For gamers in Australia, finding the best NBN internet plans can be a challenge. With so many providers and so many different plans, it can be hard to know where to start. But don’t worry, we’re here to help. We’ve put together a list of the best broadband internet plans for online gaming, so you can find the perfect one for you.
Before we can start searching for gamer friendly NBN plans, we need to answer the following questions:
- What Internet speed (bandwidth) do I need for gaming?
- How much data does gaming actually use?
- What is ping and latency and why is it important for gaming?
What internet connection speed do gamers need?
First, let’s determine what connection speed is required for most popular games. A quick Google Search reveals that the minimum connection speed recommended by the makers of popular online games such as Fortnight, Minecraft and World of Warcraft are a download speed of 3 to 5 Mbps (megabits per second) and an upload speed of 1Mbps.
I am surprised at how low these minimum speeds are. A 5Mbps download speed isn’t very fast at all. Even the most basic NBN plan (NBN12 – Basic I) has a download speed of 12Mbps and an upload speed of 1MP which far exceeds these requirements.
If I was a serious gamer, I would be buying an NBN plan with at least a 25Mbps download speed. If you are planning on streaming video and playing games at the same then a 50Mbps download speed would be required to allow spare capacity for other uses such as watching Netflix and working from home.
How much data do you need for gaming?
Next, we need to know how much data online gaming chews through each hour. Most modern online games use somewhere between 40MB to 300MB per hour. Compared to Netflix which can use between 1GB and 3 GB of data per hour, online gaming uses only a modest amount of data.
The table below shows the data use per hour of some popular games:
Game | Data usage per hour |
---|---|
World of Warcraft | 40mb per hour |
Fortnight | 100mb per hour |
Call of duty | up to 160mb per hour |
Counter Strike | 250mb per hour |
So how much data do I need per month then?
So based on the table above, let’s assume that the typical online game uses 150mb of data per hour.
The table below shows the monthly data requirements for different types of gamers based on the number of hours they spend playing games per week.
Type of gamer | Hours per week playing online games | Data required per month |
---|---|---|
Light | 5 | 3 GB |
Medium | 10 | 6 GB |
Heavy | 20 | 12 GB |
Addict | 40 | 24 GB |
So based on the information in the table above even a highly addicted gamer would still only use less than 30 GB of data a month.
Online gaming uses less bandwidth and data than Netflix!
Well there you go. I learnt something today.
I suppose you could say that if you can stream movies smoothly and without any buffering on your internet connection, they you should be able to play online games such as Fortnight, World of Warcraft and Minecraft without any issues.
Gaming downloads also use a fair bit of data
Playing the game isn’t the only source of internet data use. Downloading the games from the internet to your computer or console in the first place and keeping the games updated to the latest version can also consume a fair bit of data.
The download sizes of games varies. Fortnight is around 20GB whilst Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is over 200GB.
Why is ping and latency important for online gaming?
With regard to online gaming, ping is the delay between the player’s input (ie move left or shoot weapon) and the game server’s response to those inputs. Latency and ping are often used interchangeably but technically ping refers to the signal sent from the device to the server and latency is the time it takes for the ping to return to the device. Ping is measured in milliseconds (ms) and the lower the ping rate the smoother the gaming experience will be.
A ping rate under 50 ms is really good and is desirable for serious gamers. A ping rate over 150 ms will generate noticeable lag in the game and will have a detrimental affect on gameplay, graphics, and the ability to stream watchable content to Twitch.
Ping | Game Playability |
---|---|
<15ms | Excellent |
15ms – 50ms | Great |
50ms – 100ms | Good |
100ms – 250ms | Bad – gameplay will be affected |
>250ms | Terrible – unplayable |
Optimal NBN Plan for online gaming
Based on the analysis above we have summarised our findings in the table below:
Criteria | Minimum Requirements | Our Recommendation |
---|---|---|
Connection Speed | Download: 5Mbps Upload: 1Mbps | Download: 25Mbps Upload: 10Mbps |
Quota | 30GB | 200GB |
Ping | less than 100ms | less than 50ms |
Our Recommendation
For an NBN gaming plan, we recommend a download speed of at least 25 Mbps and an upload speed of at least 10 Mbps to play games online. With regard to data quota, we recommend at least 200GB to allow for some spare capacity for game updates and new game downloads. You should also have a latency or ping of less than 100 ms for a lag-free experience when playing online.
If you find yourself running out of data or needing more speed, you can always upgrade your plan at a later date. Starting small is always the most cost effective solution.
Recommended NBN Plans for gaming
These NBN plans are fast, have plenty of data and all receive excellent reviews from our members. They would be great plans for a keen gamer.
Company | Plan Name |
Monthly Cost |
Avg Monthly Cost (2 years) |
Typical Evening Speed | Quota | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Superloop |
Home Basic (NBN) (Month by month) |
$59.95
$49.95 for first 6 months |
$57.45 | 25 Mb/s | Unlim |
Read Reviews |
Exetel |
Everyday (NBN) (Month by month) |
$59.95
$49.95 for first 0 months |
$59.95 | 25 Mb/s | Unlim |
Read Reviews |
Aussie Broadband |
Casual (NBN) (Month by month) |
$69 | $69 | 25 Mb/s | Unlim |
Read Reviews |
Exetel |
Extra Value (NBN) (Month by month) |
$69.95
$53.95 for first 6 months |
$65.95 | 50 Mb/s | Unlim |
Read Reviews |
Superloop |
Home Standard (NBN) (Month by month) |
$69.95
$54.95 for first 6 months |
$66.2 | 50 Mb/s | Unlim |
Read Reviews |
Click here to view more great value NBN internet plans for gaming |
If you are not happy with the performance of your NBN plan for online gaming, you may want to check out or NBN plan comparison tool which lets you compare all the NBN plans available in Australia.
If you work from home, you may also want to check out our guide on the best NBN plans for working from home.