How to speed up cloud gaming

It’s no surprise that cloud gaming has become increasingly popular in the last few years. For just a small monthly fee, gamers can access a variety of titles and stream them on any compatible device. Unfortunately, while cloud gaming is getting better and better, internet and other tech problems can slow down your stream, resulting in game lag. Learn how to fix game lag and improve your cloud gaming experience with these tips.

What causes game lag?

Game lag is usually caused by a slow internet connection with too much latency—the time it takes for data to travel between your computer to your internet server and back. Lower latency is preferrable, especially when gaming, as a high latency can cause lag and directly impact the look and feel of your game. Try some of these tips to reduce latency, eliminate game lag, and speed up your cloud games.

Stay close to your router

If your internet router is located on the opposite side of the house from where you’re gaming, you may experience a slower game. Move closer to the router during your game to increase your connection or use a Wi-Fi extender to improve the internet in the rest of your home. If you’re a serious gamer, you may want to purchase a router that’s optimized for gaming. They’re equipped to handle larger amounts of data than a regular router, and they include features like higher RAM and faster processing speeds.

Close extra games and apps

One of the benefits of cloud gaming is that you can play without worrying about apps impacting your performance by taking up unnecessary RAM. However, because cloud gaming performance relies on internet speed, using webpages such as video streaming sites that require a lot of data to run can slow you down. Close out any extra tabs that are running in the background while you’re playing to speed up internet bandwidth and reduce game lag.

Use an ethernet cable

Using an ethernet cable, or a wired connection, over Wi-Fi, almost always gives you a better streaming speed. Ethernet cables transmit data faster than Wi-Fi and experience less interruptions overall, which in turn reduces game lag. In addition, sharing Wi-Fi with multiple people in your home can slow down your internet and cause more game lag.

Choose the best browser for gaming

When it comes to gaming with Xbox Cloud Gaming or playing games on your PC, Microsoft Edge has unique features to deliver the best experience. Clarity Boost is a new feature that optimizes the visual quality of any Xbox Cloud Game using client-side scaling improvements. When cloud gaming in Microsoft Edge, enable Clarity Boost to automatically improve the graphics of your streaming games.

Download Microsoft Edge and take advantage of even more gaming features, like our gaming homepage, additional free-to-play games, and gaming themes for your browser.

Frequently asked questions