VErizon's 5G wireless fast enough?

OxfordCalculator · July 19

Hi,

Is Verizon's or other carrier 5G wireless fast enough to play ESO? I generally do solo adventuring, normal dungeons and the occasional battleground.

Gatdangmayne · July 19

if you have a data cap, updates are going to be hell to deal with but the speed is enough. at one time i played on a regular 4g connection and it was mostly okay. online games dont actually use a whole lot of bandwidth while youre playing, the biggest thing you need to be aware of is the consistency in the strength of the signal and your ping. iirc when i played via cell phone as long as i had 3 bars it was playable, even in cyrodiil. i actually completed vma the one and only time i have (or ever will, probably) playing on a cell phone connection. also - obviously theres the normal lag you gotta deal with too lol.

OxfordCalculator · July 19

5G internet doesn't seem to have a data cap. I'm not sure if it uses the cellular phone network or in a different way than phones. Centurylink (DSL) has started dropping signal every 20 minutes or so, and that kicks me out of ESO. Xfinity (cable) has a ton of hidden fees plus the install charge.

Thanks for the info.

Personofsecrets · July 21

I've used a different carrier to play for years. I have an unlimited data plan with my carrier. One special point of note is that I use a special app, rather than the phones built in features, to use my phones internet from my computer. This is done by tethering my phone directly to my computer by a USB type C to USB type C connection.

First and foremost, the technology of the phone, that's to say "the specifics" can matter. When I upgraded my phone from a Galaxy Note 2 to a Note 10, I noticed a huge improvement in my connection. I therefore must believe that there could be carrier specific dynamics which may impact your connection. That said, I don't think that you'll run into such a problem with tethering.

Over the years, there has been much work done on the cell towers and networks that I connect to. In the past, I was able to raid and do Trifectas while using my Galaxy Note 2. These were groups where I got Tick-Tock and Immortal Redeemer. My download speed at the time was pretty abysmal. I don't exactly remember, but it would have probably been around 2 to 5 Mbps down. For a long time I played at 10 Mbps down.

If you happen to be in a bad area where the 5G isn't as good as in other areas, then you may want to configure your computer to be doing very little in the background while you play. I currently have around 20 Mbps down and can do thing like play the game while a Youtube video is in the background. It can be a little jumpy, but shouldn't be an issue whatsoever for solo-content. And like I wrote, if you begin to have an issue, then review what your computer is doing in the background, disable telemetry, enable outbound firewalls. Eventually you should be fine.

But I suspect that you'll be a-okay as you are without having to do any funny business.

Do note, for a while, I did have upload issues where I wasn't able to stream certain content to Twitch. My upload was around 2 Mbps. My upload speed has also changed over the years. Sometimes I can stream easily and other times it's been not so good.

I've also had a problem from time to time where other people tell me that I'm roboting over Discord. This hasn't happened in a while - maybe it was linked to my previously poor upload speed. Likewise, there was a proxy service that stopped working for me due to the way that I get internet. Lastly, sites with logins that care about your location might sometimes get confused. This method of having internet doesn't play well with everything, but is perfectly fine for the vast majority of use cases. And, again, you should have zero problem doing the content that you want to do. I don't know for sure about Verizon, but many of the carriers rent wavelength from eachother, so I doubt that carrier matters.

Personofsecrets · July 21

One last important thing to say. With this connection method, you are at the mercy of your carrier. If a storm makes the internet go down, you'll be waiting for them to fix it!

The bright side of this is that if you lose power, but not internet, then you can still play the game off of backup batteries or generator.

Zodiarkslayer · July 21

Bandwidth is irrelevant for Online gaming!

Unless you want to stream on Twitch and similar, that is. Which you shouldn't, because [irrelevant to the conversation].

For a very good gaming experience, you'll need a LOW latency somewhere in the area of 50ms.
That is the lowest I have had over the last 5 years playing ESO. This is probably what the ZOS servers are capable of at best.
50ms means your ESO client and the server are "talking" to each other 20 times per second., exchanging data packages.
These days I get between 60ms and 83ms, in game, while the connection to my provider is rated at 32ms.
My provider's app has some setting options with which I can tweak the DSL signal. Its complicated, but comes down to something like: Less bandwidth for more stability.
Maybe other providers have that as well?

cptscotty · July 21

Yes its fast enough. Yes it will drop occasionally and ESO is not good at handling inconsistent data connections. Will it work for a good portion of your time...yes...I just wouldnt use it as my permanent source and I am so glad I finally got real internet for gaming.

If it helps to remember when looking at internet options...stuff like that (and satellite) is not good for anything other than content that can be buffered...like streaming Netflix...because it can burst download super fast and then when it drops its already buffered till it catches back up. Anything that requires constant connection and constant updates like phone calls or gaming will suffer occasionally.

BlackRaidho · July 22

I do vet trials and dungeons with wireless 4g box (in France), so i assume it’s ok. It’s not perfect but enough. No choice when you live in the countryside.

vsrs_au · July 22

I play using 4G wireless, from the other side of the world to the EU server, including in group dungeons. It's feasible, providing you have a reasonable wireless signal strength where you play from.

OxfordCalculator · July 26

Thanks for the replies. I was looking at 5G internet, and generally the company gives you a wireless modem - you don't play over your phone.

My DSL company got it's head out of dark place, so I'll stay with it for now.

Zodiarkslayer · July 28

Speed is irrelevant for gaming! You need consistency.
The way DSL technology works is that a high bandwidth creates static sounds that disrupt a stable connection to the servers. Its a telephone technology after all.

Look, all ESO takes is a 2-3KB per second. I have a stable connection at 6.6Mbit. It's more than enough for ESO.
The secret sauce is the latency, not the bandwidth. These are two totally different things.

TechMaybeHic · July 28

Are you talking hot spot, or actual Verizon home internet? Either would be better than DSL I would think. The home internet service, I have heard good things