Software that helps reduce ping and lag when playing games

Playing games at peak hours or when the system is congested is very annoying. At home, we can optimize the network to avoid congestion by using routers and modems that prioritize games over other tasks such as video streaming (YouTube) and downloading software. Usually the powerful system at your home will be enough to help you enjoy the game. But once you leave your home network and start joining the Internet, things are completely different.

There are many congestion problems on the internet. Video streaming service accounts for 70% of peak hours in North America, more than 37% coming from Netflix service to be exact. Carriers (ISPs) can reduce bandwidth to avoid system overload. The growth of mobile networks also affects ISPs. With this congestion, it’s not surprising that home network speeds are affected, especially games. Online gaming is very sensitive, and you certainly understand this.

To solve the problems of congestion for gaming, Gaming Private Network (GPN) services were born. They use separate services including a system of servers designed for the most efficient gaming connection.

GPN works like a VPN (Virtual private network) but the data system is not encrypted. GPN only determines which connection is for game and data transmission most efficiently. Normal Internet traffic is left untouched and carriers use normal network lines. Unlike VPN, GPN does not hide your IP address. These aim to hopefully push the ping down to a clickable low.

WTFast

Home page

Perhaps the most famous GPN software is WTFast. WTFast supports thousands of games, including popular titles like World of Warcraft, World of Tanks, League of Legends and Final Fantasy XIV.

To use WTFast requires a monthly fee, $9.95/month for one device. The service has longer plans, like an annual plan for around $100.

A better way to get WTFast is to buy a router with WTFast pre-installed. Many Asus routers, including the RT-AC8U and RT-AC5300, include WTFast in their firmware at no extra cost. However, the built-in WTFast is in beta, and it only supports 14 games at the moment, while the WTFast software supports more games:
Router of the Asus RT-AC8U, showing the built-in WTFast feature and a list of supported games. One thing to note is that this version only supports a certain number of games for a single machine, so those who use many game consoles will not be able to optimize.

Outfox

Home page

A recent newcomer in the GPN scene is Outfox, which calls itself “game network optimization.” Although relatively new to this market, Outfox was developed by the experienced team at GoldenFrog, the studio behind VyperVPN, and the famous Usenet mogul Giganews. Outfox currently has 25 servers worldwide. The Fastest Server feature selects the best server to optimize speed and minimize ping. Although only a small number of games are supported, they are all on the list of “hot” games today:

Outfox supports many famous online games today, but not as many as competitors.

Outfox currently only has a Windows version. The software needs to be logged in and can be turned on/off. Outfox has a monthly price of $9.95. It has unlimited users and 24/7 support. In addition, Outfox also has a 14-day free trial that does not require you to enter your credit card information.

Test

GPN service tests focus on ping testing, using online games that can measure ping. The platform used is a notebook computer with a Killer Networking Wireless-AC network card. This is the wireless card used for testing and the Killer Prioritization Engine (KPE) technology is not used. Notebook has the Outfox software pre-installed.

The routers used are Asus RT-AC86U and Asus RT-AC88U. These routers have WTFast built-in and can be customized using the admin panel in the router.

The first game we tested was League of Legends, both supported by WTFast and Outfox. We first measure a ping of 37 ms without using any GPN during non-peak hours (12pm-2pm).

We then tested the ping at the same time, and the difference was only 1ms against the GPNs and software (WTFast 36 ms, Outfox 38ms, and Killer 36ms). This is not too surprising given that GPN is designed to avoid network congestion, which often happens at night.

We continue to test during peak hours from 8 pm to 12 pm, when GPN will support the network. Base ping at the moment is 39 ms – not much different from non-peak hours. And these softwares make no difference, they all hit 39 ms.

At this point it doesn’t seem like GPN really has much of an impact. So we decided to try other games and only during peak hours.

Next is World of Tanks. We continued to run the game without any GPN software enabled, and the initial result was 64 ms during peak hours.

Using WTFast, the ping dropped to 53 ms, a 17% improvement.
Using Outfox “Fastest Server”, ping reduced to 56 ms, 12.5% ​​improvement.

We decided to give the game a try: Overwatch, tested on Saturday evening.

Before that, during normal hours, we test ping to 40 ms using all GPNs. By afternoon, the original ping jumped to 283 ms, which is a great situation for GPN testing.

When WTFast is on: 249 ms.
When Outfox is on: 229 ms.

The green line shows the Outfox Server connection, while the white dots compare the speed with the regular server, indicating a higher ping. It should be noted that Outfox Server has a closer location, in Toronto Canada to a computer in New York, USA, while the original server system is located globally in Singapore.

We want to confirm this result, continuing to repeat the test on weeknights. Original ping with Overwatch is now 278 ms without using GPN.

With Killer Network: 271 ms
With WTFast: 265 ms
WITH Outfox: 226 ms

Outfox continues to outperform the rest of the GPNs.

So is GPN worth it?

Results depend on the game you play, your location with the GPN server, and the speed of your home network. In the test, the results were not beneficial for League of Legends, there was a slight improvement in World of Tanks, and the results were most pronounced with Overwatch. Certainly the results of improvement in other games will be different. What we need to keep in mind is that GPNs get the best results during peak hours, which is their main purpose.

Notably, the Killer Network did not improve much. So for those who have difficulty with game servers, Killer’s solution won’t help much.

WTFast, integrated with Asus router is an economical option. While it doesn’t have the best ping in Overwatch, it does help improve and you don’t have to pay a monthly fee, as long as you agree to play on a single computer limit and have to manually go into the router to tweak it. The advantage is that you do not need to install additional software on your computer. If you don’t have a built-in Asus router, you’ll need to download the WTFast software and pay a monthly fee.

Outfox has a monthly fee, does not currently support any router but has the best results.

For those of you who have an Asus router with WTFast built in, it’s definitely worth activating, especially if you play games on the supported list. For gamers experiencing high ping that can’t be fixed with network optimization, especially during peak hours, Outfox has the best quality.

By PC Gamer