Mobile 4G/LTE connection as a temporary gaming option?

[snggpo]

I recently relocated from upstate Orlando FL, and currently have no access to any traditional internet connection for now at least. I have tethered my phones 4G connection to my PC numerous times in the past and I noticed that it was fairly fast. For some reason it had never occurred to me to attempt any kind of online gaming with that connection (I just assumed it was impossible).

But after actually attempting it, I've found that it works better than I would have ever thought. It feels as stable as a wired connection most of the time, however seldomly the connection does stutter and drop for a moment.

Metro PCS only gives you limited amount of data usage for Tethering and Mobile Hotspot, even if you are on an Unlimited data plan. However, I don't think online games send very much data back and forth. So the 7GB cap most likely won't be reached if all you do is play games every so often and check email, etc.

So far I've tested, Black Ops 3, and the emulator platform FightCade.

I plan to test Battlefront, due to the massive amount of players in each server (40).

Is there something that I'm missing? Why does this work so well and why have I never heard about people doing this before? Whats the catch? It honestly seems like a viable solution for anyone traveling.

 

[Gingerbread]

Well first it drains data, but it's not that much. Reason why people don't do it is because your connection might drop, which should not be happening a lot in the USA. Why it works so good, well that is simple, your 4g connection is at least 20mbps, which is way more than enough to play any game.

 

[DasHotShot]

It works so well as 4g delivers a fairly high bandwidth. If you're in a zone with high reception and few users you obviously get to use quite a bit of that bandwidth, therefore achieving very good speeds.

THere are many countries or cities I should say where 4g home broadband modems are a real solution and option for high speed internet. Take London where there is a VERY old infrastructure and surprisingly bad availability for fibre/fast broadband. Here such modems present a great alternative as the 4g network is dense and accesible everywhere inthe center of the city.

People do use it, however it isnt widely marketed...yet.

The problems are, as you noticed, there can qbe inconsistency in the connection. The mor e users the less bandwidth you have access to. It is stil fairly costly tech (comparatively). Use of the network can be pricey or limited (again as you well know).

If it works for you, keep using it.

Another alteqrnaqtive I am sure is availalble to you, is Satellite Internet. Companies come round and install a dish for you which transmits the connection via sat (how media companies have been able to broadcast HD live news feeds for ages now).

Set up is costly, use is cheap and unrestricted.

 

[snggpo]

Wtf. Satellite works well for high speed internet? I thought that the latency would be insane.

 

[DasHotShot]

Wtf. Satellite works well for high speed internet? I thought that the latency would be insane.

I used a connection when I was living in a rural village for a year. Worked superbly for me.

Got down of 20k and up of about 10k

 

[Gingerbread]

Latency is more of a distance issue. You might have 100mbps connection but if you connect from the USA to european servers you cant get less than 200 latency, but even with 10mbps on USA servers you will have 50-70.

 

[snggpo]

When I said latency, I was referring to the latency between, my 4G Device/Cell phone to the actual cell tower that sends out the signal, or from the satellite dish to the actual satellite. I'd prefer to have a cable/fiber connection but will have to wait. And yeah, I don't think I've been able to play with anyone in Europe since the early days of xbox live, because it automatically sets up regional matchmaking most of the time.

Edit: Nevermind I actually remember playing with people from spain, brazil, and australia, so I guess regional matchmaking isn't always in effect.

 

[bill001g]

It is not as small amount of data as you think. Games do not use a lot but they do use continuously. Also the bandwidth is total up and down added together. Games pretty much run streams of data up and down continuous. You can easily get 500kbits/sec. You can easily burn 1gbyte of data in 4 hours.

Also it only works well if you have LTE the other forms broadband have much more latency.