Gaming is one of the most dominant online activities, as millions of users spend hours per week playing such multiplayer games as Fortnite, Call of Duty, or League of Legends with friends and other players from different parts of the world. Internet connection is an important aspect that enables efficient online gaming and Earthlink internet service provider is under scrutiny. In this blog post, I will look at Earthlink and its internet plans to determine if they can offer the necessary internet speed, stability, and low latency for gaming.
A Brief Perspective on Earthlink’s Internet Options
Earthlink has several broadband internet service provider packages that they provide that have varying speeds up to 1.5 Mbps to 1000 Mbps. However, their slowest plans could be inadequate for gaming, although their fastest fiber-optic gigabit plans could, theoretically, meet the demands of the activity.
Two, one needs to understand that raw download and upload speeds do not tell the whole story of internet quality for gaming, as other factors such as latency (lag), jitter, and reliability also matter. Fast frame rates are not sufficient to provide a good gaming experience if there are inconsistencies or latency. We shall discuss some of these other factors in the subsequent sections.
Stakeholders’ Earthlink Internet Speed and Reliability
Although Earthlink prides itself on offering gigabit speeds on some of its plans, most third-party customer speed tests do not necessarily reflect that. It was also found that on average Earthlink customers can achieve a download speed of 60-80 percent of the advertised speed during peak hours in the evening.
This means if you have subscribed to a 300 Mbps package, then it is quite likely that you will be getting 200 – 250 Mbps speed most of the time. These are still good for gaming, though, and reliability can be an issue as well. From the customers’ feedback, it is not rare for customers to experience an outage or a disconnection with Earthlink’s service. Gaming does require consistency because short interruptions can make you log out of the game.
The connection delay of Earthlink for online gaming
Apart from speed, other critical factors include latency, also known as ping time, in gaming. Latency is a measure of how long it takes for data to travel from your computer to the game servers and back again. High latency means that your input actions are delayed and the game plays less smoothly or in real-time as you want it to. When it comes to high-tier online shooters and Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas, or MOBA, the ideal latency should be less than 30 ms.
However, specific information regarding the gaming latency of Earthlink is difficult to come by. Some customers claim they can maintain low latency for gaming, while others report that they suffer from high latency issues regularly. Gaming latency is typically influenced by your geographical location and connection type. Overall, the fiber internet connection offers comparatively lesser and more stable latency as compared to the cable or DSL service.
If you have an option to choose a fiber-optic connection by Earthlink in your area, that should provide better gaming latency than their cable offers. However, there are no sureties – try to read reviews that are more specific to gaming in your locale, perhaps you will get more accurate details on latency.
Earthlink compatibility with Gaming Services
Most of the popular multiplayer games and services such as Steam, Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, Nintendo Switch Online, Discord, and Twitch.TV should in no way be able to have any technical problems in running over an Earthlink Broadband. However, some customers have complained of challenges in configuring NAT settings or ports appropriately for some games.
This may also vary depending on the plan and available network in your area of residence or country. Some games benefit from having the NAT settings set to optimal and ports open for the best multiplayer experience. Some gamers using Earthlink have been affected by occasional NAT or port-blocking issues. However, this is not surprising for regional ISPs of a somewhat smaller scale of operations.
One strength that can be associated with Earthlink is that their customer service tends to be well received by knowledgeable technicians as well as quick response. Therefore, should you encounter any network configuration or connectivity problems regarding gaming services, they can be somewhat useful in helping you solve them.
Earthlink: Good Enough For Gaming?
In the end, can Earthlink offer an online gaming experience that can rival other leading providers such as Verizon Fios, AT&T Fiber, Xfinity, or Spectrum? It appears that this all depends on the country in which you live, the chosen plan, and the specific needs of your technical project.
Regarding the more relaxed and non-professional gaming at relatively average rates, the plans offered by Earthlink fall under the mid-tier service provision. However, those hard-core competitive PC gamers who expect perfect low-latency essential connections should read several localized reviews before signing up with Earthlink.
Though maximum speeds might sound impressive on paper, there are numerous accounts of fluctuation and delay at peak hours that Earthlink cannot be deemed the most reliable for gaming. Their best fiber-optic plans may meet the criteria, but this service is not available widely. As for other providers to give the ultimate ultra-low-latency gaming for consumers, several other providers appear to have less controversy.
However, in some parts of this world, Earthlink internet may be the only high-speed internet connection one can get. In those cases, their faster plans can indeed allow gaming at reasonable quality levels, although it might not be quite on par with a native experience. Just don’t expect perfection. Therefore, to get the best out of Earthlink for gaming, one has to temper his or her expectations and also conduct adequate performance checks after joining the service. There may also be a need for individual connection tweaking depending on the type of games that are being played.
In summary- Yes Earthlink’s internet service can facilitate at-home gaming. However, it probably will not serve the needs of hardcore gamers who need the best stability with no variations. In this, most can get relatively average gaming speeds and quality from Earthlink at a decent price. However, the expectations should be reasonable and the performance should be assessed on the merit of the case.
Call (866) 240-0701 to get a new Earthlink connection now!
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How Much is Earthlink Fiber Internet?
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