A simple measure, labeled “ping,” has been at the top of the app next to download speed. Which means poor latency is becoming more obvious as the internet gets faster and more devices are connected online. These days, many folks have faster connections but there’s still a disconnect between asking their device to perform an action online and having it complete that action. However, it has often been difficult to tell the difference between a slow connection and a high latency as both can delay you from getting what you want from the internet.

Latency has always mattered to online experience. An example of how this works in online gaming is when you ask your character to move - if your character moves almost immediately, you have a low latency, if there is a delay in your character completing that movement, you might have a high latency. A low latency means the server is responding quickly to your request whereas a high latency means a slow response. Latency (sometimes called ping) measures how quickly your device gets a response after you’ve sent out a request. That something is often latency and we at Ookla® have recently redesigned how Speedtest® measures latency to give you better access to this essential metric. As speeds increase globally, it’s becoming increasingly obvious to many that something is still getting in the way of the seamless video calls, streaming, and gaming we dream of. Latency can seem like a sleeper metric - one that you may not think about when you’re troubleshooting your connections but one that deeply affects your online experience.

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