Does DNS choice affect gaming performance?

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Batman

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#242943 21-Nov-2018 06:44

I saw an advertisement that says if you use such and such a (paid) DNS you will have less lag when gaming in the USA. I'm with Spark. Will using a different DNS give me less lag to USA? Currently 170ms from Dunedin to Oregon and 220ms to Virginia.

Just wondering. (On wired connection to UFB)

timmmay

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#2130741 21-Nov-2018 07:10

No. DNS translates domain names to IP addresses, and the result is cached for between 5 minutes and 24 hours. The DNS lookup takes usually about 20 - 50ms every 5mins to 24h, so you might get a 50ms lag that often. But once you have the IP DNS plays no role in connectivity, latency or routing.

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#2130743 21-Nov-2018 07:15

No. The only thing that can give you lower latency to the US is moving house so you're closer to the US.

.. or maybe one day somebody will rewrite the laws of physics and make the speed of light faster.

Batman

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#2130750 21-Nov-2018 07:30

timmmay:

No. DNS translates domain names to IP addresses, and the result is cached for between 5 minutes and 24 hours. The DNS lookup takes usually about 20 - 50ms every 5mins to 24h, so you might get a 50ms lag that often. But once you have the IP DNS plays no role in connectivity, latency or routing.

thanks! happy days!

SirHumphreyAppleby

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#2130813 21-Nov-2018 09:09

timmmay:

No. DNS translates domain names to IP addresses, and the result is cached for between 5 minutes and 24 hours. The DNS lookup takes usually about 20 - 50ms every 5mins to 24h, so you might get a 50ms lag that often. But once you have the IP DNS plays no role in connectivity, latency or routing.

Cache times can be anything from 0 to 2,147,483,647 seconds (32-bit signed). RFC 1035 does not impose limits, but suggests discarding responses with an excessively long TTL, or enforcing an upper limit. It uses one week as an example.

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#2130853 21-Nov-2018 10:06

Batman: I saw an advertisement that says if you use such and such a (paid) DNS you will have less lag when gaming in the USA. I'm with Spark. Will using a different DNS give me less lag to USA? Currently 170ms from Dunedin to Oregon and 220ms to Virginia.

Out of interest, what paid DNS service were you considering? Reports have suggested CloudFlare gives the lowest response of the free resolving DNS providers, and they have a node in Auckland.

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#2130865 21-Nov-2018 10:22

Sorry i don't recall which dns, but yes i have heard of cloud flare from mr linus

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dt

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#2130885 21-Nov-2018 10:40

if you want to improve pings to the states you really need to invest in a gaming network card and a gaming router ;-)

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#2130890 21-Nov-2018 10:46

with anycast being used more, even geoip issues are alot less dns related.

170~220 from Dunedin to us isn't too bad..

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#2131031 21-Nov-2018 12:29

A lot game games use IP for server address opposed to domain names so its not even an issue.

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#2131070 21-Nov-2018 13:35

dt:

if you want to improve pings to the states you really need to invest in a gaming network card and a gaming router ;-)

Paging @michaelmurfy :-P

I'm a geek, a gamer, a dad, a Quic user, and an IT Professional. I have a full rack home lab, size 15 feet, an epic beard and Asperger's. I'm a bit of a Cypherpunk, who believes information wants to be free and the Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it. If you use my Quic signup you can also use the code R570394EKGIZ8 for free setup. Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

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#2131117 21-Nov-2018 14:01

dt:

if you want to improve pings to the states you really need to invest in a gaming network card and a gaming router ;-)

Just because the OP might not be aware. This is a joke :-) They will not improve your gaming experience to the states. (Or anywhere really)

Cheers - N

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Batman

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#2131126 21-Nov-2018 14:24

Talkiet:

dt:

if you want to improve pings to the states you really need to invest in a gaming network card and a gaming router ;-)

Just because the OP might not be aware. This is a joke :-) They will not improve your gaming experience to the states. (Or anywhere really)

Cheers - N

yes i understand what traffic management is, how computer hardware processes things and how wireless works compared to wired :)

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#2131128 21-Nov-2018 14:26

dt:

if you want to improve pings to the states you really need to invest in a gaming network card and a gaming router ;-)

i hate anything gaming because gaming means it costs a bit more to put in horrible LED lights (in general)

dt

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#2131138 21-Nov-2018 14:33

haha sorry OP, I thought the ";-)" was enough of a sarcasm warning

I had just finished a triple shot coffee and was feeling a bit cheeky :-)