It takes a long time to upload, but I get fast speed when downloading things.
It takes a long time to upload, but I get fast speed when downloading things.
So I use ATT fiber and get about 1 gigabyte per second going up or down with roughly 10 milliseconds of ping when sending data down but around 100 milliseconds when sending it up. The upload ping changes all over the place and sometimes hits as high as 200 milliseconds during testing. Downlink ping stays pretty steady. I've tried different servers and got the same results every single time. My PC is connected to the router via a wired connection. The router itself is an ARRIS BGW 210-700 that ATT has forced me to use because it's required by them. Since I'm into gaming, this slow upload speed makes online play feel really bad and like I'm always behind the competition compared to others. I've tried restarting everything, swapping out my LAN ports, turning off my firewall, and other tricks of the trade. Any advice on how to fix this?
Ping isn't about uploading or downloading stuff. Do you have a hardwired connection straight from your router to your computer?
Here is how speed test sites should stop just showing numbers without explaining what they mean and instead offer real tests that prove you truly understand them. The numbers on the screen don't actually show upload or download speeds; they measure delay when your connection isn't being used much yet. This kind of extra wait time happens because too much data gets stuck in a buffer somewhere before it leaves, making things feel slower. These numbers aren't very useful if you're not using 100% of your speed. For example, if your internet is only going up and down at less than one gigabyte per second, a game that uses about half that amount won't suffer much. You might even get some help with this by setting special rules to let your gaming traffic pass through more easily while other stuff goes down.
However, the numbers you see on the test are probably far worse than anything you can control. The real thing that matters is just how fast it takes for a ping to go out to servers like those ending in .1 or .8. If you live near a place called "att," pinging those sites might give you under 5 milliseconds of delay. That means even the best internet service adds only about 5 extra seconds to your game's load time, which is usually not your fault. So if you have bad lag in a game, it is very likely that something else like your local network or hardware is causing the problem, not your home internet connection.
So when I run a speed test and check the ping number for the server I am testing against, that number doesn't actually matter? It feels kind of strange because in FPS games like Call of Duty or Battlefield, I'm getting this laggy feeling where it seems like my input is delayed. This makes me think shooting from one end of the screen while looking at another might be what's going on, even if the kill cam shows me dead before I take damage. I'm trying to figure out if something is wrong with my setup or connection. It feels like online gaming was way better back when I lived in a place with really bad internet, so I don't know why this difference happened.
It doesn't mean anything right now because the real ping time is different from what the number on the left shows. That number only tells you how fast it takes to reach the speedtest server, not your game servers. If you pick other servers for testing, you'll get totally different numbers since they are in different cities. Game servers and speedtest servers aren't in the same places or use the same data centers, so speedtest can't tell you if a game will run smoothly. Speedtest is just good at checking that your internet company sends you what you paid for. But be careful when trying to prove this, because most of the time you need to pick a server on your own company's network to get the best speeds. Moving to another ISP might change your rates and they can't fix it if their system says it's them causing the problem. Game lag happens for many reasons that aren't about the internet speed. Often, video settings have way too much effect. You should turn everything down as far as possible. No matter if you set the video to 4k ultra or low 720p, the picture will look bad anyway. If there are actual network problems, you'll still see lag even at lower resolutions.