What is ping and how much is too much?

Whether you're catching up with friends on a video call, settling down for your favourite show or trying to get something done online, there's nothing more frustrating than your connection taking ages to respond.

While slow broadband often gets the blame, it isn't always the culprit. Sometimes the issue isn't how quickly data can travel, but how long it takes to make the journey. Ping measures the time it takes for data to travel from your device to a server and back again.

Read on to find out what ping means, how it can affect your connection and what you can do if you're experiencing high ping.

Ping measures the time it takes for data to travel from your device to a server and back again. It's measured in milliseconds (ms), so a lower number generally means your connection is responding more quickly.

Every time you do something online, your device is sending and receiving data. Whether you're loading a webpage, joining a video call, streaming content or playing an online game, that data needs to travel between your device and a server. The quicker that round trip happens, the more responsive your connection should feel.

A small amount of ping is completely normal and usually goes unnoticed. The trouble starts when latency becomes high enough to cause noticeable delays. That's when a video call can feel out of sync, a webpage can take longer to respond to your clicks, or your character can react a little too late in an online game.

Ping matters most when you're doing things online that need a quick response. For everyday activities such as browsing, streaming or checking social media, a little extra latency might not make much difference. But for real-time activities such as video calls, online gaming and other interactive services, high ping can be much more noticeable.

High ping can lead to lag, where there's a delay between something happening on your device and the response from the server. If your connection is particularly unstable, you could also experience interruptions or disconnections. Ping is only one part of your overall connection, though. Jitter, packet loss, download speed and the stability of your connection can all affect how your internet feels.

There are several things that can cause your ping to increase. Some are related to your broadband connection, while others could come down to what's happening on your home network.

The most common causes include:

1. A busy home network: If several people are online at once, your network has more data to handle. Streaming in 4K, video calls, large downloads and connected devices can all add to the traffic.

2. A weak WiFi signal: If your device is too far from your Virgin Media Hub, or there are thick walls and other obstacles in the way, data can take longer to travel reliably between your device and Hub.

3. Distance from the server: The further away a server is from your device, the longer your data has to travel. This can be particularly noticeable when you're connecting to services hosted in another country.

4. Too much happening in the background: Software updates, cloud backups and other applications can use your connection without you realising it, potentially adding to network congestion.

5. Outdated or faulty equipment: Older devices, damaged Ethernet cables or equipment that isn't working properly can affect the reliability of your connection and contribute to higher latency.

There's no single number that counts as a good ping for everything you do online. The ideal level depends on the activity and how quickly you need your connection to respond.

For activities such as video calls and online gaming, a ping of 0–30ms is considered excellent. Your connection should feel highly responsive, with little to no noticeable delay. A ping of 30–50ms is still very good, although you may start to notice a slight delay during more demanding activities.

A ping of 50–100ms is generally fine for most everyday online activities. You may notice some delay during more time-sensitive activities, but browsing, streaming and other less interactive tasks should continue to work well.

Once your ping reaches over 150ms, delays are likely to become much more noticeable, particularly during video calls, online gaming and other activities that rely on a quick response. At 200ms or higher, real-time activities can become increasingly difficult due to the amount of delay.

Don't worry if your ping isn't consistently at the lowest possible level. A stable connection is just as important as a low ping, and what counts as acceptable can vary depending on what you're doing online.

Our broadband speed test can help you understand what's happening with your connection. Our tester checks your ping alongside other factors that can affect your online experience, including download speed, latency and jitter.

If you're consistently seeing high ping, particularly alongside delays, buffering or connection drops, there are a few things you can try.

1. Give your Hub a quick restart

It's the first piece of advice you'll get from most tech support teams for a reason. Restarting your Hub can clear temporary glitches, refresh your connection and resolve some minor issues that may have built up over time.

Simply switch off your Hub, unplug it from the power for around 10–30 seconds, then plug it back in and wait for your connection to return.

2. Move a little closer to your Hub

If you're connected over WiFi, where you are in your home can make a big difference.

Try moving closer to your Hub and see whether things improve. If your video calls become more responsive or online activities feel smoother, there's a good chance your WiFi signal could be contributing to the problem.

3. Find a better spot for your Hub

Your Hub might not be where it works best.

Tucking it behind the TV, hiding it in a cupboard or placing it in a corner can all affect WiFi performance. For the strongest signal, place your Hub somewhere open and central, away from large obstacles and electronic devices that could interfere with the signal.

4. Try a wired connection

WiFi is convenient, but an Ethernet cable is usually more reliable.

If you're experiencing issues on a laptop, games console, streaming device or other compatible equipment, plugging in directly can help you work out whether WiFi is part of the problem.

5. Give your network some breathing room

If everyone's online at once, your connection could be working harder than usual.

Try pausing large downloads, cloud backups or other data-heavy activities running in the background and see if things improve. This can free up capacity for the things you're doing right now.

6. Check your devices are up to date

From phones and laptops to games consoles and smart devices, software updates often include fixes that improve performance and reliability.

If you haven't updated your devices in a while, it's worth checking whether there's a newer version available.

If you've worked through the steps above and you're still experiencing delays, buffering, frozen video calls or other connectivity issues, it may be worth checking whether you're getting the WiFi coverage you need throughout your home.

With our WiFi Guarantee with WiFi Max, you'll enjoy download speeds of at least 30Mbps in every room or get £100 bill credit on your next bill. This goes hand in hand with our self-optimising Intelligent WiFi technology that's loaded onto our Hubs 3, 4, 5 and 5x and adapts to what's happening in your home to give you the most reliable WiFi, all the time.

Our WiFi Guarantee comes at no extra cost with our Gigabit Broadband and Volt packages. If you're on an eligible M50 to M500 Fibre Broadband package, you can add WiFi Max for £8 a month, with your first WiFi Pod included if you need one.