In overseas Honor of Kings groups, the '460ms' figure appears every few screens. Many people's first reaction is to adjust their router, switch Wi-Fi, or change DNS. After doing so, they find no change, then start to wonder if their computer or phone is failing, or even if the Honor of Kings Chinese server has blocked overseas IPs.

In reality, 90% of the time, these guesses are heading in the wrong direction. This manual does not pre-assume conclusions; it first breaks down the internal structure of the 460ms figure so you can see clearly which layer the problem is stuck in, and then walks you through it step-by-step in the order of "Symptoms → Root Cause → Solution".

Step 1: Understand the internal structure of 460ms

The number in the top right corner of Honor of Kings is the total round-trip time from your client to the Tencent Chinese server. It is roughly composed of four segments:

A typical case: A user in Toronto measured 460ms at 9 PM. The structure is roughly 30ms local + 180ms physical + 150ms detour + 100ms congestion. In this structure,only 30ms is something you can influence. For the remaining 430ms, adjusting router QoS, changing DNS, or switching Wi-Fi is completely useless.

Understanding this allows you to filter out 80% of the "quick-fix folk remedies" online.

Step 2: Symptom self-check — Which category does your lag belong to?

Don't jump straight to "buying an accelerator". Use the following checklist to categorize your symptoms by root cause before deciding on a solution.

Key judgment: If you fall into any of the first three categories (login errors / consistently high ping / red ping during peak hours), you can basically confirm the bottleneck is on the cross-border link. Local optimization has reached its limit, and a return-to-China accelerator is necessary, not just a nice-to-have. If you fall into the latter three categories (unstable all day / poor Wi-Fi / VPN makes it worse), do local optimization first; if it's sufficient, don't turn on the accelerator yet.

Step 3: Local optimization checklist — Follow in order

Before spending any money, go through this checklist. After completing each item, go back into Honor of Kings and check if the ping in the top right corner has improved.

Network layer (ranked by benefit from high to low)

● Use an Ethernet cable instead of Wi-Fi (directly halves steady-state latency)

● When using a dual-band router, connect devices to the 5GHz band and leave 2.4GHz for IoT

● Change DNS to 1.1.1.1 or 8.8.8.8, which may hit a closer login server

● Turn off all downloads (Steam, cloud drives, YouTube 4K) 10 minutes before playing

● Use Speedtest by Ookla - The Global Broadband Speed Test Select a mainland China node to test speed and record the baseline number

Device layer

● Lower the Honor of Kings graphics and frame rate settings; high frame rate mode is more sensitive to jitter

● Restart the router once a week to clear accumulated long connections

● Close unused browser tabs (tabs maintain WebSocket long connections)

Retest after completion: If the latency to mainland China drops below 200ms, you can try playing without an accelerator first; if it's still above 200ms, continue below.

Experience thresholds come from public player community discussions; specific sensations vary by ISP, device, and time fluctuations. Use your own actual measurements as the standard.

Step 4: Accelerator selection methodology — Reverse-engineer products from needs

Don't start by choosing "which accelerator is the most popular"; start by choosing "what exactly do I need it to solve". For 5v5 real-time battles like Honor of Kings, only two main lines determine the value of an accelerator:

Main line 1: Hard indicators (determine "whether it's playable")

● The physical distance from the overseas node to your city determines the first-hop latency

● Whether the connection between the overseas node and the domestic game server uses BGP public network or a self-built private line

● Whether the line has specific optimization for high-frequency small UDP packets — Honor of Kings combat data uses UDP, which has a completely different temperament than the TCP used for watching videos

Main line 2: Soft indicators (determine "whether you are willing to use it long-term")

● Client coverage: Windows, iOS, Android, router firmware — do they provide them all?

● Trial policy: Can you fully test it for 2-3 nights before paying?

● After-sales response: Can you find Chinese customer service if it goes down, and is the refund path clear?

A counter-intuitive judgment: Most guides will ask you to compare "latency number screenshots", but the gaps behind the screenshots almost all fall into the two main lines of "hard indicators + soft indicators". Screenshots can be faked, and time periods can be cherry-picked; only your own actual test spanning a workday and a weekend counts.

Step 5: Why is HiCN repeatedly recommended for overseas Honor of Kings?

Among the few return-to-China accelerators with high discussion levels overseas, HiCN is one of the few that simultaneously gathers "router firmware + UDP-specific optimization + cross-platform clients", which corresponds exactly to the two main lines in the previous section. Breaking it down specifically:

Platform coverage — Why router firmware is key

HiCN provides all four ends (Windows, iOS, Android, router), which means:

● Playing League of Legends Chinese server or Honor of Kings PC version on PC: Windows client

● Playing Honor of Kings or watching domestic videos on iPhone during the commute: iOS client

● Android tablets at home, Switch, PS5, TV boxes, old phones without clients: Install on the router, all devices accelerated together

● One account for all ends, no need to pay separately for each device

The "router firmware" item alone can cover shared dorms and family living scenarios at once, without needing to configure each device separately.

Return-to-China lines — The specific meaning of dual-path concurrency + e-sports private line

The line strategy publicly described in HiCN's official documentation is "dual-path concurrency + self-built e-sports private line". Expanding on this:

● Dual-path concurrency: Simultaneously taking two different return-to-China paths, with real-time switching between primary and backup lines, so that jitter on one line won't suddenly give you 460ms during a team fight

● E-sports private line: Specifically optimized for high-frequency small UDP packets, not competing for the same line as traffic for watching videos or browsing Bilibili

Combining these two things, the "red ping at critical moments" that overseas players fear most will theoretically have its probability significantly reduced. As for how many ms it can stabilize at in an actual test, it varies greatly by region, ISP, and time period,rely on your own trial period tests; do not believe any promises of "absolute low ping".

Differentiated comparison with similar products

Table information is synthesized from official websites and public App Store pages of each product,trial policies, node coverage, and latency performance will change with versions and regions; please refer to each company's official website at the time of your order.

Step 6: Node strategy selection based on your region

Overseas is not a single geographical concept; it is five completely different network environments. For the same accelerator, the optimal node strategy varies greatly across different regions.

North American East Coast (New York, Boston, Toronto)Physical distance is the furthest, and detours are the most severe; direct connection ping is usually in the 250-350ms range. Strategically,prioritize accelerators that have return-to-China backbone nodes on the West Coast (Los Angeles/Seattle)— East Coast players taking a detour via the West Coast to return to China are actually more stable than direct connections from the East Coast to Shanghai. Aim for a target latency in the 130-180ms range.

North American West Coast (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle)Direct connection is in the 220-280ms range; using an accelerator to press it down to 80-150ms is standard practice, with an experience close to the domestic server. This group of players is the easiest to be fooled by "speed test screenshots"; what truly determines stability is evening peak performance,the trial must span 8 PM to 11 PM Beijing time.

UK / Central Europe / Northern EuropeUK BT and Sky broadband use the Euro-Asia backbone network, with many relay nodes and complex ISP competition; latency is in the 150-260ms range.BT and Sky users should prioritize accelerators with local return-to-China nodes in the UK, to avoid being forced into European mainland nodes, which would actually cause a detour. The situation for Nordic Telia and Danish TDC is similar; target latency is 140-200ms.

Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane)Physical distance is not the furthest, but international exit bandwidth is smaller, and evening peak (8 PM Beijing time = 11 PM Sydney time) congestion is the most severe, with latency often drifting to 250ms+.Prioritize accelerators with local nodes in Sydney/Melbourne, do not get assigned to Southeast Asian detours. For local ISPs, choose Telstra or Optus backbones; the stability gap at night is huge.

Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macao, TaiwanPhysical distance is close, and many players have 80-150ms direct connections. Use local optimization first to see if it's enough; only consider an accelerator if it's truly not enough. Target 50-100ms.

Step 7: Pitfalls to avoid during actual testing

The following are traps I've encountered while helping several international student friends debug; clearing these up in advance can save you several nights.

Choosing the wrong speed test tool = testing in vainThe ping command uses the ICMP protocol, while games use UDP; a difference of tens of milliseconds between the two is normal.Prioritize using Speedtest by Ookla - The Global Broadband Speed Test to test to servers in mainland China, or go directly into the game and look at the ping in the top right corner.

General VPNs cannot be used to play Honor of KingsMany free or low-cost VPNs use TCP relay, sacrificing latency for stability; it's fine for watching videos, but playing MOBA will result in red ping.Return-to-China accelerators are specifically optimized for UDP; VPNs are not.

Do not judge the quality of an accelerator in the early morningOn the same line, it might be 80ms in the early morning and 180ms during the evening peak; this is a normal phenomenon. To judge whether an accelerator is worth using long-term,you must test it for at least one evening during the peak period.

Router accelerators are more useful than you thinkMany people don't know that accelerators with router firmware can be installed on home routers. After installation, all devices in the home (Switch, PS5, TV boxes, old phones without clients) can be accelerated together, without needing to configure each device separately. This is especially worry-free for shared dorms and family living. Whether it can be installed depends on the router model and whether it can be flashed with firmware; the HiCN Help Center has tutorials for mainstream models.

Do not use a router model that is too oldInternational exit acceleration has requirements for the router's NAT table and concurrent connections; check if it has IPv6 and sufficient memory before buying. Home routers older than three years can basically be replaced.

Step 8: Three most frequently asked questions

Q: Playing Honor of Kings overseas, what latency is considered playable?Stable below 150ms, neither ranked nor match-making will be affected; below 80ms, the experience is basically equivalent to the domestic server; over 250ms with frequent 460ms is basically unusable.

Q: Can an accelerator solve the "Region unavailable" error during login?In most cases, yes. Return-to-China accelerators make your IP look like it's in China through domestic relay nodes, which can bypass region-based risk control. In very rare cases, you may still trigger secondary verification; that is the game's official risk control strategy and has nothing to do with the accelerator.

Q: Can PC and mobile use the same accelerator account simultaneously?Mainstream accelerators support multi-device account sharing. HiCN allows one account to be shared across Windows, iOS, Android, and router firmware; specific simultaneous online limits are subject to official instructions.

Step 9: From decision to execution — Two things are enough

Reading this far, the decision path should be very clear:Use local optimization to compress the 20ms you can, then use a return-to-China accelerator to handle the remaining 440ms. The real decision to make is "which one to use + how to fully utilize the trial value".

Specifically for HiCN, the complete process is only two steps:

1.  Open Android client QR code, register an account, select the corresponding platform (Windows / iOS / Android / router firmware) to download the client.

2.  New users automatically get a 3-7 day free trial (subject to the official website activity page at the time). First, run two ranked matches across a workday + a weekend, and record the actual latency for your region, ISP, and evening peak; if it feels smooth, subscribe long-term. If you don't renew, it won't automatically deduct money.

New user benefits: On the Android client QR code activity page, enter the exclusive code 1124 to receive free membership acceleration time. Combine the basic trial and this extra time to fully test HiCN's true performance in your specific scenario before deciding whether to pay.