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Internet testing

Why does everything take a moment to react?

Ping Test

Everything takes a moment to react, even though your speed looks fine.

Is this happening to you?

  • A page waits a beat before it starts to load.
  • Your character in a game reacts slightly after you press.
  • People on a call talk over each other by accident.

Ping is the time a small request takes to reach a server and return.

Start here

Does this sound familiar?

Three ordinary evenings that end up on this page.

  • Your speed test result looks excellent.

    Your games still feel a step behind your hands.

    This test measures the delay speed tests hide.

  • You tap a link and wait.

    Nothing happens for a beat, then it all arrives.

    That pause is what this test puts a number on.

  • You join a call with family abroad.

    You keep talking over each other by accident.

    This shows how long each word takes to arrive.

Can this help me?

Yes, if things feel delayed rather than slow to finish.

Why would I use this?
Low latency is what makes a connection feel instant.
When should I use this?
Use it when pages feel slow to react, or before you play online.
What will I learn?
You learn how quickly your connection answers a small request.

What it will not tell you: It cannot tell you whether large files will download quickly.

Start here

Nothing happens until you press start.

How healthy is your internet?

Test your speed. Understand your connection. Know what to do next.

Your IP address is sent to Measurement Lab and published in their open dataset.

  • No account required
  • Takes about 20 seconds
  • Powered by Measurement Lab

What does this mean for me?

Here is how to read the numbers you get back.

  • The number is how long your connection takes to answer a very small question.
  • A small number means your connection replies almost at once.
  • A large number means every click waits a little before anything happens.

Everyday use

Sizes and speeds are easier to judge with a familiar example.

  • Competitive online gaming · 5 Mbps

    Most players are comfortable under about 60 ms of latency.

  • A work video call · 3 Mbps

    Calls stay natural when latency stays low and steady.

What should I do?

  1. Turn off anything that hides your connection, such as a privacy app.
  2. Try the same test with a cable instead of wireless.
  3. Test again while nobody else in the home is streaming.

What happens if I ignore this?

If you do nothing, games and calls keep feeling a step behind you.

Check if this is the problem

Run a self-check when you want to test one change at a time.

Check this yourself

Common questions

Is a lower ping always better?
Yes, though distance to the server sets a floor you cannot beat.
Why does my ping change between tests?
Wi-Fi, routing and other traffic all move the number a little.

Learn more

These articles explain the idea behind this tool.

Technical details

The words behind the numbers, in case you want them. You do not need any of this to use the tool.

Ping
A tiny message sent out and timed on its way back.
Latency
The waiting time that ping measures.
Round-trip time
The full journey there and back again.

What you get back

  • Idle latency (ms) Round-trip time when idle.
  • Minimum round trip (ms) The fastest trip seen.

Norynt writes its own explanations. External documentation is listed only so you can verify what you read here.

Technical references

The information in this article is based on publicly available technical documentation and networking research. You do not need to read any of it to understand the article.

Measurement Lab(1)

The open measurement platform Norynt runs its speed tests on.