How to stream games while sharing a Wi-Fi network
Sharing a home network connection with multiple people and their multiple devices can impact your online gaming experience. Here are some things to try to ensure everyone can be happy with their bandwidth:
Schedule everyone’s time online
Too many people trying to connect will congest your Wi-Fi network. This might sound silly, but if it’s possible amongst everyone in your home, try scheduling your gaming around when others having video conference calls and classes. This is optimize internet speeds for gaming, since less people will be taking up bandwidth on the network.
Reduce allotted bandwidth
You can reduce lag for gaming by saving bandwidth. Managing bandwidth demand can be done a few ways. One of the easiest is to minimize the amount of bandwidth that other applications and programs eat up. The next few steps will also help save bandwidth.
Prioritize your devices with your router
Like we said above, you can prioritize your gaming devices over other devices in your home. In your router settings, you can give specific devices prioritization. This means, that your gaming console connection gets through ahead of other devices on the same network.
Change your router’s frequency channel
You can also switch the frequency band on your router that your gaming console is on. For example, from 2.4GHz to 5GHz.
Speaking of your router, you may want to upgrade to Wi-Fi 6. Outdated routers can’t reach optimal speeds.
Try a wired connection
Wireless internet connection is amazing for most things. But when it comes to gaming, sometimes it’s not the best solution. Wi-Fi can easily cut out or lag, which is a nightmare when you are just about to defeat your opponent or complete a level.
A wired connection like with MoCA network adapters gets you solid, reliable Wi-Fi every time you connect. Which means no gaming lag.
MoCA technology uses your existing coaxial wiring in your home to create Gigabit connection that’s reliable and very fast. MoCA is a plug-and-play technology that doesn’t require an expensive home rewiring project and is easy to install.
Learn more about MoCA Network Adapters or MoCA WiFi Extenders on Actiontec’s Complete Guide to MoCA.
Want more tips to improve your home Wi-Fi for online gaming? Check out Actiontec’s Complete Guide to Wi-Fi Networking, Actiontec’s Industry Articles or the Actiontec blog.