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Ping test

Measure your ping and see whether your connection is responsive enough for gaming, video calls and anything else where delay matters more than raw speed.

Ping is shown in milliseconds after the test starts. Run it on a cable for your line’s true latency; WiFi adds a few milliseconds and, if the signal is weak, a lot of jitter.

What ping actually measures

Ping, or latency, is how long a tiny packet of data takes to travel from your device to a server and back. Download speed is how much data moves per second; ping is how long each request waits before anything moves. A connection can have a huge download speed and still feel sluggish if the ping is high, which is why online games, video calls and remote desktops care about it more than about Mbps.

Jitter is how much the ping varies from one moment to the next. A steady 40 ms feels better than a ping that jumps between 15 and 120 ms, even though the average is similar.

What ping is normal in South Africa?

Connection	Typical ping to a local server	Verdict
Fibre	3–15 ms	Excellent for everything
5G	12–40 ms	Good for gaming and calls
LTE / 4G	25–70 ms	Fine for calls, playable for most games
Fixed wireless (WISP)	10–40 ms	Good
ADSL / VDSL	20–50 ms	Fine
Starlink	25–60 ms	Fine for calls, playable but variable for gaming
3G	80–200 ms	Noticeable delay on calls

These are to a server in South Africa. Games hosted in Europe add roughly 150–180 ms and US servers 200–250 ms on any local connection, because of physical distance. Choose SA or the nearest regional servers where a game offers them.

What ping do you need?

Video calls that feel naturalUnder 100 ms
Casual online gamingUnder 80 ms
Competitive shooters and fighting gamesUnder 40 ms
Cloud gaming (Xbox Cloud, GeForce Now)Under 40 ms, low jitter
Remote desktop and cloud trading platformsUnder 60 ms
Streaming and browsingPing barely matters

How to lower your ping

Use a cable for anything that needs low pingWiFi adds latency and, more importantly, jitter. A R100 Ethernet cable from router to console or PC is the biggest single improvement.
Pick the closest game serverMost games let you choose a region. South African or Middle East servers will always beat European ones by 100 ms or more.
Stop background trafficUploads and downloads on other devices fill the line and push your ping up. Pause backups and updates, or enable QoS on the router to prioritise your device.
Turn off the VPNA VPN routes your traffic through another country and adds its distance to your ping.
Move a wireless router to a windowOn LTE and 5G, weak signal means retransmissions, which show up as jitter. Signal strength matters more for ping than for download speed.
If you are on LTE, consider fibre or 5GFibre ping is typically a fifth of LTE ping. For competitive gaming there is no substitute.

Common questions

What is a good ping?

Under 20 ms is excellent, under 50 ms is good for gaming, under 100 ms is fine for calls. Above 150 ms delay becomes obvious.

Why is my ping high on fibre?

Usually WiFi, background traffic, a VPN, or a distant server. Test on a cable to a local server; fibre itself should give under 15 ms.

Does download speed affect ping?

Not directly. A faster package does not lower ping, but a saturated line raises it. Fibre lowers ping because of the technology, not the speed.

What is jitter?

The variation in ping over time. Low jitter matters as much as low ping for games and calls.

Test by provider

Guides: WiFi speed test Fibre speed test