[Skip to content](https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet/the-signal/speed/what-is-latency#maincontent) [The Signal](https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet/the-signal) - [Speed](https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet/the-signal/category/speed) - [Internet Devices](https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet/the-signal/category/internet-devices) - [Internet Help](https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet/the-signal/category/internet-help) - [All Blogs](https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet/the-signal/latest) - [ISP](https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet/the-signal/category/isp) - [Speed](https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet/the-signal/category/speed) - [Internet Devices](https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet/the-signal/category/internet-devices) - [Internet Help](https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet/the-signal/category/internet-help) - [All Blogs](https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet/the-signal/latest) - [ISP](https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet/the-signal/category/isp) 1. [The Signal](https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet/the-signal) 2. Category:[Speed](https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet/the-signal/category/speed) [SpeedCategory](https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet/the-signal/category/speed) # What is Latency? Here’s a Beginners Guide. Published: October 11, 2024 |3 min read Ever been streaming that big game or your favorite show and had everything seize-up right in the middle of the action? What about a character that wouldn’t respond to your controller during a video game? If so, you have experienced high latency. Read on for everything you need to know.  #### Jump to a Section 1. [What is latency?](https://www.t-mobile.com#1) 2. [Possible causes of latency](https://www.t-mobile.com#2) 3. [What are ideal speeds?](https://www.t-mobile.com#3) - Share "What is Latency? Here’s a Beginners Guide." on X - Share "What is Latency? Here’s a Beginners Guide." on Facebook - Share "What is Latency? Here’s a Beginners Guide." on LinkedIn ## __What is latency?__ Simply put, latency is the time it takes data to travel from your device to a server and back again. But fully answering the question takes an understanding of a few different terms. Let's take a quick look at those: - __Data packet__. A data packet is a small portion of a larger bundle of information. - __Network__. A computer network is a set of devices sharing an internet connection. So, any device connected to your home internet (usually through Wi-Fi) makes up your network. Now that you’ve got those terms, imagine each action you’re attempting— whether it's pressing a button on a gaming console or clicking a link on a website—as sending a signal (data packet) to a server. That server must receive the data packet and send a signal back to the device on your network for you to see a response, such as the correlating movement in your game or viewing the website linked on your laptop screen. Latency is the time it takes to complete this journey. So, when people talk about latency, they're usually talking about the bad kind—high latency. It’s what can cause video games to lag, webpages to load slowly, or annoying buffering when you’re trying to stream something. Even worse than high latency is "packet loss." That’s when the data packet disappears somewhere along the journey. Packet loss can cause that infuriating backwards motion in video games (called rubberbanding) or a halt to the action in the middle of your streaming video. Low latency is what you want for a seamless network experience. ## __Possible causes of latency__ - __Distance.__ One cause of internet latency can be distance. If your network is attempting to reach a server that is close by, information will travel much faster than it would if you are trying to reach a server that’s farther away. For example, if your home is located in Arlington, Virginia, pinging (a term that describes sending a data packet) a server in Washington D.C. will take less time than it would to ping a server in Los Angeles, California. - __Bandwidth__. Another factor could be bandwidth. Bandwidth is the amount of data your particular network connection can handle. Think of it all like a highway. A four-lane highway can fit more cars than a single-lane highway. Your home network is like that highway, and bandwidth is the number of lanes it has. The less bandwidth (lanes) you have, the higher latency (traffic) you’re likely to experience depending on how many devices (cars) are attempting to access your network at once. ## __What are ideal speeds?__ Depending on what devices you’re using on a regular basis, ideal speeds vary from household to household. If you live alone and use Wi-Fi for occasional web browsing or connecting a mobile device, your needs will be much different than a big household that regularly streams high-definition video, works from home and/or has a lot of smart devices. T-Mobile is America’s fastest growing [Home Internet](https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet) provider. [See if it's available](https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet/eligibility) in your area and then [try it out](https://www.t-mobile.com/support/home-internet/15-day-test-drive) for 15 days to see if it works for you. Sources [https://www.gartner.com/en/information-technology/glossary/latency](https://www.gartner.com/en/information-technology/glossary/latency) [https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/household-broadband-guide](https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/household-broadband-guide) [https://www.speedtest.net/about/knowledge/faq](https://www.speedtest.net/about/knowledge/faq#ping) Tags - [Gaming](https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet/the-signal/archive/gaming) - [Latency](https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet/the-signal/archive/latency) ## Related Articles NEW [Read More](https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet/the-signal/speed/the-internet-speed-you-need-for-gaming) [](https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet/the-signal/speed/the-internet-speed-you-need-for-gaming) [Speed](https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet/the-signal/category/speed) ## [Best Internet Speed for Gaming](https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet/the-signal/speed/the-internet-speed-you-need-for-gaming) January 7, 2026 NEW [Read More](https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet/the-signal/speed/what-is-latency-in-gaming) [](https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet/the-signal/speed/what-is-latency-in-gaming) [Speed](https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet/the-signal/category/speed) ## [What is Ping in Gaming? How Latency Affects Gamers and What to do About it](https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet/the-signal/speed/what-is-latency-in-gaming) March 26, 2026 NEW [Read More](https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet/the-signal/internet-help/home-internet-the-signal-internet-help-wifi-5-vs-wifi-6) [](https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet/the-signal/internet-help/home-internet-the-signal-internet-help-wifi-5-vs-wifi-6) [Internet Help](https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet/the-signal/category/internet-help) ## [Wi‑Fi 5 vs. Wi‑Fi 6: What’s the Difference and What Should You Choose?](https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet/the-signal/internet-help/home-internet-the-signal-internet-help-wifi-5-vs-wifi-6) March 10, 2026 ### Find out if your home address is eligible for T-Mobile 5G Home Internet. [Check availability](https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet/eligibility) Top