01
Basics
What Is Ping?
Learn what ping is, how latency is measured, and what ping times mean for gaming, video calls, streaming, and everyday Internet use.
Guides
Internet & Network Guides
Practical guides to understand your Internet connection, troubleshoot network problems, improve WiFi performance, and get better results from your connection.
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Getting Started
Understand and Fix Your Internet Connection
Your Internet connection is shaped by more than one number. Download and upload speed determine how quickly data moves in each direction, while latency — often measured as ping — is the delay before that data starts moving at all. Two connections with identical Mbps can feel completely different if one has high jitter (latency that swings from one moment to the next) or packet loss (data that never arrives). WiFi signal quality, router placement and network configuration add another layer on top of all of this. The guides below walk through each of these factors, explain what a good or a poor result actually looks like, and link to the free tools on this site so you can check your own connection and see where a problem is really coming from.
The Basics
Understand Your Connection
Ping, jitter and packet loss are the three numbers that decide how a connection feels, not just how fast it is. Start here to understand what each one measures.
02
Basics
What Is Jitter?
Understand jitter, why inconsistent latency can affect calls and online gaming, and how to check whether your connection is experiencing it.
03
Basics
What Is Packet Loss?
Learn what packet loss means, what causes it, how it affects your connection, and how to identify packet loss problems.
Troubleshooting
Fix Common Internet Problems
High ping is one of the most common complaints, and usually one of the more fixable ones. Read the guide for the likely causes, then use the tools next to it to check your own ping, latency, jitter and packet loss.
Fix
How to Fix High Ping
Practical steps to diagnose high ping, identify possible causes, and reduce latency when possible.
Latency
Ping Test
Measure the response time between your device and our test server.
ResultRound-trip time in ms
Latency
Latency Test
Check the delay between sending a request and getting a response back.
ResultDelay in ms
Stability
Jitter Test
Measure variations in your network latency.
ResultLatency variation in ms
Reliability
Packet Loss Test
Find out whether data packets are being dropped on their way to the server.
ResultLost packets in %
WiFi
Improve Your WiFi
WiFi rarely performs at its full potential straight out of the box. This guide covers the changes that make the biggest difference, and the tests below let you measure your WiFi before and after.
Fix
How to Improve WiFi Speed
Learn practical ways to improve WiFi performance, reduce interference, optimize router placement, and troubleshoot slow wireless connections.
WiFi
WiFi Speed Test
Test the performance of your WiFi connection.
ResultWiFi download & upload in Mbps
Speed
Internet Speed Test
Check your download speed, upload speed and connection latency.
ResultDownload & upload in Mbps, ping in ms
Tools
Network Basics & Tools
Beyond speed and latency, these tools help with the more technical side of networking — from finding your own IP address to checking DNS records, open ports and subnet ranges.
IP
What Is My IP
Find your public IP address instantly.
ResultPublic IPv4 / IPv6 address
DNS
DNS Lookup
Check DNS records for any domain.
ResultA, AAAA, MX, TXT, NS & CNAME records
Domain
WHOIS Lookup
See the registration details of a domain name.
ResultRegistrar, creation & expiry dates
Ports
Port Checker
Check whether a port is open and reachable from the Internet.
ResultOpen or closed status
IPv4
Subnet Calculator
Work out network ranges, subnet masks and usable host addresses from an IP address and CIDR prefix.
ResultNetwork, broadcast, mask & host range
Capacity
Bandwidth Calculator
Estimate the bandwidth you need, or how long a file will take to transfer at a given speed.
ResultRequired Mbps or transfer time
Quick Diagnosis
Check Your Connection
Not sure which tool to run? Match what you’re experiencing to the test that explains it.
Slow Internet?
Check your download and upload speed to see what your connection is actually delivering right now.
Run an Internet Speed TestWiFi feels slow?
Test your wireless connection on its own to see how much distance, walls or interference are costing you.
Run a WiFi Speed TestGaming feels laggy?
Ping measures the delay between an action and the server registering it — the number that matters most in real time.
Check Your PingConnection feels unstable?
Jitter is how much that delay varies from one moment to the next, which is what causes choppy calls and stuttering video.
Check Your JitterPackets seem to be dropping?
Packet loss is the share of data that never arrives at all, even when speed and ping both look fine.
Check for Packet LossHigh latency?
Get a closer look at round-trip delay on its own, separate from download and upload throughput.
Run a Latency TestGet started
Test Your Connection
Put the information from these guides into practice with our free network and Internet testing tools.