What is Network Latency?

Network latency is the amount of time a data packet takes to reach from source point to target point on network. In simple words this term is used to describe delay in network communication which is called network lag too.

Reducing network latency is the most important part in any network communication. If somehow, we can achieve this, it has very positive impact on user experience. It always helps you to broaden your user base.

Why Network Latency is Important?

Online communication with long delays has high latency, whereas communications with fast response time have reduced latency. High latency generates poor connectivity output; it reduces overall response time of application or website which leads to poor user experience. Target audience on internet always likes fast responses and quick outputs.

The products whether applications or websites if having low latency are always get high response from the market. As users don’t like delays and lags in response which negatively affects the image of your product, and finally it is converted in your financial loss.

Reasons of High Network Latency

Following are some factors that are associated with network latency and can have direct impact on increasing latency:

Network bandwidth & Network Throughput

Network bandwidth is the capacity of network medium to transmit maximum data within certain time while network throughput is the average amount of data that actually transmitting through that bandwidth within certain time. If this capacity is low, then only fewer amounts of data can travel which will increase network lag and so you will experience network latency.

Medium of Connectivity/Transmission

The medium used to transfer the data has vital role in communication. It impacts on speed of data travelling between two servers. If the medium is supportive and fast, response will come in no time and will minimize the latency. Medium used may be copper wire, fiber optic cable or radio signals. Depending on the medium some more devices also play a vital role in data transmission like connectors, routers etc.

Distance and Geographical Location

Distance between device initiating the request and the server need to respond this request is a big factor of network latency. If some user is sending a request to the server that is located in different geographical location and suppose the distance in between the requester and responder is somewhat 5000 km then the ping response will be very poor.

Alternatively, if the requesting device and the responding server are at the same geographical location or country around 1000 km away from each other, then ping response will be very good. The data travelling speed will be very high and response will be received in comparatively very less time which will reduce latency and will obviously increase performance.

In case you need to connect any network away from your geographical location, you may face network latency issues anyhow. But some applications developers keep this issue in mind while coding and optimize their codes to avoid this issue to maximum possible extent. XNXUBD VPN Browser APK is one example of such application that is smartly addressing this issue.

High Network Payloads

If the data requested is huge in amount, then more resources will be downloaded from the server which will lead to high network payloads. Network payload is always directly proportional to network latency. Therefore, as network payload increases, it will increase network latency and response time will be increased.

Routers

In wireless connectivity routers play a vital role. Router received data packet, analyzes and sends it back to requesting device. It takes some time to analyze packets. Every time a packet is transmitted a hop occurs. If the router is performing many hops to completely transfer the data, some latency issue will occur. This may lead to delay or lag in connection and will impact on browsing, downloading or streaming activities.

Impacts of High Network Latency

• Slow performance
• Bad User Experience
• Slow Response
• Bad Impact on Business (Sales)
• Slow Downloading Speed
• Slow Streaming
• Buffering Repetitions
• Your Application’s Repute on Stake
• Users Loose Interest in your Product

How to Measure Network Latency?

We measure the latency by the speed in milliseconds that data takes to travel from one end to another end. We usually call it ping rate. Getting lower ping rate means better data transfer rate. Ping command is very useful as it is not only checking the latency rate but also showing the target device is available.

One more important factor to measure network latency is Round Trip Time (RTT). It is the time that client’s request takes to approach the server and reach back to client with response. It increases with the increase in network latency and decreases when latency or network lag reduces.

What is Good Latency Rate?

A ping rate of less than 100ms is taken as acceptable latency rate while it is considered best when it comes in between 30-40ms. If this rate remains consistent within certain time period it is considered as an indicator of a good network.