Your gaming setup might be perfect — great PC, solid monitor, comfortable chair. But if your home network is bad, your online gaming experience will be bad too. And in Australia, where NBN connection quality varies wildly depending on your technology type and location, getting your network right matters more than in most countries.

Here’s how to set it up properly.

Understand your NBN connection

Not all NBN is equal. Your connection type determines your maximum performance:

FTTP (Fibre to the Premises): The best. Direct fibre connection to your home. Low latency, high speeds, stable performance. If you have FTTP, you’ve won the NBN lottery.

HFC (Hybrid Fibre Coaxial): Uses the old cable TV network for the last stretch. Generally good for gaming with reasonable latency, though congestion during peak hours can be an issue.

FTTC (Fibre to the Curb): Fibre runs to a pit near your home, then copper for the last short distance. Performance is close to FTTP for most gaming purposes.

FTTN (Fibre to the Node): The problem child. Fibre goes to a neighbourhood node, then old copper telephone lines carry the signal to your home. The distance from your house to the node determines your speed and latency. If you’re far from the node, your gaming experience will suffer. There’s no fix for this besides lobbying for an upgrade.

Fixed Wireless / Satellite: Not ideal for competitive online gaming. Latency is high and consistency is poor. Casual gaming and single-player are fine. Real-time competitive play will be frustrating.

Check your connection type at the NBN website. If you’re on FTTN and experiencing poor performance, you may be eligible for a technology upgrade.

Wired vs. wireless

For online gaming: use a wired Ethernet connection. Always. No exceptions.

WiFi adds latency (typically 2-10ms over Ethernet), introduces packet loss during interference, and has inconsistent performance. That might be fine for browsing the web. It’s not fine when a 5ms lag spike causes you to die in a competitive match.

Run an Ethernet cable from your router to your gaming setup. If the router is in another room, buy a flat Ethernet cable and run it along the walls, under doors, or through the ceiling. A 20-metre Cat 6 cable costs about $15 on Amazon AU and will transform your online gaming experience.

If running a cable is genuinely impossible, use a powerline adapter (TP-Link AV2000 or similar, around $100 AUD). These use your home’s electrical wiring to carry the network signal. They’re not as good as direct Ethernet but significantly better than WiFi for gaming.

As a last resort, if WiFi is your only option, use the 5GHz band (not 2.4GHz), position your router with line-of-sight to your gaming setup, and keep your router firmware updated.

Router settings that matter

Most ISP-provided routers are adequate but not optimised for gaming. If you’re using the router your ISP gave you, these settings can help:

Quality of Service (QoS): If your router supports it, enable QoS and prioritise traffic from your gaming device. This ensures that someone else in the house streaming Netflix or downloading files doesn’t eat your bandwidth during a match.

DNS servers: Change from your ISP’s default DNS to Cloudflare (1.1.1.1) or Google (8.8.8.8). This doesn’t reduce game latency directly, but it improves the speed of initial server connections and web browsing.

Firmware updates: Keep your router firmware current. Updates often include performance improvements and stability fixes.

Disable UPnP if you can manage port forwarding manually. UPnP is convenient but can introduce security vulnerabilities and occasional connectivity issues. Manual port forwarding for your specific games is more reliable.

Choosing a better router

If your ISP router isn’t cutting it, consider upgrading. For Australian gaming specifically:

Budget ($100-150): TP-Link Archer AX21. Solid WiFi 6 performance, decent QoS, reliable.

Mid-range ($200-300): ASUS RT-AX68U. Excellent QoS (ASUS’s Adaptive QoS is one of the best), good range, and a user-friendly interface.

High-end ($300+): ASUS RT-AX86U Pro. Purpose-built gaming features, dedicated gaming port, exceptional performance.

For most Australians, the mid-range option is the sweet spot. You don’t need a $500 router for gaming — you need a reliable one with good QoS.

Reducing lag in practice

Beyond your home network, there are game-specific things you can do:

Choose the right server region. Always select the Australian/Oceanic server. Playing on US or Asian servers adds 100-200ms of unavoidable latency.

Close background applications. Anything using your internet connection while you’re gaming adds congestion. Close cloud sync services, streaming apps, and download managers.

Schedule updates. Set your game clients (Steam, Battle.net, etc.) to update during off-peak hours. A surprise 50GB update starting while you’re in a match will ruin your evening.

Monitor your connection. Tools like PingPlotter (free version is fine) let you track latency and packet loss in real-time. If you’re seeing consistent issues, the data helps when talking to your ISP about problems.

A well-configured home network won’t make you a better player, but it removes the excuses. When your aim is off, you’ll know it’s you and not your internet. And that’s actually the first step toward improving.