What Wi-Fi speed do you really need to have a smooth gaming experience?

Online gaming is a hugely popular pastime. And with easy access to games and the internet almost wherever and whenever you need, this comes as no surprise. However, the excitement and joy of gaming is often diminished with a slow internet connection. So, what speed do you need to have a good gaming experience? Well, this does depend on the type of game and where and how you’re playing. Let’s take a look.

What is internet speed?

When it comes to gaming, speed is often of the essence. As a general rule, you’re looking at 50 Mbps or more for the ideal gaming scenario, more when the game is challenging or has a lot of demanding graphics to load and display. While internet speed is important, overall gameplay is also impacted by the upload speed. For this, the Internet should have a minimum of 5 Mbps and go from there. The best gaming experience comes from reducing latency, which is minimizing ping (ideally this should be below 30ms for the best gaming experience). This is influenced by wireless vs wired connections and the distance to the game server rather than just the download speed alone. Wired internet using an Ethernet has the lowest latency and is the best, most stable connection for heavy gaming. Wi-Fi, whilst having a higher latency, is still very good thanks to newer options sch as Wi-Fi 6 and are solid for most online gaming.

Solo mobile gaming

A very common method of gaming is single-player on a mobile device. Also dubbed casual gaming, mobile games tend not to require much in the way of internet speed and connectivity. In fact, many games these days are able to be played on a phone, but offline. As such, as little as 10-20 Mbps is often enough for this type of relatively undemanding game.

Competitive games or multiplayer options

Things increase somewhat though when it comes to more competitive games or multiplayer options. For a smoother experience when playing games like Call of Duty, FIFA or Fortnite, then responsiveness and good load times are crucial. Any delay in the game can cost you everything. Subsequently, for competitive games such as these 50-100 Mbps is recommended.

Cloud gaming or streaming

To get high quality streaming on cloud games, then 200 Mbps or more is required. This is the best for playing on Xbox Cloud Gaming or services like GeForce Now. Lower speeds will result in slow-loading games or jerky playback which is not ideal when playing to win.

Online casino games

Anyone looking to play casino games either on a mobile device or desktop, can enjoy playing with some of the lower speeds. 10-25 Mbps is recommended for playing such games, though a stable connection is a must if you don’t want the game to drop out at a crucial winning moment. If you’re using some free spins no deposit UK casino bonuses, then you can check your connection first, testing your speed before you begin playing to ensure you’re playback won’t be interrupted.

Other factors impacting smooth gaming

While speed is a must, there are other factors that impact the latency and responsiveness of a game. As mentioned, the type of game has a major impact on whether the connection is good enough. Heavy graphics, large maps, multiple players all result in the need for more bandwidth. Similarly, the number of users or devices all connected to the same network reduces the bandwidth and latency of the internet connection regardless of whether the other users are playing games. Finally, if there are any background downloads occurring, then this can impact the overall gaming experience.

At the end of the day, download and upload speeds are important for smooth gaming, but so is low latency and a stable connections. For the best experience, minimize the number of connected devices, use a wired connection and higher speeds for games with more graphics, players or complexity.

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Carla Schroder

Carla Schroder is a self-taught Linux and Windows sysadmin who laid hands on her first computer around her 37th birthday. Her first PC was a Macintosh LC II. Next came an IBM clone--a 386SX running MS-DOS 5 and Windows 3.1 with a 14-inch color display--which was adequate for many pleasant hours of Doom play. Then around 1997 she discovered Red Hat 5.0 and had a whole new world to explore.

Somewhere along the way she found herself doing freelance consulting for small businesses and home users, supporting both Linux and Windows users and integrating Linux and Windows on the LAN, primarily Linux servers and Windows clients. She is the author of the Linux Cookbook, Linux Networking Cookbook, and the Linux Cookbook 2nd Edition for O'Reilly, and has written hundreds of Linux howtos for various publications, .

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