How to Reduce Ping in Online Games

Ever shot first in a fight and still ended up dead? Blame ping. High ping can make your hits register late, your dodges feel sluggish, and your reaction time seems like it’s in slow motion.

But wait, it’s not the same as lag or FPS drops. Lag is the annoying delay you feel, often caused by ping spikes or network issues, while FPS is how smoothly your game runs on your hardware. Understanding the difference is the first step to taking control of your connection and finally getting that clutch win.

Let’s take a look at what ping is in gaming and how to reduce it so you can rack up countless wins.

What is ping in gaming?

Ping is how long it takes for your input, like firing a shot or dodging an attack, to travel from your device to the game server and back.

It’s measured in milliseconds, which sounds tiny, but in gaming, those tiny delays decide whether you win or get instantly deleted.

To put it in perspective:

• 0-30ms: Crisp. Clean. You are the server now.
• 30-60ms: Still smooth, most games are perfectly playable here.
• 60-100ms: You start noticing weird delays.
• 100ms+: You’re playing in the past while everyone else lives in the future.

How to reduce ping in gaming?

Connect to the best server

If you’re connected to a server on the other side of the world, your delay is because of the distance. Data can only move so fast, and no amount of shouting at your screen will make it teleport. So the first step is simple: play on a server that’s actually near you.

Most games default to “auto-connect,” which sounds smart, but half the time it dumps you into Brazil-East-Experimental-Backup-Server-07 because the algorithm thinks you enjoy suffering.

Here’s what to do instead:

• Pick the server closest to where you actually live. If you’re in Texas, don’t queue in Europe just because it sounds classy.
• Avoid high-population or event servers. Being shoulder-to-shoulder with 10,000 players is great for chaos, terrible for ping.
• If the game forces bad routing, fight back. Use a VPN or ping reducer tool (ExitLag, WTFast, etc.) to force a smarter path. Think of it as hiring a GPS that actually knows shortcuts instead of sending you through 17 digital roundabouts.
• Host your own server: Choose a provider that cares about performance. PaperNodes offers DDoS protection, blazing-fast speeds, and 24/7 support, with servers in both Germany and the US.

Optimize your internet connection

Ranked matches have been ruined countless times because someone in the house decided that right now was the perfect moment to stream 4K cooking videos. Before blaming skill, blame the internet setup.

Switch to wired Ethernet (avoid Wi-Fi)

Wi-Fi is convenient. Ethernet is loyal. One occasionally works, the other works every time. You’ll get less packet loss, less jitter, and way more consistency. Yes, the cable might look ridiculous running across your floor, but victory is worth interior design sacrifices.

Sometimes Ethernet isn’t an option, like when your router is in another dimension. If that’s the case:

• Use 5GHz Wi-Fi instead of 2.4GHz. The 2.4 band is basically a public bus full of microwaves and baby monitors. 5GHz is the VIP lane.
• Keep your router in an open space. Don’t bury it in a cabinet or hide it behind your TV. Routers need airflow and emotional support.

Limit background bandwidth usage

Your ping can’t survive if your network is moonlighting as a media hub.

• Pause Steam or game launcher updates.
• Stop Netflix, YouTube, or Twitch streams running in the background.
• Tell your phone to stop uploading 10,000 vacation photos mid-match.

Configure Your Router for Gaming

If your internet setup were a team, your router would be that one teammate who could carry, but refuses to try until you manually force it to. Here’s how:

Enable QoS (Quality of Service)

Without QoS, your router treats your ranked match and your roommate’s TikTok scroll as equally important.

To fix this, go into your router settings, find QoS, and tell it to prioritize your console or PC. Congratulations, you just became the traffic cop of your own network.

Update your router firmware

If you’ve never touched your router’s firmware, it’s probably running on ancient software from the dinosaur era of the internet. Updating firmware can fix bugs, improve stability, and maybe even give you features you didn’t know existed.

Here’s how to update it:

• Open a browser and enter your router’s IP address (usually 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1).
• Log in using the default credentials (you can find them on a sticker under the router or via Google).
• Look for a section called Firmware, Update, or Advanced Settings — manufacturers love hiding it in different places.
• Click Check for Updates or upload the latest version manually from the manufacturer’s website.
• Apply the update and let the router reboot.

Restart your router

When all else fails, restarting your router clears cache, stale connections, and whatever digital cobwebs it’s collected.

Use VPNs or Ping Reducer Tools (When Appropriate)

Using a VPN for gaming sounds backward, but sometimes it actually works. This is because your internet service provider (ISP) doesn’t always send your data down the shortest, fastest road. Sometimes it takes the “scenic route,” which is great if you’re on vacation and terrible if you’re in a 1v1.

A good VPN or ping reducer forces your traffic onto a better path. Think of it as hiring a private chauffeur for your packets.

Here’s what to try:

• ExitLag, NoPing, LagoFast, and WTFast are popular tools built specifically for gamers. They find faster routes automatically.
• Test different servers inside the tool. Sometimes a slightly farther one performs better because it skips congestion.
• Use it only when routing is the issue. If your Wi-Fi is powered by sadness and duct tape, no VPN can save you.

In short, VPNs won’t fix bad hardware or slow internet, but they can outsmart bad routing.

Choose the Right Internet Plan & ISP

Some internet plans are basically scams wrapped in marketing. They’ll brag about “1,000 Mbps download speeds” while secretly delivering the latency of a potato taped to a string.

So here’s the real hierarchy of gaming internet:

Fiber > Cable > DSL > Wireless > Carrier pigeon > Satellite

When shopping for internet, don’t just ask about speed. Speed is how much data you can shove through a pipe. Ping is how fast it gets there. You could have gigabit speeds and still lose to someone on a 50 Mbps line because their connection responds quicker.

Here’s what to ask your ISP:

• “What’s your average latency to major cities or gaming servers?”
• “Do you have optimized routing or peering for gaming traffic?”
• “Will I be stuck behind a hundred Netflix users during peak hours?”

If they can’t answer, find a better provider.

Optimize your PC / console setup

Sometimes the real enemy is your own device, hoarding resources like a dragon sitting on treasure it doesn’t use.

Start with the easy wins:

• Close background apps. Yes, even that one Chrome tab with 47 YouTube recommendations you swear you’ll watch later.
• Update your network drivers and OS. It’s not exciting, but outdated drivers are like trying to play esports on roller skates. Functional, but deeply unoptimized.
• Turn on Game Mode or Low Latency Mode. Windows and most consoles now include built-in “stop messing around and focus on the game” buttons. Use them. They cut background noise and prioritize performance automatically.

Monitor & Troubleshoot Your Ping

Before you blame your internet provider, your router, or your ancestors, figure out who is actually causing the lag.

Think of this step like running a detective investigation, but instead of solving crimes, you’re interrogating your own network.

Start with tools like PingPlotter, WinMTR, or Traceroute. They show you every “hop” your connection takes on its way to the game server and where things slow down.

Then look at the results:

• If the delay starts on your device, it’s probably background apps or outdated drivers.
• If it spikes at your router, restart it or redo your settings.
• If the slowdown appears after your ISP’s network, they’re the culprit.
• If everything is clean until the game server, the server is just struggling, and all you can do is wait or switch regions.

Conclusion

Lag doesn’t require a miracle fix, just a few smart adjustments. You don’t need a $500 RGB spaceship router to get better ping. Start with the basics: use Ethernet instead of Wi-Fi, tweak your router settings including QoS, updates, and restarts, and only use VPNs or ping reducers when your routing goes rogue. If all else fails, switch ISPs like swapping mains with no loyalty to bad latency.

The easiest win is to host your game sessions on reliable infrastructure from the start. Papernodes offers DDoS protection, blazing-fast hardware, and 24/7 human support.