When it comes to internet speed, most of us think about speed. Not that it doesn’t matter, but when it comes to online gaming, there is one more factor that matters a lot — Ping Time. It plays a vital role when it comes to gaming, and if you notice there is a lag or the game shows the ping time is high compared to other online players, then it’s a disadvantage. This post looks at various reasons why Ping Time is high in Windows 11/10.
What is Ping Time?
Ping is a measurement of how long it takes for your computer to communicate with a server. Computers, routers, and other devices communicate over the Internet using different protocols. The longer the ping time, the more likely they are to have problems communicating.
Imagine playing a multiplayer game where everyone is from a different location. The one with the lowest ping time will respond to actions faster than those with a higher ping time. In short, a fast ping means a more responsive connection.
Technically, Ping is the number of milliseconds it takes a packet of information to reach the server from you and back.
What do the terms “low ping” and “high ping” mean?
These terms are usually used to describe the speed at which a computer user receives information from the Internet. When testing the ping time, the lower the ping time, the better it is. Let’s say you are in the US, and the server is in Singapore. The ping time will be higher when you compare it with a server in Europe or Japan.
It is the primary reason gamers are connected to their closest server instead of the server they choose. This setup makes sure nobody has the high ping advantage.
Why is my Ping Time so high in Windows 11/10?
There can be many reasons why the Ping Time of a connected device is high. Here are the top reasons if your ping time is high.
1] Internet Service Provider
It doesn’t guarantee high ping time even if you have the best gaming hardware, Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection, and the best Wi-Fi adaptor. Everything falls back to the ISP. Most of the time, we end up choosing an ISP that offers good speed, cheap, but what we don’t know is the ping time. It is also one of the difficult things to figure out.
The best way is to find out if someone is using it and check the ping time or get a trial and check it yourself with your own set of equipment.
2] Hardware
This is the second top reason and is mostly associated with WIFi. Most of the devices are connected using a router, and so much streaming can result in less priority for your device, resulting in high ping times.
The point is that you need a Router that can prioritize devices based on the need, i.e., gaming, streaming, etc. Look for the Quality of Service (QoS) feature in the router.
On top of this, if you cannot connect over Ethernet, make sure the wireless hardware on your PC is powerful enough to get the speed you need. I switched from a USB WiFi Adaptor to PCIe based adaptor, and the difference between ping time and speed was drastic.
If you are close to your router, you should definitely connect using an Ethernet cable.
3] Check Signal Strength
Assuming you are on WiFi, make sure you have enough strength and fewer dead spots from wherever you feel the ping time could be better. Signal strength depends on many factors, such as how far you are from the wireless router and the thickness of the wall.
If you have too many dead spots, you should upgrade to a Mesh network. Keep one around your PC, and it should help reduce the ping time.
The other alternative can be the Powerline Ethernet Adaptor, which should work well but needs planning.
I hope the post helped you understand the differences, why your ping time is high, and what all you can do to reduce it.
Related: How to fix high Ping in Games?
What is Latency? What does it mean by Lag?
What we call Ping time is technically Latency. Ping is the signal or packet that is sent from one computer to another and back. The time taken for this is called latency. The longer the latency, the more the lag. So when playing a game, if you see a frame skipped, it’s because of high latency. You would feel everything slow or a sudden change in the scene.
How to test Ping time?
Open Command Prompt or any Terminal and type ping and any website name, i.e., ping google.com. The result will include time as one of the factors, and the average will tell you the ping time.
Apart from this, tons of websites can help you with the ping test. It is usually available on websites that offer Speedtest.
What’s the difference between download and ping time?
While both are related to the internet, ping means how fast the response comes back to you, Download means how fast you can download data.
