This latest technical perk comes after a series of performance enhancing upgrades for Xbox Series X.
The update also adds a nifty banner that clearly displays both incoming and outgoing Xbox Game Pass titles. There’s currently no word on when it will launch for all users. The update should now be available for Xbox Insider Alpha and Beta tier members to test. Once you quit or suspend a title, that connection is unlocked. Latency is king for online gaming.Eurogamer points out that the reason this wasn’t the case before is because the Xbox reserves a portion of your internet bandwidth for online uses (like multiplayer gaming) while games are running. Overall the gigabit ethernet port on the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S is more than sufficient to deliver next generation speeds but is not cutting edge by todays standards, Similarly the lack of Wi-Fi 6 is a disappointment but not a deal breaker by any means, If you want to get the best performance out of your Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S console using a wired ethernet connection is going to be your best bet, even if your internet speed is low using ethernet will reduce your latency greatly. Recommended Ethernet Cables for Xbox Series X
That same 20 gigabyte download on a 5 Mbps internet connection would take over 8 hours 45 minutes. Of course downloads will take much longer. You do not need a lot of bandwidth to use Xbox Live. Latency and bandwidth are completely different metrics. No amount of download speed will fix your latency. If your latency is high you will experience lag when playing games online. Latency is king when it comes to online gaming. Despite popular belief online gaming is not that bandwidth intensive. The recommended download speed for Xbox Live is only 5 Mbps and anything 3.5 Mbps or higher is supported. If your internet speed is much lower don’t despair. Overall download speeds on the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles are much faster than with previous generations of Xbox consoles. At 135 Mbps that same 20 gigabyte file would take 19 minutes 45 seconds. Given that the average broadband speed of 135 Mbps according to this is likely not an issue for most people who are still severely limited by their internet connection. That is fast for sure but still slow when you consider that at true gigabit speeds that same download would take a mere 2 minutes 45 seconds. At 300 Mbps a 20 gigabyte game download takes just under 9 minutes. 300 Mbps is still a very good download speed but disappointing to anyone who has a 500+ Mbps internet connection. This is the result of server side throttling, a very common technique used by most online services. Unfortunately downloads from Xbox Live appear to currently max out at about 300 Mbps. Running from the integrated Microsoft Edge browser yields a very similar result confirming the accuracy of the test. The speed test utility on the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S shows that speeds of 945+ Mbps are easily obtainable.
To take full advantage you will need a router that has gigabit ethernet ports, a proper ethernet cable, and a suitably fast internet connection. That said, the gigabit ethernet interface is fast enough to take full advantage of most internet connections including gigabit offerings from Xfinity, Spectrum, and Verizon. This is the same as the previous generation Xbox One X and not truly next generation, with standards of 2.5 Gbps and 10 Gbps emerging into the consumer market.
The ethernet port on the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S is a standard gigabit ethernet port capable of supporting speeds of 1 Gbps. Although the Xbox Series X has built in WiFi if you want to truly get the fastest download speed you will want to use a wired connection. Games load in a fraction of the time and download speeds have increased significantly. The Xbox Series X is truly a next generation console offering enhanced performance across the board.