Some people will say, “Hey, I play [insert other online game here] and moderate NAT (or NAT Type 3, if you’re a PS3 player) works fine for me.” I’ll grant you that, in a first-person shooter or a MOBA, such internet connections might be serviceable enough. Especially if running around and having some casual fun for an evening is how you roll. However, fighting games absolutely demand as efficient a network as possible. Whereas games like StarCraft II have balance changes with build speeds in seconds, fighting games are balanced in frames and milliseconds.

Sounds daunting, I know. But once you get used to the “feel” of a fighting game, a bad connection will result in dropped combos, hitching frame rates and reversals against your favor. I won’t break down the science of hitboxes and frame data, because you’ll eventually gravitate toward that info if you ever get serious enough. Just let it be known that the flow and momentum should be preserved.

Additionally, a lot of people will make the mistake of stating the download and upload speeds their ISP provides and say, “It must not be me, I have business class internet.” I’ve made this mistake before, and opted to buy a really fast internet connection last summer when I really didn’t need it. While having a 100 Mbps connection is great and will alleviate your router’s load distribution, the advertised “speed” that Comcast or AT&T emphasize hardly means anything regarding network gameplay.

For example, a long session of Street Fighter X Tekken costs me nothing more than 20MB of data (we’re talking about 50 matches). What this means is that the packets of data being exchanged are mere kilobytes, a far cry from the 100 Mbps connections people covet, flaunt or cherish; it’s a placebo effect. The only thing that matters is getting those tiny packets to and from your opponents as fast as possible. To use a plumbing metaphor (this will come up a lot), the advertised “speed” is basically the (band)width of the water pipes. Torrents and Steam downloads work better with larger (band)widths, but fighting games don’t need as large a pipe.

What are the ingredients for a good connection?

An internet connection that isn’t dial-up

I’m operating under the assumption that you’re viewing this guide with a high-speed internet connection. That might not be the case. Heck, I had a friend who only had dial-up until two years ago because her house was built in some sort of Comcast deadzone. This was way past the days when image threads had 56k warnings. Remember that? Oh, the 90s. Still, if you’re unsure what your speed is, head over to speedtest.net and hit the “BEGIN TEST” button. Anything above 2Mbps for download and 512Kbps for upload is cool. Again, you won’t need much.

Ethernet cables

These are usually packed in with routers and modems, so there shouldn’t be too much problem acquiring them. If you don’t have an Ethernet cord for a console-to-router connection, be sure to get one. Packed in cables typically aren't long, so if the distance between your console and router is long, investing in a longer cable is a sound idea, and inexpensive.

Your router’s manufacturer and model

Head on over to your router and look at all sides. There should be some sort of label indicating the manufacturer/brand (Netgear, Linksys, Cisco, etc.) and the model number. For example, the router I’m using is Netgear’s WNDR3400. Once you find this information, write it down.

Your router’s sign-in, password and default IP

Using the information you just wrote down, look at and find your router’s manufacturer. Write down the default IP address, username and password. If at any point you changed any of these three things, just ignore writing down the defaults and put down your own info.

Your console’s MAC address

PS3 Instructions

360 Instructions

What are the fundamentals for a good connection?

Do NOT use wireless

This is the most important thing you can do to make your connection as best as possible. It’ll give your console a higher priority in your network, and ensures data is consistently streamed, as opposed to scattershot through the air.

Most wireless routers operate on a 2.4 Ghz radio band and current consoles are only capable of receiving and interpreting this signal type. Unfortunately, a LOT of other devices use the 2.4 Ghz spectrum; anything from TV remotes to microwaves to wireless phones. These other devices can cause a lot of interference and, if your neighbor also has a wireless router, even more significant performance decreases can occur. Sure, there have been advances in wi-fi hardware such as Wireless-N, 4G cards or 5Ghz bands, but modern consoles can’t take advantage of most of the new tech.

So, I will reiterate: USE A WIRED CONNECTION. Drill some holes, get a really long Ethernet cord. Do whatever it takes to run a wire from your console to your router.

Use a static IP address

The changes we’ll be making in the third sequence of steps are specifically designed to put your console at the highest priority on your network. In order to do that, your router needs to be able to recognize when your console connects in order to apply the newly implemented settings. The best way to do this is to give your console a static IP address (i.e. one that never changes).

To start, look at the default IP you wrote down earlier. There’s a high likelihood that it’s 192.168.1.1, so I’m going to use that as an example. The IP address 192.168.1.1 is reserved for your router, so it’s automatically one you can’t use for your console. When picking a static IP address for your console, the only number you should change is the fourth one. As such, an IP address like 192.168.1.8 would work. Just make sure the fourth number does not exceed 255. Additionally, a lower number does not mean a higher priority. A router simply dishes out IP addresses based on what the first, second, third, etc. devices connected were.

With your chosen IP, head on over to your console’s network settings. On the XMB, this is [Settings] > [Network Settings] > [Internet Connection Settings].

• Under “Select a setting method”, select “Custom”

• Under “Select a connection method”, select “Wired Connection”

• Under “Select the operation mode”, select “Auto-Detect”

• Under “IP Address Setting”, select “Manual”

You will then see a list of five items. For right now, we’ll only worry about the first three.

• Under “IP Address”, put in your chosen static IP address

• Under “Subnet Mask”, put in 255.255.255.0 (there are some exceptions to this, but this is the correct value 99.9% of the time)

• Under “Default Router”, put in your default IP address

After that, remain on this screen and read the next step.

360 Instructions

On the 360 Dashboard, this is under [Settings] > [System] > [Network Settings]

• Under “Available Networks”, select “Wired Network”

• Under “Network Settings”, select “Configure Network”

• Under “Configure Network”, select the first block of settings (IP Settings, IP Address, Subnet Mask, Gateway)

• Under “Edit IP Settings”, select “Manual”

• Select “IP Address” and put in your chosen static IP. Hit start to finish.

• Select “Subnet Mask” and put in 255.255.255.0 (there are some exceptions to this, but this is the correct value 99.9% of the time)

• Select “Gateway” and put in your default IP address

• Exit back out to “Configure Network” and stay on that screen

Use different DNS servers

DNS servers are, essentially, the middleman between you and the person you’re connecting to. By default, an Internet Service Provider, or ISP, will route your connection through their DNS servers. However, these DNS servers are slow, often far away from your house, and aren’t good at dishing out data. There are tools such as the open-source namebench utility that will point out which DNS servers will reduce latency. Safe bets are usually Google’s public servers, whose IP addresses are 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4. Find what works best for you, and write down two of the best DNS servers available.

PS3 Instructions

Enter these two values in the screen I told you to stay on, under “Primary DNS” and “Secondary DNS”. Now, you can finally move on.

• Under “MTU”, select “Automatic”

• Under “Proxy Server”, select “Do Not Use”

• Under “UPnP”, select “Enable”

• Press the X button to save settings

• Test your connection if you feel like it. Just know that it might not be successful at this stage.

360 Instructions

On the 360 Dashboard, on the screen I told you to stay on, select the second block of settings (DNS Settings, Primary DNS Server, Secondary DNS Server).

• Under “Edit DNS Settings”, select “Manual”

• Select “Primary DNS Server” then enter the first address you wrote down. Press start to finish.

• Select “Secondary DNS Server” then enter the second address you wrote down. Press start to finish.

• Test your connection if you feel like it. Just know that it might not be successful at this stage.

And we’re all done for console side of things!

Turn off any media server connections (PS3 only)

Unless you’re using something like the PS3 media server, I highly recommend disabling media server connections to eliminate any additional network confusion. Last I checked, this was enabled by default. Regardless, on the XMB, go through [Settings] > [Network Settings] > [Media Server Connection]. Select “Disabled”.

What are the router settings for a good connection?

Use your console’s static IP in the DMZ

Remember WAY back when I told you to write down your router’s sign-in, password and default IP? Well, we’re going to use that right now. In your browser’s navigation bar, type in your router’s default IP address. If it’s the correct address, you should be prompted to enter in a sign-in name and password. Enter the respective information in each of the fields, and you should see your router’s settings interface. It varies wildly from manufacturer to manufacturer, so any of the screenshots below may not be accurate to yours. For reference, I am using a Netgear WNDR3400 with dd-wrt firmware installed.

Somewhere on the interface, there should be something called the DMZ. This will open up all the ports on a given IP address. For me, I found it under the “NAT/QoS” tab, then under the “DMZ” tab.

Enable the DMZ, then enter in your console’s static IP address. Save/apply your settings.

Put your console in high priority in QoS

Change your router’s DNS servers

What else can I do?

Use custom firmware for your router