WiFi for gaming?

[dizmo]

So I haven't done a great deal of research into this, it's just something that popped into my mind and I have a few other things I have to look into first, so I thought I'd just make a post.

I'm going to be moving into a new apartment in a month or so, and I'll be redoing my setup.

With my current system, I have constant connection issues. It's either the motherboard (which will be replaced anyway), or the fact that in order to wire into the router, I have to run an almost 75 foot Ethernet cable.

Either way, the disconnects are not only annoying, they're detrimental to my side business. So I'm on the hunt for a wireless setup that's solid. My phone never has issues, so I can't imagine a decent WiFi adapter would either?

Anyone have any experience with this kind of thing?

I'll be probably 40 to 60 feet from the router through 3 or 4 walls.

 

[Jurrunio]

I wont even game on WiFi with the router (and modem on that matter) right next to my desk

[dizmo]

15 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

I wont even game on WiFi with the router (and modem on that matter) right next to my desk

I've gamed on a higher end USB adapter before, and it actually wasn't that bad.

It's not like I'm a pro. I do it for fun.

[williamcll]

consider using a powerline instead.

[Turtle Rig]

24 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

I wont even game on WiFi with the router (and modem on that matter) right next to my desk

Same here, it slows down your ping and  has input lag and what not.

[dizmo]

9 minutes ago, williamcll said:

consider using a powerline instead.

Is that actually better? IIRC they have significantly less bandwidth than a high end wireless set up.

5 minutes ago, Turtle Rig said:

Same here, it slows down your ping and  has input lag and what not.

Have you ever used a high end one?

[PlayStation 2]

People always cry about trying to game on WiFi but people should also remember, the only games that heavily benefit from what would be a little bit better ping are games like CS:GO and Overwatch. Even still, a decent router and a decent WiFi card should be more than satisfactory for most online games. Hell, I've played TF2 (and CS:GO) through WiFi on my laptop and the minimal addition of latency over being connected through Ethernet was hardly enough for me to notice.

Basically, if your ping is alright to begin with in a game, it shouldn't be much of a big deal to run WiFi, either. I couldn't tell you what would work best for your setup, but don't be discouraged because people here parrot things that are only relevant to games where that few milliseconds really matters.

[Jurrunio]

1 hour ago, dizmo said:

I've gamed on a higher end USB adapter before, and it actually wasn't that bad.

It's not like I'm a pro. I do it for fun.

the effect on ping is small (about 10% increase), but packet loss is frequent. Teleporting players becomes a common sight on WiFi which is terrible.

[williamcll]

2 hours ago, dizmo said:

Is that actually better? IIRC they have significantly less bandwidth than a high end wireless set up.

Have you ever used a high end one?

Not like you would need anymore than 1Gbps anyway. Latency will be up to the model and you are less likely to receive packet loss.

[dizmo]

9 hours ago, Dan Castellaneta said:

People always cry about trying to game on WiFi but people should also remember, the only games that heavily benefit from what would be a little bit better ping are games like CS:GO and Overwatch. Even still, a decent router and a decent WiFi card should be more than satisfactory for most online games. Hell, I've played TF2 (and CS:GO) through WiFi on my laptop and the minimal addition of latency over being connected through Ethernet was hardly enough for me to notice.

Basically, if your ping is alright to begin with in a game, it shouldn't be much of a big deal to run WiFi, either. I couldn't tell you what would work best for your setup, but don't be discouraged because people here parrot things that are only relevant to games where that few milliseconds really matters.

Yeah, a lot of people just jumping in without actually having tried anything other than their basic free modem/router combo or low end hardware. It's like a person owning a Civic and saying that they'd never drive a sports car around a track because they tried it in their car and it wasn't good. I've found some wicked deals on a XR500 and AC88, so I might just try it out and see how it does.

8 hours ago, Jurrunio said:

the effect on ping is small (about 10% increase), but packet loss is frequent. Teleporting players becomes a common sight on WiFi which is terrible.

I never got that when I was playing on WiFi with my less-than-gaming-grade wireless adapter and router...

Have you played on WiFi with something other than a basic set up?

7 hours ago, williamcll said:

Not like you would need anymore than 1Gbps anyway. Latency will be up to the model and you are less likely to receive packet loss.

Apparently having older wiring makes it a worse experience. Not sure if it'd actually be better or not. Most of the reviews I've seen also show it to be slower than a good WiFi set up.

[Jurrunio]

28 minutes ago, dizmo said:

I never got that when I was playing on WiFi with my less-than-gaming-grade wireless adapter and router...

Have you played on WiFi with something other than a basic set up?

I used whatever Telus installed so yeah you can call it basic, but no I havent tried better routers.

[Donut417]

12 hours ago, dizmo said:

So I haven't done a great deal of research into this, it's just something that popped into my mind and I have a few other things I have to look into first, so I thought I'd just make a post.

I'm going to be moving into a new apartment in a month or so, and I'll be redoing my setup.

With my current system, I have constant connection issues. It's either the motherboard (which will be replaced anyway), or the fact that in order to wire into the router, I have to run an almost 75 foot Ethernet cable.

Either way, the disconnects are not only annoying, they're detrimental to my side business. So I'm on the hunt for a wireless setup that's solid. My phone never has issues, so I can't imagine a decent WiFi adapter would either?

Anyone have any experience with this kind of thing?

I'll be probably 40 to 60 feet from the router through 3 or 4 walls.

 

Well your well with in Ethernet’s max distance. So that should not be an issue. Sounds like a bad router or an issue with the ISP. 

 

As as far as WiFi goes I have used it for gaming. For the most part it works. Look for a decent PCIe AC card and use 5Ghz if you can. Or look in to power line or MOCA adapters. Either way you should find something that suits your needs.

[dizmo]

9 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

I used whatever Telus installed so yeah you can call it basic, but no I havent tried better routers.

Ahhh yeah that was likely a huge part of the problem. I was just using a more basic $200 router and a maybe $100 USB adapter.

Performance was pretty spot on.

45 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

Well your well with in Ethernet’s max distance. So that should not be an issue. Sounds like a bad router or an issue with the ISP. 

 

As as far as WiFi goes I have used it for gaming. For the most part it works. Look for a decent PCIe AC card and use 5Ghz if you can. Or look in to power line or MOCA adapters. Either way you should find something that suits your needs.

We've already replaced the router, that's not the issue. Part of me blames the motherboard, and it's getting replaced with a new build, but I'd still rather not run a massive ethernet cable through the apartment.

 

What set up did you use for WiFi?

[Donut417]

2 hours ago, dizmo said:

Ahhh yeah that was likely a huge part of the problem. I was just using a more basic $200 router and a maybe $100 USB adapter.

Performance was pretty spot on.

We've already replaced the router, that's not the issue. Part of me blames the motherboard, and it's getting replaced with a new build, but I'd still rather not run a massive ethernet cable through the apartment.

 

What set up did you use for WiFi?

Well I no longer use WiFi. But when I did it was a TP link N900 card. I had a N750 router when I bought the card. 

 

But it I’d probably look in to one of those Gigabyte cards that uses the M. 2 cards but fits it in to a PCIe slot. Just because it would be easier to just upgrade the M.2 portion when new WiFi cards come out.