Fiber Internet is the Best Bet for Gamers
A love, or at least appreciation, for gaming is rapidly taking over the U.S.
In fact, three out of every four people in the U.S. play video games as of 2020. That’s about 244 million people. Compared to 2018, that number is up by 32 million.
You might have an image in your head of what these gamers look like: high schoolers playing games online with their friends. The truth is that gaming is inclusive to all ages and interests. Gaming is most popular with those aged 18 to 34-years-old (38% of all gamers), but another group likely to pick up a controller is the under 18 crowd (21%).
Regardless of how wide the gamer profile stretches, gamers all have one thing in common. To game and to do it well, they need a reliable internet connection. Not just any internet connection will do. They need one that can keep up with their games’ impressive graphics displays and real-time data transfer requirements.
Read on for three reasons why fiber is the best bet for gamers looking for a reliable connection.
Faster Speeds for Faster Play
When it comes to online gaming, both download and upload speeds play a role in whether you can play your game without interruptions. The download speed determines how quickly new information is downloaded from the game and visible to you, and upload speeds determine how quickly your actions in the game are uploaded to the server.
“A love, or at least appreciation, for gaming is rapidly taking over the U.S.”
According to Reviews.com’s “A Gamer’s Guide to Internet Speed,” gaming typically requires download speeds of 3-6 megabits per second (Mbps) and a minimum upload speed of 0.5 Mbps to display your game smoothly and without interruptions. While these numbers aren’t particularly high, keep in mind that a few other factors will determine the speeds you actually need, such as:
• The type of device you’re playing from. Gaming on a PC will have higher speed requirements than gaming on a mobile device.
• The number of internet-connected devices in the home. If multiple devices are competing for bandwidth (e.g., smart home devices, PCs, cellphones, and t.v. streaming devices), higher speeds will be required to use them at the same time.
• How many people are using the internet in your home. A family home, especially one with multiple gamers who like to play at the same time, will require faster speeds than a single-person home.
These factors can all multiply the internet speeds needed for gaming. Luckily, fiber speeds are measured in gigabits per second instead of megabits, meaning fiber can handle the hefty speed requirements of a gaming household.
Lower Latency Means Better Group Gaming Experiences
There are few things worse when gaming online with friends than a lagging display. It not only ruins the game for you, but it affects your friends’ experience as well.
Lag is the result of low latency, or “ping.” This refers to the total time for a game to send and receive data to and from a server.
Ping rates of over 1,000 milliseconds begin to cause lag, glitching displays, and even parts of the display disappearing. Since some games average ping among players, one person’s low latency negatively affects all of the players. Other gamers won’t put up with this for long and will likely remove you from the game so they can continue playing.
Low latency may be survivable occasionally, but many gamers play consistently, making a smoother display a requirement. In fact, 32% of gamers in the U.S. play between five and 15 hours per week. With that level of dedication, there’s no room for displays that can’t keep up.
Luckily, internet speeds have a role to play in ping rates, and fiber internet offers the fastest service by far when compared to cable and DSL. For gamers who don’t want to have to worry about slow speeds ruining the experience for them and their friends, fiber is the way to go.
Choose No Data Caps
Another major reason for gamers to choose fiber is that fiber plans often come with no limits to the amount of data you can use per month.
Internet plans vary with each provider, and there are no plan limitations that apply to all. However, many cable and DSL providers max out their largest plans at 1 Terabyte of data. While a terabyte certainly provides a high amount of data coverage, it shouldn’t be seen as synonymous with unlimited data.
In addition to gaming for fun, a growing number of gamers make a living live streaming or uploading their play-throughs online. This requires reliable service and the knowledge that no matter how much you play or use the internet, you won’t reach a data cap that limits your ability to play or earn.
Southeast Missouri residents looking for fiber service without a data cap are in luck. Circle Fiber offers a 1 Gbps plan (upload and download speeds) with no data cap—perfect for gamers seeking uninterrupted service.
While not every fiber provider offers unlimited data plans, rest assured that any Circle Fiber plan you choose will provide unlimited data at high speeds for a fair rate.
