For all of us who play online games and have faced connection or ping issues at some point. There are lots of tutorials as well as how-to articles that can help you resolve the connection issues while gaming.
However, in the majority of cases, these problems persist because the issue lies with your ISP as well as the routing of the internet connection. Programs like ExitLag claim to improve the online gaming experience by optimizing your connection. What is ExitLag, and How does ExitLag do this?
What Is ExitLag?
ExitLag is akin to a VPN, which is specifically for online games. Most VPNs reroute the internet connection for all internet-based applications on a computer, However, ExitLag does that only for games. Currently, the software supports over 100 games, many of which are popular titles.
The service uses a proprietary algorithm, you have to pay to use it after, that is after the three-day trial expires. The software is more adept at improving packet loss as well as jitter issues, rather than the ping. That is due to ping primarily depending on the distance between the player and the game server.
ExitLag has surged in popularity, mainly due to its endorsement by popular esports personalities such as FalleN. (A CS: GO pro player.)
On top of optimizing your internet connection, the service also helps as a game booster, to improve the game’s frames per second (FPS) as well as the game performance. It does so by enabling options like maximum processing priority for games, while also disabling performance leeching background processes.
Advanced users can enable all of that without requiring ExitLag, the service provides a simple menu that lists all these options in an on/off format, which makes it easy for the average person.
As of now, ExitLag is only available for Windows users, the monthly subscription will cost you $6.50. There is also a semi-annual as well as a quarterly plan for reduced monthly costs.
How Does ExitLag Work?
If you have an internet service provider (ISP) that uses bad routing, i.e., you keep experiencing packet loss accompanied by ping spikes when playing online games, then, ExitLag might come in handy. Because after you enable the service, your computer will connect to the game’s servers using ExitLag’s routes as well as servers. In most scenarios, this is an improvement over the route that your ISP uses.
To better explain this, think of internet packets as cars and you could consider highways to be routes. A highway with less traffic will aid the car in reaching from one point to another point faster. Whereas a congested highway will slow the car down. So do highly congested internet routes, they slow down packet transfer which can also result in packets being lost along the way. That is known as packet loss.
ExitLag redirects your internet packets to a less congested route, this is what helps in more efficient data transfer. While you may not see a dramatic improvement in your ping, the packet loss issue will most likely be resolved.
Another reason for the improvement in your connection to game servers is that ExitLag’s dedicated servers have less traffic. Using real-time optimization, the service claims to make your connection use the best possible route.
In order to further improve stability, ExitLag claims to use a “Multipath Connection.” This basically means that internet packets are transported via multiple routes. So, if one route becomes too congested or unstable, it will automatically switch to any other route.
How to Use ExitLag?
One of the things the service has going is its ease of use. A lot of the things the service does can be done by an advanced user or someone who is familiar with home networks as well as someone who knows how to configure them.
However, most gamers do not belong to any of the above-mentioned categories, and thankfully, ExitLag provides them a smoother gaming experience with the help of a few clicks.
Beginning using ExitLag is simple:
- First, open the ExitLag download page in your web browser, then click on Download ExitLag.
- After the setup file is downloaded, run the setup.
- Select a location for installing ExitLag, then follow the steps of the installation wizard.
- After the installation is finished, you will see a prompt that asks you to restart the computer. Click on Restart Now if you wish to do it now.
- After you restart, run ExitLag. You will have to wait for the route analysis process to complete. This will happen every time the service is started.
- On the home screen, search the name of the game you wish to optimize, then click on it from the search results.
- The game will appear under the Recent section, click on it. A new page will open, this page will allow you to select the game region as well as other settings.
- Choose the game region closest to your geographical location, then click on Apply Routes.
- After it is set, Minimize ExitLag, then launch the game you selected.
Do You Require ExitLag?
The answer to the question depends. If you are thinking that ExitLag will reduce your ping from 300ms to 60ms, then you will face disappointment. There is little that can be done to combat such a high ping.
On the other hand, if you happen to be living in a place with good internet infrastructure, chances are that you won’t notice any difference.
The software will be most useful for places that have bad network infrastructure, which as a result suffer from an unstable internet connection.
If you live in that kind of a place, then ExitLag will help smoothen your online gaming experience by eliminating packet loss as well as jitter. The FPS Boost feature might also come in handy for users that use a low-end gaming computer.
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