Yes, the ping and speed calculations are accurate.
Yes, the ping and speed calculations are accurate.
Hello, I observed that on the Chinese server, my ping spikes to 2000ms when there are 200-300 players nearby. In Task Manager, the Network section indicated the game was consuming about 4mbps under normal conditions. To maintain a stable ping around 280ms in less crowded environments, I need roughly 14mbps download speed. This led me to calculate that with a Tencent VPN—integrated into the game—it likely reduces my actual speed, making the measured numbers lower.
Speed isn't the same as ping. Using that idea, I might see a 1ms delay to a Japanese game server even with a gigabit link. Internet lag depends on several things: your router/modem connection, your modem-to-ISP link, the ISP-to-server connection, and the path from the server to the internet through your network. If any part slows down, ping increases. The farther you are from the server, the worse the ping becomes, even with perfect conditions.
Ping measures delay. It's not about how fast data travels. The closer you are to the server, or the more traffic there is, the higher the delay will be. Wireless connections and weak routers can also increase this lag.
I understand speed isn't equal to ping, but can a very slow download actually raise ping? I didn't ask for speeds below 280ms, though I know that limit is often reached between EU and CN due to distance. It tends to rise when many people are online, but at around 280ms it usually means fewer users and better performance.
On the other side, packets struggle to achieve higher latency because insufficient download speed causes longer pings. Slower data updates also contribute, as the game freezes when ping spikes to 2k ms or more, since it can't render anything without fresh information from the server.
The pace of electricity in copper wires reaches approximately 285,102,627 meters per second. For signals in fiber, the speed is about 70% of light speed through a vacuum—roughly 210,000,000 meters per second—but we'll use an average of 250,000 km per second or 250 km every millisecond for simplicity. Using Google Earth or Maps, you can measure the straight-line distance between your location and the server in China. If that distance is around 1000 km, your maximum latency will be at least 8 milliseconds round-trip (4 ms each way).
Next, consider congestion. Data moves through fiber lines owned by different companies, with varying capacity, quality, and length. ISPs can lease bandwidth—say 10 Gbps on a 650 Gbps cable for a fee—while others might pay less or charge per megabit. For example, Tata Communications in India could offer 4 Gbps at a lower rate. Your connection speed is affected when multiple users share the same limited capacity, slowing downloads and uploads.
This issue worsens with VPN usage. Your traffic is sent through whatever path your ISP chooses, which may be inefficient. Once you reach the VPN, your data travels via routes that could use slower or less direct ocean cables. To reduce latency, it’s crucial to choose a VPN server close to your actual location, minimizing the distance your data must travel through lower-quality fiber. Using a distant server in another country won’t help if the connection remains congested and slow.
Latency is around 0.5ms per 100km. This effect isn't directly measurable in ping values (in nanoseconds). Delays build gradually and are eventually resolved when interfaces reach their limits. Don’t assume 4gbps will cause a bottleneck. I can provide a netflow example of roughly 1500 customers on a 10gig connection, extracting only 1.2gbps at 6pm.