Stephen Harrison 🗓️ Updated ⏱️ — 📝 —


Ping and Jitter Test: Quick Internet Stability Check (Calls, Gaming, Streaming)

If your video calls freeze, your audio goes robotic, or games “rubber-band”, it’s often not your download speed — it’s stability. This Ping and Jitter Test gives you a quick, plain-English snapshot of your connection by sampling ping (latency), jitter (how much it jumps around) and timeouts (a sign of packet loss).

Run the ping and jitter test, then use the rating to decide what to do next: carry on confidently, switch to 5 GHz or Ethernet, pause big uploads, or troubleshoot your Wi-Fi — so your connection feels smooth for Teams/Zoom, gaming, streaming, and remote work.


Ping and Jitter Test

See if your connection is smooth enough for video calls and gaming — in under a minute.

Theme
Connection smoothness (stability)
Action
Run a short sample (20–50 pings)
Outcome
Know if jitter/loss may cause lag or choppy calls

Run the sampler

Ready. Choose a target and press Start sampling.
Chart shows each sample’s round-trip time (lower + flatter is better).

Your results

Average ping
—
Jitter
—
Packet loss
—
Rating
—
Run a sample to see if your connection looks stable.
Show sample list (newest first)
Sample = one timed request. Interval = the wait between samples. Timeout = how long we wait before marking a failure.
# Ping (ms) Result
No samples yet.

Heads-up: Wi-Fi can look “fast” yet still be unstable. Jitter + loss are what usually cause robotic audio, frozen video, or rubber-banding.

How to read the results

Ping (ms)

How long a request takes to go from your device to the target and back. Lower is better.

  • Video calls / VoIP: average under ~60 ms is typically comfortable.
  • Gaming: under ~40 ms feels snappy; under ~80 ms is usually playable.
  • Remote desktop/VDI: lower latency helps typing feel instant.

Jitter (ms)

How much ping changes from one moment to the next. This is the “smoothness” score.

  • Excellent: < 10 ms
  • OK: 10–20 ms
  • Risky: > 20 ms (more freezes/lag spikes)

Packet loss (%)

How often a sample times out or fails. Even small loss can break real-time audio/video.

  • Great: 0%
  • Warning: 1–2%
  • Problem: > 2%

Quick glossary (plain English)

Sample

One timed “there and back” request. More samples = more confidence in the result.

Interval

The pause between samples (for example, 500 ms). Shorter intervals spot spikes faster, but can stress busy networks.

Timeout

How long we wait before marking a sample as a failure. Lots of timeouts usually means congestion, Wi-Fi problems, or ISP issues.

Use case

Choose what you’re doing so the rating uses sensible thresholds. Common uses:

  • Video calls (Teams/Zoom/Meet): sensitive to jitter + loss.
  • VoIP calls: audio can reveal jitter very quickly.
  • Gaming: sensitive to latency and spikes (rubber-banding).
  • Live streaming: stability matters for consistent upload and fewer dropped frames.
  • Remote desktop / VDI: high jitter makes mouse/typing feel “floaty”.

Why your results can differ

Ping and jitter can change from minute to minute. The biggest causes are Wi-Fi interference (distance, walls, neighbours), congestion (someone streaming or uploading), and bufferbloat (your router/ISP queueing traffic when the line is busy). A VPN can add extra hops, and different test targets can take different routes across the internet. For a fair comparison, run the same settings twice: once on Wi-Fi, and once on Ethernet (if you can).

Fixes & tips if results are poor

  1. Move closer to your router (or test on Ethernet). Walls and distance add jitter.
  2. Pause big downloads / cloud backups. Upload saturation is a common cause of choppy calls.
  3. Try 5 GHz Wi-Fi (or Wi-Fi 6/6E if available). 2.4 GHz is more prone to interference.
  4. Reboot router + modem (power off 30 seconds). It can clear buffer/line issues.
  5. Change Wi-Fi channel if you’re in a busy area (especially flats).
  6. Check for VPNs. VPNs can add latency and jitter; disable as a test.

If your ping is fine but jitter/loss is high, it’s often Wi-Fi interference or congestion — not your broadband speed.

Privacy and accuracy

  • Runs locally: calculations happen in your browser.
  • No tracking: this tool doesn’t store names, emails, or device identifiers.
  • What it measures: a quick HTTP “round trip”. It’s not the same as ICMP ping, but it’s excellent for spotting stability problems (jitter/loss).

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