Mac users can access and use ping to target any domain or IP address. There are two ways to access ping tools in Mac OS from any Mac running any version of system software, but we’ll focus primarily on using ping from the command line since it is universal and works across platforms, meaning once you know how to use it on Mac OS X, but you’ll find it in Unix, Linux, and Windows too.
There were a number of years straight out of college all the way until we actually had our second child that I was an avid gamer. I had a dedicated PC that was carefully tuned so that the networked game sessions would run seamlessly. There was always some amount of lag in the game, especially when there were lots of players logged in, but most of the lag was on account of server limitations, not the limits of my own PC.
That meant that everyone was sharing that lag equally. I have to say that before I created that PC, there was nothing more annoying than playing a death-match session of Medal of Honor, creeping around a corner crouched over, hearing the enemy player approaching, and then right before I was about to pull the trigger and take them out as they round the corner – my computer froze for a couple of seconds. Those couple of seconds were enough for me to get filled with holes and out of the game.
That’s an experience you can have only so often before you realize that it’s either time to optimize your PC to reduce lag as much as possible, or don’t even bother playing at all.
The truth is that most computers out there that are capable of running as an effective gaming system are really so overburdened with extra garbage running, improperly configured network settings, and numerous other issues that make the network flow during a high-speed gaming session slower than molasses.
Now, this is MakeUseOf. We’re all about tweaks. One of the fastest ways to tweak everything about your PC is to use software like TweakNowEasily Fine Tune Every Aspect of Your PC & Internet With TweakNowEasily Fine Tune Every Aspect of Your PC & Internet With TweakNowRead More, an app that I still use today even after reviewing it in 2011. Using an app like Tweaknow will help you with some of the tips in this article, but to really optimize for gaming, you’ll need to take a very focused approach to fine-tune the areas of performance that really matter. Simon shared a few useful tipsOptimize Your PC for Gaming With These 4 Vital TweaksOptimize Your PC for Gaming With These 4 Vital TweaksWondering how to optimize your PC for gaming? Use these vital tips to keep your gaming PC setup running at its best.Read More a while back, but today I’d like to add a few more important tweaks to that list.
Tuning Your PC For Online Gaming
Yes, most of the gamers you ask about reducing lag will sneer at your PC and croak in reply, “Just get a PC that’s not a piece of crap.”
Well, that may be true, or it may not. Truth is, I’ve beaten down a fair number of those arrogant gamers that were running a quad core water-cooled gaming tower. Sure, performance matters, but given the fact that everyone faces the same bottleneck of the game server and the maximum limitations of Internet transmissions, what it really comes down to with online gaming is reducing your own computer’s lag to an insignificant level, and increasing your throughput to the maximum bandwidth possible on your Internet connection.
Lower Game Requirements
Yes, you could upgrade your system to the hilt, but if you aren’t exactly made of money, you can go from the other direction and just cut down the game requirements. Nearly every online game will have a menu screen where you can go into the Options or Settings. Experiment with different graphics options, reducing screen resolution, render quality, lower texture resolution, etc…
Yes, brilliant graphics make a game experience better, but if you don’t have a super-computer to process the graphics, then cut those down, reduce the workload for your PC and its graphics card, and you’ll see a huge performance increase. This is the single most important tip I offer to people when they complain about lag, and you’d be surprised how few of them even bothered considering changing the game graphics settings.
In addition to lowering the horsepower the game requires from your system, you can also tweak your own graphics card to reduce requirements for things like anti-alias and anisotropic filtering. These are two settings that gamers throughout the Internet suggest on game forums and blogs. Anti-aliasing is what reduces jagged edges of objects and makes them into smooth, high-quality graphics. Anisotropic filtering has to do with enhancing textures. You can usually find one or both of these settings by opening up your graphics card settings and going to the advanced or 3d settings.
Turn off those settings if you suspect your video card is not quite capable of holding up during the game. Again, your graphics quality may be reduced, but at the same time you’ll notice that lag time starts to disappear.
Also, make sure that you have the latest driver for your video card by right clicking on your My Computer icon, go to Properties, click on System, Device Manager, and click on Display Adapters. Check the make and model of your graphics card, and go to that manufacturer’s website to see if you have the most current driver for that graphics card.
Each of these things may only give you just a little bit less lag in the game, but in the end, when you’re going head to head with an expert marksman in an online shooting match, any reduction in lag will give you one more little advantage.
Reduce Your Processor Workload
In addition to reducing the workload on your graphics card, it’s also a good idea to reduce the load on your main processor, especially if you don’t have one of those impressive liquid cooled super-powered gaming systems. Email app for mac.
Another useful tip to accomplish this is to shut down as many non-essential processes, services and applications that are running on your PC during the time that you’re playing online games.
There are lots of ways to do that. Some people like apps that take care of it for them like Soluto, but remember that’s another app install and a bit of bandwidth to give up. The fastest way is to scan through running processes and services and shut down all of the ones that are not critical to Windows operation. Do Cntrl-Alt-Delete, Task Manager, and then click on the Performance tab, and click the Resource Monitor button.
The resource monitor shows you the top culprits that are currently consuming your bandwidth or your network (or both).
I love the Resource Manager. Go through both lists, identify anything that isn’t a windows-centric app or to do with your antivirus software, right click and kill the process. If you can’t kill it here, go to the task manager and kill it there. But, since you’re dealing with important applications in here as well as the junk, always use caution. If in doubt, leave it alone.
Consider Your Network
Other things to shut down that will consume precious bandwidth and produce lag is any downloads you have going on (like the Torrent client you forgot you had running), or any peer-to-peer file sharing apps. Shut it all down, because you need all of that bandwidth devoted to your online game.
Don’t forget things like the Apple Store, and also double check the activity of other people in the house and make sure there’s no Netflix movie streaming or iTunes downloading going on, or you can forget about having a lag-free online game experience.
Best time to have a dedicated online gaming session? When the family is out of the house and you’ve got the place (and the network) to yourself!
Other things to consider – if you have the option to choose the type of Internet you have in your area, go with Cable over DSL. Cable is faster and more stable, it’s true. Cable is the medium for online gaming, and if you plan to do a lot of it, get cable internet if you can. Even better, opt for the highest bandwidth Internet package you can afford.
And please, don’t try to do online gaming with a Wi-Fi connection. Plug in a hard-wired Internet connection directly into your computer. With Wi-Fi, even with a good connection, you’ve got walls, obstructions and other household interferenceWireless Feng Shui: How to Optimize Your House For Best Wi-Fi ReceptionWireless Feng Shui: How to Optimize Your House For Best Wi-Fi ReceptionSetting up a Wi-Fi network should be an easy prospect, shouldn't it? I mean, a house is a closed-in box, and you'd think when you place a device that transmits wireless signals in all directions..Read More to consider. Run a wire from your router and plug it in, you’ll be glad you did.
Also, get a high-quality router. Most these days actually have gaming features that will optimize your network for gaming – if you haven’t upgraded your router in a while, do it now.
And finally, when you have a choice between online game servers, choose one that is nearest your geographic location. You may not think it matters because everything on the Internet is the speed of light, right? Wrong – you’ll see ping times change significantly for the servers in your back yard versus servers half-way across the world. It does matter, so choose the server you play on wisely.
Other Things to Consider
There is a whole long list of things you can do to optimize your gaming experience. The most important issues are mentioned above, but you might also consider a few of the following.
- If you can afford it, upgrade RAM (memory) and your graphics card. Those two upgrades can make a world of difference, and aren’t too expensive.
- Keep all drivers up to date, especially for your graphics card.
- Remember to defrag your hard driveIObit Smart Defrag: A Superb Hard Drive Defragmentation & Optimization Tool [Windows]IObit Smart Defrag: A Superb Hard Drive Defragmentation & Optimization Tool [Windows]Do you defrag your hard drive? If not, you should and you must understand the importance before you read on. There are some excellent articles on MakeUseOf which discuss defragmenting, but perhaps the best and..Read More. You may not think it matters much, but it can speed processing time slightly, and every little bit counts.
- Try playing without audio. If it’s not a game where you need to hear people creeping up behind you, consider turning off audio and saving bandwidth.
- If you want to get crazy, you can consider overclocking your systemWhat Is Overclocking, And How It Can Help Your PC, Tablet, & Phone [MakeUseOf Explains]What Is Overclocking, And How It Can Help Your PC, Tablet, & Phone [MakeUseOf Explains]Provided that you have hardware from a manufacturer who understands those principles, you can do plenty to juice up your system, whether it be a computer, tablet, or smartphone. One of the best things you..Read More. This isn’t for the feint of heart (or for a weak system), but if you know what you’re doing it can give you a bit of a boost when playing games.
As you can see, all of these things individually may not make a huge difference (except for upgrading your graphics card), but added together they can make a huge impact on reducing or completely removing the lag you might experience in networked games. That means you run faster, race faster, shoot faster, and you can play better.
Do you use any of the techniques above to cut lag in online games? Do you know of any other tweaks or tricks? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
Image Credit: Young Adult at Lan Party Via Shutterstock,Man Playing Video Games Via Shutterstock
Explore more about: Computer Maintenance, MMO Games.
too muck to read
Lag is usually caused due to the extensive distance the computer signal has to travel between you and the gaming server. The congestion that the data packets have to face during their journey also doesn’t help and add to delay and high ping issues. The answer to this problem, get a VPN Service. Check out IPVanish
Now many have argued that VPN service adds more pressure on your internet network and would increase the lag and delay. That is only one side of the story as the servers operated by your ISP are at times highly congested and have numerous traffic bottlenecks.
With a VPN service, you can connect to the nearest server located to the gaming server which provides uncongested and traffic free corridor for sending and receiving data packets. For instance, if you reside in Philippines and want play in US, connecting to a US server through the VPN, will allow you lag free gameplay experience as it provides an open pathway between you and the gaming server.
In a nutshell, your online gaming experience is susceptible to numerous threats that are ready to spoil your game at any given time. Lag, delay, high ping, and DDoS attacks are just some of the tipping points and will disrupt your gameplay to the point of none recoverability.
This is where using a VPN service pays dividends as it allows you multiple servers to connect to and provides traffic free pathway to send data packets. The security features and different servers offered by a VPN service will also protect you from DDoS attacks.
And, if you are in the mood for watching live gaming events such as DOTA 2 International, you would need a VPN service for incessant streaming without any lag or delay.
Dear Ryan,
Read all the details that you have shared with us regarding reducing ping and boosting fps. You should also consider covering famous gaming private networks like:
Kill Ping (www.killping.com)
WTFast (www.wtfast.com)
BattlePing (www.battleping.comThey are created some impact over the years and deserve a word out to your audience to increase their awareness.
correction its speedtest.net
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Thanks for the advice Ryan. I'll have to run a wire to see how much lag is reduced over WiFi. also if your curious to see how your computers upload download and ping are theres. speed.net to do a speed test of your computer if your not getting the speed your paying for you can check with your cable company. I was paying for an upgrade to interned 'turbo' from Time warner for several months and was not seeing the differance i did a speed test and saw that I wasn't getting the bandwidth and speed they boasted so I called and after a nice long wait listening to 'music' and commercials for time warner services. I finally got a nice customer service person who was able to see that I wasn't getting the service I had payed for she fixed the problem and credited my bill for the service differance. It was a noticible differance right away. I was so happy for the fix that I forgot to be mad they screwed up in the first place. Oh and if you do find your in that situation being nice will get you alot more help than calling up and demanding they fix the problem.
I am going to have to check this out. My PC isn't that old and I don't have the money to buy a newer one right now. This might help me when I am playing SWTOR. Thanks for the advice!
'Those two upgrades can make a world of difference, and aren’t too expensive.'
Well, RAM I guess isn't too bad, and if you are just getting a graphics card then yeah, it's not that expensive, but if you are UPGRADING cards, then they can really cost upwards of 200 dollars. Quite expensive.
I play most of my game's online with my friends. I am gonna try these to see I can get no lag. Thanks!
Great - don't forget to report back and let us know which of the tweaks appeared to help the most in your case.
Here's a proprietary solution:
WTFast(http://www.wtfast.com/), The Gamers Private Network (GPN)™, a network built just for MMO Gamers.
The WTFast GPN™ delivers an optimal game connection, improving your game speed and reducing disconnects, response deviation and lag. The WTFast GPN™ works with virtually all MMO games and ensures you ALWAYS have an optimal gaming connection and experience.Saw this at a Ragnarok 2 Facebook Community group. Worth the try for 30 days then if you have the money, go premium.
Ryan: I hope you can make a review of WTFast.
Looks like an interesting solution from what youv'e described. I'll take a look at the site and maybe give it a test! Thanks for the heads up.
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Using wireless scanners within your network makes it easier to share printing in your company's office. However, networked devices sometimes stop working without any warning. If a network printer stops responding to your print requests, it may be an error with the printer or your computer, or the printer may have simply gone offline. You can ping the printer -- send it tiny packets of data at regular, brief intervals -- from your Mac to determine whether or not the printer is receiving network traffic. If the printer returns data packets, the ping is successful.
1.
Find your printer's IP address or network name. Remote app for mac mini with keyboard support. Alternatively, find the name you gave the printer during installation. A printed test page typically displays these.
2.Open the Network Utility by clicking 'Go,' 'Utilities' and then 'Network Utility' from the main Finder toolbar.
4.Enter the IP address of the printer in the 'Enter the network address to ping' text box.
6.Click the 'Stop' button to stop pinging after a several seconds. The ping command continues until you stop it. Diagnostic information appears on the screen, including the number of packets dropped, meaning those not received by the printer. If all the packets dropped, then the printer is offline. If none dropped, or only some did, there could be a problem with the printer or the network connection.
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About the Author
G.S. Jackson specializes in topics related to literature, computers and technology. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and computer science from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
Empty the Trash to fully remove Garmin Express If you are determined to delete Garmin Express permanently, the last thing you need to do is emptying the Trash. Meanwhile, search for the following locations to delete associated items: • /Library/Preferences/ • /Library/Application Support/ • /Library/Caches/ Besides, there may be some kernel extensions or hidden files that are not obvious to find. Usually kernel extensions are located in in /System/Library/Extensions and end with the extension.kext, while hidden files are mostly located in your home folder. You can use Terminal (inside Applications/Utilities) to list the contents of the directory in question and delete the offending item. In that case, you can do a Google search about the components for Garmin Express. Gramin express app too big for mac.
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