Ping Test

Ping is the time a tiny message takes to travel to a server and back, measured in milliseconds (ms). Lower is better: it decides how quickly a game reacts to your input and how natural a video call feels. This test sends a ping four times a second for 30 seconds and shows every result on the chart.

What affects ping

Distance is the biggest factor: data can't travel faster than light in fibre, so a server on another continent always adds delay. Your connection type adds its own share — fibre and cable are usually lowest, DSL a little higher, and mobile and older satellite connections higher and less steady. Wi-Fi adds a few milliseconds and more variation, and a busy connection can add hundreds. If your ping jumps while someone else downloads, see the bufferbloat test.

Reading the chart

The live chart shows every ping in the 30-second run. A flat line means steady latency, which is what games and calls want. A line that wobbles a little is normal on Wi-Fi. Tall spikes that come and go usually mean something else on your network is competing for the connection, or that your Wi-Fi signal is weak where you're sitting. Gaps mark timeouts — pings that got no answer within 2 seconds.

The headline number is the median: half your pings were faster and half slower. That's more useful than the average, because one big spike can drag an average up. The minimum shows the best your connection can do; the maximum shows the worst moment. The difference between them, along with the jitter figure, tells you how steady the connection is.

Ping vs. download speed

Ping and speed are different things. A 1 Gbps connection can still have high ping, and a modest connection can have excellent ping. For gaming and video calls, low and steady ping matters more than raw speed. Upgrading your plan rarely lowers ping — more in what is ping.

Why your game shows a different number

This test pings the nearest Cloudflare location, which is usually in or near your city. A game measures ping to its own server, which may be in another region or country. Use this test to judge your own connection — Wi-Fi, router and provider — and the game's own display to judge the server. If both are high, the problem is on your side; if only the game is high, try a closer server region.

How to lower your ping

Use a cable instead of Wi-Fi, stop large downloads and backups while you play, choose game servers in your region, and turn on your router's traffic management (SQM or QoS) if it has it. Close launchers that update in the background, and turn off VPNs unless they route you closer to the server. The full checklist is in how to reduce ping for gaming, and internet speed for gaming explains what else matters.

Test more than once

Run the test with a cable, then on Wi-Fi from where you play or work, and at a busy time of day. Comparing the three shows whether Wi-Fi, your home network or your provider is adding the delay.