Internet Tech Jargon Explained: What Does Speed, Latency, and Jitter Mean?
Understanding your speed test
When your Ting technician installs fiber internet, they’ll run a speed test to show you just how fast your new connection is. Here’s what those numbers really mean:
- Download speed – How quickly you can bring things in from the internet (like streaming movies or browsing websites).
- Upload speed – How quickly you can send things out (like sharing photos, video calls, or uploading files).
- Ping & latency – How quickly your internet reacts when you click or tap. Lower is better–it means smoother video calls.
- Jitter – How steady your connection is. Lower jitter means fewer freezes, skips, or glitches.
Why Ting speeds feel different
With Ting Fiber, your download and upload speeds are the same. That means you can upload family videos while streaming your favorite show–without slowing anything down. Other providers usually make uploading much slower than downloading.
What the numbers mean in everyday life
- Browsing websites works smoothly with just a few Mbps. Ting gives you hundreds, even thousands.
- Streaming is effortless–HD shows need about 10 Mbps, 4K movies about 30 Mbps. Ting has you covered many times over.
- Video calls stay clear and steady because you have plenty of speed going both ways.
A quick note on Wi-Fi
Your wired connection (using an Ethernet cable) will always be fastest. Wi-Fi is a bit slower, especially on older devices, but still more than enough for everyday use.
Ping
Ping is a way of measuring latency. It’s the “round trip” time it takes for your computer to send a signal to a server and get a response back.
Think of it like tossing a ball against a wall and measuring how long it takes to come back. The quicker the return, the lower the ping.
- Low ping (great): 20–50 ms. Very responsive.
- Moderate ping: 50–100 ms. Still fine for most everyday use.
- High ping: 100+ ms. Can cause noticeable delays.
Everyday example: On a video call with family, low ping means the conversation flows naturally–you hear each other in real time. With high ping, you might start talking over one another because of small delays.
Latency
Latency is the time it takes for data to travel from your devices (phone, tablet, computer, smart TV) to the internet and back. Think of it like mailing a letter and waiting for a reply–the shorter the wait, the better.
In practical terms, latency affects how quickly things respond after you click. A web page loading, a button responding in an app, or a video call connecting all rely on low latency.
- Good latency: Under 50 milliseconds (ms). Feels instant.
- Okay latency: Under 100 ms. Works fine for most things.
- High latency: Over 100 ms. You may notice lag or delays.
Everyday example: If you’re on a video call with family, low latency means your voice and picture stay in sync without awkward pauses.
Jitter
Jitter measures how consistent your connection is. Even if your latency is low, if it’s jumping up and down, you’ll feel it as “jitter.”
Imagine you’re talking to someone on the phone, but their voice cuts in and out at random–that’s what jitter feels like online.
- Low jitter: Stable connection, smooth experience.
- High jitter: Choppy audio, frozen video, or lag spikes.
Everyday example: During a Zoom call, high jitter may make voices sound robotic or cause video to stutter. With low jitter, the call is clear and steady.
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