Wi-Fi lag

Wi-Fi lag, which is very often confused with frame delay, the amount of time it takes for a move to be inputted, is a change in the FPS (frames per second) of a game due to connection interference. Wifi lag is very common in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and semi-common in Project64k/Dolphin. Wifi lag can be caused on either game for multiple reasons. It is quite possible to have 0 wifi lag with someone online while having massive delay. Some of reasons when wifi lag occurs are listed here:

• A dial up connection on Brawl Wi-Fi virtually always results in lag on Brawl Wi-Fi.
• A wireless connection, such as by a laptop, automatically causes a small fps drop every so often on either Project64k or Dolphin, which is a form of wifi lag as well.
• Torrenting/Downloading programs/stress on a person's connection (such as someone else in the house online)

Wi-Fi lag is a very trodden-upon part of Brawl, and is often cited as one of its worst aspects. One reason that Brawl's lag differs from games with minimal visual Wi-Fi lag such as Mario Kart Wii is that in such games a system can predict other player's positions while it waits for the next update — a half-second of lag is perfectly playable. In the Super Smash Bros. series, the system requires the exact position and action of every element of gameplay before it will do anything—and as this must be done 60 times every second, tiny amounts of lag have a massive effect.