Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition

The terms "high ping" and "low ping" are commonly used in online gaming. You may already know that ping is the network latency between a gaming client and the game server. Ping is measured in milliseconds where 1000 milliseconds is equivalent to 1 second. For gamers, low ping times are our best friend, because a low ping equates to low latency. This means there are fewer chances for lags and delays to happen. Contrary to a high ping which causes a significant amount of lag. Having a ping higher than 100ms can already produce a severe amount of lag. If you often experience pings that go higher than 100ms, chances are high that you suffer from ping spikes and jitter. This can be incredibly frustrating especially for an online gamer like you who plays Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. You might be wondering why your ping is so high in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition? Here are the possible reasons why... Your distance to the game server - the distance between your location and the game server has a big impact on the amount of delay you're experiencing. The further you are located from the game server, the higher ping you’ll have. Keep in mind that game servers are usually named by their geographic location, so you must check on that one. Wireless connections - connecting to the internet via a wireless connection will make you prone to interference. This will certainly result in increased latency, packet loss, jitter, and all sorts of other network-related performance issues. All of these could contribute to increasing your ping and slowing down your game. Running programs on the background - all applications that are running on the background while you are playing could contribute strain to your network and computer in varying degrees. This could significantly affect your computer's performance, especially if the program is consuming a lot of bandwidth. Be wary of streaming applications and downloads happening on your computer as this will increase latency between your computer and the game servers. Other devices are connected to your network - not only running applications but other connected devices to your network could eat up your bandwidth as well. Devices such as other computers, consoles, smartphones, tablets, and others could consume your network's resources. This could also result in a higher ping on your part, which will dramatically affect your gameplay. Your ISP - the problem might also be lying on your ISP. Maybe your internet service provider does not route traffic optimally for gaming which is possible on a lot of internet service providers. Many of our ISP friends provide dedicated gaming packages with wtfast included in the bundle, which gives you a stronger connection and all the power of wtfast’s dedicated network boosting service, too! You're not using a dedicated gaming software - using a gaming VPN like wtfast will improve your gaming performance by regulating and reducing your ping. Instead of just connecting to the "normal" server connection, wtfast will create a custom connection which will eliminate the number of hops needed for you to reach the server. The quicker you get to the server, the faster your game will be!

Many people fixate on ping time when they're gaming, zoning in on speed and that magic ping number. Plenty of gamers look at their ping time like a "scorecard" for their connection. However, many gamers underestimate the importance of their connection stability. Stability is a less sexy thing to focus on than speed – imagine test-driving a Porsche to assess its "stability"... it's not quite as fun as testing the speed, is it? Sexy or not, stability is just as important, and in many cases more essential than your raw speed metrics. Imagine driving a Porsche at 200 miles per hour on a busy highway, when your speedometer instantly drops down to 10 miles per hour! How do you think that would pan out for you as the driver of that sports car? Sure, the car's speed is essential, but it's also equally, and often MORE critical for the vehicle to maintain a *consistent* speed. Your internet connection is like a car – it needs to perform consistently and reliably. You can reduce the number of ping spikes in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition in several ways. The first step to improving your connection stability may seem like an obvious one, but it's important to check this first – make sure you are using a wired internet connection. When you are using a wireless connection, you will often lose data packets, causing interruptions to your experience. Sure, simple applications are built to be fault-tolerant and auto-reconnect after a dropped connection, but games are different. A missed move in a game will always be a missed move in a game. Next, close any applications or file transfers that may be eating up your bandwidth. When you're gaming, you don't want your computer to prioritize something like your Dropbox file transfers over your game connection. Close as many programs as you can to ensure an extra speed and performance boost. Not only will your computer perform a little better without having a bunch of apps using up its RAM, but you’ll reduce the risk of your internet bandwidth getting used up accidentally. For a full list of applications running on your computer, you can use Task Manager on Windows or Activity Monitor on MacOS.

You might already know about checking your ping and latency to improve your gaming experience. But there is one more factor that has a significant effect on the smooth gameplay you're supposed to have - and that is jitter. What is jitter? Jitter is an average of the change in ping over time or how your latency score fluctuates. It is the variation in latency, and it's a problem because it makes the experience unpredictable. Average internet users commonly ignore it, but to online gamers, especially the ones who are playing multiplayer shooter games, this problem is a big deal. Jitter (or more accurately, latency fluctuation/flux), shows itself during games like Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition through choppy gameplay. You're running around, and suddenly the world freezes. Once it unfreezes, everything has changed, as if time had stood still for you and then got caught up suddenly. Even if this just happened half a second, you'll probably notice this stuttery gameplay. Jitter causes the latency to change rapidly, for example from 10ms to 80ms and back. In such a situation, it's tough for game servers to provide a fair environment for all players, which can be very frustrating.

Ping is a regular occurrence in online games. Basically, ping is the amount of time (usually measured in milliseconds) your machine and a game server takes to communicate with each other. With that said higher pings mean lag for any online game that you play. Ping enhancers help lower your ping by improving the communication of your machine and the game server. wtfast is the world’s leading ping enhancer software, that gives you a much smoother and faster gaming experience. wtfast works by redirecting your gaming traffic to a private connection. Instead of only being stuck with your default internet path between your device and the game server, wtfast gives you thousands and thousands of possible different connections to explore and test-drive. wtfast establishes a private connection between you and the gaming server, which acts as a "fast lane”, allowing you to transfer data much more rapidly. wtfast can significantly lower ping spikes, lags, jitters, and lost packet data which will result in better gameplay and more wins!

WTFast calculates an average ping time between you and the Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition server, across each of the hops. While we do our best to calculate every hop along the route, there are some 'hop points' that are behind firewalls or obfuscated (i.e., hidden from us) which make measuring the ping time to and from that location a bit trickier. By calculating the difference between the total ping time between you and the Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition server, we can calculate an approximate time between obfuscated hop points, but it can be slightly less accurate than the non-obfuscated points.

Imagine that your internet speed is a bit like driving a car. Now imagine that your car only shows you an average of your speed, not your actual speed at any given moment. What if you are driving faster than the speed limit, but your car only shows your 'average' speed? Do you think you will get a speeding ticket if your dashboard says you're under the speed limit, but you are traveling faster than the speed limit? In-game ping meters tend to work similarly, showing you a snapshot or an average of your overall session. These in-game ping meters are useful for getting an approximate idea of your internet latency, but they are only a rough measurement tool and do not allow you to fix your connection. WTFast is a true networking diagnostic and improvement application. With WTFast, you get real-time statistics on your connection to Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, which changes every time a packet is sent to and from the server! wtfast gives you detailed and nuanced stats on your Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition session. This way you can see where your connection is going, and how it's impacting your performance.

To better understand the path your internet traffic takes to get from your device to the Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition server, you'll want to use a traceroute. In WTFast, we show you a map that traces the estimated route your data packets are taking to get from you to the Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition server. A standard traceroute is much less visual, showing you a text-based list of 'hops', along with the latency between each point. The latency between each point in the traceroute is measured using the ping time between two points.

Rubberbanding in online games like Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition is caused by different factors. You might think this is because of your network connection or your ISP - although this can be true, that is not always the case. Rubberbanding can also be caused by improper installation of the game or if your game has corrupted files. Having old drivers installed in your PC (specifically for your graphics card and/or network adapter) can also be one of the causes. If you are connected through a WiFi connection instead of a wired connection, chances are you may likely to experience a rubberbanding problem. Another potential rubberbanding cause is a poor internet connection. It’s always worth having a conversation with your ISP to see if they offer a dedicated gaming bundle, especially if they offer WTFast as a built-in value bundle. Ask your ISP if they bundle WTFast with their gaming package. So how can you fix this rubberbanding problem with Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition? Here is a simple guide to do this. First, take note that we will only show you general fixes for this problem. It may have a little or a significant impact to you depending on different factors or variables. However, these fixes have been proven to work for different players, so we can say that they are worth trying. As mentioned in a previous tip, rubberbanding can be a result of improper installation of the game. You may want to try reinstalling your game, along with any external gaming launcher (like Steam), to see if your problem is fixed. Other than that, you may want to update the drivers of your graphics card and network adapter to see if there will be any major differences to your gaming experience. Try to switch to a wired connection instead of a wireless one. You can do this by using an ethernet cable and connect it to your router. This will eliminate packet loss which is one of the major causes of rubberbanding. If the same problem still occurs, you should definitely consider using a network enhancement program. WTFast has customized and private network connections which drive your traffic more directly to the game server which optimizes connection for much stronger stability and faster ping times. Supporting over 72 billion potential combinations of game, game server region, country, and proxy routes, you'll definitely find a combination that is suitable for you. With the help of WTFast, you'll be able to focus on your game without any rubberbanding interruptions.

First off, you've come to the right place. We're anti-lag here at WTFast! Secondly, keep in mind that 'lag' is a general term and could apply to both slow down (e.g., frames per second/FPS), or reduced responsiveness during gameplay. For clarity, we're going to focus less on graphical lag and more on your network latency and performance. At WTFast, we make software to help you boost your network performance for latency-sensitive programs like Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. We can help improve your network latency!

Ping is a measurement of the reaction time of your internet connection. Your ping time measures how long it takes for data packets to get from your device to the Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition server. Ping measures the time it takes to make a round trip time between your computer and the Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition server, and it is typically measured in milliseconds. A fast ping time means you have a more responsive connection for latency-sensitive apps like online games. Ping was initially a term used in active sonar technology, and it described the time it took for a sound to be sent and received between sender and target. In the animal kingdom, bats use a similar method called echolocation which uses high-frequency sounds to help the bat determine how close it is to a destination, even in total darkness. On the internet, determining your Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition ping time can be a bit trickier. Internet connections are not typically direct – there are multiple 'hops' between the sender and the target. Much like bats, we're often flying blind on the internet, unaware of the latency of the next 'hop.' When calculating your overall ping time, it's important to factor in each 'hop' along the route. When your Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition connection is laggy, it's usually due to a poor connection between 2 or more points. For example, your computer may be the Sender, and the Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition server may be your Target, but there could be other mystery hops along the way causing issues.

Gamers often see the letters “ms” beside a number or a series of numbers in games like in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. For those of you who don’t know, “ms” is the abbreviation for milliseconds. It is the unit of measurement used in ping. Take note that 1000ms are equal to one second. So why does it matter in your game? In playing Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, what you’re aiming for is a low ms count. Having a low ms count means you have a lower ping. Which means, if you see 250ms, this is exactly how long it takes for your data packets to reach that server. The higher the number, the longer it takes for you to transfer data and the more "laggy" it will feel to you. So, the lower the millisecond ("ms") count, the better.

We know how hard it is to fight the never-ending battle between you and lag, ping spikes, and more. Just like what a lot of gamers say - the lower the ping, the better your gaming experience. So first and foremost, you need to know what a ping is and how does it affect your Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition gameplay. A ping is the response time between two computers. When it comes to online gaming, a ping shows the response time between the client and the game server. Ping time is measured in milliseconds, and tell you how long a packet data takes to travel back and forth from the client and the game server. Simply put, whenever a gamer connects to an online game, a reduced ping becomes a gamer’s best friend. On the contrary, a high ping becomes a gamer's worst enemy. Your ping time can literally be the difference between winning and losing. So how can you reduce your Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition ping? Before connecting to Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, make sure to check your ping beforehand. Using the WTFast Ping Test is one of the best methods to do so. Pings that are less than 100ms are ideal for online gamers. However, pings higher than 150ms will start to show lag. Even if you have the best gaming rig in town, that won't help in reducing your ping unless you have a very strong internet connection. And surprisingly enough, sometimes even a strong internet connection isn’t the solution to your ping problems. Reducing your ping can be done in several ways. First is to make sure that you use a wired internet connection. Using a wireless connection may result in a lot of ping problems, which is why a wired connection is the best option when it comes to online gaming. You should also consider using your local servers or the servers that are closest to your location. This can dramatically reduce your ping as it will allow better communication between the gaming server to your PC. Next is to close all running applications running in the background. This will prevent your computer from multitasking. Having many running applications will consume your computer's memory and will affect the overall performance of your gameplay. Moreover, you should close all software that demands bandwidth, as it leeches all your bandwidth and will give you a terrible amount of delays and high ping times. You should also consider disabling your software updates before you start playing, as updates tend to consume a lot of bandwidth. You may just turn your updates back on after playing. If you are using a wireless connection, make sure to reduce the number of devices that are connected to the WiFi. If it's possible, disconnect all other connected devices on your local network so that you're the only one consuming the bandwidth. If not, the next best thing is to connect your PC to the router through an ethernet cable. Routers and modems tend to work non-stop which results to congested data registry. You should try restarting your router to refresh your connection and potentially lower your ping. If your router has been around since the stone age, you might want to consider buying a newer replacement. Replacing your router will noticeably affect your Internet connection speed, strength, and consistency. Furthermore, your ping will also likely be lower when you install a new router. You can also dramatically reduce your ping by using a dedicated gaming software. WTFast can lower your ping by reducing the number of hops it takes to get to your gaming server. By decreasing the number of hops between you and the Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition game server, you'll surely see a significant reduction with your ping and have a much, much better online gaming experience! The advantage of WTFast is that you aren’t limited to a single internet connection between you and the game router. Instead, WTFast gives you thousands and thousands of potential alternative routes between you and the game server, giving you a multitude of options and choices for improving your connection! With such a powerful utility, we encourage our users to experiment with different connection routes to find the path that’s best for them and their favorite game.

WTFast is a utility that helps redirect your internet traffic from the 'regular' internet to a private connection. Think of WTFast a bit like a 'fast lane,' where there are fewer cars on the road or fewer planes in the sky. For instance, private airlines fly higher in the air than standard commercial airline routes. Operating in less busy airspace allows private airlines to fly faster than the usual commercial lines, often allowing business people to get to their destinations more quickly. There are multiple hops between your home internet connection and the Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition server. WTFast allows you to reduce the number of hops to get much closer to your game server. When you use WTFast, you can select a Proxy Server that sends your traffic directly to the game server instead of leaving your connection up to chance. Standard internet traffic routing wasn't intended for low-latency gaming, like playing Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition with fast ping times. Instead, it was designed to handle large quantities of data shuttling between places in the most cost-effective way possible. Bandwidth is expensive, especially when you're streaming Netflix in 4K. And since video streaming is such a popular activity on the internet, internet service providers have to optimize for the most popular uses of their services. Decreasing the number of hops between you and the Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition game server can help, as well as routing your traffic through quieter and less populated proxy paths (what we call our "GPN Nodes".) We support thousands of games and over 60,000 combinations of GPN proxy servers to handle your connection across 190 countries. There are over 72 billion potential combinations of game, game server region, country, and proxy routes that we handle. If one path using WTFast doesn't work for you, consider trying different server route.

So, you're into a crucial moment in a game against your friends. Your only chance of getting ahead is to make that one good shot. You're in position, ready to attack, and is on the perfect line of sight; then there was a sudden frame freeze. The next thing you know, you have been killed and your team has lost the game. We know, this can be a great big bummer. If you're experiencing this, you might want to do something about your lag. For all of our sakes! ;) Lags are a noticeable delay between the action of the players and the reaction of the server. A lot of gamers have this problem, especially withAge of Empires II: Definitive Edition. Here are simple tips on how you can get rid of lag in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. First, check the system requirements of the game. Your PC may be inadequate to perform the processing power that Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition needs. If your computer does not meet the requirements listed on the game's system requirements, you should upgrade your computer to the specifications mentioned therein. You may also opt to downgrade the system requirements by reducing the resolution and graphics quality in-game. You can decrease the resolution and graphics rendering by tweaking the game settings in the options menu. Try to experiment with different graphics options, like reducing screen resolution, render quality, lower texture resolution, etc. Remember - multitasking is bad! If you were a professional football player, would you try to stream Netflix while you played? Probably not. Focus is a good thing. Consider shutting down all programs and devices that are consuming your bandwidth, because you need to dedicate all of that to your online gaming. Wired connections are also more preferable than wireless connections because they are faster and more stable. Try turning off your software updates whenever you start playing online. Although you need to keep your computer up-to-date, there is nothing wrong with turning off software updates for a moment. Mid-game software updates could sabotage your bandwidth and will likely cause lag in your game. Turn these updates off ASAP, and you will surely see a positive difference. If none of these work, we have one more solution in store for you. It's WTFast! At WTFast, we are dedicated to creating software that significantly improves your network performance. WTFast optimizes your connection by reducing the number of hops between you and the Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition game server. This will substantially reduce unnecessary lag in online games. We support thousands of games and over 60,000 combinations of GPN proxy servers to handle your connection across 190 countries. WTFast will make sure that your game data reaches the server in the most effective manner possible.

Think of a traceroute as an 'audit trail' for your Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition connection. Your data is usually routed through several servers between you and the Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition servers. A traceroute helps you measure and visualize the route your traffic takes, showing you each gateway or 'hop' along the way. For your connection to Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, your data packets will usually travel across multiple 'hops' to get from your computer to the server. Your data will often change hands across various networks to get from Point A (your device) to Point B (the game server). A traceroute measures your data packets as they're set from your computer across all the various 'hops' between Point A and Point B. When you use a traceroute, your connection history is recorded as "round-trip time." A traceroute shows you a list of each of the points your connection hits as it travels between you and the Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition server.

Latency is a term that is commonly used in online gaming. Latency (in an online gaming context) refers to the average total time that it takes for your computer to send data to the gaming server. Latency is measured in milliseconds, and a second is composed of 1000 milliseconds. On the other hand, your game response time is the time it takes for the data and the corresponding event to reach the game server and then back to your computer. Basically, your response time is 2x the latency which means, if you lower your latency by 250ms, you'll also reduce your game response time by 500ms, which is half a second. If you lower your latency by 500ms, you'll also lower your game response time by 1000ms, which corresponds to a second, and so on. The lower your latency, the faster the data will be delivered to the game server and the quicker for the data to return to your computer. A low latency connection time will have a significant improvement in your gameplay, especially on fast-paced games like Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition where you need to execute an action quickly. WTFast helps in reducing your latency, as well as protecting you from lag spikes and high ping times. We have dedicated servers across 190 different countries which will reduce the number of hops needed to transfer between different servers. By using WTFast, you have more chances of lowering your latency and achieving a much better gaming experience.

Imagine playing Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, and you are about to make a critical move that requires the quickest reflexes. You're all ready. You aim. And... BAM! Your little brother runs up and shoves you out of your chair. Unsurprisingly, you miss your critical move entirely! Not only do you lose the match, but now you're pissed off with your little brother. A ping spike is like having your brother shove you out of your chair right as you're about to make that move in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. A ping spike is what happens when your lag jumps suddenly, like when you go from a stable 10ms ping time to an unstable 300ms response. These drastic ping spikes are your enemy when it comes to online games and latency-sensitive applications where real-time interaction is expected. When your ping spikes suddenly, it almost always results in a missed move in games like first-person shooters, MOBAs, or fighting games. The more responsive and 'twitchy' the game mechanic, the more critical it is to make sure your connection is both fast AND smooth.

Jitter is the sudden deviation that you get in your ping whenever you are playing online games. For example, your average ping might be 45ms. But with jitter, that 45ms might spike to 90ms or even 300ms for a short time, before going back down to your average ping. These sudden spikes in ping may throw off your game, causing you to miss that game-winning moment in games like Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. A simple thing like jitter can cause you to lose a game, making your gaming skill completely irrelevant. How can you fix jitter? The main cause of jitter is the difference in the average latency time of your packets. So, you can fix your jitter by lowering your latency and more. To resolve this, you should strongly consider using a wired internet connection if you’re not already. This is highly advisable when you are into online gaming rather than using a wireless connection. A wired connection will prevent fluctuations and lost packets which can significantly improve and lower your latency. Next is to use a high-speed internet connection. Lower internet speed may cause jitter or latency flux, especially when you're sharing it with other people or other devices. You may try and switch to fiber connections, or even just upgrade your connection and increase your bandwidth. Doing so can transform your gaming into smooth, no-jitter gameplay. Another step is to use a powerful router. Your router is the heart of your internet connection, so you’ll want to invest in the best here. Maybe your router has been there for ages, and it's not working well for your needs anymore. Look for a powerful router that is fit for your gaming needs. Do some research and check reviews to verify the quality of the router. Make sure that the bandwidth capacity is high enough to handle the traffic your household produces. We suggest finding a router with WTFast built-in. This way, your router can handle all the complexity of finding the best route across the thousands and thousands of potential different connection routes available in WTFast. Our friends at ASUS offer dedicated gaming routers with WTFast built-in, giving you peace of mind for gaming without headache. If you're still experiencing jitter and aren’t ready to upgrade your router, you can boost your game by simply using gaming software that offers the network optimisation solution for you. That software is WTFast! WTFast uses a custom business-grade network infrastructure that is perfect for your gaming needs. Our optimization services will provide you with a more reliable and responsive connection which can help you reduce jitter and improve your network stability.

Rubberbanding is one of the major problems most gamers encounter when playing online games. This is extremely annoying, especially with Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition and online games with fast-paced ‘twitch’ mechanics. Rubberbanding is a term used to describe a player's random or jerky movement in a multiplayer game when they're experiencing high latency. This often occurs in FPS or similar games that have a large number of people per multiplayer server. It is mostly seen in MMOs - a large number of players means there are more cases of rubber banding; either the server is overloaded, or players have high ping. When rubberbanding happens, a player appears to be thrown backward from the start of the action after they executed that certain action. It feels like being caught in a rubberband - players get thrown back after moving forward, making it look like your character teleported or warped from one place to another. This rubberbanding problem is extremely frustrating, especially when you are in a crucial stage of the game. You’re hiding from your enemy and just about ready to shoot. Then for just a couple of seconds, you suddenly appear in front of the enemy and… BAM! You're the one who gets shot and killed instead. This is the rubberband effect in action. Your action may also appear differently to other players. While you see it as a rubberbanding effect, other players may see your character as idle or motionless, which is commonly seen on players who are experiencing heavy lag. Rubberbanding is confusing for you and your opponents, and it definitely takes the fun out of the game.