For online gaming, a 50 Mbps connection with 10ms ping beats 300 Mbps with 40ms every time. Every single time.
This surprises most people. They assume gaming needs the fastest possible internet. It doesn't. Modern games have relatively modest bandwidth requirements. What they demand is a fast, consistent response time between your device and the game server. That's latency, not speed. High download speeds won't fix lag. Low latency will.
Ping, jitter, and latency explained
Ping is the time it takes for a data packet to travel from your device to the game server and back. Measured in milliseconds. Lower is better. This is what most gamers call "latency".
- Under 20ms: excellent. Games feel instantaneous.
- 20 to 50ms: good. Suitable for most online games, including shooters.
- 50 to 100ms: acceptable for casual games. Noticeable in fast-paced shooters.
- Over 100ms: problematic. Lag becomes clearly visible in real-time games.
Jitter is the variation in ping over time. A connection that gives you 25ms ping consistently is far better for gaming than one that varies between 10ms and 80ms. Jitter causes the unpredictable lag spikes that ruin a game even when average ping looks fine. A speed test tool that shows ping statistics over time will show you jitter. Our speed test shows both.
Packet loss is when data packets fail to reach the game server entirely. Even 1% packet loss causes stuttering and disconnections in online games. A good broadband connection should have 0% packet loss. If yours doesn't, it's a sign of a line fault or a congested network.
How much download speed does gaming actually need?
Surprisingly little. Active gameplay uses 3 to 10 Mbps for most titles. Fortnite, Call of Duty, FIFA, and other popular multiplayer games all fall in this range. The file sizes of games are large (60 to 150 GB downloads are common), but those are one-time downloads, not ongoing bandwidth requirements during play.
A 50 Mbps connection is more than sufficient for gaming itself. The bandwidth bottleneck hits when you're downloading a 100 GB game update and playing simultaneously, or when multiple people in the house are on video calls and streaming while you game. For a household with varied heavy use, 100 to 200 Mbps is a sensible target. For a single gamer, 50 Mbps is genuinely adequate.
What that single gamer absolutely needs: consistent low latency, zero packet loss, and low jitter. These metrics matter far more than raw download speed.
Why full fibre (FTTP) is better for gaming
FTTP has two concrete advantages over FTTC for gaming.
First, lower and more consistent latency. Full fibre connections typically deliver 2 to 10ms ping to nearby game servers. FTTC adds overhead from the copper portion of the network, often landing at 10 to 25ms. The difference is small but measurable in competitive play.
Second, much less slowdown during peak hours. FTTC networks share the copper infrastructure between all users on a street cabinet. During the evening, when everyone is online, capacity gets squeezed. Jitter and latency on FTTC increase noticeably at 7pm to 10pm, exactly when most people play online. FTTP doesn't have this issue. The dedicated fibre connection to your home is not shared in the same way.
If you play competitively or take online gaming seriously, FTTP is worth the marginal extra cost over FTTC. Our comparison of FTTP vs FTTC covers the full difference between the two technologies.
Best providers for gaming in the UK
Any FTTP provider will give you a better gaming experience than FTTC. That said, some providers and networks are more consistent than others.
Zen Internet consistently ranks at or near the top in Ofcom's broadband performance reports for connection reliability and latency. They sell on both the Openreach and CityFibre networks. Their customer service is excellent. Prices are slightly above average, but for gamers who care about consistent performance, the reliability premium is worth it.
Vodafone Pro Broadband on CityFibre or Openreach FTTP. CityFibre networks have shown strong latency performance in third-party testing. Vodafone's Pro tier includes a 4G failover SIM, which means gaming sessions survive most outages.
Hyperoptic builds their own full fibre network in large residential buildings. Their symmetric gigabit package has extremely low latency because traffic doesn't pass through a shared cabinet. If Hyperoptic is in your building, it's one of the best gaming broadband options available. Check with our provider lookup.
Virgin Media is fast but performs less well on latency than dedicated FTTP providers. Their cable network delivers higher ping than Openreach or CityFibre FTTP in most head-to-head comparisons. Fine for casual gaming. Not the first choice for competitive players.
Wired versus wireless for gaming
Use an ethernet cable. This is the single highest-impact change any gamer can make to their connection quality.
Wi-Fi introduces jitter. Even excellent Wi-Fi, on a modern router with no interference, adds variability to your ping that a wired connection doesn't have. In a fast-paced online game, that variability matters.
Ethernet cables are cheap. A 5-metre Cat6 cable costs under £5. If your console or PC is in a different room from your router, a powerline adapter with an ethernet port at the gaming end is the next best option. See our guide on fixing WiFi dead zones for powerline adapter recommendations.
If you can't run a cable, use 5 GHz Wi-Fi rather than 2.4 GHz. The 5 GHz band is faster and less congested, though its range is shorter. Keep your console or gaming PC reasonably close to the router and use the 5 GHz band.
Typical ping figures by broadband technology
These are approximate figures to servers in the UK. Ping to international servers will be higher.
- FTTP (Openreach/CityFibre): 5 to 15ms typical. Very consistent.
- FTTC: 10 to 25ms typical. Increases to 20 to 40ms at peak hours.
- Virgin Media cable: 15 to 30ms typical. Consistent but higher baseline than FTTP.
- 4G home broadband: 30 to 60ms typical. Variable depending on signal and network load.
- 5G home broadband: 15 to 35ms typical. Better than 4G, still behind wired FTTP.
- Starlink: 20 to 45ms typical on the residential tier. Playable for most games.
Ofcom's Connected Nations 2025 data shows FTTP connections outperforming FTTC on latency consistency across all major providers.
Check what's available at your postcode
The best gaming broadband available to you depends on which providers reach your address. Enter your postcode at Broadband Compare UK to see every available provider with speeds and technology type. Use the comparison tool to see FTTP options side by side with your current provider.