Measure network delay and response time. Latency affects gaming, streaming, video calls, and browsing.
Latency and ping are often used interchangeably. Ping is a tool that measures latency. Latency is the delay. High latency makes everything feel sluggish. Low latency makes online experiences feel instant. For gaming, latency matters more than download speed.
Under 30ms is excellent. 30-60ms is good. 60-100ms is average. 100-150ms is noticeable. Over 150ms is problematic for real-time apps. Your physical distance to servers sets a floor on latency. You cannot get 5ms to a server on the other side of the planet.
Physical distance is the biggest factor. Wi-Fi adds 2-5ms over Ethernet. Network congestion adds delay. ISP routing can send your traffic on long paths. Slow DNS adds lookup time. Background downloads and uploads eat bandwidth and increase latency.
Use Ethernet. Close background apps. Change DNS to a fast provider. Use a gaming VPN if your ISP has bad routing. Upgrade your router if it is old. Run our DNS speed test to find the fastest DNS for your location. Also check our jitter test for latency variation.