what will yield lower ping? ... and why?

[indy900]

Sorry if topic's been covered but, would I get better ping, playing online from:

A: one computer, not mine, with wireless (I don't have a card), bridged to my switch and another computer connected to said switch. Both other users being noobs who only surf and MSN and another noob has his own laptop with wireless.

B: Everyone has their own wireless.

I just wondered if multiple wireless connections would cause radio interference or be more of a workload for the router managing 4 connections instead of 2 or if the bottleneck at the computer with wireless would cause the most lag.

I can't go wired because we're getting wireless from the landlord, who lives in the basement because we just found out he has it and my roommates don't want to pay for internet anymore. All of our rooms are on the top floor, so best signal isn't an issue.

 

[[SAS]Solid Snake]

None of that is going to affect your ping seriously unless the modem/routers you have are complete crap. The problem is where the packets have to go and where they have to come from. If they have to travel all the way to some far away country and come back, then your ping is going to be affected by that more than the local switching.

So the best solution? Either get a big expensive fat pipe bandwidth, or connect to a closer server.

You're really looking a very minimal delay compared to a big delay. i.e, who cares if you've got 10 cents if you've got a thousand dollars.

 

[indy900]

Totally makes sense, thanks. I suppose much of the problem would be that my new connection is bell expressview satellite (canada) and it's 1/2 wireless it's self, with horrible upload speeds. I'm only really seeing a 10 ping difference to my clan, MXC's server but the packet loss is killing me, literally. I just want any edge I can get and the roommates, girls, would probably prefer to not have wires running all over.

 

[Dark Pulse]

If it's satellite internet there's only so much you can do to improve your packet loss, and even then, it's pretty grim.

Simply put, wired is the only way to go. Fact of the matter is even on a good day you're looking at 300 msec delay for it to get to the satellite and back.

See if you can put the wires under the carpets or something, perhaps.

 

[ShakeZula]

are you using windows zero configuration to manage your connection? if so disable it and use the software for your network adapter. zero config will drop connection briefly but at frequent intervals. that's the only advice i have for wireless gaming and it certainly won't help ping i'm afraid :[ i guess satellite connections just kinda suck for gaming

 

[indy900]

ya, oh well. it's still playable, just not the 10 mbps cable connection I'm used to. I need to focus on mapping more anyway. Thanks guys.