Ping, Jitter and Packet Loss Explained

Three numbers that decide how your connection feels

Speed tells you how much data your connection can carry. Ping, jitter and packet loss tell you how well it carries it. A video call or an online game can fall apart on a fast connection if any of these three is poor.

Ping

Ping is the time, in milliseconds (ms), for a small message to travel from your device to a server and back. It is also called latency. Lower is better.

• Under 30 ms: excellent, and feels instant.
• 30 to 60 ms: fine for almost everything.
• 60 to 100 ms: acceptable for most uses, but fast games may feel slightly late.
• Over 100 ms: noticeable lag in games and slight delays in calls.
• Several hundred ms: common on older satellite links, and obvious in everything interactive.

Ping depends on distance, the type of connection and how busy the network is. A server far from you has a higher ping because the signal takes time to travel.

Jitter

Jitter is how much the ping changes from one moment to the next. A connection with a ping that stays at 25 ms is steadier than one that bounces between 10 and 90 ms, even if the average is similar.

• Under 10 ms: steady.
• 10 to 30 ms: usually fine.
• Over 30 ms: calls and games may stutter.

High jitter makes voices robotic, makes video freeze and makes game characters appear to jump. Wi-Fi interference and busy networks are the usual causes.

Packet loss

Data travels in small packets. When some packets never arrive, that is packet loss. The app has to ask for them again, or just skip them.

• 0 percent: ideal.
• Around 1 percent: may cause audible glitches in calls.
• More than a few percent: serious, with freezing calls and lag spikes.

Packet loss often points to a faulty cable, a weak Wi-Fi signal, interference or a problem on the provider's side.

How to measure them

• Ping and jitter: our speed test measures both automatically.
• Packet loss: open a command window and run ping -n 50 1.1.1.1 on Windows, or ping -c 50 1.1.1.1 on macOS and Linux. Look at the summary line for the percent lost.
• Under load: run the test while someone downloads, or use the latency-under-load figure in our test. If your ping jumps when the line is busy, read what bufferbloat is and how to fix it.

What causes poor ping, jitter and loss

• Weak Wi-Fi. Distance, walls and crowded channels. See why your Wi-Fi may be slow.
• A busy line. Large uploads or downloads can crowd out small, urgent packets.
• Connection type. Satellite and some wireless links have a naturally high ping. See connection types compared.
• Faulty hardware. Damaged cables, old routers and bad connectors.
• Provider congestion. At busy times some networks slow down.

How to improve them

1. Use an Ethernet cable for gaming and calls. It is the single biggest improvement for most people.
2. Move closer to the router, or add a mesh node.
3. Pause large transfers during calls and games.
4. Restart the router and check for firmware updates.
5. Choose a nearer game server, if your game allows it.
6. If the problem is constant, record your results and contact your provider.

When speed is fine but the experience is bad

If your speed looks healthy and your video call still freezes, look at jitter and packet loss. They show problems that speed hides.