Education article.

What is Latency?

Learn the ins & outs of the internet.

As a South African fibre network operator, we ensure our users experience the best possible internet performance. However, to achieve this, it’s crucial to understand how various factors influence your internet experience. One key element that plays a vital role in determining the quality of your connection is latency. In this article, we’ll explain what it is, how it affects your daily online activities like streaming, gaming, and browsing, and what steps you can take to minimize its impact.

Latency, often referred to as “ping,” is the time it takes for data to travel from your device to a server and back. Essentially, it’s the delay between when you perform an action—like clicking a link or pressing a button—and when you see a response from the server. Latency is measured in milliseconds (ms), and lower numbers indicate better performance.

For example, if you click to load a website, your request must first travel to the website’s server. The server processes the request and sends data back to your browser. The time it takes for this round trip is the latency. In practical terms, low latency means a snappier, more responsive connection, while high latency can cause noticeable delays.

It’s important to distinguish between latency and bandwidth. Bandwidth refers to the amount of data that can be transferred over a network at a given time, usually measured in Mbps (megabits per second). While bandwidth affects how much data can be moved, latency is all about how quickly that data moves back and forth. A connection with high bandwidth but high latency will still feel slow and unresponsive.

If you’re streaming your favorite series or movies on platforms like Netflix or YouTube, you might encounter buffering due to high latency. Buffering occurs when the video temporarily stops to load more data before continuing to play. With low latency, the data can move quickly between the server and your device, allowing for smooth and continuous playback. However, if latency is high, it can take longer for the video data to arrive, resulting in frustrating pauses.

Streaming services typically pre-load a small portion of video (called “buffering”) to ensure uninterrupted viewing. While buffering can be caused by low bandwidth, high latency can exacerbate the issue, leading to delays and interruptions in playback. This is especially true if the content you’re streaming is hosted on international servers, as data must travel over greater distances, increasing the round-trip time.

For gamers, latency is a critical factor that directly influences gameplay. In online gaming, real-time interaction is essential. When you press a button to perform an action—like shooting, jumping, or steering—your device sends that command to the game server, and the server responds by updating your character’s position or action.

Low latency ensures that this exchange happens almost instantly, giving you a smooth and responsive gaming experience. However, with high latency (often referred to as “lag” in gaming circles), there’s a noticeable delay between your input and the game’s response. This can make fast-paced games like first-person shooters (FPS), real-time strategy (RTS) games, or sports simulations much harder to play, as precise timing and rapid reactions are crucial.

For the best gaming experience, aim for latency below 50ms. Anything above 100ms will start to introduce noticeable lag, affecting your performance and overall enjoyment.

When it comes to browsing the web, latency affects how quickly websites load. High latency can make pages take longer to respond when you click on links or fill out forms, even if your bandwidth is high. For instance, you might be able to download files quickly, but opening new pages or interacting with websites could feel sluggish if there’s significant latency.

This is especially problematic for users who frequently access international websites, as data must travel through multiple network hops across countries or continents, increasing the overall delay. In contrast, browsing local South African sites hosted on servers within the country will generally result in lower latency and faster page load times.

Several factors can influence latency, including:

Physical Distance: The farther data has to travel, the higher the latency. This is why accessing international websites or game servers often results in higher latency than accessing local services.

Network Congestion: High internet traffic, especially during peak times, can increase latency as data queues up in the network.

Routing and Infrastructure: The path data takes from your device to the server can also impact latency. Poor routing, older infrastructure, and slow servers contribute to longer round-trip times.

Wi-Fi vs. Wired Connections: Wi-Fi generally introduces more latency than a direct wired connection due to interference, signal strength issues, and slower transmission speeds.

    Choose a Fibre Connection: Fibre-optic networks offer the lowest latency compared to other technologies like ADSL or mobile networks.

 Use a Wired Connection: Whenever possible, connect your device directly to your router using an Ethernet cable to reduce the additional latency introduced by Wi-Fi.

Select Local Servers: For gaming or browsing, select South African servers when possible to minimize the distance data needs to travel.

Latency is a crucial factor that influences the quality of your internet experience, particularly when streaming, gaming, or browsing. Understanding how it works and how to manage it can help you optimize your connection for better performance. By choosing a reliable fibre network operator and taking steps to reduce latency, you can enjoy a faster, smoother online experience tailored to your needs.