Latency and Ping Explained: What They Are and How to Improve Them

The Scoop | 21/03/2025

In today's digital world, seamless online experiences are crucial, whether you're gaming, streaming, or simply browsing the web. Yet, there are times when you might encounter frustrating delays, poor connection quality, or sluggish performance. While these problems can stem from various factors, latency and ping are two key aspects that play a significant role in connection quality. In this post, we'll discover what latency and ping mean, how they impact your internet experience, and why understanding them is crucial for improving your connection.

What is latency?

Latency is all about how long it takes for data to travel from point A to point B over the internet. Think of it as the 'wait time' between sending a request (like clicking a link or firing off a command in your game) and getting a response. It's usually measured in milliseconds (ms), and the lower the number, the better!

Now, latency can come from a few different sources:

Network latency: This is the delay caused by data hopping through routers, cables, and switches. The longer the journey, the higher the latency.
Application latency: This happens when the software takes its time processing your request before sending the data back.
Hardware latency: Your computer, router, or other gadgets also add a tiny bit of delay as they work to process the data.

What is ping?

Ping is a tool used to measure the round-trip time (RTT) between your device and a target device (often a server). When you run a ping test, your device sends a small piece of data to the server and waits for it to come back. In essence, while latency refers to the delay in data transmission, ping is a way of measuring that delay.

Why does latency and ping matter?

The answer’s simple—they directly affect your online experience, no matter what you’re doing. Here’s how:

Gaming: If you're a gamer, high latency (also known as lag) can be a major frustration. In fast-paced games like first-person shooters, you'll notice delays between pressing buttons and seeing the action on-screen. That delay can be the difference between victory and defeat!
Streaming: When you're watching films, shows, or live events, high latency can lead to buffering, poor video quality, or even pauses in your stream.
Communication: Video calls (Zoom, Skype, Google Meet) and VoIP (Voice over IP) calls can also suffer from high ping. You might experience awkward delays between speaking and hearing the response.
Browsing: Even though browsing doesn’t require real-time interaction like gaming or streaming, latency still affects how quickly your pages load. High latency can make your browsing feel sluggish, as your browser takes longer to retrieve data from the server. And we all know waiting for pages to load is no fun.

Factors that affect latency and ping

Several factors can affect latency and cause a high ping:

Geographical distance: The farther you are from the server you're connecting to, the higher the latency.
Network infrastructure: The type of internet connection you have—full fibre, or copper—affects the speed and reliability of your internet. Full fibre broadband has lower latency compared to copper cables.
Network congestion: During peak hours, when many people are online, network congestion can increase latency. More devices using the same network can slow down data transmission.
Routing: When data travels over the internet, it doesn’t go directly from your device to its destination. Instead, it passes through several 'stops'—called routers and switches—along the way. Each stop adds a small delay. The more stops (or 'hops') the data has to make, the longer it takes to reach its destination.
Packet loss: This occurs when data packets don’t reach their destination, often due to issues like network congestion or a poor connection (e.g., weak Wi-Fi or faulty equipment). When this happens, the system has to resend the lost data, which causes delays and increases latency.
Bandwidth: While bandwidth doesn’t directly affect latency, a network with limited bandwidth can become congested, causing a slowdown in data transfer.

How to test latency and ping?

Testing your ping is simple and can be done using the ping command on most operating systems.

On Windows, click on the Start Menu and search for 'Command Prompt.' Open the Command Prompt application, then type “ping google.com” and press Enter.
On Mac, open Spotlight by pressing Command + Space, type 'Terminal,' and press Enter. In the Terminal window, type “ping google.com” and press Enter.
On Linux, open the Terminal by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T or searching for 'Terminal' in your applications menu. Type “ping google.com” and press Enter.

In all cases, you’ll see a series of times (in milliseconds) that represent how quickly data is travelling to Google’s server and back.

What is a good ping or latency?

The lower the ping, the better the experience. Here’s a general breakdown of what different ping values mean:

0-50ms: Excellent – Less than 50ms is great for gaming, video calls, and streaming.
50-150ms: Acceptable – You can still game and stream with minimal issues, though it might affect high-speed gaming.
150ms and above: High ping – Expect noticeable lag in gaming, buffering in streaming, and poor video call quality.

The lowest ping possible is 0ms, which would mean no delay in sending or receiving data. However, in the real world, this is virtually impossible because there will always be some delay, even if it's just a tiny fraction of a millisecond. For practical purposes, ping times below 10ms are considered outstanding and are typically achievable with high-speed full fibre connections to nearby servers.

The average latency for a typical home internet connection is usually between 20ms and 100ms.

How to reduce latency and improve ping?

If you’re struggling with high ping or latency, here are some tips to improve your connection:

Use a wired connection: Wi-Fi can be unstable and introduce more latency. A wired Ethernet connection tends to be faster and more reliable.
Optimise your Wi-FI: If you must use Wi-Fi, make sure your router is placed close to your device and has minimal interference. Use the 5 GHz band instead of 2.4 GHz for better performance, and minimise the number of devices connected to the network.
Choose a server closer to you: If possible, select servers that are geographically closer to reduce the distance data needs to travel. Many online services, such as gaming platforms or streaming websites, allow you to choose the server region that best suits your location.
Close background applications: Other programs on your device that use the internet (like streaming or downloading) can consume bandwidth and increase latency.
Restart your router: Over time, your router can accumulate unnecessary data, causing slowdowns. Restarting it clears out the cache and resets connections, giving your network a fresh start.
Use a VPN: Sometimes, using a VPN can help reduce ping by providing a faster or more direct route to a server. However, this doesn’t always work and may even increase latency, so test it to see if it improves your connection.
Upgrade to a high-performance router: Opt for a gaming router, such as Go Fibre’s Advanced Router, which is specifically engineered to prioritise low-latency traffic.
Switch to a faster broadband provider: Some providers offer better latency than others. If possible, consider upgrading your plan or switching to a more reliable provider. GoFibre offers full-fibre packages, ensuring faster and more stable connections. We provide broadband designed for gaming, streaming in HD and 4K, and overall heavy use, with speeds of up to 1000 Mbps and ultra-low lag.
Prioritise your activities online: With GoFibre’s Wi-Fi Wizard, an add-on feature, you can easily manage how much bandwidth is allocated to different activities within your household. For instance, if you're gaming, you can assign up to 80% of your available internet speed to ensure a smooth gaming experience, while leaving 20% for other activities. You can add Wi-Fi Wizard as part of your full fibre plan when you join GoFibre. Start by checking your postcode to see if we are available in your area.

Understanding latency and ping is key to ensuring a smooth online experience, whether you're gaming, streaming, or simply browsing the web. By recognising how these factors impact your connection and taking steps to optimise them, you can enjoy faster, more reliable internet.