League of Legends promo image

 

Nothing is more frustrating than playing online games with lag due to high ping numbers, especially when playing League of Legends or any other online game that requires fast reactions or precision to take your chance in that millisecond. Suddenly, landing a "hook" with Thresh, Blitzcrank, or even Nautilus becomes a tough challenge. Or trying to avoid those skill shots is worse than a live dodgeball game. 

Sometimes your LoL ping issues aren't because you don't have a stable internet connection. There might be other problems around that could only affect League of Legends and no other applications. 

Luckily there are plenty of ways to check why you aren't having a stable ping in your game and fix high ping problems. In this article, you will learn all the possible solutions to this issue and finally get to play League of Legends normally.

 

What is Lag?

 

A girl playing on her PC and the word

 

First of all, the main question is: what is lag? It is whenever you feel a delay between your commands and the game server responding to those. For example, when you cast a spell on your keyboard, it doesn't immediately come out.

Although this example is called "Internet Lag" or "Network Lag," it sometimes isn't your ISP's fault (Internet Service Provider) that the game is working badly. It might be, for instance, your PC. 

But, if that is the case, you will notice it with every game. Then, your problem is the hardware and equipment you are using. 

Still, this is League of Legends, a game that runs well on almost every PC. So, it is quite rare that your PC might be the issue.

 

Why Does League of Legends Have High Ping Spikes?

 

Plenty of reasons might cause your League of Legends to suffer from high ping spikes. For example, some people reported that their antivirus might be causing them lag spikes in their matches while having low ping numbers. 

It also will depend on your type of internet connection. Using Wi-Fi is more prone to packet loss. It suffers interference in its stability due to other devices being connected to the same network. 

Another cause of this issue could be outdated or corrupt network drivers; you might need to update or reinstall them. But we are going to dive into those problems soon.

 

How to Check Your Ping and FPS in League of Legends

 

You can check your ping and FPS during your game at any time:

  • Once you are in a match, open the settings menu and select the “Hotkeys” tab. 

  • Click on "Display" and see what hotkey is bound to "Toggle FPS Display."

  • Go back to your game and press that hotkey.

 

Hotkeys menu in LoL

 

In the right corner of your screen, below the game's scores, you will be able to see your current FPS and Ping. 

With this information, you can determine if a high ping number is the cause of your lag problem. Usually, a ping below "30 ms" is usually ideal for online gaming. And if you are between 30 and 60 ms, you are still fine, as the majority play with this ping. 

Then, if you are playing with a ping between 60 and 100 ms, you will notice some lag in your actions. Not ideal, but it is still bearable. 

The real deal starts above 100 ms, making your experience significantly worse and with bigger delays between your commands and the game taking action. If this is your problem, you must check the following solutions.

 

How to Solve Your High Ping Problem?

 

As we discussed, there could be plenty of reasons you are having high ping in League of Legends and not getting similar issues in other online games. 

You can try out different ways to lower your ping. But now we will talk about the different solutions you should try to solve this particular problem with League.

 

Download the Latest Game Patch

 

Riot client

 

Some games allow you to launch it without downloading the latest patch. It is quite unusual, but sometimes it happens.

Although in the case of League of Legends or any Riot Games application, this would rarely happen. It will kick you out of the game, telling you that you need to update the game, and you will be back to the Riot client. Then, if you re-launch LoL, it should update automatically. Otherwise, you need to contact Riot Games support and submit a ticket. But, as we said, this is extremely rare.

 

Restart Your Internet Connection

 

A person plugging in their router

 

If you haven't switched off your router and modem for a long time, you might need to restart them:

  • Turn them off, unplug your router and modem, and wait a minute to let them cool down.

  • Plug the modem back and wait for the indicator lights to return to normal.

  • Then, proceed to do the same with the router.

  • Once both have been restarted properly, you should check if anything has changed with your League of Legends matches.

 

Close Other Apps That Are Using Your Bandwith

 

Some bandwidth-consuming applications will slow down your network speed, and you will start noticing it whenever your ping numbers in-game are high. 

Closing all those programs that consume plenty of resources might alleviate your ping issue. You can check it out by doing the following:

  • Press the "Windows Key" on your keyboard and "R" at the same time to open up the "Run Dialog Box."

  • Type “resmon” and hit “Ok” (or press “Enter”). This will bring up the Resource Monitor window.

  • Select the Network tab and check the programs appearing by looking into their “Total (B/sec)” numbers. This determines which programs are consuming most of your bandwidth.

 

Resource monitor window

 

  • Right-click on any application you aren't using and consuming bandwidth, and select "End Process." Windows will ask you to confirm this decision and, if you are sure, click "End Process" again.

Do not close any program you aren't familiar with (for example, "scvhost.exe"). You might end up losing crucial programs that are related to your system. Only close those you recognize and don't need right now.

Sometimes your antivirus software is the problem. So try to disable or close it for a while, and check out if you still have the same high ping issues.

 

Use the Hextech Repair Tool

 

Image of Heimerdinger used for the Hextech Tool

 

Riot Games has a tool that automatically troubleshoots and diagnose your League of Legends files. This tool will check your LoL folder to see if there are any corrupted or missing files and replace them with a correct copy. This might solve your ping issue.

You can download it for free at the League of Legends website, and it is quite straightforward to use, as you only need to install it and follow the instructions.

 

Try Third-Party Software Like “NoPing” to Reduce Lag

 

How NoPing Works? 2022

If the previous solutions didn't work out for you, you should try using third-party software to improve your game ping.

NoPing is a high-performance latency reduction software with multi-route solutions that enables packet loss correction, massive ping reduction, and significantly reduces drops in connection. It works like a VPN, using its calculation algorithm to establish the best route between you and the game server. NoPing only uses the best route with the shortest ping for each game.

Start your seven days free trial now and see it for yourself!

 

Change DNS Server

 

Another solution you should try is switching your internet provider's DNS server to the Google Public DNS address. It might improve the resolution time and even provide you with better security online:

  • Open the "Control Panel" by searching it in the Windows menu or by opening the "Run Dialog Box'', pressing the "Windows" key and "R" at the same time, and typing "control panel."

  • In the control panel, look at the "Network and Internet" section and click "View network status and tasks."

  • Then, click on "Change adapter settings."

 

 

  • Right-click on your network adapter on the new window, and select "Properties."

  • On the “Networking” tab, double-click on “Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4). This will open up its properties. 

 

Adapter properties

 

  • In the new pop-up window, select the following two options: "Obtain an IP address automatically" and "Use the following DNS server addresses."

  • On the latter, replace the IP address on the "Preferred DNS Server" with 8.8.8.8 and the "Alternate DNS Server" with 8.8.4.4. Click on "Ok" to save your changes and restart your PC.

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Internet Protocol Version 4 properties

 

Once the system is back on, check if your League of Legends game still has the same ping issue.

 

Renew Your IP Address Using the Command Prompt

 

Another solution advanced solution you can try is to renew the IP address. You should follow the next procedure:

  • Search "Command Prompt" on the Windows menu and right-click it to run it as administrator. Click on "Yes" when asked about permission.

  • In the command prompt window, write "ipconfig /release" (without the quotes, of course), and press "Enter."

  • Then, type “ipconfig /renew” and press “Enter” once more.

  • Wait until the process is finished. Now type “ipconfig /flushdns” and press “Enter” again. Wait for the process, and close the window.

 

Use an Ethernet Cable

 

Ethernet cables

 

We have discussed the best solutions to solve your lag problem with League of Legends. But perhaps it all can be solved by swapping to an Ethernet connection.

A wireless network could suffer from interference. It isn't as stable as using an Ethernet cable to connect your router to your PC. 

If there is plenty of distance between your computer and the modem, you will receive a weaker signal than you should. So, the best solution is switching to an Ethernet cable.

 

Want to Play in Other Regions With No Lag? Try out NoPing!

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If you have high internet speed and already try out many of these solutions, but if your League of Legends matches are still laggy, you should consider using a lag reduction software like NoPing.

You can use the seven-day free trial to check if NoPing improves your connection with the game server and results in a better gaming experience.