Consumers typically have fast connections to online gaming servers over home broadband connections, with NSW and ACT gamers enjoying the best experience, according to the ACCC’s latest Measuring Broadband Australia report which for the first time measured Australians’ online experience for gaming services.
The report found that latency to Australian servers for popular online games like Fortnite and League of Legends averaged 15 to 30 milliseconds per test on different NBN fixed-line technologies.
This means users generally have a good gaming experience, with minimal stuttering or lag.
Latency refers to the time it takes to send data from a user’s device to a server and back.
Higher latency means there are delays in sending and receiving data, which can be disruptive to a consumers gaming experience.
The report found that a key influence on gaming experience is the distance to gaming servers, with latency increasing when the server is further away.
Australians playing online games where the server is located overseas may notice a lag or have a poor gaming experience.
In comparison, when a gaming server is located in Australia the latency is lower.
Gamers in NSW and the ACT enjoyed the lowest latency for gaming servers located in Australia, averaging between 10 and 20 milliseconds across various games, due to most Australian gaming servers being in Sydney.
The average latency increased for these games when measured from states further away from Sydney, reaching over 50 milliseconds in WA.
“While fibre to the premises and fibre to the curb connections generally had the lowest latency, all fixed-line access technologies had relatively low latency for games hosted in Australia. Consumers on fixed wireless connections experienced higher latency than those using fixed-line technologies. This is expected given the nature of fixed wireless technology,” ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey said.
Intermittent disconnections, or ‘outages’, may also disrupt online gaming experience. Consumers looking to improve their gaming experience should talk to their broadband provider about options to improve the stability of their connection.
The report has also shown that latency does not depend on the selected speed tier, which means that upgrading to a faster plan will not necessarily improve a consumer’s gaming experience.
“We encourage consumers to consider the cost and quality of the various retail plans available and choose the plan that represents the best value to them,” Brakey said.
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https://dailystraits.com/2023/04/05/online-gaming-experience-measured/
