Wired router speeds

[HoosierDadE]

My son is a professional gamer and I have been plugging his PC directly into the cable modem when he is competing. Two questions:

(1) Does having a router (e.g. LinsysBEFSR41) between the cable modem and his PC make any significant difference? I would still have the other PCs on the router turn off their networking when he was competing.

(2) Are there significant differences between routers? I'm talking about delays in the router, not the rated speeds. And if there are differences, which are best for gaming (speed wise)?

I guess that's 3 questions. ;-)

 

[Goosemaster]

Routers will give you at most 10ms of latency due to NAT and packet filtering

(SPI-firewalls = Stateful packet inspection)

 

[HoosierDadE]

Thanks a lot Goosemaster! I can check with experts on the game to see if 10ms is likely to make a difference. I didn't even have a ballpark idea of the numbers before.

Does anyone know if all routers are about the same regarding latency? In other words are some brands/models a lot better than others? Are some really bad?

 

[cmetz]

HoosierDadE, I'd be very surprised if there was not some variation between different SOHO routers. I'd suggest that if this really was important to you, you go down and abuse your local retailer by buying a bunch and experimenting.

Every router is going to have some extra latency, so none of them will ever be as good as connecting directly to the cable modem. If every millisecond counts, that's going to be the best solution.

 

[HoosierDadE]

Originally posted by: cmetz
HoosierDadE, I'd be very surprised if there was not some variation between different SOHO routers. I'd suggest that if this really was important to you, you go down and abuse your local retailer by buying a bunch and experimenting.

Every router is going to have some extra latency, so none of them will ever be as good as connecting directly to the cable modem. If every millisecond counts, that's going to be the best solution.

You're right. With cars moving over 300 KPH, every millisecond is a couple of inches of extra buffer zone you have to give yourself. I'm going to keep the router out of the chain when he's competing. I don't mind the effort, I just don't like the extra stress on the cable modem from turning it off and on twice for every race.

Thanks everyone

 

[Pauli]

Your son is a professional gamer?!?!?!? Someone actually pays him to play games?

 

[cmetz]

HoosierDadE, see if you can configure your SOHO router to "MAC Clone" the MAC address of your son's PC. If you do that, they both use the same MAC address, requiring no cable modem power cycle.

Cable modems are cheap, though. If you have to replace it, it's not a big deal.

 

[JoeCDaMan]

I would like to know how to become a professional gamer as well. I know a lot of people that would like to know actually.

 

[HoosierDadE]

Originally posted by: cmetz
HoosierDadE, see if you can configure your SOHO router to "MAC Clone" the MAC address of your son's PC. If you do that, they both use the same MAC address, requiring no cable modem power cycle.

Cable modems are cheap, though. If you have to replace it, it's not a big deal.

Wow! That is clever. I'm going to try that. Thanks!

 

[HoosierDadE]

Originally posted by: Pauli
Your son is a professional gamer?!?!?!? Someone actually pays him to play games?

Originally posted by: JoeCDaMan
I would like to know how to become a professional gamer as well. I know a lot of people that would like to know actually.

Well, actually he wouldn't like me calling it a game. Its more a simulator run on a PC.

The simulator is EA Sports F1-C. Its used by the professional F1 simulation world championship. Like real Formula One, there are 10 teams of two drivers and an assortment of engineers, test drivers and strategists. Only the main drivers are paid much and since there are only 20 in the world, its not an easy gig to get. My son is the reigning world champion. His sponsors include Coca Cola, EA Sports, F1 Racing Magazine. A deal is pending with Red Bull. He bought into a team last year with some of his winnings. If anyone is interested in a tryout they can PM me. But you need to be good to have any chance. You might be familiar with "hot lap" sites where people can drive a lap as many times as they want and submit their best. These guys regularly beat those records in single lap qualifying.

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: HoosierDadE

Originally posted by: Pauli
Your son is a professional gamer?!?!?!? Someone actually pays him to play games?

Originally posted by: JoeCDaMan
I would like to know how to become a professional gamer as well. I know a lot of people that would like to know actually.

Well, actually he wouldn't like me calling it a game. Its more a simulator run on a PC.

The simulator is EA Sports F1-C. Its used by the professional F1 simulation world championship. Like real Formula One, there are 10 teams of two drivers and an assortment of engineers, test drivers and strategists. Only the main drivers are paid much and since there are only 20 in the world, its not an easy gig to get. My son is the reigning world champion. His sponsors include Coca Cola, EA Sports, F1 Racing Magazine. A deal is pending with Red Bull. He bought into a team last year with some of his winnings. If anyone is interested in a tryout they can PM me. But you need to be good to have any chance. You might be familiar with "hot lap" sites where people can drive a lap as many times as they want and submit their best. These guys regularly beat those records in single lap qualifying.

how much $$ ?

 

[Pauli]

I'd say that this qualifies for the "Top Ten Jobs in the World" list.