PS4 Internet Speeds

[WhisperingWasp]

Quick bit of help required.

I moved house in the summer and couldn't get super-fast broadband (it is at capacity for the area or something?!). I've therefore got "normal" broadband and it has been fine for streaming Netflix, watching YouTube, posting boring topics on PH etc

One thing that is noticeably worse than my old house is that I am no longer able to play games online. I would play PUBG and - without fail - after a few minutes it would lag out.

I'm not sure what standard of broadband I had in the old house but the router was right next to the PS4 whereas now it is on a different floor.

I've now tested out the PS4 with an ethernet cable attached and have the following comparisons. There appears to be a big improvement but my question is is the new speed "good enough" do you think?

- WiFi: 8.1 Mbps download, 385.9 kbps upload
- cable: 16.7 Mbps download, 296.6 kbps upload

(Not sure why both figures aren't better with the cable?)

I could obviously just load up the game and see for myself but my PS Plus sub has expired and I'm not paying for it if I can't use it!

So is 16 Mbps good enough for online gaming?

Thanks all.

[The_Jackal]

It could well be, only real world evidence can tell you whether it is good enough for you (different people have different expectations).
For gaming, latency is king.
Cant you do a basic network test in the PS4 settings?

[WhisperingWasp]

Them figures were from the PS4’s network test.

I bought a new subscription in the end; 25% Black Friday discount as, like you say, I won’t know until I try it.

Pleased to say it’s now good enough to use.

Cheers.

[RossJM]

I've noticed an intresting one with my PS4.

If I plug it into to ethernet, it will only report ~8mb/s download. Unplug it and plug that cable into my desktop PC, a speedtest will show ~50mb/s (which is what I pay for). Not sure if this is a unique issue or a known issue but when I play or download games on my PS4 they download a lot quicker then 8mb/s.

Not sure if you are experiencing a similar issue but thats just something I have noticed.

[Brainpox]

RossJM said:

I've noticed an intresting one with my PS4.

If I plug it into to ethernet, it will only report ~8mb/s download. Unplug it and plug that cable into my desktop PC, a speedtest will show ~50mb/s (which is what I pay for). Not sure if this is a unique issue or a known issue but when I play or download games on my PS4 they download a lot quicker then 8mb/s.

Not sure if you are experiencing a similar issue but thats just something I have noticed.

Ultimately Sony will employ load balancing when needed. If the server you're downloading from is quiet then you'll get peak speeds, when it's busier they'll slow the transfer down at their end.

I feel the PS4s speed test is a bit pointless when 1) your actual speed will fluctuate wildly due to the above 2) they don't give you your download speed when actually downloading something (only the time remaining) and 3) ping is far more important in online gaming than outright speed. No point having a 1Gbps download if the packet takes 500ms to reach its destination.

What I also find frustrating is when it takes longer to install an update than it does to download it. If it's a case of decompressing the update file then I think they are bit OTT with their compression at times.

Edited by Brainpox on Sunday 24th November 07:28

[RossJM]

Brainpox said:

Ultimately Sony will employ load balancing when needed. If the server you're downloading from is quiet then you'll get peak speeds, when it's busier they'll slow the transfer down at their end.

I feel the PS4s speed test is a bit pointless when 1) your actual speed will fluctuate wildly due to the above 2) they don't give you your download speed when actually downloading something (only the time remaining) and 3) ping is far more important in online gaming than outright speed. No point having a 1Gbps download if the packet takes 500ms to reach its destination.

What I also find frustrating is when it takes longer to install an update than it does to download it. If it's a case of decompressing the update file then I think they are bit OTT with their compression at times.

Edited by Brainpox on Sunday 24th November 07:28

Thats good to know, thanks.

And I agree with the install times, sometimes they are ridiculously long.

[stevoknevo]

I'm no network or gaming expert but that upload speed looks incredibly low?

[WhisperingWasp]

stevoknevo said:

I'm no network or gaming expert but that upload speed looks incredibly low?

I thought that too. Massively lower than the download speed but tbh I don't know what either mean really. All I do know is that with the ethernet plugged in the game is playable online which it wasn't before. Probably still a pretty poor speed by today's standards but good enough for me