High ping turns every online game into a frustrating experience. You see enemies teleporting, your shots don’t register, and you lose gunfights you should have won. The good news is that most ping problems are fixable on your end — you just need to know where to look. This guide covers every optimization from quick DNS changes to advanced registry tweaks, organized from easiest to most technical.
For game-specific fixes, check our League of Legends high ping fix guide.
What Your Numbers Should Look Like
Before you start troubleshooting, you need to know what “good” looks like:
- Ping: Under 30ms is ideal for competitive gaming. 30-60ms is acceptable. 60-100ms is playable but disadvantageous. Above 100ms is a serious problem.
- Jitter: Under 5ms. Jitter is the variation in your ping — high jitter means your ping constantly spikes and drops, which feels worse than consistently high ping.
- Packet loss: 0%. Any packet loss causes rubber-banding, desyncs, and hit registration failures. Even 1% packet loss is noticeable in fast-paced games.
Test your current stats at speedtest.net (click “More Info” after the test for jitter) or use the in-game network stats overlay that most competitive games provide.
Step 1: Switch to a Faster DNS Server
Your ISP’s default DNS servers are often slow and overloaded. Switching to a faster DNS improves how quickly your computer resolves server addresses. Important caveat: DNS only affects the initial server lookup when you connect to a game. Once connected, DNS does not affect your in-game ping. However, faster DNS reduces connection times, can prevent DNS-related disconnects, and improves overall browsing speed.
Best DNS servers in 2026:
| Provider | Primary | Secondary | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare | 1.1.1.1 | 1.0.0.1 | Fastest response times overall |
| 8.8.8.8 | 8.8.4.4 | Most reliable and stable | |
| Quad9 | 9.9.9.9 | 149.112.112.112 | Security-focused with malware blocking |
How to change DNS on Windows: Open Settings > Network & Internet > your connection > DNS server assignment > Edit. Switch from Automatic to Manual, enable IPv4, and enter your chosen primary and secondary DNS addresses.
Step 2: Windows Network Registry Tweaks
Windows has several built-in network behaviors that add latency for gaming. These registry tweaks disable them:
Disable Nagle’s Algorithm: Nagle’s Algorithm batches small network packets together before sending them, which improves bandwidth efficiency but adds latency. For gaming, you want every packet sent immediately.
Open Registry Editor (regedit) and navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces
Find the interface that matches your network adapter (look for the one with your IP address listed), then create or modify two DWORD values:
- TcpAckFrequency = 1 (acknowledges every packet immediately instead of waiting)
- TcpNoDelay = 1 (disables Nagle’s algorithm, sends packets immediately)
Disable network throttling: Windows throttles network traffic for multimedia applications by default. Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Multimedia\SystemProfile
Set NetworkThrottlingIndex to ffffffff (DWORD, hexadecimal). This disables the throttling entirely.
Disable TCP Auto-Tuning: Open Command Prompt as Administrator and run: netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled. This prevents Windows from dynamically adjusting your TCP receive window size, which can cause latency spikes. Note: this may reduce download speeds on very fast connections (1Gbps+), so test both ways.
Step 3: Wired Connection vs WiFi
If you are gaming on WiFi and complaining about ping, the first fix is always to plug in an Ethernet cable. The latency difference is significant:
- Ethernet: Less than 1ms added latency, zero packet loss under normal conditions, consistent and stable.
- WiFi 7 (802.11be): 1-5ms in ideal conditions with low interference and line-of-sight to the router. Multi-link operation (MLO) makes it the first WiFi generation viable for competitive gaming.
- WiFi 6E (802.11ax on 6GHz): 2-10ms typical. The 6GHz band has less congestion than 5GHz, but latency is still higher than Ethernet.
- WiFi 5/6 on 2.4GHz or crowded 5GHz: 10-50ms+ with frequent spikes. Not recommended for competitive gaming.
If Ethernet isn’t possible: Use the 5GHz or 6GHz band (never 2.4GHz for gaming), position yourself as close to the router as possible, and reduce interference from other devices. A dedicated WiFi 7 adapter with an external antenna helps significantly.
Step 4: QoS and Traffic Shaping
If other devices or people share your internet connection, Quality of Service (QoS) ensures your gaming traffic gets priority. The most effective approach uses SQM (Smart Queue Management) with either the fq_codel or CAKE algorithm:
- fq_codel: Available on most modern routers running OpenWrt or DD-WRT firmware. Automatically manages queue sizes to prevent bufferbloat (latency spikes caused by your router’s buffer filling up).
- CAKE: The more advanced option, available on OpenWrt. Handles asymmetric connections (different upload/download speeds) better than fq_codel.
Critical setting: When configuring SQM, set your bandwidth limits to 80-90% of your maximum speed for both upload and download. This prevents your connection from ever fully saturating, which eliminates bufferbloat. For example, if you have 100Mbps down / 10Mbps up, set SQM to 85Mbps down / 8.5Mbps up.
If your router doesn’t support SQM, check for a basic QoS feature and prioritize gaming traffic or your PC’s MAC address.
Step 5: VPN — When It Helps and When It Hurts
Contrary to popular belief, a VPN can sometimes lower your ping. Here is when:
- VPN helps: When your ISP uses suboptimal routing (your traffic takes an inefficient path to the game server) or when your ISP throttles gaming traffic during peak hours. A VPN forces a different route that may be shorter.
- VPN hurts: When your normal route is already optimal. Every VPN adds at least one extra hop, which adds latency.
How to test for ISP throttling: Run a speed test normally, then run the same test while connected to a VPN. If your VPN speeds are significantly faster than your non-VPN speeds, your ISP is likely throttling your connection.
Protocol matters: If you use a gaming VPN, choose one that supports WireGuard. WireGuard adds approximately 1ms of overhead, compared to 3-8ms for OpenVPN. The difference is meaningful when every millisecond counts.
Step 6: Diagnostic Tools
When you cannot figure out where the problem is, these tools trace the exact point of failure:
- PingPlotter: The best network diagnostic tool available. It runs a continuous traceroute to any target (use your game server’s IP) and visualizes every hop between you and the server. You can see exactly where latency spikes or packet loss occur — whether it’s your local network, your ISP, or the game server itself.
- WinMTR: A free alternative to PingPlotter. Combines ping and traceroute into one continuous test. Less visual but effective for identifying problem hops.
- Resource Monitor: Built into Windows (search “Resource Monitor” in Start). The Network tab shows every process using bandwidth and its latency. Useful for finding background applications consuming bandwidth.
How to read a traceroute: If the first 1-3 hops show high latency, the problem is your local network (router, modem, or cables). If middle hops spike, the problem is your ISP or a transit provider. If only the final hop is high, the game server itself is overloaded.
Step 7: ISP-Level Issues
Sometimes the problem genuinely isn’t on your end. Signs that your ISP is the issue:
- Ping is consistently higher during peak hours (6-11 PM) and normal during off-peak
- PingPlotter shows latency spikes at ISP-owned hops (typically hops 3-7 in the traceroute)
- Your neighbors on the same ISP report the same issues
- VPN consistently provides lower ping than direct connection
What you can do: Call your ISP with PingPlotter or WinMTR evidence showing which of their nodes is the problem. Request a different routing path or a technician visit. If the issue persists, switching ISPs (if available in your area) may be the only real solution.
Quick Tips / TL;DR
- Target: Ping under 30ms, Jitter under 5ms, Packet Loss 0%
- Use Ethernet whenever possible — WiFi adds 2-50ms of latency
- Switch DNS to Cloudflare (1.1.1.1) for fastest lookups (won’t reduce in-game ping, but improves connection reliability)
- Disable Nagle’s Algorithm via registry: TcpAckFrequency=1, TcpNoDelay=1
- Set NetworkThrottlingIndex to ffffffff in the registry
- Configure SQM/QoS at 80-90% of max bandwidth to prevent bufferbloat
- Use PingPlotter to identify exactly where latency occurs in your connection
- VPN with WireGuard can help if your ISP routes inefficiently (~1ms overhead)
- If ping is only high during peak hours, your ISP is likely the bottleneck
