Do you experience constant lag when playing online games?

Do bullets from the enemy hit you even when you successfully hide behind the cover?

Why Is Your Ping Too High?

Man in Black Shirt Using a Smartphone while Sitting by the Gaming Computer

There could be several reasons why your ping rate spikes while playing games.

But no worries, though, as we’ll teach you how to reduce it.

So, keep reading.

Ping a game server via command prompt

On Windows, you’re free to run a command in Command Prompt to check the ping rate.

Open a Linux terminal, then inputping [IP address].

For example,ping makeuseof.com.

screenshot of Speedtest by Ookla using a fiber connection

This begs the question: Why is the ping so high?

But no worries, though, as we’ll teach you how to reduce it.

Check Your Internet Connection

Poor internet connection is the leading cause of high ping.

End the process of high network consuming apps in Task Manager

If your internet speed is too low, your online games will lag.

So, test your connection on anyfree internet speed test websiteand see how fast it is.

If the internet speed is already good, proceed to the next step.

Activity Monitor Network tab on macOS

Therefore, you should close any resource-hungry process currently running on your gadget.

Then, right-hit the processes consuming the most resources and clickEnd task.

You should also disconnect other devices connected to the same internet connection.

An illustration showing two web servers deployed in a network

So, switch to your nearest server to see if it fixes the problem.

This is known asISP throttling.

With a VPN, it’s possible for you to successfully hide all your activities from your ISP.

A person holding a credit card with a VPN connected on a laptop

If your ISP does not know you’re running connection resource-hungry processes, it will not throttle your connection.

Hence, you should enable a VPN and trigger the game again.

If the ping rate drops, keep the VPN enabled.

four clocks showing different time zones

If not, revert the change.

Do you already have a VPN enabled while playing the game?

If so, you should turn it off.

modern wifi router placed on a table

This results in a decrease in speed and a delay in response.

Considering this, you should disable VPN on your machine if it is already enabled.

If it worsens the ping, it’s possible for you to turn it back on.

It may help you establish a stronger connection to the game servers and reduce the ping.

Flushing the DNS cache on WindowsandmacOSis very straightforward.

Therefore, try clearing it and see if it helps fix the issue.

Therefore, scheduling your gaming hours for a different time during the day may help you attain lower ping.

The best way to determine the best time to play the game is by trial and error.

Therefore, turn off automatic updates to prevent this from happening.

If you want to keep them running, schedule them to run when you’re not actively gaming.

Get the Best Online Gaming Experience

connection lag and high ping can make gaming a real chore.

Hopefully, our article has given you a better understanding of the reasons behind the high ping.

Additionally, the tips we listed in the article will help you reduce the ping significantly.