The Best Internet Service for Online Gaming

by Johnny Kilhefner , Demand Media

You need a decent Internet connection to prevent lag and excel in online gaming.

When it comes to playing video games online, there are several Internet service providers who claim to offer the best experience. These experiences differ from area to area, so it is up to you to shop around for the best ISP experience in your location. Settling on the right ISP for online gaming will yield the most benefits when playing an online match requiring the kind of quick response times only high-speed Internet connections can provide.

Verizon

Verizon is the leader -- on paper -- when it comes to delivering high-speed Internet connections (surf-speed of up to 1.23 Mbps). Verizon is capable of producing such speeds due to their fiber-optic network, or FiOS, as they call it. However, not everyone has access to FiOS. It's not likely you'll move to another location just to get your hands on the ultra-fast FiOS network, so you'll just have to wait until FiOS comes to your neck of the woods. Don't fret, there's still plenty of other ISPs that compete with Verizon FiOS.

Comcast

The Comcast brand delivers a service known as XFinity for bringing a high-speed fiber-optic connection into your home. Comcast's recent upgrade to XFinity and fiber-optics has pushed them over the 1 Mbps surf-speed and into 15 Mbps download-speed territory. Just like Verizon, many areas still don't have access to fiber-optic connections, meaning they will have to rely on Comcast's cable service. While not as stellar as XFinity, standard Comcast is still pretty good at 992 Kbps surf-speeds.

Cox

Cox offers a cable service more widely available than both FiOS and XFinity, but at 1.14 Mbps (surf-speed), Cox's cable service is blazing fast. This is perhaps the ideal service for people who live in rural areas, far away from the speeds of fiber-optic connections, but who still want to play online games.

Optimum Online

Optimum Online, while perhaps not as commercial as Verizon or Comcast, offers an optimal cable connection for online gaming. In speed tests, Optimum Online averaged about 1.12 Mbps (surf-speed), fairly close to the speeds of fiber-optic connections. If you are a gamer in need of an ISP capable of delivering high-speed Internet, Optimum Online is an excellent choice.

References

About the Author

Johnny Kilhefner began freelance writing in the fall of 2008. He has lent his talents as a writer to Oboulo, GosuArena, Spiteful Critic, More Say, Eduardo-Xavier, Central Elements, Gear Live, and as an SEO internet marketer. Johnny studied at Lord Fairfax in Warrenton, Virginia, earning an Associate of Applied Science in liberal arts.