What Is Ping? How to Test It and Lower It
Ping is the time, in milliseconds (ms), that it takes for a small message to travel from your device to another computer and back. You will see the word in games, video calls and in the results of every speed test. A lower number means a faster, more responsive connection.
What ping means in a speed test
In a speed test, ping, also called latency, is separate from download and upload speed. Speed is how much data you can move per second. Ping is how quickly the first byte gets there and back. A connection can be very fast and still feel laggy if its ping is high.
What is a good ping?
| Ping | What it means |
|---|---|
| Under 30 ms | Excellent. Great for any online game. |
| 30 to 60 ms | Good. Fine for gaming, calls and streaming. |
| 60 to 100 ms | Fair. Fine for browsing, you may notice lag in fast games. |
| 100 to 150 ms | Slow. Lag is noticeable. |
| Over 150 ms | Poor. Games feel delayed and calls can stutter. |
These are rough guides. Two related numbers matter as much. Jitter is how much your ping changes from moment to moment, and packet loss is the share of messages that never arrive. High jitter or any packet loss causes stutter even when the average ping is low.
How to test your ping
- Online: run our ping test. It sends 25 quick checks to the nearest Cloudflare server and reports your average, best, worst, jitter and packet loss.
- Command line: open Command Prompt or Terminal and run
ping 8.8.8.8. On Windows add-tto keep it running, and on macOS and Linux press Ctrl+C to stop. Thetime=value is your ping in milliseconds. - Full picture: the speed test also reports latency and jitter alongside download and upload.
What affects your ping
- Distance. The farther the server, the higher the ping, because signals take time to travel.
- Wi-Fi. Weak signal, interference and busy channels add delay and jitter.
- Other traffic. Uploads, streams and downloads on your network can make ping spike. This is called bufferbloat.
- Your provider and its routing. Congested networks and long routes add delay.
- A VPN. It adds a detour, so ping is usually higher with one on.
How to lower your ping
- Use an Ethernet cable instead of Wi-Fi.
- Pause large downloads, uploads and streams while gaming or on calls.
- Restart your router and modem.
- If you must use Wi-Fi, sit closer and use the 5 GHz band.
- Choose game servers closer to you.
- Turn off the VPN unless you need it. See is my VPN working?
- If the ping stays high on a wired connection, contact your provider.
Try it yourself
See the real numbers for your own connection with our free tools.