Online gaming has been around for decades, with veteran gamers remembering the debate on whether to play Quake III Arena or Unreal Tournament at the cross of the century. With the advancement of broadband internet and video game hardware, online gaming evolved, and the industry reached $26.14 billion in 2023.
Not the same for everyone
Whether you play Fortnite, Call of Duty, FIFA, or Civilization, multiple things can influence your gaming experience. Even with a broadband connection and fast data speeds, ping and latency can create issues while playing. While online Civ 6 gameplay won’t be as affected, each millisecond is crucial when playing competitive games like CS: G0. Ping is the time needed for a data set to reach the destination server and get back to your device. Latency is the delay measured between your input and the game’s action on screen. Other possible issues while playing online include security and privacy.
You can level the playing field and combat some of these issues by utilizing proxy servers.
How can proxies help
Proxy servers are intermediate online entities that reroute your data packages to destination servers. One of the main benefits of proxy servers is increased privacy and security. When you go online, you have assigned an IP address that reveals much about you, including your approximate location. With proxy servers, you will get another IP address, depending on the proxy type and what you need.
Because your real IP is hidden, it adds a layer of security and makes it harder for malicious users to attack your machine. It protects from DDoS attacks, which can’t see your real IP. But protection and privacy aside, proxy servers also come with a set of benefits for gamers.
How do you elevate your gaming performance with proxies?
Using proxies can lead to several significant advantages for playing video games online, including speed and lower latency. When you streamline your data through the proxy, the server can cache some of the more common information and thus lead to increased speed.
Proxies can also block unwanted elements from data packages and filter out ads or malware, leaving you with only game-related content that can help with game performance.
Latency is one of the most troubled issues plaguing online gamers. One of the benefits of using proxies is reduced latency because such providers can route traffic through a more direct path, which can help with faster response times.
When you choose proxy servers, you can target the ones geographically close to game servers, which can also help with ping and game latency.
Why should you choose SOCKS5 proxies?
The numerous types make it hard to find a footing in the proxy server world. For the purpose of online gaming, we should first look at the Internet protocols they use for rerouting your traffic. You can find HTTPS and SOCKS5 proxies.
While HTTPS is a common proxy server type, it lacks the versatility of the newer SOCKS5 proxy. HTTPS relies on ports 80 and 443 and is focused on websites. SOCKS5, on the other hand, routes your connection with TCP and can handle multiple protocols, programs, and traffic types. You can find compatibility with the UDP protocol used in numerous video streaming and online gaming services. With that said, SOCKS5 proxies are used for online gaming, video conferences, torrent downloads, and other more nuanced use cases. You can find the best SOCKS5 proxy servers on a comprehensive review from Proxyway.
HTTPS and SOCKS5 can be found in all proxy server types: datacenter, residential, and mobile. If you’re aiming for the best speeds, datacenter proxies are the best in that regard. These proxy servers are also the most affordable. Because they don’t have IP addresses assigned from Internet Service Providers to regular users, datacenter proxies can be detected from advanced protection as they don’t look authentic.
Residential proxies have authentic IP addresses and are more expensive. This proxy type doesn’t have the speed of datacenter proxies, but that doesn’t mean it will be slow. Mobile proxies are similar to residential, with the critical difference in ISP. Mobile network providers assign IPs to mobile proxies.
A quality residential or datacenter proxy can help you with online gaming. Lower ping and latency are apparent benefits, but you can also use them to avoid geographically restricted content or services unavailable in your region.
Final thoughts
In conclusion, as online gaming continues to thrive, players face various challenges that impact their overall gaming experience, from latency issues to privacy concerns. Recognizing the crucial role of proxy servers in addressing these challenges, gamers can significantly enhance their gameplay.
Proxies fortify security and privacy by masking real IP addresses, contributing to improved speed, lower latency, and a streamlined gaming experience. Specifically, the SOCKS5 proxies emerge as a versatile choice for online gaming, offering compatibility with multiple protocols and efficient rerouting capabilities.
Whether opting for datacenter, residential, or mobile proxies, gamers can tailor their choice to specific needs, balancing speed and authenticity. Integrating proxy servers into your gaming arsenal levels the playing field and opens avenues for a more seamless and secure online gaming journey.