The Best Broadband for Online Gaming

By Julia Kukiewicz Staff Writer Monday, 5 May 2008

Best Broadband for Online Gaming Online Gaming Jargon Buster How can you tell which of these often flaunted broadband buzzwords will help you in (virtual) reality? By using our handy online gaming jargon buster of course! Low Ping Rate The ping rate is the time it takes for information to reach another server. So, a high ping rate means it takes a comparatively long time and this will slow down your gameplay. Low Latency Latency or lag is an effect of a low ping rate. It makes games jumpy and slow. Gameplay gets smoother with lower latency. Unlimited Downloads Broadband packages with unlimited downloads seem to be amenable to gamers but they often come with a large caveat in the form of a fair-use policy. No Throttling Fair use policies sometimes open up bandwidth by throttling – severely slowing down – your connection if you download a lot. See Neil Hawkins' Guide to Fair Use Policies to find broadband providers who won’t throttle your connection. Related Broadbands News See our other recent related news stories: Mixed reception for Plusnet's new gaming package Plusnet's new dedicated gaming package: Plusnet Broadband Your Way Pro has received a mixed reception from some of the UK's most avid gamers. Why broadband's future is game shaped The onling gaming market is predicted to make $13 billion in 2011 and the UK is already gearing up to make virtual reality a reality. Be Vs Plusnet: who wins in the battle of the online gamers? With both Be Broadband and Plusnet offering specialised broadband packages just for online gamers, we pit the two packages head to head and reveal who wins in the ultimate broadband gamer faceoff. Broadband Fair Use Policies Exposed Just how fair is your broadband provider's fair use policy? Neil Hawkins exposes the best and worst of the UK's broadband fair use policies. Other 'Best Broadband...' Features See our other recent 'Best Broadband...' feature articles: Best Broadband for Unlimited Downloads Who offers the best broadband for unlimited downloads? Best Broadband for Home Phone and Broadband Bundles Who offers the best broadband and home phone bundle? Best Broadband for Technical Support Who offers the best broadband customer support?

WHEN you’re gaming online there’s nothing more frustrating than losing out because of a bad broadband connection.

Just a milisecond delay could be the difference between being fragged by a 15 year old from Taiwan, or rising victorious to the XBox Live hall of fame.

Make sure you never get (virtually) killed again by signing up to the best broadband package for gamers.

What should I look for in an online gaming broadband package?

There are some basic things to look out for in a broadband gaming package.

Getting the fastest connection you can is a must.

The higher your Mb/s speed the less frustrating your loading time and the easier it’ll be for you keep up with new gaming technology.

The speed you will be able to receive will depend on the type of cables in your area and how far your house is from the exchange. You should be able to check this with the provider but make sure you do it before you sign up to that 20 mb/s package!

Also look out for super-fast download and upload speeds. They’ll help to create low latency - smooth, fast gameplay.

Packages advertising a low ping rate will be the best for low latency.

Another thing it’s important to look out for is download limits.

It might seem a contradiction but it’s often better not to get an unlimited download package because these often have fair-use policies that tend to restrict (or throttle) the speed of heavy-downloaders.

If you’re a hardcore gamer, that’ll probably be you.

Finally, make sure you check if the modem you receive will be compatible with your console particularly if you’re signing up for a broadband package not specifically created for gamers.

Which broadband providers do the best deals for online gaming?

Over-restrictive fair-use policies knock the biggest providers – Virgin Media, Tiscali, Orange and TalkTalk - out of the competition straight away.

That leaves the smaller providers: Be*, O2 Broadband, Plusnet and BT-owned Madasafish.

Of these Be, Plusnet and Madasfish offer the best gamer-recommended packages: Be Pro; Plusnet's Broadband Your Way Pro and Madasafish's Max Plus.

BE PRO

Be Pro is the headline grabber of the three.

At £22 a month (recently reduced from £40) it’s face-smackingly good value and with speeds of 24 mb/s it’s officially the fastest broadband in the UK.

Features which will specifically appeal to gamers are the static IP address – which will allow you to run your own server – and the fantastic opt-in 2.5MB upload speed.

Be also offer that rare thing – a fair use policy that is actually fair. Be Pro offers unlimited downloads but Be’s amazing reputation amongst their customers for being fair to heavy downloaders means that Be Pro is a no throttling zone.

   • You can read our full, impartial review of Be Pro here.

PLUSNET BROABAND YOUR WAY PRO

Plusnet’s Broadband Your Way Pro was the UK’s first broadband package completely dedicated to gamers.

At a comparatively stately 8 mb/s this package isn’t exactly going to break any records but if - like many of us - 24 mb/s isn’t going to happen for you any time soon this reliable service will do very nicely.

Plus, the jewel in Plusnet’s crown - their game signature recognition technology which gives priority to gaming traffic – will speed up your gameplay. Again, you can expect low latency and ping.

Plusnet have a novel solution to the download/fair-use problem. Dowloading is capped at 15 GB during the day and evening but completely uncapped from midnight to 8am.

That 15 GB should be more than enough but you can add more data for as little as 75p per GB.

Plusnet are also offering a Game voucher worth £40 when you sign up before the 30th of May – so you can get back the £19.99 a month you’ll pay for your broadband back in games for the first two months!

   • You can read a full, independent review of Plusnet Broadband Your Way Pro here.

Madasafish – no, we don’t know why they’re called that either - are keen to promote their Max Plus package to gamers.

At £19.99 a month for six months then £25.99 for 8 mb/s speeds it’s a fair price considering Madasafish’s excellent reputation for customer service and reliability.

You get a static IP address but the Max Plus package’s real selling point is that you get a massive 20 GB a month usage allowance and Madasafish will never throttle your connection.

   • You can read a full, impartial review of Madasfish Max Plus here.

The best broadband for online gaming

So what is the best broadband package for online gaming? Well, it depends.

If you can get Be Broadband’s amazing 24 mb/s speeds that amazing 2.5 MB upload speed and great reputation makes Be Pro a clear winner

However, there’s no point paying for speeds that you just won’t get.

Plusnet's Broadband Your Way Pro offers the same reliable service and gamer extras. Plus that Game voucher will definitely come in handy.

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