How much better is it to buy a dedicated server?

[paaco]

Well your download speed is not limiting you. Where most connections fall short is the upload bandwidth. People use very little bandwidth just running around doing normal things. When people zone however it spikes your upload bandwidth a little. Get enough people on your server with like 512 kbits up speed and you'll start lagging people. A dedicated server will be way less laggy, or at least should be just because of the amount of bandwidth they will have compared to you. Those little 5 kb spikes when people zone wont put a dent in a dedicated servers b/w.

Also if you are running off a home PC and need to download a file or something, it will lag people pretty bad, or slow your internet to a crawl if you get a lot of people connecting. It all depends on if it is worth spending $100 a month really I guess. A properly set up dedicated server is definately going to be less laggy than a server at home on Cable/DSL though.

[kripsinkurehall]

You also have to take into affect how many hops it is from you to your friend. Just as a reference, my Comcast connection in Virginia has no problems hosting around a dozen or more people at once. I have people connecting from Connecticut all the way to California and hardly anyone get a connection to the server slower than 75ms. This is using the in game network stats tool, which we all know isn't the most accurate, but it gives you a general idea. Just to compare, a buddy connects to my server at 50ms, and to Sony's server at almost 100ms. My comcast connection is great while my server is still in closed beta, but when I open it up I'll have to move it to the Datacenter I work at.

It may not be your upload speed, but how close you and your friend are to a backbone connection, individually. There are of course other factors involved, but this might give you some more info about this.

[Xtightypantsx]

what is the in game network stats tool?

[kripsinkurehall]

hit f11 while in game, or use the /netstats command. It's not as informitive as the Star Wars Galaxies command, but it's ok, at best. The f11 command is the monitor, that will provide up to date info in a basic GUI interface. the /netstats command is a snapshot of your current network statistics in relation to the connection to the server. Both are VERY basic at best, but it's better than nothing, and fairly easy to read.