Between the 90s and 00s, one of the most significant paradigm shifts in video games was the incremental, perhaps, but no less inexorable transition from offline to online. With the introduction of 56K internet connectivity in the suburbs, you didn’t even have to go out of the house to get your game on – you could dial up to the tubes instead, and find tens of other gamers without the tedious chore of organising who would bring the chips and Windows installation disc. The future was now. At least, between 19:00 and 07:00, and assuming your big sister didn’t pick up the phone.
In 2020, cheap high-speed broadband internet connectivity is available in South Africa – but for those of you starting out with playing video games online, knowing exactly what’s actually important (and, as importantly, not so important) isn’t super obvious. NAG is here to help.
FAST, FASTER, FASTEST
Internet connection speed is measured according to megabits per second (Mbps). A megabit (Mb) is a unit of data, and is not the same thing as a megabyte (MB), which is also unit of data, but… different, because tech is complicated like that and I don’t make up the rules.
So, what’s important? This is important:
1 Mb = 0.125 MB
As such, an 8 Mbps internet connection works out to a real speed of 1 MB of data transfer per second. With DSL or ADSL internet connections, however, that speed is also subject to fluctuations according to a lot of otherwise esoteric equations, but since DSL and ADSL is becoming obsolete and replaced by LTE and fibre internet connections, it’s irrelevant for our purposes.
DSL – digital subscriber line. An internet connection via a telephone network, like it’s 1998.
ADSL – asymmetric digital subscriber line. More or less the same thing, but, like, asymmetrical.
LTE – long-term evolution. Also an internet connection, but now via a mobile network.
Fibre – fibre, or optical fibre. An internet connection, with more science. Nutritious too.
ISP – internet service provider. Provides internet service.
NAT – network address translation. Keep going.
An LTE internet connection, like DSL and ADSL, is also subject to some fluctuation, because it uses mobile data infrastructure, and mobile data infrastructure is kind of volatile. Your LTE device’s physical distance from the local transmission source, for example, is a factor that can reduce your connection speed, and so is the number of other users connecting on the same transmission source at the same time. Some LTE connections are also limited by the ISP’s NAT policy, but I’ll get back to that.
Fibre internet speeds are mostly much more consistent, and a 20 Mbps fibre connection should clock 2.5 MB of data transfer per second, unless there’s a network problem. Depending on the server source, I mean. I’ll get back to that too.
Most internet packages are advertised as an X/Y number – for example, 100/100 Mbps, 100/50 Mbps, or 100/20 Mbps. The first number is the connection’s maximum download speed, and the second number is its maximum upload speed. The download speed applies to things like, you know, downloads including digital purchases, game updates, streaming content like YouTube or Netflix, and even browsing websites. The upload speed applies to – guess what, you guessed it – uploads that include sending WhatsApp texts or emails, posting memes on social media, or voice comms data if you’re talking on Discord or Skype.
So, what’s important? This is important:
DATA TRANSFER IN > DOWNLOAD
DATA TRANSFER OUT > UPLOAD
And for most users, the internet connection’s download speed is the most important, because you’re probably going to download much more data than you’re ever going to upload.
WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT NAT?
It’s a thing. And, like the distinction between megabits and megabytes, it’s complicated. Every device connected to the internet has an internet protocol (IP) address, a unique number assigned to that device by your ISP, home router, or other network host. NAT is a method of managing IP addresses as data is transmitted to and from them, for reasons that aren’t important in this discussion, and is defined as “restricted”, “moderate”, or “open”. A restricted or moderate NAT automatically blocks some types of data transmission, but an open NAT doesn’t.
What’s important? This is important:
A MODERATE NAT IS BAD, A RESTRICTED NAT IS EVEN WORSE
And:
SOME LTE CONNECTIONS ARE SUBJECT TO A RESTRICTED OR MODERATE NAT BY THE ISP
In terms of gaming online, a restricted or moderate NAT can limit a user’s data transmission with servers, and prohibit voice comms like an Xbox Live party, for example, or even multiplayer connectivity.
For fibre internet connections, this can also be an issue – not because of your ISP, but your router. That’s also on the I’ll-get-back-to-that list, so…
WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT ROUTERS?
A router is the device that connects you to the internet, typically via a fibre optical connection terminal (ONT), and distributes that connectivity to your PC, console, and other devices. It’s the thing your mom probably calls “the wifi”, even though you keep explaining that it’s a router, and “the wifi” stopped working because she accidentally unplugged it.
Some ISPs include a free router when you sign up with them, but like everything else, one router model is not equal to others. I signed up for a 100/100 Mbps package with my ISP, for example, and subsequently bumped up to 200/100 Mbps, but the free router originally included with this doesn’t support speeds over 100 Mbps. Bummer. So I had to purchase a new one.
Now, remember what I told you about NAT and routers? A router intended for online gaming should also support universal plug-and-play (UPnP). This is a protocol that manages connection permissions between devices and servers, and without it, you’re going to end up with a restricted or moderate NAT. Since 2015 or so, most routers support and enable UPnP by default, but older models might not support it, or require manual enabling.
ONE OTHER THING
ISPs and network operators are frequently separate entities, but not necessarily, but also. Afrihost is an ISP, for example, and Vumatel operates one of its subscriber networks, and Telkom is an ISP for its Openserve network – but so is Afrihost. Think of ISPs as vendors (like Pick N Pay) for other companies’ products (like Coca-Cola), but sometimes also their own house brands.
CHOOSING AN INTERNET CONNECTION FOR ONLINE GAMING
Okay, so remember what I told you about things that aren’t super obvious? This is one of them. No, make that two of them – speed and data cap, plus bonus extras. But let’s go one at a time.
CHOOSING AN INTERNET CONNECTION SPEED
To connect to a game server and play online, you don’t need a mega-speed connection – even a 1 Mbps connection is fast enough to support this for most games. Add in voices comms with multiple other players, and it could get wobbly – but because most fibre internet packages are a minimum speed of 10/10 Mbps, this shouldn’t be an issue. A 10/10 Mbps fibre internet package isn’t the fastest, but it’s fast enough.
Buuuuut also, downloading games from Steam, Xbox Live, the PlayStation Network, or some other online distribution service over a 10/10 Mbps connection speed is going to take time, with a lot of games now exceeding 40 GB and up in size. A 40 GB game download on a 10/10 Mbps connection, for example, takes about 9.5 hours. On a 100/10 or 100/100 Mbps connection (because this is download speed in use, not upload speed), a 40 GB game download takes one hour. In theory.
Because remember what I told you about server sources? Let’s get back to that. A server is a remote computer in South Africa or the EU or US or whatever that transmits data to you, and the connection from your PC or console to the server can be unpredictable. A 100/100 Mbps connection can manage downloads speeds up to 100 Mbps on your PC or console, but that doesn’t mean the server can transmit data at the same speed, or that the data can even transmit from the server to your device at the same speed because of this, that, or the other thing in between. But, and this is important, it’s not because of your ping. Uh, I’ll get back to that in a moment.
In the meantime, what’s also important? This is important:
A HYPER-FAST INTERNET CONNECTION IS CONVENIENT, MAYBE, BUT IT’S NOT EVERYTHING
Because a 100/100 internet connection is also pushing hundreds, thousands, zillions of megabits and megabytes of data.
CHOOSING A INTERNET DATA CAP
Besides connection speeds, ISPs also categorise internet packages between capped and uncapped. A capped internet package has a limited data allocation that maxes out at a specified number of megabytes or gigabytes per month. If you exceed that data allocation, you’re stuck with no internet or very slow internet. Simple? No, because even some uncapped packages can include a “fair use policy” (FUP) that limits your data allocation at an arbitrary number anyway. An internet package promoted as uncapped, for example, could include a FUP of 500 GB.
Online games use data from 50 MB per hour to 300 MB per hour and more. With this plus game downloads and updates, you can use up 500 GB in one week without even realising it.
What’s important? This is important:
YOUR DATA CAP IS EVERYTHING (ELSE, ALMOST) SO CONFIRM YOUR ISP’S FUP BEFORE SIGNING UP FOR A BILLION-YEAR CONTRACT YOU CAN’T CANCEL, EVEN IF IT INCLUDES A FREE ROUTER
Some ostensibly uncapped internet packages are subject to a FUP, and others aren’t. Diversity, yo.
BUT WHAT EVEN IS PING?
Ping or latency is the time it takes to transmit data from your PC, console, or other device to a remote host server and back, measured in milliseconds (ms). Even over a high-speed fibre optic connection, this isn’t an instant transaction, and the physical distance between your device and the server is a major factor too. So your ping to a server in South Africa is much faster, for example, than your ping to a server in the EU.
What’s important? This is important:
YOUR INTERNET CONNECTION SPEED IS INCONSEQUENTIAL TO YOUR PING SPEED
A 100/100 Mbps internet connection can’t fold space-time and reduce the physical distance between your devices and servers, sorry, and latency is inevitable, forever, or until science works out how to fold space-time.
Online games and ping are a combo deal. When you click on something in a game, for example, that’s a packet of data that must transmit from your device to the server and back. With a ping of 30 ms, this transaction is fast enough that you wouldn’t notice a delay between you clicking on something in the game, and the result of that. With a ping of 300 ms, you would, and that’s why you blame “lag” when you lose a game, and not your failure to compensate for it.
Want to know more about whats happening at the Rand Show Festival of Gaming? Check out the event hub here.
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