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How to Keep My Latency Out of the Red in World of Warcraft

The latency meter in ̶0;World of Warcraft̶1; appears red when you̵7;re experiencing high latency. High latency means that information sent between the ̶0;World of Warcraft̶1; servers and your computer is taking too long to reach your computer or the server, resulting in delayed actions. Latency, also known as lag, doesn̵7;t cause bad graphical performance in busy areas. Latency can be caused by an overloaded network or a network problem between your computer and the ̶0;World of Warcraft̶1; servers.

Instructions

- 1
  Check the official Service Status forum at US.Battle.net. A red latency could be caused by a problem with the ̶0;World of Warcraft̶1; realm you play on. Try again later if there̵7;s a problem with your realm; Blizzard will fix the problem.
- 2
  Close other programs on your system that are using the network, particularly file-downloading programs. Check your system tray for programs that are still running in the background. These programs can hog your bandwidth, leaving little available bandwidth for ̶0;World of Warcraft̶1; and increasing latency.
- 3
  Exit file-downloading programs and other programs that use the Internet on all other computers on your local network. If other computers behind the same router as you are hogging your Internet connection̵7;s bandwidth, you may experience high latency.
- 4
  Try connecting your computer directly to the Internet if you̵7;re behind a router. Disconnect your router from the modem and plug the modem̵7;s Ethernet cable directly into your PC̵7;s Ethernet port. If this fixes the problem, there may be a hardware problem or configuration issue with your router. Consult your router̵7;s documentation or contact its manufacturer for more information.
- 5
  Update your Internet modem̵7;s firmware, your router̵7;s firmware, your network card̵7;s drivers and your motherboard̵7;s drivers with the latest versions. You can download updates from each device manufacturer̵7;s website. New firmware and driver updates can correct errors that cause latency.
- 6
  Configure your network card̵7;s settings. Click ̶0;Start,̶1; type ̶0;Device Manager̶1; and press ̶0;Enter̶1; to open the Device Manager window. Expand the ̶0;Network Adapters̶1; section, right-click the name of your network card and select ̶0;Properties.̶1; Disable the ̶0;Allow The Computer to Turn Off This Device To Save Power̶1; check box on the Power Management tab if it̵7;s enabled. Click the ̶0;Advanced̶1; tab and disable the ̶0;Checksum Offload,̶1; ̶0;RX Checksum̶1; or ̶0;Hardware Checksum̶1; option. Set ̶0;Speed/Duplex,̶1; ̶0;Media Type̶1; or ̶0;Connection Type̶1; to ̶0;Force Base 100 Full Duplex.̶1; If you have an older router, try ̶0;10 Full Duplex̶1; instead.
- 7
  Run a trace route while you̵7;re experiencing latency to identify the source of the problem. Click ̶0;Start,̶1; type ̶0;Command Prompt̶1; and press ̶0;Enter̶1; to open a Command Prompt window. Type ̶0;tracert us.logon.battle.net̶1; into the Command Prompt window and press ̶0;Enter̶1; to start the trace route. The trace route shows exact location on the Internet where the latency is occurring. You can contact Blizzard Support with the results of the trace route to receive assistance.

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