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<h2 dir="ltr" style="text-align:center" id="tag-2"><strong>Ping vs latency</strong></h2>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">First of all, let’s spend a minute learning what latency and ping are!</p>

<h3 dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify" id="tag-5"><strong>What is latency?</strong></h3>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">Latency is a measure of delay, according to <a href="https://www.sas.co.uk/blog/what-is-network-latency-how-do-you-use-a-latency-calculator-to-calculate-throughput" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">sas.co.uk</a>. </p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">Latency refers to the time it takes for a data packet to move from a transmitter to a receiver, and back again. </p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">It’s worth noting that latency and speeds of an internet connection are different things. Latency refers to the quality of your connection, not its speed (amount of data transferred within a specific amount of time).</p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify"><img alt="Latency" src="https://gospeedcheck.com/filemanager/data-images/blog/latency-vs-ping-1.png" style="display:block; height:320px; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; width:640px"></p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:center"><em>Latency</em></p>

<h3 dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify" id="tag-15"><strong>What is ping?</strong></h3>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">So, what does ping mean? </p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">Ping, as per hp.com, is the signal sent out across the network connection to another computer, which in turn sends another signal back. </p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">And the measurement for this round trip is known as latency. </p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify"><img alt="Ping is the signal sent out across the network connection to another computer" src="https://gospeedcheck.com/filemanager/data-images/blog/latency-vs-ping-2.png" style="display:block; height:390px; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; width:585px"></p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:center"><em>Ping is the signal sent out across the network connection to another computer</em></p>

<h3 dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify" id="tag-24">Is latency the same as ping?</h3>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">As you can see, ping and latency, to be exact, are not very the same. </p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">Despite often being used interchangeably, there is a subtle difference between ping and latency. </p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">To put it as simply as possible, </p>

<blockquote>
<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:center">Latency refers to the reaction speed of an internet connection, </p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:center">While ping is a network utility used to measure latency. </p>
</blockquote>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">That’s the difference between latency and ping.</p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">However, as mentioned above, ping and latency are often used interchangeably. </p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">So, when you hear the terms “low ping” and “high ping”, it likely means “low latency” and “high latency.” </p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify"><img alt="Ping and latency: are they the same?" src="http://gospeedcheck.com/filemanager/data-images/latency-vs-ping-573-2.png" style="display:block; height:360px; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; width:640px"></p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:center"><em>Ping and latency: are they the same?</em></p>

<h2 dir="ltr" style="text-align:center" id="tag-38"><strong>Why does low latency matter?</strong></h2>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">Latency is measured in milliseconds (ms). </p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">The higher ping or higher latency in <a href="https://gospeedcheck.com/article/ping-speed-test-532" target="_blank">ping speed test</a>, to be exact, means the more time it takes for the communication between a transmitter (e.g., your device) and a receiver (e.g., a server on the internet). </p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">High latency results in lag and can severely affect our internet experiences. </p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">That’s why lower latency is always better. </p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">Yep, low latency does matter, especially speaking of activities requiring fast responsiveness like gaming, for example. </p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify"><img alt="High latency results in lag" src="https://gospeedcheck.com/filemanager/data-images/blog/latency-vs-ping-3.png" style="display:block; height:360px; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; width:640px"></p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:center"><em>High latency results in lag</em></p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">When it comes to online games, good ping latency, not fast download speed and download speed, is what matters the most. </p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">In types of games like FPS (first-person shooter), real-time strategy, racing games, and others, low latency means quicker speeds for transferring data and getting the server’s response. </p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">That, of course, results in smoother gameplay.</p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">Do you know that many FPS games’ servers will automatically disconnect the players if their latency gets too high?</p>

<h2 dir="ltr" style="text-align:center" id="tag-54"><strong>What causes high ping latency?</strong></h2>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">There is, well, a wide range of reasons behind a high latency. </p>

<ul>
<li dir="ltr">
	<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">Slow internet speeds: slow internet connection means that you need to take more time to send and receive data. As a result, there’re lags while playing online games, for example.</p>
	</li>
	<li dir="ltr">
	<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">The use of the wireless connection: There are many devices working at 2.4GHz and Wifi does too that making the frequency busy. High ping latency is a certain.</p>
	</li>
	<li dir="ltr">
	<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">Outdated routers: Outdated routers won’t keep up with tech improvements such as wireless speed, range, security.</p>
	</li>
	<li dir="ltr">
	<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">Outdated devices </p>
	</li>
	<li dir="ltr">
	<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">Network congestion: More devices connect to the same network, more bandwidth is splitted and high ping. </p>
	</li>
	<li dir="ltr">
	<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">Background apps and programs </p>
	</li>
	<li dir="ltr">
	<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">The distance between your device and the server…..</p>
	</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">Things are like those can cause your latency to get higher. </p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">Determining exactly what is the reason causing high latency is so crucial </p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">Because it’ll help you find the best way to fix the problem so quickly. </p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">See also: <a href="https://gospeedcheck.com/article/what-is-my-lol-ping-569" target="_blank">What is my LoL ping</a>?</p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify"><img alt="Lower pings are always better" src="https://gospeedcheck.com/filemanager/data-images/blog/latency-vs-ping-4.png" style="display:block; height:360px; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; width:640px"></p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:center"><em>Lower pings are always better</em></p>
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