Why MMOs need stability more than speed
You need consistency for MMOs
Raw download speed won’t really affect MMO gameplay. It’s consistency you should consider when looking at the best nbn® for gaming. That’s much harder to market on a plan page.
Download speed in the grand scheme of things
WoW and FFXIV exchange lower server packet data during active play. We're talking 20–40 Mbps at most. But depending on how many devices and people are connected to your internet at the time you’re playing, lower download speed plans might struggle to keep everyone online smoothly.
Don’t think of it like a stream of video. Instead, it’s more like a conversation. It's whether the connection between you and the server is clear, consistent and uninterrupted.
Smooth, uninterrupted system
MMO games like FFXIV and WoW run on a server where inputs need to be received and processed in a consistent, uninterrupted sequence. A spike at the wrong time clips your GCD, drops your Bladestorm or causes the kind of rubberbanding that sends you flying out of position. Not pretty stuff.
The added challenge of being Down Under™
Stability refers not to the absence of slowness, but the absence of interruption. And for Australian players. The challenge is also the large number of kilometres between your house and the hosting servers.
Where are FFXIV and WoW's servers? Does it even matter?
What’s the point of it all…
The further your data has to travel, the more network ‘hops’ it needs to make along the way. This is what causes high latency and increases the risk of packet loss… all the bad stuff that ends your prog night early.
Final Fantasy XIV servers: OCE vs Overseas
FFXIV’s Oceania server (Materia) launched in January 2022 and is hosted in a data centre in Sydney. For most overworld content and casual play, this is where you’d call home. However, if you’re playing at 2am or during other odd hours, the queues might feel a little too quiet for your liking.
Even though it will have the lowest ping, it might not be the best choice for you if you’re looking for an active community at all hours of the day.
Servers like Tonberry and Kujata on Elemental (JP) have large English-speaking communities and significantly more active queues at off-peak hours. The trade-off is higher latency.
World of Warcraft servers
WoW’s Oceania servers are also hosted in an Australian data centre. All Oceania servers run on the same cluster, so activity is consistently healthy across the board.
Cross-realm and cross-faction guilds, cluster-based trade and shared auction houses mean the distinctions between individual servers are largely blurred.
What causes random disconnects during raids or dungeons
The timing feels oddly personal. It’s rarely during the quiet moments and always when there are a lot of spells happening or even when running into pull mobs. If you’ve been asking Chat “Why is my WoW disconnecting in raids” or “FFXIV server latency spikes”, then this feeling is too real.
But have you considered it's your connection that keeps dropping out?
Common causes of the dreaded DC:
What to look for in an internet plan for MMO gaming
Bigger ain’t better. Stop getting tunnel vision for speed tiers and start looking at what actually matters.
Performance is the most important thing
Your ping to the server, and how consistent it is, matters infinitely more than your tier during an active raid. A stable connection will always beat a chaotic one that spikes the moment someone yells "Leroy Jenkins” and full sends it.
Choose nbn over other connections
Performance is largely out of your control. But we’re in the business of controlling things we can control. Choose an nbn plan because it has faster ping than a mobile broadband plan or home wireless internet connection
What speed tier should gamers get?
While a faster plan won’t impact gameplay, it will mean you can download games and updates faster:
For solo players - nbn® 50
Respectable. The equivalent of levelling as Protection because it gets the job done and nobody can stop you. MMO gameplay itself runs fine, but game downloads might slowly turn into a life event. If you have a few other devices in the house, your gameplay will start to suffer too.
For two to three players – nbn® 100
Reliable. Three people can jump on at once, one raiding, one streaming and one on a video call. For most Marrickville sharehouses, this is a more realistic minimum.
But! It's close to the ceiling. A few extra devices online at the same time, and gaming is usually the first thing to notice the squeeze.
Serious gaming house – nbn® 500
This is the meta pick with plenty of headroom for multiple gamers and all their connected things, all at once. A 100 GB patch can download in under 30 minutes, which means that someone else’s update isn’t still going when your raid starts.
Large households – nbn® 1000
If you’re running a Twitch channel, transferring large files and living in a house with 30+ devices, you’re going to want this one.
How Superloop's International Routing Helps Overseas Latency
Superloop has indefeasible rights of use and access to the cable
Superloop has indefeasible rights of use and access to the INDIGO subsea cable. Sounds pretty flashy. It’s a direct fibre connection that runs from Sydney to Perth to Singapore, owned by Superloop, carrying live traffic since 2019.
Built for latency of the low kind
Superloop is present at all 121 nbn® Points of Interconnection. This gives us direct control over latency, capacity and performance consistency across the entire domestic leg of your connection before traffic… before it reaches overseas shores.
Direct peering to gaming servers
Superloop's extensive peering across Australia, Asia, the US and Europe, reducing the number of third-party network hops between your home and the servers running FFXIV and WoW.
Don’t just take our word for it…
Superloop was awarded both the High-Speed NBN and Gaming NBN awards at the 2026 TechRadar Australian PC Awards, voted by the community whose opinion actually matters: The avid gamers.
In the ACCC Broadband Performance Report (June 2026), Superloop also delivered 101% of advertised speeds during busy hours. Impressive, if we do say so ourselves.
So dare to discover. Find the right nbn® plan for FFXIV and WoW with Superloop today.
