How do I make my ping time better for on line gaming? Is it just a case of making sure no p2p software is running etc or should this not matter?

Am on ADSL and using 4 pcs on internet connection sharing. The games machine is not the gateway machine but one of the 3 machines on internet connection sharing. I keep getting kicked off servers saying my ping time is above the permitted level [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

Any ideas?

Bravo -
Which games?
Are you using Gamespy?
What service provider?

Matt I'm playing Delta Force Black Hawk Down and its bloody superb, just keep getting kicked for poor ping results which is very frustrating. All games are played through Novalogic and don't use gamespy at all. I'm on Pipex which has been pretty good for most stuff. Have had trouble with Soldier of Fortune 2 as well with bad ping times. Wondering if its because I am playing over internet connection sharing as opposed to a direct connection. I didn't want my main machine to be the internet gateway but looks like if I continue to have problems I might not have any choice.

I'm on cable and tend to play MOH or Spearhead. I'm using a wireless router with a second pc downstairs which is rarely used at the same time.

Running on 256 pc133 RAM (win2000 AMD1800) my pings were crap if running any other software especially p2p programs. Very complicated gaming was virtually unplayable even without p2p running.

Bought a stick of 512 2100 Ram at the weekend(PC World £54), and oh my god how much better it is. I even had winmx running the other night(didn't even realise) whilst I was playing without problem.

Cheers, I have got emule and edonkey on 2 other machines which I havent switched off although they arnt normally downloading much at the time I am playing.

The machine I am playing games on is p4 2.4 with 512mb(266)

Think I will have to try playing with everything else switched off including messenger just to see if it makes any difference.

I'm assuming the servers you are connecting to have decent ping rates, out of interest what rate are you achieving whilst being kicked off?

Have no idea what ping times I am getting, u just pick a game and it connects and then after a couple of mins i get kicked saying my ping times are not good enough or something to that effect. Playing single player at the moment as the missions are excellent fun anyway :D

Sounds like poor latancy is the prob not pings, if you have a few PC's sharing (and being used, even for surfing) and only one 512 K ADSL line then ping times and hence latancy will be crap. I've heard reports that ADSL users are now suffering contention related problems and now have worse ping times and latancy than ISDN.

Further more you have to set most games up to use ADSL etc as they default to 56K usually. Another problems is the MTU, which can give big problems for networked machines using ADSL.

Well if switching everything else off on the network doesnt help I think I will have to switch the connection directly to the games machine and see what difference that makes.

Spyware? Virus checkers? Loads of things affect ping. Do a Tracert to the server your playing on and a Netstat to make sure nothings amiss your end.

changing to a premium ISP sometimes gives better latency IIRC

BTW, you cannot have ANY software DL'ing or uploading while playing games on the net, ping is measured in milliseconds, i.e. if your P2P lags, then resumes all of a sudden your ping will dip and rise accordingly, this might mean you shoot at someone (200 millisecond lag kicks in with the P2P) and by the time your bullet leaves your gun they are gone. Consistency is the name of the game, I can win most fps online with an 80 - 120 ping but only if it remains steady, if its up and down forget it.

[Edited by Jye_0 - 3/25/2003 4:38:35 PM]

Switch to a premium ISP and latency may improve.. I use ISDN and normally get a latency of 40ms - loads of bandwidth doesn't help unfortunately.