Specific tweaks for lower latency gaming

[forkinator]

Hey Philip, my name is Philip, I hope this reaches you. I'm not sure if you are the person who made the TCP optimizer app, but I've been using it and your website since early 2000's. First, I want to say thank you (or whoever created it) for taking so much time to make this site and its tools available to everyone.


Now on to the main question(s).

I've been casually reading a lot of articles since early 2000's and posts on the internet about tweaking for lower latency gaming. What I am seeing in the last few years is a lot of "Windows 11/10 does a better job than you will in optimizing the network", or "Trust Microsoft engineers and stop reading articles online about tweaking".

To me, there is no better person to ask about this that I can readily contact than you. Does Windows 11 24H2 do everything it can to optimize the latency of multiplayer gaming? If not, what can be done to make it better? (ie. Lower latency)

I have a 1200mbit ethernet connection, Fast PC with modern high-end hardware. My NiC is a PCI E Realtek 2.5GBE Model: RTL8125B. I have already disabled the following options in the NiC advanced tab:

Gigabit lite
Green ethernet
EEE/Advanced EEE
Flow Control
Interrupt moderation
Power saving mode
Priority and Vlan set to Priority only.


My PC network setup is simple. PC to Modem with a new high quality cat6e ethernet cable. Cable is 30' long. Modem is a Xfinity XB8 modem with built in router.

The traffic in the house consists of low bandwidth usage by other devices so the network is rarely saturated. It's just me and my wife using the network.


If you know of any advanced tweaks that can be performed to optimize latency, in Windows 24H2, I would be more than happy to hear them. With how many people say not to touch anything, I don't know enough about networks to say for sure which settings, if any, would help with my preference.

[Philip]

Hello Philip
The goal for the tweaks and the TCP Optimizer app was to help a wide range of broadband users. I had some help with the TCP Optimizer app from a friend that does more C++ development than me, but yeah, we tried to make it work simply on many OS variants.

As to the questions, you are on the right path by tweaking the Network Adapter. I would also look through the router settings.

For Windows 11, most of the info in the Windows 10 Tweaks articles remains true, I would do the following:

1. Run the TCP Optimizer applying the "Optimal" settings.
2. I wouldn't enable "Jumbo Frames" (large MTU sizes) on the Network adapter and the router, so that there wouldn't be need to resize packets.
3. I would use CTCP rather than BBR congestion control algorithm.
4. I would Read through some of the articles on the main site to see if something else is applicable to your setup, the Windows 10,11 TCP/IP Tweaks, Gaming Tweaks, Router settings, Network Adapter optimizations.
5. I would look at the signal levels of your cable modem (usually at 192.168.100.1), see https://www.speedguide.net/faq/what-cab ... ed-good-78


At the end, remember that latency is dependent on your ISP and the underlying technology of your broadband connection, so you're a bit limited in what you can do. Traceroutes/pings can give you an idea where latency is occurring, if it is close to your location (first hops) there is a better chance you can improve it.

I hope this helps

[forkinator]

Hello Philip
The goal for the tweaks and the TCP Optimizer app was to help a wide range of broadband users. I had some help with the TCP Optimizer app from a friend that does more C++ development than me, but yeah, we tried to make it work simply on many OS variants.

As to the questions, you are on the right path by tweaking the Network Adapter. I would also look through the router settings.

For Windows 11, most of the info in the Windows 10 Tweaks articles remains true, I would do the following:

1. Run the TCP Optimizer applying the "Optimal" settings.
2. I wouldn't enable "Jumbo Frames" (large MTU sizes) on the Network adapter and the router, so that there wouldn't be need to resize packets.
3. I would use CTCP rather than BBR congestion control algorithm.
4. I would Read through some of the articles on the main site to see if something else is applicable to your setup, the Windows 10,11 TCP/IP Tweaks, Gaming Tweaks, Router settings, Network Adapter optimizations.
5. I would look at the signal levels of your cable modem (usually at 192.168.100.1), see https://www.speedguide.net/faq/what-cab ... ed-good-78


At the end, remember that latency is dependent on your ISP and the underlying technology of your broadband connection, so you're a bit limited in what you can do. Traceroutes/pings can give you an idea where latency is occurring, if it is close to your location (first hops) there is a better chance you can improve it.

I hope this helps

Thanks for the swift response; it's much appreciated. I'll dig a bit deeper into this, even though the choices are few. Like you mentioned, the ISP plays a big role in latency issues. I had my fingers crossed for Xfinity to be gamer-friendly, but that's not the case. They once offered complete router control to users. Now, while you can still connect, the customization options are nearly non-existent. They manage modem settings, likely to cut down on calls and complaints from users unaware of the impact of their adjustments. I think my best bet is to just switch to a fiber ISP and purchase a high quality/speed router that has QoS.

Once again, I appreciate all that you've done with SpeedGuide. I've been a user since shortly after the site's launch, and it has provided me with knowledge for which I am grateful.

[Katheryn]

Thank you for sharing