The first thing we need to understand is that the nbn™ access network is basically the cable from your house to your states capital city. This means there is minimal difference in the ping (latency) from your house to your states capital city data centre(s) between different internet service providers. Keep in mind the internet spans the world and isn't just the connection to your states capital city data centre(s).
GigaNerd Section: Yes, we simplified that a lot. The nbn access network is the cable from your house to your nbn POI which typically isn't your states capital city. RSPs need to get backhaul from the nbn POI to their data centre(s) and the different backhaul used can make a difference in ping between different RSPs. The backhaul from the nbn POI to the data centre(s) will be a very small physical distance and won't make more than a few ms of difference between each RSP (if any).
Alright we know that the internet is made up of terrestrial and subsea fibre optic cables that span the world. The average person might think that the internet works by using satellites to talk to the rest of the world, but this isn't the case and only a small amount of internet traffic would route via satellites. Now that we understand the internet uses terrestrial and subsea cables, what can be done to improve my ping (latency) to game servers? First we have to understand what ping is. Ping is the time it takes your game traffic to reach the game server and then return back to you. In Australia this will typically mean your game traffic will have to travel all the way to Sydney and back to you to get the ping figure. Your game traffic will route over fibre optic cables travelling close to the speed of light from your house to Sydney and back again. That is a big distance right! Now that we understand what ping is what can be done to make it quicker? Typically fibre optic cables will transmit game traffic at the same speed as one another (close to the speed of light). So if they are trasmitting game traffic basically at the same speed as one another what can be done to make your ping quicker? The answer is to use the shortest cables! If there is a terrestrial fibre optic cable Perth to Sydney that is 3,000km in length and another terrestrial fibre optic cable Perth to Sydney that is 5,000km in length then transmitting game traffic on the 3,000km length cable vs the 5,000km length cable will make your ping quicker. That is exactly what we do! We make sure to pick the shortest fibre optic cables to provide the quickest ping to game servers!
GigaNerd Section: There are more variables that would come into play, but the main varaible that matters is the cable length. The other variables that would matter are the fibre optic cable used, the number of splices and connections, the fibre optic core diameter, the amount of amplication devices used to amplify the signal once every 100km or so, if there are any switch/router hops used throughout the cable path. Any switch/router hops used throughout the cable path would be the second most impacting variable after the physical cable length variable in regards to ping (latency). In the future, it does looks like hollow fibre optic will be used for terrestrial and subsea cables that has close to speed of light speeds and will improve ping more
Awesome, that all makes sense! Now how do we improve our ping to game servers worldwide? You guessed it, the concept remains the same! You use the shortest subsea fibre optic cables to provide the quickest ping to game servers worldwide. We have put a lot of time and effort into making sure we are using the shortest subsea cables and paths to provide the quickest ping worldwide. It was important to figure out what subsea cables are the shortest but it was also very important to make sure we are manipulating the routing of your game traffic to make sure it is routing via the shortest paths. As you can see your game traffic will have to make hops through different countries to reach the game server you are playing on. We have made sure that your game traffic is routing via the shortest path and shortest subsea cables. Other internet service providers won't use the shortest cables and won't care if your traffic is routing via a longer path to the game server you are playing on.
Did you know that you can verify we provide the quickest ping yourself? We have a ping test tool that will allow you to run a ping or traceroute from a Router in our Perth Data Centre. To use it all you need to know is the IP address or hostname of the game server you want to verify we provide the quickest ping to. If that sounds too technical for you then just know we provide the quickest ping to game servers. If you want the quickest ping to game servers make sure to sign up and connect to our internet today! It is as simple as filling in and submitting our connection form! What are you waiting for?
Article written 05-02-2023