5 Effective Ways to Lower High Ping in Valorant

Are you constantly facing high ping while playing Valorant? Wondering what causes it and how to fix it?

This article covers everything you need to know about ping in Valorant, including what is considered a good ping, common causes of high ping, how to check your ping, and most importantly, how to fix it.

Follow these tips and tricks to ensure a smooth gaming experience without any disruptions. Let’s optimize your gameplay!

What is Ping?

Ping is the amount of time it takes for you to send a signal (a ping) out from your computer, for it to be received by your internet server, and for the server to send a return signal back to your computer. The time this process takes is your ping, with faster times being better. The time itself is measured in milliseconds (ms). The minimum server ping in Valorant allowed before it forces a client to find a different server is 35 ms.

What is a Good Ping for Valorant?

A good ping for Valorant is 43-59 ms. This is the average latency across high-speed digital networks according to the Broadband Communities Magazine.

According to ten recording sessions over a month to Valorant’s US East Servers from NewYork, NewYork on the Cloud Vector website, the pings ranged on average from a low of 23 ms to a high of 67 ms for the US East Servers. For `valve.ps1`, the average is around 38 ms. Ping rates of under 100 ms are the standard for online games, as it suggests that the game is able to maintain a steady and fluid pace. Similar to the under 100 ms rule, ping rates above 150 ms are likely to result in noticeable periods of lag during online gaming sessions.

What Causes High Ping in Valorant?

• Network congestion. Not only are your data packets competing with everyone else’s for quicker transit, but there are physical restrictions based on how many network devices are trying to transmit packets at once. This can mean you have a higher ping even if the link between you and the game server is a physically short one.
• Micro-lags on the server-end. Maintaining game servers is complicated and even during off-peak times, there can be server-side lags impacting individual users. As such, even if the cause of the ping spike is not on your end, there is not much you can do about it as a player.

Internet Connection Issues

Your router and network settings may be causing high ping in Valorant. Fixing this is largely based on network diagnosis and troubleshooting, and characteristics of the specific network, so you should research the problem for your specific router or network settings. Here are some common user problems that might be at the root of poor network connectivity and high ping:

• Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU): Maximum Transmission Unit is the maximum amount of data that your computer can send at once. If the MTU is higher than what can be conveyed on a network, it might lead to lag. Decrease your MTU on your computer to improve game smoothness.
• Network congestion: If there are too many devices on a network then it could have a lower quality of service on the network. You can manually adjust your media settings. Ensure other devices on the network are not using the network heavily at the same time. Disconnect others from less important tasks.

Server Issues

High server variance or packet loss on Riot Games’ end can result in the appearance of high ping in Valorant. Ping is not a very accurate measurement tool to determine lag, especially when playing Valorant due to the allocation of server resources to keep player experience smooth.

When actual connectivity status appears during gameplay, you can check to see if Riot’s new server engineer’s Twitter account (RiotZul) on Twitter or Riot Games Server Status page is recounting widespread problems.

Hardware Issues

While there are several software issues pertaining to the operating system, router, and internet provider that can cause high ping, there are also frequently issues in the hardware or how the hardware interface with software that causes high ping. Here are the most common hardware issues that may cause high ping in Valorant:

1. The Ping Value Meter. The ping value meter which Valorant team members have described as “heavy” has several overlays to keep updated. When players see their ping bouncing back and forth over milliseconds this is because of the game updating for a better signal. The long explanation for how a game updates is located in Exploring Ping, Latency and FPS in Valorant, and How to Fix It.
2. The quality and length of the cable between your router and you. If the Ethernet cable your computer plugs into the router is of low quality or overly lengthy, the signal may have insufficient strength to connect or be frequently dropped.
3. The killer network adapter. This network adapter is designed to prioritize gaming packets but some users have found it instead causes an excess of background network usage.

How to Check Your Ping in Valorant?

You cannot check your ping in Valorant during a match. You can check your ping on a ping analysis tool like TeamSpeak via the settings, but your game will automatically exit if you open a ping checker during play. During matches, you can note your ping and VAL-xxxx identification number before closing the game such that you can at least explain the situation when contacting customer service should your stats show that there was a legitimate ISP issue.

How to Fix High Ping in Valorant?

If you want to fix high ping in VALORANT, start by choosing the correct region before login in your Game client. You can reset your router settings, update your wireless network drivers, restrict background activities, set physical barriers that block wireless signals, limit the number of users connected with the router, and prioritize latency.

There are three easy steps to fix the VALORANT 84 Code error related to high ping. 1) Directly connect to the internet with an Ethernet cable and stop using wireless solutions to get better connectivity. 2) Close all windows that may be using unnecessary network connectivity services in the background (like updating an application) to allow adequate exploring everything that you are getting. 3) Stop all downloads and uploads when the primary objective is just to play and not download movies or HD graphic games that eat up all the bandwidth.

Check Your Internet Connection

Checking your home network is the first step in fixing high ping in Valorant. Ensure that your Wi-Fi or ethernet receiver is close to your router, allowing for a stronger signal. Sometimes just resetting the router turns out to be the solution. If you are still experiencing high ping, perform a speed test to diagnose whether your network is too slow.

Change Server Region

Players can change the region they connect to in VALORANT to fix high ping by following these steps. The location of the Server Selector is on the main page, at the bottom-right of the screen.

1. Click the current server in the top right of the home screen. The default will have Strikethroughs in text. All the servers enabled at your current ping rate do not have Strikethroughs and may not have Strikethroughs on any text.
2. Select the alternative server if available. Then you can judge whether that server will offer a lower ping level than the default one.

Close Background Applications

Use task manager on Windows or activity monitor on macOS to identify applications running in the background that may be consuming an inordinate amount of upload or download bandwidth. Antivirus software, download managers, cloud backup services, online sync tools such as Dropbox, and software updaters are common examples of software that can use extra bandwidth unstoppably in the background.

Update Your Network Drivers

Updating your network drivers is important because these drivers enable your machine to connect to the internet. Network drivers sit on your network card, determine how the card gets traffic when they are asked from the machine and handle the connections between your computer and other devices or other networks.

Below we show how to update network drivers in Windows and MacOS as connecting to Wi-Fi routers is set up differently on these two operating systems. How to update your network driver in Windows XP, 2000, 7, 8 and Vista:

1. Step 1: Access the control panel. (Click the start button at the bottom left of your screen and select `Control Panel`).
2. Step 2: Open the System views category from the control panel (Choose `System and Security` and then `System`).
3. Step 3: Open Device Manager which can be found on the left side of the opened System categories.
4. Step 4: Click on the Network adapters, then right-click on your installed adapter, and choose `Update Driver Software`.
5. Step 5: Select Search automatically for updated driver software.

Updating the drivers has no risk and if the system chooses the wrong driver you can merely go back and reinstall the original driver. How to update your network driver on Mac OS:

1. Step 1: Open System Preferences using the Apple menu on the top-right of your screen.
2. Step 2: Select Software Update or open the App Store to check for updates under the Apple menu.
3. Step 3: Choose Wi-Fi at the Network window. Under the Wi-Fi device, select Advanced.
4. Step 4: In the Wi-Fi tab, choose the plus symbol named Other followed by entering the planned SSID and other connection details. If the network doesn’t use encryption, then after choosing none, the process of setting up the connection is complete. Some Macs may need specific steps depending on the operating system. For Windows and MacOS, the above steps were the general method to update network drivers. Specific links for updating the network driver can be found below:

Some of the most common network card companies for Windows are:

• Realtek: Driver-Downloads
• Intel: Driver-Downloads
• Killer Networking (a part of Qualcomm): Keep in mind that the Killer driver page may be challenging to locate.
• Tenda: Driver-Downloads
• TP-Link: Driver-Downloads

Some of the most common network card companies for MacOS are:

• Realtek: No official Realtek drivers exist for non-Windows operating systems. It is recommended to visit the manufacturer’s website for more resource-specific driver downloads.
• Intel: No official Intel drivers exist for non-Windows OSes. Also, today’s Mac operating systems automatically manage any Ethernet or Wi-Fi adapter with an Intel brand and model number so it is rarely necessary to install new drivers. Still, you can find additional support information and downloads on the Intel Support site.
• Apple (bundled with macOS installation disc or available as download from the Apple site).

Upgrade Your Hardware

If nothing else on this list works, failing hardware is the likeliest reason why you are experiencing high ping while playing videogames, especially a high visual fidelity game like Valorant. Try upgrading your system’s RAM to at least 8 GB and storage to SSD to make it faster to read and write data.

If you are running many applications, especially internet-guzzling applications in the background, it can be helpful for you to upgrade your CPU, GPU, modem, or network cards. Replacing the modem or network cards can help accelerate the overall internet speed of your premises as this speeds up the rate at which you buffer data from your ISP which might be causing the high ping issue. Before making an attempt, it’s better to ensure your PC is cleared of any Malware or viruses which might be causing the issue. Upgrading to gigabit wireless routers can solve frequent high-ping issues for users who use a Wi-Fi connection regularly for gaming. Not only will the speeds increase when you have gigabit desktop or wireless nics installed, thereby reducing the rate of packet loss, but gigabit offers better packet prioritization.

Use a Wired Connection

Using a wired connection prevents environmental factors from affecting your ping. Wired connections are not affected by signal interference or disruptions caused by obstacles like walls, which helps ensure low, stable ping. Wireless connections have higher levels of latency known as jitter.

The difference between a wifi and wired connection is significant. Jeremy Orro, Head of Performance and Realization at the Internet Society, told CNet, “On Wi-Fi, it’s not unreasonable for latency to be perhaps twice what it might be over a wired connection.” Fixed housing of the Fractus vs Centrality Apps claims ping values can be improved by as much as -25 ms by switching to a wired connection.

Making a wireless connection more like a wired one by using Powerline network adapters are very useful options in case you can’t connect an ethernet cable from your PC or other device to the router. These adapters send data over your home’s electrical wiring rather than Wi-Fi.

Contact Your Internet Service Provider

You should contact your Internet Service Provider (ISP) if you experience unfavorable network conditions in your area. ISP technicians will come in and see if there are any network problems, such as sub-par cables or corrupt routers, in your area that may be causing the high ping rate.

If not, representatives from the ISP will inform you as to if other devices connected to your network are hampering the bandwidth, or they might advise you to switch to a more expensive plan where your home network shares the bandwidth with less other clients. Fast internet ping is arguably the most crucial factor for getting low ping in online games like Valorant.

How to Prevent High Ping in the Future?

This one is simple. Practically all ISPs are looking to improve their infrastructure and use the ongoing pandemic as a way to provide faster and better service for their users. One such program is called America’s Connection Codes. The Biden Administration’s American Rescue Plan authorized $100 million in state grants for this program to provide states with planning resources as a way to ensure local programs that will support long-term planning for universal broadband access.

According to a Federal Communications Commission report from the 2021 Broadband Progress Inquiry: – There are 14.5 million fewer Americans living in areas without access to fixed broadband with speeds of at least 25/3 Mbps. – The decrease in Americans living unconnected comes partially from a 24.3% reduction in those living in unserved rural areas. As the average speed of US broadband has increased by 48% since the end of 2016, and there are more people reaching decent speeds, there is a much better chance that an American will have lower ping, lag, and jitter on better Valorant servers.

Use a Wired Connection

A wired connection is a physical connection of your computer or gaming device to your modem, or router that transmits data over a cable to provide a consistent and low-latency internet service. Most of the modern households have a router which transmits data from the internet to your device over WiFi. This can cause higher pings because WiFi connections transmit data primarily via wireless signals, which are susceptible to network interference. This is why switching to a direct, wired connection can usually reduce your local latency and ping number.

If your device is far from the modem or router and you are experiencing high ping while playing Valorant, consider buying a powerline network adapter which can transmit data over your house’s electrical wiring. Alternatively, you can use a wi-fi extender that will bring the wi-fi signal closer to your device while simultaneously boosting it. This method will work best if there are more than two walls/floors/ceilings between your device and the router because often a third-party provider can get more reliable connection to the internet by using a wired connection to one of your network devices.

Close Background Applications

If you have high ping in Valorant, you should turn off any unnecessary applications that consume a lot of internet bandwidth in the background. This includes Facebook, Twitter, Spotify, and torrent applications. Ping experts at Parallel state that another cause of high pings rather than these background applications may come from your internet browser using too much bandwidth. For the best results, limit all possible applications from using your internet bandwidth during your gaming session to improve ping time.

Upgrade Your Hardware

If you are playing on an old computer or an outdated gaming console, it may be time to get an upgrade. You may find that getting a new computer or adding extra RAM boosts its performance and lessens the problem of high ping. Similarly, getting a new ethernet cable or upgrading your connection speed from your internet service provider, are ways that can effectively fix high ping.

In summary, the most common method of network improvement to reducing ping induced Valorant lag is with a powerline adapter. These hardware devices can push signal through direct wiring and prevent plays disrupted by high packet loss. Though they will never boost your internet package speed, they can enhance your performance by limiting all the noted issues with high ping.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How to Fix High Ping in Valorant?

The most common solution to fix high ping in Valorant is to make sure your internet connection is stable and fast enough to handle the game’s data transfer. You can also try closing any background applications or updating your network drivers to improve your connection.

2. What are the possible causes of high ping in Valorant?

High ping in Valorant can be caused by a variety of factors, such as a slow or unstable internet connection, outdated network drivers, distance from the game server, or network congestion. It’s important to identify the root cause in order to find an effective solution.

3. Will changing my internet provider help to fix high ping in Valorant?

Changing your internet provider may help to fix high ping in Valorant if your current provider is known for having slow or unreliable connections. However, it’s important to check all possible causes before making a decision to switch providers.

4. How can I improve my ping in Valorant without changing my internet provider?

There are several steps you can take to improve your ping in Valorant without changing your internet provider. These include using a wired connection instead of Wi-Fi, closing any background applications, and updating your network drivers.

5. Does the location of the game server affect ping in Valorant?

Yes, the location of the game server can greatly impact your ping in Valorant. If you are located far away from the server, it can result in a higher ping. Consider connecting to a server that is closer to your physical location for a better gaming experience.

6. Is there a way to check my ping in Valorant?

Yes, you can check your ping in Valorant by pressing the “Esc” key on your keyboard to open the game menu, then click on the “Settings” option. Under the “Video” tab, there is a “Show Network Information” option that will display your ping in real-time while playing the game.