of all these, ExpressVPN is easily our top recommendation as one of the fastest and safest VPNs to reduce ping while gaming.
Simply follow these steps to decrease ping without ethernet using ExpressVPN:
- Download the ExpressVPN app from its official website.
- Install it on your device.
- Launch the app and sign in.
- Pick and connect to any server of your choice.
ExpressVPN is not only secure and reliable, but it is also fast and has a wide server network to give gamers lots of connection options.
The provider uses the Lightway protocol which is arguably the fastest connection protocol available on the market today.
In summary, you can rest assured that your internet will be faster and your game will experience lower ping without Ethernet with ExpressVPN.
ExpressVPN
Connect to the highest quality VPN servers for seamless, low-ping connections!Bonus tips for lowering ping without Ethernet
These are some other ways to reduce ping without Ethernet:
- Change your DNS.
- Optimize your game settings.
- Choose the right game server.
- Get a better gaming computer.
Summary
There you have it. This is how to decrease your ping without changing your Internet setup from WiFi to Ethernet.
But lowering it without ethernet is doable, and now that you have read this article, you must surely know how to lower ping without ethernet.
That way, you can finally get rid of all the wires and cables, and enjoy true wireless internet without sacrificing your speed or comfort.
