What a game accelerator does and what it does not

The idea: a different path to the server

A game's traffic goes from your PC to the server through your ISP's network and other carriers' networks. This path is chosen neither by the players nor by the game but by internet routing, and routing optimizes agreements between carriers, not latency. So packets may take the long way round, through an overloaded interconnect or a neighboring country.

An accelerator puts its own network between you and the server: the chosen game's traffic goes to the nearest accelerator node, travels through its network to a node near the server and only from there to the game. If the accelerator's path is steadier than the ISP's, the game gets more stable latency and loses packets less often. SLARP describes its work exactly this way: it routes the games you choose through its own network and optimizes ping and jitter.

The key word is “if”. An accelerator does not shorten the distance and does not speed up light: it changes the road, not the geography.

What an accelerator does

• Picks the route to the server: it compares the direct route with routes through its own network and sends the traffic along the best one. In SLARP the node is chosen for you, or you pick a city yourself.
• Smooths out jitter: a steady path without overloaded interconnects gives more stable latency, and the game stutters less often.
• Keeps the session alive through connection drops: if one path breaks, the traffic moves to a fallback.
• Touches only the game: the browser, messengers, streams and downloads run as usual.

What an accelerator does not do

• It does not raise FPS. Frame rate is the job of the graphics card and the CPU, and a program that deals with the network has nothing to do with them. If ping is steady and the game stutters, an accelerator will not help.
• It does not change the region or the server in the game. Whatever region is chosen in the game's settings is where the traffic goes — with or without the accelerator.
• It does not cancel distance. To a server on another continent ping stays high on any route.
• It does not fix Wi-Fi or your home network. The accelerator cannot see interference between the router and the PC: it happens before the packet reaches the internet.
• It does not help when the game's servers are down. If the publisher's sign-in or matchmaking is down, all that is left is to wait.
• It does not hide your real latency from the game: the server sees the actual ping to you.

Why no number can be promised

The gain depends on where you are, which ISP you have, where the game connects you and the time of day. For one player the direct path through the ISP is already steady, and they hardly need an accelerator. For another the ISP pushes traffic through an overloaded interconnect, and the difference is noticeable. So any promise of a specific gain in milliseconds is marketing, not fact: the only honest answer comes from a test on your own connection.

What we write on the game pages: the game is in the catalog, SLARP recognizes it by its process name, optimizes ping and jitter on the way to the server, and does not touch the region or FPS. No numbers, no “made for this or that game” claims, with links to sources.

About anti-cheat. Game mode does not inject into the game and does not install an intercept driver on its traffic. We cannot vouch for publishers and their anti-cheat: they decide for themselves what counts as a violation. If the game complains, take it off acceleration (“Don't accelerate (direct)” in the game's menu) and press “Report a problem”.

How to test it on your own connection

1. Turn on the ping and loss display in the game and play a couple of matches without the accelerator. Note not only the average ping but also the spikes and the loss: those are what you see as stutter.
2. Connect SLARP, pick the game and play the same number of matches on the same server at the same time of day.
3. Compare. If over a cable with no downloads there is no difference, your direct path is already good — and we will say so. If the spikes and loss are gone, the path was the problem.
4. The 72 hours of the free trial, no card needed, are enough for several evenings of such comparisons.

Where to turn on the ping and loss display: Counter-Strike 2 · Apex Legends · Battlefield 6 · Fortnite · Dota 2 · Deadlock