The situation is life or death, in a virtual sense. You have just enough ammo and health to survive the next engagement, maybe, and you’re going for it. You turn the corner, and there’s your opponent: another gamer with a name that’s probably unprintable here. You take aim and…
Lag, quickly followed by your unceremonious demise. You have fallen victim to a high ping rate, and you know you could have won if your connection was a little bit better. Well, I know it too. I believe you. That’s why I’ve compiled this list of tips and tricks to help you keep your ping low and avoid lag on all your PlayStation 4 games.
With a few tweaks to your setup, and CyberGhost VPN, you can resolve most of the issues that cause high ping on PS4 in just a few minutes.
Quick Guide: How to Reduce Ping on PS4 with a VPN
- Sign up for CyberGhost VPN.
- Configure your router to connect to the VPN server of your choice.
- Dominate every virtual battlefield.
Why Is My Ping on PS4 So High?
There are two main causes of high ping: distance and bad routing of your internet traffic. Distance is a physical problem – the further away you are from the game server you’re playing on, the higher your ping. Even fiber-optic cables have their limits.
Routing is the name for, well, the actual route your signal takes to get to its destination and back. Misconfigured servers in your ISP’s data center, overloaded networks along the way, and plain old bad luck can all slow down your signal.
Last but not least, various hardware and software issues can cause high ping, but they’re usually not hard things to fix. Read on to find out how to resolve all of the most common issues, and get back to your friends and enemies in your favorite online games.
What Is a Good Ping for PS4?
25-40 ms ping is a fantastic rate for any online game. If you’re in this range, congratulations: you’ve hit the online gaming jackpot. 40-60ms is plenty playable in fast-paced online games like shooters and MOBAs – you should be able to keep up with everyone else.
60-80 ms is still playable, but you’ll start to notice the disadvantage against players with lower ping. Specifically, they’ll be able to see you before you see them, or you might feel like you’re getting shot around corners.
80-100 ms and above is where you’ll really start to feel the pain in action-heavy and reflex-dependent games.
6 Ways to Lower Your Ping on PS4
1. Use a VPN
You’ll need to install a VPN on your router to make this work, because the PS4 doesn’t support VPNs natively, but it’s worth it. Not only can it help you reduce ping on your PS4 online games, but it’ll actually benefit all of the devices on your network at the same time.
Here’s the science: VPNs work by routing all of your internet traffic through a VPN server in a location of your choice. Pick a VPN server that’s close to the game server you want to play on, and any good gaming VPN will automatically look for the fastest route between your home network and the VPN server. This allows you to bypass the networking issues mentioned above.
As a bonus, all data between your home network and the VPN server will then be encrypted, which adds an extra layer of security to your connection. It also changes your IP address, which can help to protect you from DDoS attacks, and help you access game servers in other regions.
2. Use a wired connection
Your PS4 has an ethernet port. Use it, and you’ll probably notice a difference immediately. Ethernet cables are typically not expensive, so if you have to buy a long one, go ahead and do just that.
Yes, Wi-Fi is getting a lot better, but cable connections will likely always have the edge in both stability and speed.
3. Try a different game server
Most online games will automatically choose the server with the lowest ping for you, and it will usually also be the server nearest to you. However, it doesn’t always go quite right. The game might just get it wrong, and pick a server that’s too far away. Try selecting a closer server manually.
Sometimes the networking and signal routing just goes wrong, and the server that’s closest isn’t actually the fastest for you – perhaps it’s congested, or in need of maintenance. In this case, you’ll want to try a few different servers in the region to see if this resolves the problem.
4. Clear your PS4’s cache
Turn off your console and unplug it for a few minutes. Why? Because your PS4 is just like any computing device: it collects data that it thinks it’s going to need later. But when that data really starts to build up, or gets outdated, it can interfere with the general operation of your console, or with your connection directly, causing high ping. Turning off your PS4 and unplugging it for about half a minute clears the cache for you.
A side note: there are two kinds of cache on your PS4. There’s the system cache, which is cleared by the method above. Then there’s cached data for individual games, which can be cleared from the settings menu. Mostly, you shouldn’t do this, as this cache holds important game data and clearing it won’t usually improve your connection.
5. Reboot everything you can
Sometimes you don’t need to go as far as clearing the cache, and a simple reboot will do the trick. The longer any computing device runs, the more little errors and bugs will pile up until they begin to interfere with your console and your connection. Give it the old off-and-on-again, just to be sure.
But also remember that there’s more than one device involved in the network chain. Be sure to reboot your modem or router if it’s been a while, because that can cause lag too. If you want to be extra sure everything gets cleared out, you can unplug it for about 30 seconds before restarting it.
6. Call your ISP
I’m a millennial, which is why I left this option for last. I’ve had scratches from my cats that were less painful than some phone calls with ISPs. Even so, if nothing else is working, call them. They might be able to find out what’s wrong and fix it on their end, or walk you through the process.
You might also consider upgrading your internet plan, or switching ISP’s altogether if necessary.
Why CyberGhost Is the Best VPN for PS4
CyberGhost VPN is a great PS4 VPN for several reasons. Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, it supports VPN-enabled routers. You need to set up CyberGhost VPN with your router in order to use it with the PS4, or any other major console.
The other major benefit is the server network. It spans 90+ countries, which means that no matter where you are, or where the game server you want happens to be, you can get a fast and reliable connection to your game. Moreover, these VPN servers are ultra-fast to keep up with all your in-game action.
As mentioned above, having a VPN mask your IP address helps avoid DDoS attacks. CyberGhost VPN takes this a step further by having DDoS mitigation built into every server. Even if the VPN server of your choice gets attacked, you won’t feel the lag that would otherwise come with it.
CyberGhost VPN also works with your PC or your smartphone. This is where VPN encryption comes in extra handy, as it allows you to protect your data on public Wi-Fi, and even unblock your games at school or work.
FAQ
There are several easy things you can do: use an ethernet cable instead of Wi-Fi, try different game servers, clear your system cache, give your PS4 and router a reboot, or call your ISP for help. You can also use a VPN to reduce lag – it bypasses some external network issues that would otherwise be beyond your control.
The potential causes of high ping are many, and they may gang up on you all at once. The problem can be one of outdated software, or maybe you’ve let it go too long without a reboot. On the other hand, maybe you’re playing on a game server that’s too far away, or your internet traffic is routing through overloaded networks.
Input latency can be caused by hardware issues, software issues, and lag, so the tips for reducing latency are largely the same as those for reducing lag: keep your PS4 up to date, use an ethernet cable, clear the cache, and give your PS4 a reboot. If the latency is caused by lag, then downloading a VPN may save you some headaches.
Unfortunately, this is impossible on any gaming device. Even if you had a server for your game on the same network and right next to your console, it would still take a few milliseconds to send data from your Playstation to the server and back, because it takes a moment to process that data. “0 ping” doesn’t exist.
It depends on what you’re playing. For fast-paced and action-oriented games like first-person shooters, you want a ping of less than 80 ms. Less than 50 ms is better, and 20 ms is basically the holy grail of ping. For turn-based games, you can go over 100 ms ping without even noticing.
“Good internet” is relative. Having a lot of bandwidth on your internet plan is definitely a good start, but other factors will impact lag time: the distance between your PS4 and the game server, congested networks along the way, or a misconfigured server in your ISP’s data center could all affect your connection speed.
The fastest and easiest way by far is to turn your Playstation 4 off, and just leave it unplugged for a minute or so. Turn it back on, and voila: your PS4 system cache is cleared. You can also clear the cache for specific games in the settings menu, but the system cache is more likely to be the cause of lag – don’t clear the game cache unless the game’s support team tells you to as you may lose important game data.
Absolutely! You’ll need to set up a suitable gaming VPN with your router, as PS4 doesn’t support VPN apps on its platform… but then, a VPN-enabled router can protect your console and every other device on your network at once. Then, connect to a VPN server that’s close to the game server you want to play on, and enjoy the lower ping and a more stable connection!
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