🐲 Slay the Lag Dragon: A Pogo Player's Network Guide

This guide will arm you with the tools and tactics to slice through network bottlenecks like a true hero wielding the power of speed! Lag, disconnects, freezing and slow-loading games are the hidden traps of the internet realm. 

Your quest: Check your internet speed every 3 to 6 months to establish your power level. Understanding your baseline enables you to identify when connection issues arise!

High-Speed Price, Low-Speed Reality

Many of us are paying a premium for internet these days. With promises of high-tier fiber-optic packages, “gigabit” speed options, and premium bundles that guarantee ultra-fast performance.

🤷‍♂️ However, have you tested & evaluated what you are paying for?

Our internet service providers generally do not send a notification stating:
"Hello valued customer, we would like to inform you that your router/modem is currently outdated, which may result in not receiving the internet speed which you are paying for."

Regularly checking and maintaining the equipment we use is essential for optimal performance and longevity.

Beginning Instructions for Better Internet Speed

• Ensure Your Router Is Placed HIGH
• Elevate it off the floor.
• Avoid placing it inside cabinets or behind large furniture.
• Keep It Central - Position it near the center of your space to evenly distribute the signal.

🚧 Keep Your Router Away From:

• Aquariums or water tanks - Water can block Wi-Fi signals surprisingly well.
• Mirrors - They reflect signals and can scatter them unpredictably.
• Cordless phone bases or Baby Monitors
• Metal surfaces and appliances - Metal absorbs and reflects Wi-Fi signals, causing interference.
• Keep away from other routers/Wi-Fi devices - If neighbors are close by, overlapping Wi-Fi channels can cause interference.
• Heat sources and direct sunlight - Can overheat your router, reducing performance or cause damage.

Pro Tips: Even if your router still “works,” it may not be equipped to handle modern internet demands. Older routers often lack support for modern speeds, this can lead to frustrating issues such as lag, slow game loading, freezing screens, or blank (black or white) screens, as well as sudden connection drops.

Use a surge protector with EMI/RFI filtering (Electromagnetic/Radio Frequency Interference). These are designed to reduce line noise and are ideal for networking gear, computers, and AV equipment.

Router Lifespan:

Budget models: 2–3 years. These may wear out faster due to lower build quality and limited firmware support.

Mid-range models: 3–5 years. A good balance of durability and features (this is the one you most likely have).

High-end routers: 5–7 years. Better components and longer support cycles. *Requires personal purchase & personal upkeep, your internet company generally will not help with these.

Power Cycling, Cables and Dust Matter: 

Power Cycling: Turn your router OFF for a few minutes at least once a month. Clears memory, resets connections, prevents overheating, performance drops and resolves temporary glitches.

Cables: Inspect the cable to ensure they are placed properly and securely in both the router and the wall, loose connections can cause speed drops or disconnects. Cable Type = Speed Potential. Typically, there is a number printed on the Ethernet cable itself, at this time the best is Cat 6 or higher.

Dust: A clean router runs cooler and more efficiently. Dust can settle inside Ethernet ports and power jacks, disrupting signal flow. 🤓You can do this check once a month when you are power cycling your device - Make it nice!

Pro Tip: Whenever possible, use a wired Ethernet connection for gaming instead of Wi-Fi. Wired connections are more stable, faster, and have lower latency—which means fewer disconnects and less lag!

Now we are ready to check speed! 

What to Look for When Testing:

• Download Speed - Affects how fast games load and run smoothly
• Upload Speed - Important for sending game data back to Pogo's servers
• Ping/Latency - Lower is better! High ping = lag. Aim for under 50ms for gaming
• Compare your results to what speed tier you're paying for in your billing statement
• Are you getting at least 80% of your advertised speed?

Use Your Internet Service Providers’ Official Speed Test Tool! Signing in is best, however I found just by visiting an internet service provider's website you can test for free - I tested mine on three well known internet providers for free 🎉

If your speed test shows significantly lower speeds than what you're paying for, contact your Internet Service Provider and ask them to:

• Run a line test to check for signal issues
• Reset your modem/router remotely (this is different from just power cycling)
• Check for any service outages or maintenance in your area
• Verify your equipment is provisioned correctly for your speed tier

Many users don't realize that the blank/black/white screens or freezing are often symptoms of insufficient bandwidth or unstable connections rather than browser or site issues. 

Games need consistent speed to load properly, and when that drops, you get those frustrating screens, lags, disconnects and slow loads. 

Signs You Need a Reset:

• Power cycling didn't help
• Games won't load and show blank, black, or white screens
• Connection was fine yesterday but have sudden drops, slow loading or constant freezing
• Speed test shows dramatically lower speeds than your plan (less than 50% of what you pay for)
• Multiple devices experiencing the same issues
• To confirm the internet speed matches the plan you are paying for💸

What an Internet Service Provider Reset Does (That Power Cycling Doesn't):

• Clears stale routing tables on their equipment
• Resolves network congestion paths
• Pushes firmware updates to your modem/router
• Re-provisions your equipment with correct configuration settings
• Fixes signal issues between your home and their network

How to Request an Internet Service Provider Check/Reset:

• Call your Internet Service Provider
• Tell them: "I'm experiencing slow speeds and need a full equipment reset from your end."
• Let them run diagnostics — they can see signal levels and line quality you can't.
• Ask them to reset both your modem and/or router if you have separate devices.
• After the reset, power cycle your equipment one more time.

Keep a Record: Note the date, time, and speed test results. If you need to contact your Internet Service Provider multiple times, this documentation shows there's an ongoing problem and may speed up resolution.

💡These simple habits can prevent slow speeds, dropped connections, and even hardware failure.

A special thank you to community member ble55e5 for introducing this topic to our community and inspiring me to create this guide.