Struggling with poor internet speeds? Are you tired of looking at that never-ending spinning circle of death when you’d rather be exploring your favourite gaming worlds? If so, this is the blog post for you!
Here at Overclockers UK, we’ve rounded up a selection of our top tips for boosting your internet speed, along with a few of our fave product recs.
Why You Need Reliable Internet Speeds for Gaming
A reliable and fast internet connection is vital for online gaming. Having a high internet speed will allow your PC to transmit more data simultaneously, ensuring you can enjoy minimal latency and no unwanted disconnections or lag.
A sluggish connection will notably reduce your performance, resulting in high latency and intermittent lag, meaning you’ll often be left waiting a long time to connect to any servers. Plus, any game updates will take years to install, putting your weekend gaming marathons on hold.
Our Top Tips for Improving Your Internet Speeds
If you’ve noticed your internet slowing down, we’ve rounded up a selection of our top tips for improving your internet speeds.
Restart Your PC
We’ve all heard the old saying that turning it off and on again can fix everything. A simple restart of your PC can help to resolve any unwanted issues with your internet connection.
Make Sure Your OS Drivers Are Up to Date
OS drivers contain vital fixes and improvements which can all help to boost your performance and internet speeds. It’s vital you keep up to date with regular OS updates to ensure you can continue to get the very best out of your hardware and protect your PC against unwanted bugs or even malware.
If you don’t know how to update your OS drivers, we’ve created a helpful step-by-step guide detailing how to do it in both Windows 10 and 11.
Check Your Router
Whilst it may seem silly, a few simple router checks can help to optimise your performance and boost your speeds. We recommend you do the following:
- Reboot your router.
- Place your router in an optical location in your home and make sure nothing is blocking any Wi-Fi signals. Unwanted obstacles or thick walls can notably affect your internet speeds.
Connect via an Ethernet Cable
Utilising an ethernet cable ensures a stable and direct connection to your router. This removes any unwanted interference or lag, enhances your connection, and will boost your internet speeds.
OcUK Professional Cat6 2m Ethernet Cable
- Ethernet cable
- 2m
- Category 6
- UTP
There are multiple different generations of ethernet cable available. Don’t know which one is right for your needs and gaming set-up? Take a look at our dedicated guide.
Wi-Fi Extenders
A Wi-Fi extender wirelessly connects to your router to increase the coverage throughout your home. Extenders are particularly useful for those who struggle with poor connectivity and speeds in areas that are far away from your router.
An extender with a LAN port can support multiple wired devices and reduce any signal interference to optimise your performance.
TP-Link RE505X AX1500 Wi-Fi Extender
- Wi-Fi extender
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 6
- Built-in access point mode
- Features a high-speed mode for gaming and streaming
Disconnect Other Devices
Having multiple devices or background applications using the Wi-Fi simultaneously will affect your internet speeds. Therefore, whilst gaming, we recommend you limit the number of apps and devices that are eating up your Wi-Fi.
Play on a Local Server
The standard rule of thumb is that the closer the server is to you, the faster your internet will be. Joining a server that isn’t in your region will most likely be plagued by slow speeds, high latency, and lots of unwanted lag. All of which makes for an unenjoyable gaming experience.
Upgrade to a Gaming Router
Last, but not least, is upgrading to a gaming router. Gaming routers have been optimised to deliver enhanced speeds, connectivity, and plenty of integrated features to help prioritise your gaming traffic over everything else. This includes compatibility with the latest standards such as Wi-Fi 6.
A typical gaming router has been built with more than one antenna to support Beamforming, allowing your router to directly focus the signal towards one specific device. This delivers a much stronger connection, minimising any unwanted interruption, dropped connections, or latency.
ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 Gaming Router
- Gaming router
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 6
- Integrated 1.8GHz Quad-core CPU
- Covers distances of up to 80%
- Tri-band networking
ASUS RT-AX82Uv2 Dual-Band Gaming Router
- Gaming router
- Dual-band networking
- Supports Wi-Fi 6
- Achieve speeds of up to 5400Mbps
- Dedicated mobile gaming mode
Learn More About Wi-Fi
Share Your Top Tips!
Do you have any top tips for boosting your internet speeds? Any that we missed off our list? If so, share them in the comments.
- 5 min read
Ruth Rowley
Author
Ruth has been with Overclockers UK for over a year and has gone on to write about everything ranging from in-depth hardware guides to monthly game releases.
Outside of writing blog posts, she can be found wrapped in a blanket with her black cat, engrossed in a book or playing life-simulation games such as The Sims, Stardew Valley, and Animal Crossing.
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