Question What can I do to improve my internet connection for my Nintendo switch?

[Styers]

I play games like smash bros ultimate and Dauntless, both on switch, but every time I play I can notice considerable lag at times, I've tried switching my WIFI to 5ghz connection and upgrading to a faster network which gets me to 30mbs download speed, and a fluctuating >1-15mbps upload speed, I haven't tried getting a wired connection because it would be difficult to get the ethernet cord from my switch to my router, and I have friends who do use a wired connection and also complain about lag, is there anything I could do to decrease lag?

 

[Midwayman]

Well your network speed shouldn't matter unless other people in your house are doing data heavy things like watching videos. Stuff like phone updates kicking off while you're playing can impact you. Ethernet generally provides a much more stable connection, You'll lose a packet occasionally, which isn't noticeable for normal internet use, but in games it can be a problem. going wired can help that.

 

[RPD]

Have you tried looking into port forwarding? I ran into this issue recently playing Diablo3 with my two boys. The situation was we never had any issues on a rented Comcast modem. However after wiring some other rooms in the house I no longer needed their wifi cable boxes so went back to my slightly older Nighthawk modem/router combo. Started playing again and any time all 3 of us were in the same game, one person would seriously lag, up to 5seconds of nothing going on the switch or longer. No issues if we were all in our own games full of randoms.

Picked one switch to have a static IP then set up port forwarding for it and now the issue is gone.

 

[thrushconclude]

Your router should be as central to your home as possible. In an ideal would it would be slap bang in the centre with no regard for the convenience of others, but that’s rarely practical, as you’ve got to have power cables, the ADSL or coaxial in, and potentially some ethernet if you’re getting all wired on this router’s ass.