Ping, latency and jitter explained
Download speed tells you how much data your connection can move. Ping and jitter tell you how quickly and how steadily it responds. For games, video calls and anything interactive, they often matter more than raw speed.
What is ping?
Ping, also called latency, is the time in milliseconds (ms) a small message takes to travel to a server and back. Lower is better. It is mostly set by distance, by the quality of the route and by how busy your connection is.
What is a good ping?
As a rough guide for a typical online game:
- Under 20 ms: excellent.
- 20 to 50 ms: good, with no noticeable delay.
- 50 to 100 ms: playable, but fast games start to feel less sharp.
- Over 100 ms: lag becomes noticeable in most real-time games.
What is jitter?
Jitter is how much your ping changes from one moment to the next. A steady 40 ms is better than a ping that jumps between 15 and 120 ms. High jitter causes stuttering voices, frozen video and rubber-banding in games, even when your speed looks fine. For calls, keeping jitter low, ideally under about 30 ms, makes a clear difference.
What is packet loss?
Packet loss is the share of data that never arrives. Even one or two percent can cause choppy calls and dropped game connections. It usually points to a weak Wi-Fi signal, a faulty cable or congestion.
Latency under load (bufferbloat)
A connection can show a great ping when idle and a terrible one while someone uploads a file or streams video. This is often called bufferbloat. It is why a video call can break up the moment a download starts. Testing latency while the line is busy, not only when idle, reveals it.
How to improve ping and jitter
- Use an Ethernet cable instead of Wi-Fi whenever you can.
- Choose a game or test server close to you.
- Pause large downloads, backups and streams while gaming or on a call.
- Restart your router, and update its firmware.
- If your router has smart queue management (SQM or QoS), turn it on to limit bufferbloat.
- Try another time of day: evening congestion raises latency for many people.
Frequently asked questions
Is a ping of 30 ms good?
Yes. It is good for almost every game and call.
Can a fast connection have bad ping?
Yes. Speed and latency are separate. A fast plan with a weak Wi-Fi link or heavy congestion can still have a high, unstable ping.
What causes high jitter?
Wi-Fi interference, an overloaded router, congestion on your provider’s network or other devices using the connection at the same time.