You just ran an internet speed test. It says 150 Mbps download. That’s fast. So why does your Zoom call keep freezing? Why does your character in Fortnite teleport across the screen? Why does clicking a link feel sluggish?
The answer is usually latency — and most people have never heard of it, even though it affects your internet experience more than raw speed for many everyday tasks.
This guide explains what latency and ping actually are, what causes them, and — most importantly — how to fix high latency if it’s ruining your internet experience.
Latency vs. Speed — They’re Not the Same Thing
Think of your internet connection as a highway:
- Speed (bandwidth) is how many lanes the highway has. More lanes = more data can travel at once.
- Latency is how long it takes a single car to drive from one end to the other.
You can have a 10-lane highway (fast speed) where every car takes 2 minutes to reach its destination (high latency). For activities like downloading a movie, more lanes help. But for activities like video calls, gaming, or browsing — where you need quick back-and-forth communication — what matters is how fast each individual data packet makes the round trip.
That round trip time is what we call ping.
What Is Ping?
Ping is the measurement of latency. It’s measured in milliseconds (ms) and represents the time it takes for a small data packet to travel from your device to a server and back.
When you see “ping: 25 ms” on a speed test, that means it took 25 milliseconds for your data to make the round trip. Lower is better.
What’s a Good Ping?
| Ping (ms) | Rating | Good For |
|---|---|---|
| 1-10 ms | Excellent | Competitive gaming, trading platforms |
| 10-30 ms | Great | All online activities, including gaming |
| 30-60 ms | Good | Video calls, casual gaming, browsing |
| 60-100 ms | Acceptable | Browsing, streaming, email |
| 100-200 ms | Poor | Noticeable delays in calls and gaming |
| 200+ ms | Bad | Frustrating for most real-time activities |
For context, most fibre internet connections in Canadian cities deliver ping times of 5-15 ms. Cable internet typically lands at 15-40 ms. Satellite internet — common in rural areas of Alberta, BC, and Saskatchewan — can range from 40 ms (Starlink) to 600+ ms (traditional satellite).
What Causes High Latency?
Several factors can increase your latency, and some are easier to fix than others:
1. Your Connection Type
The physical technology connecting your home to the internet has the biggest impact on latency:
- Fibre optic: 1-10 ms — light pulses through glass fibre, the fastest possible
- Cable (DOCSIS): 10-40 ms — fast, but shared neighborhood bandwidth can add variability
- DSL: 20-60 ms — older copper phone lines, degrades over distance
- Fixed wireless: 20-50 ms — depends on tower distance and weather
- Satellite (Starlink): 25-60 ms — low-earth orbit keeps latency manageable
- Satellite (traditional): 500-700 ms — geostationary orbit means signals travel 72,000 km round trip
If you’re on traditional satellite internet in a rural Alberta or rural BC location, high latency is a physical limitation — the signal literally needs to travel to space and back. Upgrading to Starlink, fixed wireless, or a wired connection (if available) is the only real fix.
2. WiFi vs. Wired Connection
WiFi adds latency. Every time your data has to go through a wireless hop, it adds 2-10 ms. That doesn’t sound like much, but it compounds:
- Direct Ethernet connection: adds 0-1 ms
- WiFi (same room as router): adds 2-5 ms
- WiFi (different floor or through walls): adds 5-15 ms
- WiFi through a repeater/extender: adds 10-30 ms (the data makes two wireless hops)
For gaming or video calls, plugging in an Ethernet cable is the single easiest way to reduce latency. If running a cable isn’t practical, a mesh WiFi system performs much better than basic repeaters.
3. Network Congestion
When your internet connection is heavily loaded — multiple people streaming, downloading, and video calling at once — latency increases because data packets have to queue up and wait their turn.
This is also why internet can feel slower during peak hours (roughly 7-11 PM) on cable internet, where you share bandwidth with neighbors. Fibre connections are less affected by neighborhood congestion because each home typically has a dedicated fibre line.
4. Distance to the Server
Data travels fast — close to the speed of light in fibre — but distance still matters. Connecting to a server in Calgary from Calgary gives you 5 ms ping. Connecting to a server in Tokyo gives you 150+ ms, no matter how fast your internet is.
This is why gamers care about server location, and why content delivery networks (CDNs) put copies of popular websites on servers closer to you.
5. Your Router and Equipment
Old or overloaded routers add processing latency. If your router is more than 4-5 years old, struggles with multiple devices, or hasn’t been restarted in months, it could be adding unnecessary latency. Check out our WiFi 6/6E/7 guide to see if a router upgrade makes sense for your household.
How to Test Your Latency
Here are reliable ways to check your current latency:
Speed Test Websites
Speedtest by Ookla shows your ping along with download/upload speeds. For a Canadian-specific test, try the CIRA Internet Performance Test at performance.cira.ca — it tests against Canadian servers, giving you a more accurate picture for local services.
Command Line Ping Test
For a more detailed view, open your command prompt (Windows) or terminal (Mac) and type: ping google.ca. This sends test packets and shows you the round-trip time for each one. Look for consistency — occasional spikes are normal, but if your ping jumps from 15 ms to 300 ms regularly, something is wrong.
In-Game Ping Displays
Most online games show your ping somewhere on screen (usually in settings or a network stats overlay). This is the most relevant measurement for gaming performance because it shows latency to the actual game server.
How to Fix High Latency
If your latency is higher than it should be for your connection type, work through these fixes from easiest to most involved:
Quick Fixes (Try First)
- Restart your router and modem. Power off for 30 seconds, then power on modem first, wait 2 minutes, then router. This clears memory and refreshes connections.
- Use Ethernet for critical devices. Plug your gaming PC, work computer, or streaming box directly into the router.
- Close background applications. Cloud backups, Windows updates, and streaming on other devices all compete for bandwidth and increase latency.
- Switch WiFi bands. If you’re on 2.4 GHz, try 5 GHz or 6 GHz — they’re faster with lower latency (though shorter range).
- Move closer to your router. Walls, floors, and distance all degrade WiFi quality and add latency.
Medium Fixes
- Enable QoS (Quality of Service). Most modern routers let you prioritize certain types of traffic — like video calls or gaming — over background downloads. Check your router’s admin panel.
- Replace old equipment. If your router is more than 5 years old, a modern WiFi 6 or WiFi 6E router handles multiple devices with significantly less latency.
- Switch to a mesh system. If you’re using WiFi extenders, replacing them with a mesh WiFi system can cut latency in half, as mesh nodes use a dedicated backhaul channel.
- Check for interference. Microwaves, baby monitors, Bluetooth devices, and neighboring WiFi networks all cause interference on the 2.4 GHz band.
Bigger Fixes
- Upgrade your internet plan. If your current plan is at capacity during peak usage, a faster plan with more bandwidth reduces congestion-related latency. Compare internet plans to see what’s available at your address.
- Switch connection types. Moving from cable to fibre (where available) or from DSL to cable can dramatically reduce base latency.
- Use a wired backhaul. If you can run Ethernet cables to your mesh nodes or access points, you eliminate the wireless hop latency entirely.
Latency and Jitter — The Other Number That Matters
While latency tells you how long the trip takes, jitter tells you how consistent that trip is. Jitter is the variation in latency from packet to packet.
If your ping bounces between 15 ms and 150 ms, you have high jitter — and that’s often worse than consistently high latency. Your brain can adapt to a steady 80 ms delay, but unpredictable spikes cause the stuttering and freezing that makes video calls unbearable.
Good jitter is under 10 ms. If yours is consistently higher, the most common causes are WiFi interference, network congestion, or an overloaded router.
Which Activities Need Low Latency?
Not everything requires low latency. Here’s what does and what doesn’t:
Latency-Sensitive (Low Ping Matters)
- Online gaming — especially competitive/multiplayer (aim for under 30 ms)
- Video calls — Zoom, Teams, Google Meet (under 50 ms for smooth calls)
- VoIP phone calls — Voice over IP is very sensitive to latency and jitter
- Remote desktop — controlling another computer feels laggy above 50 ms
- Live trading — stock/crypto trading platforms need minimal delay
Latency-Tolerant (Speed Matters More)
- Streaming video — Netflix, Disney+, Crave buffer ahead, so latency doesn’t matter much. Speed is what counts for streaming.
- Downloading files — bandwidth determines download time, not latency
- Email and messaging — a few extra milliseconds go unnoticed
- Social media browsing — content loads based on bandwidth
- Cloud storage syncing — runs in the background regardless of latency
What Internet Type Has the Best Latency in Western Canada?
If low latency is important to you, here’s how the main connection types available across Alberta, BC, and Saskatchewan compare:
| Connection Type | Typical Latency | Availability |
|---|---|---|
| Fibre (FTTH) | 1-10 ms | Urban areas in Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Saskatoon |
| Cable (DOCSIS 3.1) | 10-30 ms | Most cities and larger towns |
| DSL (VDSL2) | 15-40 ms | Older neighborhoods, some rural areas |
| Fixed Wireless | 15-50 ms | Rural and semi-rural areas |
| Starlink | 25-60 ms | Anywhere with clear sky view |
| Traditional Satellite | 500-700 ms | Anywhere (last resort) |
In cities like Red Deer, Lethbridge, Kelowna, and Regina, fibre availability is expanding rapidly. If it’s available at your address, it’s the best option for low latency.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is 100 ms ping bad?
For casual browsing and streaming, 100 ms is fine — you probably won’t notice. For gaming and video calls, it’s on the edge. You’ll notice slight delays in competitive games and occasional awkwardness in video calls. Aim for under 50 ms if real-time activities are important to you.
Can a VPN reduce my latency?
Usually no — a VPN adds an extra hop for your data, which typically increases latency by 10-30 ms. In rare cases, a VPN can help if your ISP is routing your traffic inefficiently, but this is uncommon. For more on VPNs, see our home WiFi security guide.
Does faster internet mean lower latency?
Not directly. A 1,000 Mbps cable connection and a 300 Mbps cable connection will have similar latency. However, a faster plan means less congestion in your household, which can indirectly reduce latency spikes during heavy usage.
Why is my ping high only at certain times?
Peak-hour congestion (7-11 PM) is the most common cause. During these hours, your neighbors are all using the same infrastructure. Cable internet is more affected than fibre. Your own household usage also matters — if someone starts a large download, it can spike everyone’s latency.
What’s the difference between latency and lag?
Lag is the general term people use when something feels slow or delayed. Latency is the specific, measurable cause. When gamers say “I’m lagging,” they usually mean their latency (ping) is too high, causing visible delays between their actions and what happens on screen.
The Bottom Line
Speed gets all the attention, but latency is what determines whether your internet actually feels fast. A 50 Mbps fibre connection with 5 ms ping will feel snappier for browsing, calls, and gaming than a 500 Mbps satellite connection with 600 ms ping.
The good news? For most Canadians in cities and towns across Alberta, BC, and Saskatchewan, low-latency internet is readily available through fibre and cable connections.
Not sure what’s available at your address? Check plans and rates for your area — we’ll show you the fastest, lowest-latency options available where you live.
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