Ping Test: Latency, Jitter & Packet Loss
Measure latency, jitter and failed requests from your browser
| Under 50 ms | Excellent | Competitive gaming, video calls feel instant |
| 50–100 ms | Good | Most online games, streaming, calls |
| 100–150 ms | Fair | Noticeable lag in fast-paced games |
| Over 150 ms | Poor | Rubber-banding in games, talk-over on calls |
How this browser ping test works
The classic ping command sends ICMP echo packets and times the replies. Web pages can't do that — browsers have no API for raw ICMP — so any "ping test" in a browser is really measuring something else, and the honest thing is to say what. This one measures HTTP round-trip time: after a warm-up request that sets up the connection (DNS, TCP and TLS), your browser makes 20 small requests to our server one after another and times each one from send to response with the high-resolution performance clock. The server replies with an empty 204 response marked uncacheable, so every sample is a real round trip.
From those samples the latency test reports minimum, average, median and maximum latency; jitter, calculated as the average difference between consecutive samples; and packet loss, the percentage of requests that failed or took longer than three seconds. A live graph plots each sample as it arrives, with failures marked in red. Median is the headline number because a single slow sample — common on Wi-Fi — skews the average.
Two caveats keep the numbers in context. First, HTTP adds a little processing time on top of the pure network round trip, so expect a figure a few milliseconds higher than ICMP ping to the same place. Second, the result is the latency to our server through our CDN; a game server in another region can be much nearer or farther. Use it to check my ping in general terms, compare Wi-Fi with Ethernet, or spot jitter and loss — then confirm with a real ping to the specific host you care about. No results are stored.
What's a good ping — and how to run a real ICMP ping
As a rule of thumb: under 50 ms is excellent and feels instant in competitive games and calls; 50–100 ms is good for nearly everything; 100–150 ms is noticeable in fast-paced games; above 150 ms brings rubber-banding and people talking over each other on calls. Jitter matters as much as the average: steady 60 ms beats a connection swinging between 20 and 200 ms, and video-call apps start to struggle once jitter goes past about 30 ms. Any packet loss on a wired connection is worth investigating; occasional loss on busy Wi-Fi is common.
To test a specific server with real ICMP, use your operating system's tools. On Windows, open Command Prompt and run ping -n 20 example.com, and tracert example.com to see each hop. On macOS and Linux, run ping -c 20 example.com and traceroute example.com. For the most useful view, install mtr (macOS: brew install mtr; Debian/Ubuntu: sudo apt install mtr) or use WinMTR on Windows — it combines ping and traceroute and shows loss and latency at every hop, which helps tell whether a problem is in your home network, your ISP or further away. Note that many servers and routers deprioritise or block ICMP, so loss at an intermediate hop that doesn't continue to the destination is usually harmless.
If this jitter test shows high variation or loss, try a wired connection, move closer to the router, pause large downloads and cloud backups, and restart the router. If the problem persists on Ethernet with nothing else running, run mtr to your ISP's gateway and share the output with their support team.
How to use the Ping Test: Latency, Jitter & Packet Loss tool
- 1
Start the test
Click Start ping test. A warm-up request opens the connection first.
- 2
Watch the live graph
Twenty sequential HTTP round trips are timed and plotted as they complete; failures show in red.
- 3
Read the results
Median latency is the headline, with min, average, max, jitter and loss below.
- 4
Compare with real ping
Use ping, tracert or mtr from the guide to test a specific game or service host with ICMP.
Frequently asked questions
Is this a real ICMP ping?
No — browsers can't send ICMP packets. It times HTTP requests to our server, which tracks network latency closely but adds a few milliseconds of overhead. Use the ping or mtr commands in the guide for true ICMP.
Where am I pinging?
Our web server, through our CDN. Your latency to a particular game or video service depends on where its servers are, so results can differ.
How is jitter calculated?
It's the mean absolute difference between consecutive successful samples — how much latency changes from one request to the next.
What counts as packet loss here?
Any request that fails or takes longer than three seconds counts as lost. With 20 samples, each lost request adds 5% to the loss figure.
Why is my result higher on Wi-Fi?
Wi-Fi adds contention, retransmissions and power-saving delays, which raise latency and jitter. Compare with an Ethernet cable to see how much is down to the wireless link.
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