FPS
Experiencing the best gameplay in Overwatch involves having the lower ping possible! In this Overwatch How to Lower Ping article, you'll find 11 solutions to solve Internet issues and high latency and enjoy this game like never before!
Table of Contents:
Overwatch Minimum Requirements
Why Might Overwatch Have a High Ping?
How to Ensure the Lowest Overwatch Ping
1. Allocate Your Machine Resources Completely to Overwatch
2. Check Your Internet Connection if You have a Low Network Latency
4. Reset the System and the Network
5. Update all the Network Drivers
6. Identify and Shout Down other Devices that Cause Interference
9. Check Whether Blizzard Entertainment Has Server Issues
10. Select the Right Region on Battle.net
11. Move Your Router to a Different Spot Inside Your Home
Why a Lower Ping Is Crucial in the Overwatch Experience?
If you’re reading this article, you already know Overwatch is a team-based multiplayer first-person shooter. That being said, playing Overwatch requires a good Internet connection to work correctly, and gamers should respond to everything happening on the screen at the right time.
In Overwatch, you're the hero part of a six-member team fighting against another team of the same characteristics. So, it's logical to think you don't want to disappoint your teammates. But beyond the unique abilities of available characters, you must prevent high ping and ping spikes to be an excellent acquisition of your team.
Overwatch Minimum Requirements
Although a high ping is not strictly related to the power of your device, to improve and optimize your gaming experience, you must keep an eye on the graphic settings when you play Overwatch. Bad settings can lead to lag and latency issues. Recommended requirements are the following:
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CPU: Intel Core i5 or AMD Phenom II X3, 2,8 GHz
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Operating System: Windows Vista/7/8/10/11 64-bit (Latest Service Pack)
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RAM: 6 GB
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Graphics card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 or ATI Radeon HD 7950
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Pixel Shader: 5.0
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Vertex Shader: 5.0
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Free Disk Space: 30GB
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Dedicated Video RAM. 2 GB
Why Might Overwatch Have a High Ping?
We must mention three fundamental things about high ping Overwatch:
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Overwatch is a graphically-intense game that sends much data back and forth to Blizzard servers to sync all gaming elements.
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Overwatch is an online multiplayer game that relies on a server connection. So, the better and more stable the server connection, the more substantial possibility of avoiding Overwatch high ping.
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High Overwatch ping has nothing to do with the capabilities of your hardware. A low ping will require an Internet connection in its best shape if you have a PC with high-end specifications.
In short, ping defines the velocity of your Internet connection. It shows you how fast your system will respond to the stimuli of the video game. A world-class ping is lower than 20 ms. Anything lower than 100 ms provides a good connection speed. If your ping is over 150 ms, you're in serious trouble.
How to Ensure the Lowest Overwatch Ping
Gameplay in dizzying games like Overwatch is everything. Lagging and higher pings may be a real pain in the ass when you’re killing adversaries and trying to survive.
Let's check out the 11 top solutions and troubleshooting steps to this problem, so you have the best connection in Overwatch.
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Allocate Your Machine Resources Completely to Overwatch
Closing the irrelevant applications of your computer that use bandwidth is fundamental to allocating resources to online games like Overwatch. In a few words…
…bandwidth-hungry applications mean high-ping in Overwatch!
Of course, you can't control if family members or friends use your Internet connection to, say, watch Youtube or any other streaming service. But you can close all the applications on your computer to allocate the bandwidth to Overwatch. Services like Twitch or Spotify hog Internet bandwidth, decreasing the bandwidth allocated to games.
To do it quickly, open Task Manager and go to the Network tab to check what application hog bandwidth. Close all the unnecessary tasks and applications.
In short, close all the apps on your computer that consume bandwidth!
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Check Your Internet Connection if You have a High Network Latency
Before creating any theories on why Overwatch is not working correctly, you should check the performance of your Internet connection. Test your Internet speed, as issues often come from your Internet provider.
To do this, you can use a free speed test tools that abound on the web. This way, you can check if the velocity of network connections matches the service you hired.
If speed is not as expected, then you have two possibilities:
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You can phone your Internet service provider and ask if they have signal or connection issues. If that’s the case, then ask when the service will return to normal.
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Multiple devices are connected to the Internet while playing. So, reduce the number of devices that are using the connection.
If speed issues persist, hire another Internet provider that gives you higher uploading and download velocities. It’d be best if your new provider offered a 5G Internet connection.
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Hire a VPN Service
A professional VPN service will allow you to connect to an alternative DNS server with a lower ping. Most VPN services out there will offer you hundreds of servers located in all the corners of the world. Each has a current ping, which you can see on the side of the signal. Thus, select a different server to experience the lowest latency and ping in Overwatch.
This action will also flush your DNS and reset your IP address, providing a new IP address to hide your location and improve your Internet connection.
When you select a new server among thousands around the globe, you’ll reboot your network connection, using different channels and paths to get the signal.
In this sense, NoPing VPN ensures no one gets a peek at your data!
A VPN service also encrypts your information inside an encryption tunnel that prevents ISP (Internet Service Provider) from interfering with Overwatch. Besides, it also helps you to keep your gaming information safe, especially when connecting from public DNS server addresses.
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Reset the System and the Network
Suppose Overwatch's performance is not the best, and you're experiencing frame drops and Overwatch ping problems. In that case, it's likely that your machine is congested and is using many resources to carry out regular processes. We recommend you restart your machine and modem and your wireless router if you have a separate device.
This action often cools off your computer, allowing it to reorganize itself and its resources allocated to graphics settings, sound, and Internet connections. To do this, follow the next steps:
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Disconnect your network adapter.
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Unplug your WiFi device and wait 1 minute to plug it in again.
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Shut down your computer.
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Wait for a minute.
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Restart the computer, router, and modem.
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Reconnect to the Internet.
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Update all the Network Drivers
The network adapter is a built-in connection on your computer's motherboard. Its function is connecting your computer to a network through a network cable. Like other hardware components in your PC, the network adapter requires you to install updated drivers for an improved experience.
Updating general drivers, network adapters, and even operating systems will resolve your compatibility issues.
To do this, follow these steps:
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Right-click Start and select Device Manager.
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Double-click Network Adapter.
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In the expanded list, right-click your network adapter and choose Update driver.
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In the pop-up window, click Search automatically for updated driver software.
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Windows will search, download and install the last update.
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Identify and Shut Down other Devices that Cause Interference
This tip is strongly related to the second advice we comment on above. You will have a determined bandwidth depending on your Internet service. Generally, it goes from 300 MBps to 940 MBps. Suppose you have multiple bandwidth-hogging devices using the bandwidth. In that case, you will naturally experience increasing high ping issues because Overwatch will allocate a small part of the bandwidth.
If you want to experience a good ping, you can even plan on having an Internet connection just for Overwatch or other video games. This is cool when you're a pro player and need the best speeds. Besides, since most homes nowadays are connected to the Internet to perform security measures – thanks to IT and domotics – you likely will need an exclusive connection for gaming.
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Use an Ethernet Cable
A wired connection will provide you with a better and faster gaming experience since other devices will not have access to the connection. Furthermore, external interferences can cause drops in FPS, inconsistent latencies, and lag spikes. Then, if you need to fix Overwatch game connection problems, using an ethernet cable is crucial to experience a speed boost.
Most of the time, a wireless connection is slower than a wired connection!
WiFi connections are not the best for online games, so if you want to reduce ping in all games of this genre, we encourage you to use a wired connection.
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Change DNS Server
The DNS, or Domain Name System, converts domain names to IP addresses. In this sense, you can change the DNS server to ensure a short distance between you and the gaming server. This action can provide a solution for IP issues and the lowest ping. To change the DNS server, follow these steps:
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Enter the Control Panel.
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Select Network and Internet.
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Click on Network and Sharing Center.
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Select Change adapter settings.
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Right-click the active network interface and select Properties.
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Double-click the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) checkbox.
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Confirm the primary DNS address in the “Preferred DNS server” section.
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If you’ll use Google Public DNS, then type 8.8.8.8.
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In the “Alternative DNS Server,” type 8.8.4.4. For Google Public DNS.
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Click OK.
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Check Whether Blizzard Entertainment Has Server Issues
This is not one of the most common reasons, but sometimes, Overwatch players experience lag and a high ping issue because Blizzard's servers are not working well. This is rare, but checking Blizzard's updates on Twitter or in an official forum never hurts. We know it can be frustrating, but sometimes the reason is beyond your control.
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Select the Right Region on Battle.net
This tip is directly related to the previous point. Many players experience low frame rates and a high ping due to selecting the wrong server on Battle.net. This action distances them from high performance.
To check if you selected the correct region, click on the world icon next to the play button before you launch Overwatch. Here you see all the available game servers. Just select the one that corresponds to your country!
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Move Your Router to a Different Spot Inside Your Home
Only a few people know that the router's location inside your house can positively and negatively affect the Internet connection speed and the ping you experience.
A higher ping can result from the wrong position of the router!
When you correctly position the router inside your home, you eliminate the wireless interference created by the electromagnetic radiation of other devices — for example, microwave ovens, radios, television, etc.
The best is to eliminate sources of electromagnetic radiation in the area near the router.
The Bottom Line
All the instructions mentioned above will help you troubleshoot Overwatch and Overwatch 2. Try them individually until you experience the best gaming speed and the lowest Overwatch ping. Last but not least, other effective ways of reducing ping in Overwatch are:
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Disable the proxy server.
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Reset Winsock.
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Use an exclusive gaming router.
