Know if it's you or the server before raging
Game won't connect? Check the official server-status pages and measure your own ping before you reboot the router in a rage.
You queue into a match, the connection drops, and the rage is instant — until you realize you never actually checked whether the problem was you or the game's servers. Blame the wrong thing and you reboot your router for nothing while a global outage clears on its own.
Step one: rule out a server outage
Most major platforms publish a live status page, but they are scattered across a dozen bookmarks. The directory pulls the official Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, Epic, Riot, Battle.net, EA and Ubisoft status pages into one place so you can confirm a widespread outage in one click before you touch your own gear.
Open the Server Status directory →Official status pages for every major platform, in one tab.Step two: measure your own latency
If the servers are green, the issue is local. Ping is the round-trip time in milliseconds for a packet to reach a server and return — lower is better, and what counts as "good" depends on the genre. A competitive FPS wants under ~20–35 ms; an MMO is fine under 120 ms.
Rate your ping by genre →Acceptable ping per game type, plus how to measure it yourself.The 30-second checklist
- Servers down? Wait it out — nothing you do at home helps.
- Servers up but you lag? Wire in with Ethernet, close bandwidth hogs, pick the nearest region.
- Still bad? Test ping to confirm before you blame the ISP.
Know which it is first, and you stop raging at the wrong target.