Known Lag Problems
These problems are reported by real players. If your region or ISP is listed, a network optimizer is likely to help.
Asia-Pacific (pre-Nov 2023)
20-80ms (post-Shae Vizla) / 200-350ms (pre-Shae Vizla or on NA servers)- Before the Shae Vizla server launched in November 2023, all APAC players were forced onto NA East or EU servers, resulting in 200-350ms baseline ping
- Shae Vizla server now available and recommended for APAC players
North America (non-East Coast)
10-30ms (East Coast) / 50-100ms (West Coast) / 100-150ms (Mexico, Canada West)- All NA servers are physically on the East Coast (Virginia). West Coast and Central US players experience 50-100ms baseline ping versus 10-30ms for East Coast players.
- Original West Coast servers were merged to Virginia in 2017 United Forces update — west coast players never got new servers.
What players commonly report
- Server-side lag during peak hours in warzones
- TCP-based networking causing ability delay spikes when connection is saturated
- West Coast NA players having higher baseline ping than EU players on the same NA servers
- Operations lag during heavy combat phases (16-player server load spikes)
- Disconnects during long sessions — especially during patches
How to Fix It
Try these first — they're free and solve the problem for most people.
01 Switch from WiFi to a wired Ethernet connection
1. Connect an Ethernet cable from your PC to your router 2. In Windows Settings → Network & Internet, disable WiFi 3. Relaunch SWTOR 4. Check the Signal indicator to compare ping — wired is typically 5-20ms more stable
WiFi adds jitter (ping variation) that is especially painful on SWTOR's TCP connection. Wired connection eliminates packet retransmission bursts that cause ability delay spikes during operations.
02 Enable in-game performance stats via the /fps command
1. In-game, open the chat window 2. Type: /fps 3. An FPS counter appears in the corner — this does NOT show ping but confirms whether slowdowns are GPU/CPU (FPS drops) vs. network (FPS stable but abilities lag) 4. If FPS is stable but abilities are delayed, the issue is network not hardware
Helps you correctly diagnose lag vs. performance issues before spending time on network fixes.
General network tips (not Star Wars: The Old Republic-specific)
03 Check your ping using the Signal indicator
1. In-game, open the Interface Editor (press Escape → Interface Editor, or press Ctrl+G) 2. Find a Utility Bar and add the 'Signal' element to an available slot 3. Close the Interface Editor 4. Hover your mouse over the Signal bars icon — it shows your current ping in milliseconds 5. A bug in some versions (7.2.1+) may prevent the tooltip from showing — if so, use Windows Task Manager > Performance > Ethernet/WiFi to monitor jitter separately
Shows your real-time connection quality without leaving the game. Signal bars = good, red X = critical latency. Use this during a warzone to confirm whether lag is your network or the server.
04 Close bandwidth-heavy background applications
1. Before launching SWTOR, open Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) 2. Click the Network column to sort by bandwidth usage 3. Close anything actively downloading: Windows Update, Steam downloads, Discord streaming 4. If on WiFi, ask others on the network to pause video streaming during your raid
SWTOR uses TCP — unlike UDP games, TCP has congestion control that backs off when bandwidth is saturated, causing ability cast delays that look like server lag. Clearing the pipe helps immediately.
Regions with good connectivity
Players in these regions likely won't benefit much from a network optimizer.
- Eastern North America — Both NA servers are in Virginia — East Coast players get 10-30ms. Minimal benefit from optimization.
- Western Europe — Darth Malgus is well-located for EU players. Average 20-50ms for most of Western Europe.
Still lagging? The problem is likely your ISP's routing to the game servers.
PingAim detects Star Wars: The Old Republic automatically
No manual config. PingAim identifies Star Wars: The Old Republic by process name and routes it through your fastest connection using a kernel-level WFP driver.