Ok, i just tried to run half life 2 and CSS online. My latency ranged from 178 to 2000. I'm running on a 56k modem with some old phone lines that only go from 21k to 26k. Naturally, neither game is very playable in this mode. I could reroute a different phone line to my computer that reaches from 40k to 46k. Will either game be playable on a 40-46k phone line. If not, is there any way to lower latency without upgrading to high speed? (not available where i live.)

Sorry if any of this has been covered before, i checked the search tool and didn't find anything that really helped.

Hey man, welcome to the forum.

What kind of system (specs) do you have?

You can play counter strike source, and still manage to do ok, at about 200. Anything higher and will suck. I've seen people play with 56k modems and ping around 100. One thing you'll want to do is find some servers in your server list that are close to home - you should be able to get a faster connection to those servers. Not all servers are created equal though...some people run servers without suffcient bandwidth and it ends up sucking regardless of the connection you have.

Where do you live (state)? Our server is based in Chicago and has a fat pipe so if you're anywhere near the server ou should be able to get a decent connection speed.

56K...Hmmm I remember those times....but now I have cable... good luck fiding some fast pinging servers in your are...

My specs as of now are

2.8 ghz processor
512 mb ram
a 13 gig hard drive (should be 80 but got wrong item shipped, 80 should arrive within the week)
radeon 9250 128mb

I live in maryland so i guess your server is a bit out of the question. I try to find servers under 250 and usually try them at around 170-180. The game is very laggy when i play, spectator is fairly normal though.

I haven't really played any online games since rainbow six and alien vs predator so you'll have to excuse me for being semi-ignorant on the subject.

thanks for the reply.

I say you get DSL or CABLE, its not that expensive these days, go to www.dslreports.com to check out vedors in your area. If not still good luck with 56K.

wow, just found a server that runs prett well, sometimes i get a lag spike and bounce up to 900 latency but i just reconnect or let it go down itself.

I've checked comcast and verizon, neither have plans available in my area. I can get direcway sattellite but it's a bit expensive. Hopefully ill get something good soon.

Thanks for the help.

If you haven't already, you should make sure all your drivers are up-to-date too. When I updated all my drivers I picked up 30 - 40 FPS. Won't help your ping, but it may help smooth out the game play.