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Post by phalthallus on Jan 17, 2011 13:37:08 GMT
Hi all,
We're considering changing our ISP's to save a few bucks each month. The problem is, we're on REALLY good internet at the moment (at least for our area). It's just that we REALLY pay for it. Comcast is feeding us 16 MB/s download, and an upload around 1.5 MB/s. U-Verse will be probably 6-9 MB/s, depending on the package we get, and a 1 MB/s upload.
I know that when downloading, you only download as fast as your host uploads. So for example, while downloading a game from Steam right now, I'm getting 1.5 MB/s download speed. So I realize that downloads don't take advantage of your download speed.
My question, therefore, is what effect do speeds have for online play? Games like HG, or other MMORPG's, FPS, etc...will we notice a significant change downgrading? Or do these typically only "push" a certain speed too, just like file downloads? Is it unlikely that I'd notice much change? Or will it be pretty significant? We're looking at saving $20-$30/mo, and I'm just wondering if it's worth it.
Thanks in advance, Phal
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Post by MurphysLawAgain on Jan 17, 2011 14:14:58 GMT
This is where the age of NWN is in your favour. The game is designed to be playable on a 56k dialup modem. Any broadband option is likely to give way more bandwidth than you need. Other games are also designed with a variety of pipe sizes in mind, you shouldn't have a problem because of the volume of data moved.
There are other factors to consider, mostly contention and reliability of service. No matter how much you have as a notional "max download" all gaming needs the lowest "contention ratio" you can get. This is the number of other users using "your" upstream connection (techie note - yes I know all this can be explained in FAR more detail - this is just trying to explain the concept). if your connection is highly contended (eg 50:1 ratio or more) then your service can be impacted by other people. Pls note that most broadband sales folk wouldnt know a contention ratio if it bit them - check your possible ISP using a few comparison sites. You need to make sure that they have good customer service and minimum downtime - no matter the price having broadband that goes up and down like a yoyo is a false economy.
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Post by chirality on Jan 17, 2011 16:37:06 GMT
For what it's worth, I agree completely with MurphysLaw on that last part--when it comes to supporting something like HG minimum downtime and good customer service is extremely important. Definitely make sure that any alternative is "at least" "as good" as what we're running on right now.
I'll let more knowledgable players chime in on the actual question at hand, but I wanted to emphasize that point.
At any rate...like MurphysLaw says: NWN is old, and nowhere near as intensive as the "latest and greatest" MMOs. We're extremely lucky to have such an amazing game here based on such a venerable...platform (obviously I'm not using that word in the standard "gamer" definition; just common non-gaming terminology).
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Post by phalthallus on Jan 17, 2011 18:13:48 GMT
chirality: Not sure if there was some confusion here, and I suppose there was from the subject (I'll change it now). This is just for my own personal internet connection, not the connection used for all of Higher Ground. Thanks for the input guys!
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Post by Torin on Jan 17, 2011 18:16:53 GMT
I've (only) 4 MB/s; 0.5 MB/s and HG works perfect.
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Post by Senaattori on Jan 17, 2011 23:33:07 GMT
I've got 100MB/100MB connection and its working great
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Post by chirality on Jan 18, 2011 5:43:10 GMT
Definitely some confusion (that's an understatement)...I had just woken up and wasn't really even thinking any deeper into your post than my first impression of it. Makes little sense in hindsight...
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Post by Retribution on Jan 18, 2011 12:35:16 GMT
I used to double box on dial up until just over a year ago... and that's New Zealand dial up, averaging around 29kbps and so far from the servers that 450 was decent ping, so I'm sure whatever you get will be fine Ret.
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Post by digs on Jan 18, 2011 22:30:53 GMT
Download speed is of little importance when it comes to playing online games. Latency or ping is what it's really about. That's the time it takes for data to get from one location to another. Almost any broadband connection other than satellite will have low latency of 50ms or less. And for games like NWN, latency isn't even that big of a deal. I play on a 26.4k dial-up modem with a ping of about 300-400ms and I don't even really notice it. For FPS's or other fast-paced games latency is critical and could be the difference between a scoring a headshot and hitting nothing but air.
I'd say do it. You shouldn't notice any difference in your games unless that ISP really sucks.
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Post by phalthallus on Jan 19, 2011 13:28:02 GMT
Thanks for the input all. It's much appreciated.
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Post by Starcub on Jan 19, 2011 21:59:46 GMT
If you have a local friend that gets the same service you're looking into, ask them to do a traceroute to the servers you are most interested in connecting to. Compare that trace info with info you get using your current service.
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Post by Test on Jan 19, 2011 22:30:21 GMT
I used to double box on dial up until just over a year ago... and that's New Zealand dial up, averaging around 29kbps and so far from the servers that 450 was decent ping, so I'm sure whatever you get will be fine Ret. I am still seeing 450 pings semi often for HG. It is basically never below 300.
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