Internet speed adequate?

[rpowers 5]

I have flight sim Ed since it first came out but due to moving to a rural area with extremely limited internet I have not moved up to FS2020. I now have internet at 25mps. Is this adequate to run FS2020 with a new computer?Thank you,Ron

[Bob Scott 7,721]

If you're actually getting and sustaining 25 Mbps, you should be fine.  But in many cases, that's a "max" or best attainable rate and real data rates are much less.  Best to check with an internet speed test and see what you're actually getting.  A test that also measures latency wouldn't be a bad idea, either.

[sightseer 895]

59 minutes ago, rpowers said:

I now have internet at 25mps.

Thats what I have and its fine.  People with really fast internet don't seem to realize that their fast internet does nothing to speed up the MS servers.  I use the rolling cache with photogrammetry and it works great.

I do think it depends on what part of the world (which MS server serves you) that will affect you most.

[MrFuzzy 2,118]

1 hour ago, rpowers said:

I have flight sim Ed since it first came out but due to moving to a rural area with extremely limited internet I have not moved up to FS2020. I now have internet at 25mps. Is this adequate to run FS2020 with a new computer?Thank you,Ron

Ideally it should be 50 MBps according to MS.

[threexgreen 3,139]

Minimum for MSFS is 5 Mbps, 20 Mbps is recommended and 50 Mbps is ideal, according to MSFS specs, so you should be fine. I have 58 Mbps which is more than the ideal bandwidth but I still sometimes run into 'molten' photogrammetry, so your own bandwidth isn't the whole story and it still also depends on MSFS servers.

[MrBitstFlyer 3,874]

1 hour ago, rpowers said:

I have flight sim Ed since it first came out but due to moving to a rural area with extremely limited internet I have not moved up to FS2020. I now have internet at 25mps. Is this adequate to run FS2020 with a new computer?Thank you,Ron

Get Starlink satellite Internet - I'm in the UK and live in a rural area on a canal narrowboat.  Best ground based internet I can get is around 30MBs, but Starlink gives me an average of 250Mbs.  Best speeds are 350Mbs.

[rpowers 5]

Thank you for the quick and informative responses. That is info I needed. Ron from Starved Rock ,I’ll. 90 miles SW of Chicago

[Reader 2,021]

8 minutes ago, MrBitstFlyer said:

Get Starlink satellite Internet 

It looks like a very good idea but the one-off installation cost plus the first month's rental is equal to the entire two year contract cost of my 27mbps land based service.

[wim123 763]

and why o why not test it out via the gamepass for 1 dollar for one month?

easy to see if it will work ok.

[MrBitstFlyer 3,874]

42 minutes ago, Reader said:

It looks like a very good idea but the one-off installation cost plus the first month's rental is equal to the entire two year contract cost of my 27mbps land based service.

Well, if it’s bandwidth you need in a rural location, it is an excellent option.  Personally the initial cost was worth it for excellent MSFS performance as well as general internet use.  My 30 MBs service meant MSFS itself, plus each time it’s updated, took a day.  With Starlink it takes me less than an hour.  Downloading on Steam I used to see 2MBs and that could mean another day to download one game. With Starlink I get 30MBs downloads often. My wife and I loves it for Netflix, YouTube etc - quick connection and seamless streaming.

Starlink has been installed for just over a year without a single problem. Well worth that initial outlay.

[Fielder 3,673]

OOKLA is the magic word to google. Just click and read the dial to see the speed you are actually getting right now.

https://www.speedtest.net/

----------------------

My PC is upstairs. Router downstairs. So that was a big issue.

On the PC, I use is a USB wifi dongle *with 2 antenna rods*. I use a standard USB extension wire to mount that dongle on the wall and run the extension wire to the PC USB port.

My router has 3 rotating extension rod antennas (it would only need 2 rods if it was a single band router).

Router rods are rotated by trial and error using ookla speeds to parallel the rods on the PC wifi USB output dongle.

If router rods not aligned precisely, speed is in the low 30's. Aligned the speed is at the very least 85 (wifi plan is 100 mBps). Huge difference and absolutely tested true. (unless someone moves the router, so I velcroed that router in place).

About half the routers and half the wifi dongles sold on Amazon have those extending rods.

If the PC is close to the router, none of this is necessary and then it won't help.

--------------

What I use:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B093FT3H7L/
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079JD7F7G/

Edited July 23, 2022 by Fielder

[Reader 2,021]

51 minutes ago, Fielder said:

My PC is upstairs. Router downstairs. So that was a big issue.On the PC, I use is a USB wifi dongle *with 2 antenna rods*. I use a standard USB extension wire to mount that dongle on the wall and run the extension wire to the PC USB port.
My router has 3 rotating extension rod antennas (it would only need 2 rods if it was a single band router).
Router rods are rotated by trial and error using ookla speeds to parallel the rods on the PC wifi USB output dongle.
If router rods not aligned precisely, speed is in the low 30's.
Aligned the speed is at the very least 85 (wifi plan is 100 mBps). Huge difference and absolutely tested true. (unless someone moves the router, so I velcroed that router in place).
About half the routers and half the wifi dongles sold on Amazon have those extending rods.
If the PC is close to the router, none of this is necessary and then it won't help.

I use a cable. 🙂

Edited July 23, 2022 by Reader

[Fielder 3,673]

Yes a cable works best!

Also easier to fly a circle with a Cox control line model plane instead of using radio control. 

[jimcarrel 688]

I started with 5mb per second wi-fi. Only problem was downloading sim and updates. running the program was fine and that was with a 7700 cpu and 1060 graphics card. 

Edited July 23, 2022 by jimcarrel

[Bert Pieke 7,585]

6 hours ago, jimcarrel said:

I started with 5mb per second wi-fi. Only problem was downloading sim and updates. running the program was fine and that was with a 7700 cpu and 1060 graphics card. 

Same here, now have 30 Mbps and downloading updates is much better. 😉