Wireless gaming a bad idea?

[FluxCap]

Sorry if this has been discussed a lot before but I was curious about my situation. I have never used a wireless connection but I recently picked up a Netgear with the super deal that was going on. A friend of mine warned me about wireless gaming not being a smart "option" but I was curious what other people here have found. I would probably be playing Battlefield 1942, some EQ and Freelancer along with email and basic surfing. Are there enough "drops" or "lag spikes" to prevent gaming with wireless from being a smart idea??

 

[nwfsnake]

My son and I play Half-life with the same Netgear 11Mbps set-up you probably have (I took advantage of the multiple rebates, also). He is on the wireless end, and his gameplay is pretty good. His ping is a little higher than mine, but it is only usually about 20% -30% slower than my direct connection to the cable modem. Can't complain for the price!

 

[FluxCap]

Thanks for the tip. I really don't have much of a choice currently without wiring the condo I live in. When I buy my first home next year I will get it prewired probably.

 

[chsh1ca]

FluxCap, keep in mind that as long as your bandwidth from your cable modem to your PCs (usually 100mbit) is higher than your bandwidth from your cable modem to the internet (depending on provider, anwhere from 1.5d/768u to 512d/256u), you probably shouldn't be too concerned about the medium (wireless, IR, cabled) unless it is high-latency or tends to drop a lot of packets. Of course, that works on the assumption you'll be gaming online in BF1942, which I think is a safe one. 😀

 

[FluxCap]

Good point. I guess I won't know until I jump right in and see for myself. I have the wireless router so I might as well give it a go.

 

[ktwebb]

There are a couple of problems that you may run into. While bandwidth wouldn't normally be a problem, if your wireless association from AP to client is poor then your pings could show it, perhaps significantly. Interference or a noisy environment cause poor signal quality or signal to noise ratio. This could force the wireless client and/or AP to drop packets. The other thing you might run into is if your running XP, MS zero wireless configuration utility has been known to cause hiccups.

So...as long as your AP to client association is solid, ie. low SNR, and XP isn't causing you any problems, you wouldn't see any difference whatsoever in a wireless client device vs a wired one. The wireless hop from client to AP might add 1-3 ms under optimal conditions. Adding more wireless nodes to the AP might introduce some latency depending on the load. AP's are akin to wireless hubs, using Collision Avoidance vs Collision Detection being the primary difference besides the obvious medium difference, microwaves vs copper. There is no yes or no answer to this question until you test and setup your WLAN.

 

[FluxCap]

Yes, I did read about the issues with XP and 802.1b. I am luckily running Win2k still.

Add: I had DirecTVDSL for about 14 months and it was great until they went out of business SO now I am getting Comcast cable hooked up tomorrow. Not sure of how my performance will be, not sure how many of my neighbors use it.

 

[kehi]

How much do pings usually go up for wireless gaming? If I have a ping of 30 now through a wired connection to the router, what will it be (on the same server) if I used a usb wireless network client? Thanks and please lmk

 

[nwfsnake]

Well, last night we were both on. My ping on Half-life CS was about 40-50, and his was about 55-80. As mine would go up, so would his, at least as far as we can tell yelling at each other through the house! This varies based on the server we connect to and the time of day. Most of the phone guys have pings of 200+, so this should give you a good idea. Even though his is higher, it still is more than adequate to play smoothly.

 

[azev]

I played age of Mythology from my wireless laptop (comcast cable) and I think it work just fine. I hosted 3 vs 3 games with no lag........

 

[FluxCap]

Thanks for the responses. I will report soon on how my pings are looking.