How fast is fast enough? (Gaming)

by GrimBrother IV, Sunday, January 19, 2014, 07:24 (3756 days ago)

So, my wife and I are planning on moving very soon and the only options for internet are satellite, so obviously speeds are lower than hardline. So my question is, what is the slowest internet speed that you have had a solid connection with? This is particularly pointed at folks already on the BONE, as I'm hoping to have one when Destiny comes out.

Many thanks

-IV

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How fast is fast enough?

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Sunday, January 19, 2014, 08:47 (3756 days ago) @ GrimBrother IV

So, my wife and I are planning on moving very soon and the only options for internet are satellite, so obviously speeds are lower than hardline. So my question is, what is the slowest internet speed that you have had a solid connection with? This is particularly pointed at folks already on the BONE, as I'm hoping to have one when Destiny comes out.

Many thanks

-IV

3 Mbit cable. Completely stable, and works fine with games online. It's more than enough speed for me anyway. However, I believe satellite is not so good when it comes to latency, making games a tough proposition. If you can't get cable or DSL, then you can't play online :-(

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How fast is fast enough?

by Jillybean, Sunday, January 19, 2014, 09:57 (3756 days ago) @ GrimBrother IV

Disclaimer - UK based

Wish I'd seen this an hour or so ago and I could have tested mum's satellite broadband speeds for you. It wasn't really fast enough for multiplayer on the 360, but could do co-op play.

How fast is fast enough?

by Fuertisimo, Sunday, January 19, 2014, 11:21 (3756 days ago) @ GrimBrother IV

If you're going to use satellite then it's going to be really rough. The key issue with multiplayer gaming isn't bandwidth but latency. If you're using satellite then upgrading your bandwidth isn't going to improve your latency, and latency is the main culprit in what we refer to as "lag".

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Latency and package loss will kill it, man... Sorry

by ZackDark @, Not behind you. NO! Don't look., Sunday, January 19, 2014, 14:24 (3756 days ago) @ GrimBrother IV

- No text -

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How fast is fast enough?

by stabbim @, Des Moines, IA, USA, Sunday, January 19, 2014, 18:27 (3756 days ago) @ GrimBrother IV

What everyone else has said is accurate. All you really need for multiplayer gaming bandwidth-wise is 1-1.5mbps or so, provided no one else is hogging the connection while you're playing.

However, I fear latency is going to be a major issue for you. Satellite internet is always going to have very high latency. It's unavoidable, really. The data packets have to go into orbit and back, and that's always going to take a long time even at the speed of electromagnetic waves. For reference, in something like a multiplayer FPS it's said that anything over 150ms latency becomes noticeable to the average player. When I tested satellite internet a few years ago, the minimum round-trip time for a ping to go from me to the satellite ISP's router and back was 700ms.

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