Understanding Latency and Ping: Why They Matter for Your Internet

You have a high-speed internet plan but your video calls still stutter, your games still lag, and your smart home devices respond slowly. The culprit might not be your bandwidth at all. It might be latency, a critical but often overlooked aspect of your internet connection that determines how responsive your online experience feels. This guide explains latency and ping in plain language, shows why they matter, and offers practical ways to reduce them.

What Is Latency?

Latency is the time delay between when your device sends a request and when it receives a response. When you click a link, your computer sends a packet of data to the web server, which processes it and sends a response back. The total round-trip time is your latency, measured in milliseconds (ms).

To put this in perspective: 1 millisecond is one-thousandth of a second. A ping of 20 ms means your data makes the round trip in 0.02 seconds, which feels instantaneous. A ping of 200 ms means 0.2 seconds of delay, which feels noticeably sluggish. A ping of 600 ms (common with satellite internet) means over half a second of delay, which makes real-time interactions like video calls and gaming frustrating.

Latency vs. Bandwidth (Speed)

Latency and bandwidth are two different dimensions of your internet connection, and confusing them is one of the most common mistakes people make when troubleshooting internet problems.

Bandwidth measures how much data can flow through your connection per second. Think of it as the width of a pipe. Higher bandwidth means you can download files and stream videos faster.

Latency measures how quickly a single piece of data makes the round trip. Think of it as the length of the pipe. Lower latency means your connection responds faster to your actions.

You can have high bandwidth with high latency (like satellite internet with 100 Mbps speeds but 600 ms ping), which downloads files quickly but feels unresponsive for interactive use. You can also have low bandwidth with low latency (like a basic fiber plan with 50 Mbps and 8 ms ping), which feels snappy and responsive even though downloads are slower.

What Is Ping?

Ping is the practical measurement of latency. When you run a speed test or use the ping command on your computer, the result tells you your current latency to a specific server. The term comes from sonar technology, where a ping measures the time for a sound wave to travel to an object and return.

In internet context, ping is measured in milliseconds and categorized roughly as follows:

What Causes High Latency?

Several factors contribute to latency, some within your control and others determined by your connection type:

Connection Type

The technology delivering your internet is the single biggest factor affecting latency:

• Fiber optic: 5-15 ms. Light travels through glass fibers with minimal delay.
• Cable: 15-30 ms. Electrical signals through coaxial cable with some processing delay.
• DSL: 25-45 ms. Similar to cable but older infrastructure adds slight delays.
• 5G Fixed Wireless: 25-50 ms. Wireless signal processing adds latency compared to wired.
• 4G LTE Fixed Wireless: 40-80 ms. Older wireless technology with more latency than 5G.
• Satellite (LEO - Starlink): 25-60 ms. Low Earth orbit satellites reduce the distance penalty.
• Satellite (GEO - HughesNet/Viasat): 500-700 ms. Signal travels 22,000 miles to geostationary orbit and back.

Network Congestion

When many users on your local network are active simultaneously, routers and switches must queue and process more data packets, adding delay. This is why you may notice higher ping during evening peak hours. Cable internet is particularly susceptible because neighborhoods share infrastructure.

Physical Distance

Data cannot travel faster than the speed of light. Connecting to a server across the country adds 30-70 ms compared to connecting to a nearby server. Connecting internationally can add 100-200+ ms. This is why gamers prefer servers located close to their physical location.

Your Home Network

Wi-Fi adds 1-10 ms of latency compared to a wired Ethernet connection. Older or congested Wi-Fi networks add even more. Multiple router hops, network switches, and quality of your modem and router all affect latency within your home.

Why Latency Matters for Gaming

Online gaming is the activity most affected by latency. In fast-paced games, every millisecond matters. When you press a button to shoot, dodge, or jump, that input must travel to the game server, which processes it and sends the result back to you and all other players. High latency means:

• Your character appears to lag or teleport on other players' screens
• You see enemies in positions they have already moved from (peekers advantage)
• Hit registration feels inconsistent or unfair
• Rubber-banding (your character snapping back to a previous position)

For competitive shooters (Call of Duty, Fortnite, Valorant), a ping under 30 ms is ideal. For MMORPGs and strategy games, under 100 ms is usually acceptable. For casual games, latency below 150 ms is typically fine. See our gaming internet guide for provider recommendations.

Why Latency Matters for Video Calls

Video conferencing platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet are sensitive to latency. High ping causes conversation delays where people talk over each other, audio and video desynchronization, the sensation of an unnatural, stilted conversation, and difficulty with collaborative activities like screen sharing. For comfortable video calls, aim for latency under 100 ms. Under 50 ms provides a natural conversational flow.

How to Reduce Latency

Immediate Steps

1. Use Ethernet instead of Wi-Fi: A wired connection eliminates Wi-Fi latency (1-10 ms savings) and provides more consistent performance.
2. Close background applications: Other programs using your network add latency. Close downloads, updates, and streaming services when low latency matters.
3. Restart your modem and router: This clears buffer bloat and resets connections, often reducing latency immediately.
4. Connect to closer servers: In games, choose servers in your region. For VPNs, select the nearest server location.

Equipment Upgrades

• Upgrade your router: Modern routers with better processors handle traffic more efficiently. Look for routers with QoS (Quality of Service) settings that can prioritize gaming or call traffic.
• Replace old Ethernet cables: Use Cat 5e or Cat 6 cables for gigabit-speed wired connections. Older Cat 5 cables may introduce bottlenecks.

Provider Changes

If your latency is fundamentally limited by your connection type, the most impactful change is switching providers. Moving from satellite or DSL to fiber or cable can reduce latency by 10-500+ ms. If fiber is available at your address from AT&T or Verizon Fios, it will provide the lowest possible latency.

How to Test Your Latency

Several tools help you measure latency accurately. Speed test sites like Speedtest.net show ping alongside download and upload speeds. For gaming-specific latency testing, tools like PingPlotter provide detailed path analysis showing where delay occurs along the route. Your operating system's built-in ping command (open Command Prompt or Terminal and type "ping google.com") gives raw latency measurements.

For the most accurate results, test while connected via Ethernet, close all other applications, and test multiple servers at different distances. For more testing tips, see our internet speed testing guide.