Mobily Gamers

Make sure your firewall is up to date so that no-one can hack in to your computer, send viruses or access your personal details.

If a player does something to make you uncomfortable, tell a parent. Use the block and report function to prevent them from contacting you again. Do not respond to them as this will only encourage them to continue harassing you.

Your username shouldn't give any of your personal details away. Don't use your name, date of birth or anything that could let other players find out who you are. If you have to submit a profile picture or avatar, be sure not to use a selfie.

Many games are free to play but some have hidden charges to unlock new levels and features whilst playing. Set your console up to request your password before each new charge. This is particularly important if your game is linked to a parent or guardian's credit card

Use a mixture of upper- and lower-case letters, numbers and characters to keep it as secure as possible. Avoid passwords that are easily guessable such as names or usernames. Just make sure it's something you can remember!

Bullying can sometimes occur whilst gaming. Don't let it stop you playing. Block and report them. On the other hand, treat other users with respect - don't speak to other gamers in a way you wouldn't like to be spoken to.

When you're playing with users you don't know, never give out your name or personal details. If you're playing with a mixture of friends and unknown users, make a pact to only use each other's usernames when playing publicly.

Webcams and voice features are great ways of chatting with your mates when gaming. But never use these features with users you don't know. If you must use voice features, make sure you use a voice mask.

Gaming is a virtual reality, not actual reality. Do not attempt to mimic behavior or actions involving weapons, driving or social interaction.

Set yourself limits for how long you can play. If you feel you're unable to stop playing, speak to a parent or guardian.

Remember that it's okay to lose. Gaming is supposed to be a fun hobby. Don't get too competitive. If you find yourself getting irritable or stressed, take a break.

Places such as the App Store, PlayStation Store, Google Play and the Microsoft Store are safe to use. And make sure to update games as soon as the new software becomes available.

15 mins every hour is recommended. Playing for long periods of time can cause you health problems. Fresh air will help your eyes, posture and may even improve your game-play.

Two-factor authentication (also called 2FA or two-step verification) is a great way to boost the security of any online account. Because it requires your phone in addition to your password, it's much harder for malicious folk to break into your account.

When you’re gaming for multiple hours in a row, your body is bound to feel it. When you start to feel like you’re getting stiff or can’t remember the last time you stood up, take a break. Use your break time to stay away from technology.

Sleep is your body’s time to relax. It’s best not to use any technology for a while before your bedtime so that you can transition easily into sleep. Set a “winding down” period where you can ensure that you unplug from your gaming setup and start preparing for bed.

Gaming doesn’t always mean you have the best posture. You should watch your posture, especially when in front of electronic devices. When you angle your head the wrong way for hours at a time, you apply more pressure to your neck than necessary.

Instead of snacking on processed foods while playing games, consider swapping them out with healthier options. Opt for an apple instead of potato chips if you’re searching for something with a crunch factor.

Many gamers turn to energy drinks and other liquids laden with sugar to keep their energy levels high while gaming. While these drinks can give you a boost, they aren’t the greatest for your body and don’t give you much nourishment. Opt for water instead — you can always mix in flavor powder if you don’t like the taste of plain water.

Even if you don’t change your snacking habits, you should consider eating balanced meals to offset the processed foods. Healthy foods can make you feel stronger and give you the proper energy you need for long gaming sessions.

Your teeth are one of the most important parts of your body. If you don’t care for your oral hygiene, you might get toothaches or other preventable issues that could affect your body as a whole. Poor oral hygiene can lead to tooth decay, but it can also affect the rest of your body by keeping you at risk for other diseases.

Gaming can take up a lot of time, so if you’re dedicated to getting in a few hours of games every night, you may not find yourself as active as you want. Consider picking up a game that requires you to be involved, such as “Just Dance,” which can get your whole body moving.

Staring at a screen for hours on end can mess with your eyes and impair your vision. Consider focusing on something far away for around 20 seconds after every 20 minutes of gameplay. By following this 20-20-20 method, you can safeguard your eyes against some damage.

Another option is to wear blue light protection. Some special glasses, can limit the amount of blue light rays that your eyes take in.

Even your favorite game can take a toll on your mental health. If you find yourself becoming overly sensitive to the events that happen while you’re gaming — whether it’s the topics in the content or the frustration of PvP matches — it might be time to step away for a bit. Do something else to refresh your mind so you can come back to your game with a renewed mood.

When you spend hours gaming, you’re away from your phone or other people who may want to talk to you. Instead of gaming alone, try to pull your loved ones into your favorite game with you.

If your eyes start to hurt while gaming, it should be time to take a break and rest them. Allow your eye muscles to relax by pausing your game and leaning back. Close your eyes and just rest for a few minutes.

Reduce stiffness in your joints by stretching now and then. When you work at a desk, you’re supposed to take short breaks every hour or so. Why should it be any different when gaming? Giving yourself a break means allowing time for stretching.

The best thing you can do for your health is to start now. When you’ve already done the damage, making adjustments later on won’t help you prevent the adverse outcomes you could potentially face. You can choose to make changes one step at a time. Each step forward is a move toward a better and brighter future.

When you’re sitting for a long time, you open yourself to risks you may not have been aware of. Sedentary lifestyles can lead to more blood clots in your legs, leading to more complications or even death.

Gaming is a fun pastime, but it’ll only stay fun if you keep yourself healthy enough to enjoy it for years to come. Nourish your body properly and give it time away from screens to relax and repair. 

You don’t necessarily need business-speed internet to be able to game seamlessly, but you do need at least 15-20Mbps if you’re going to play games. But you also need to think about your bandwidth.

Playing on a server in your country or side of your country can significantly decrease your ping. The closer the server is to you, the better.

Network latency is how long it takes for data to travel between its source and destination. The lower the latency, the better. If you’re gaming with high latency, you might tell your character to walk forward but they won’t actually move for a few seconds. This is what causes lag. The best combination is to have high-speed internet with low latency.

A good latency is a ping rate of below 150 milliseconds. 20ms is considered to be great.

Old routers can affect your connection strength, speed and reliability. A router optimized for gaming can be the best choice, one particular feature is Quality of Service (QoS), which allows you to prioritize the internet traffic on your console so you can get the best gaming experience.

Items like the walls, floor, furniture and other physical objects can get in the way of your wireless signal. Enhance your Wi-Fi signal and improve your line of connectivity by moving your computer or console closer to your router.

If you live in a household where you have to share a Wi-Fi connection with your family members, it might be difficult to ask them to stop using the internet when you’re gaming. You can try to squeeze in a game whenever they’re out of the house or you could connect your device to the router via an Ethernet cable.

Bandwidth-heavy sites like Netflix, YouTube and downloads severely affect your ping rate and latency. Close any you might have running as this can impact your gaming performance.

A router that has been on and in use for a while can become strained. Restarting your router can help to refresh your internet connection and can improve latency. 

Better broadband can be the best and most straightforward way to reduce game lag and increase internet speed. Consider upgrading your broadband package to an option that offers better conditions for gaming. Sometimes, it might be your specific area that has patchy Wi-Fi signals so you could look for another broadband provider who offers a better, more reliable internet connection.

Quality of Service is a router feature that prioritizes data packets for specific connected devices. It comes in handy when you have multiple users on the network all doing network-intensive activities.