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The
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Log in or register now. represents the amount of time required for data to travel between the sender and receiver. While all computer networks possess some inherent amount of latency, the amount varies and can suddenly increase for various reasons. People perceive these unexpected time delays as
lag.
The Speed of Light On a Computer Network
No network traffic can travel faster than the speed of light.
On a home or
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Furthermore, most long-distance Internet traffic travels over cables, which cannot carry signals as fast as light due to a principle of physics called
refraction. Data over a fiber optic cable, for example, requires at least 7.5 ms to travel 1,000 miles.
Typical Internet Connection Latencies
Besides the limits of physics, additional network latency is caused when traffic is routed through Internet servers and other
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Log in or register now. devices. The typical latency of an Internet connection also varies depending on its type. The study Measuring Broadband America - February 2013 reported these typical Internet connection latencies for common forms of U.S. broadband service:
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- cable Internet: 26 ms
- DSL: 44 ms
- satellite Internet: 638 ms
Causes of Lag on Internet Connections
The latencies of Internet connections fluctuate small amounts from one minute to the next, but the additional lag from even small increases becomes noticeable when surfing the Web or running online applications.
The following are common sources of Internet lag:
Internet traffic load: Spikes in Internet utilization during peak usage times of day often cause lag. The nature of this lag varies by service provider and a person's geographic location. Unfortunately, other than moving locations or changing Internet service, an individual user cannot avoid this kind of lag.
Online application load: Multiplayer online games, Web sites, and other
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Weather and other wireless interference: Satellite,
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Lag switches: Some people who play online games install a device called a
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Causes of Lag on Home Networks
Sources of network lag also exist inside a home network as follows:
Overloaded router or modem: Any network
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contentionamong multiple clients means that they are sometimes waiting for each other's requests to be processed, causing lag. A person can replace their router with a more powerful model, or add another router to the network, to help alleviate this problem.
Similarly, network contention occurs on a residence's modem and connection to the Internet provider if saturated with traffic: Depending on the
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Log in or register now., try to avoid too many simultaneous Internet downloads and online sessions to minimize this lag.
Overloaded client device: PCs and other client devices also become a source of network lag if unable to process network data quickly enough. While modern computers are sufficiently powerful in most situations, they can slow down significantly if too many applications are running simultaneously.
Even running applications that do not generate network traffic can introduce lag; for example, a misbehaving program can consume 100 percent of the available CPU utilization on a device that delays the computer from processing network traffic for other applications.
Malware: A
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Use of wireless: Enthusiast online gamers, as an example, often prefer to run their devices over wired
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Log in or register now. because home Ethernet supports lower latencies. While the savings is typically only a few milliseconds in practice, wired connections also avoid the risk of wireless interference that results in significant lag if it occurs.
How Much Lag Is Too Much?
The impact of lag depends on what a person is doing on the network and, to some degree, the level of network performance they have grown accustomed to. Users of
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Dedicated online gamers, on the other hand, strongly prefer their network connection to run with less than 50 ms of latency and will quickly notice any lag above that level. In general, online applications perform best when network latency stays below 100 ms and any additional lag will be noticeable to users.
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