Dictionary · Networking Fundamentals
Latency
Performance · Beginner
The delay before data arrives, often measured as round-trip time in milliseconds. Distance, queuing, and processing all contribute.
A link can have enormous capacity and still feel slow if each message takes a long time to cross it. Satellite paths and congested queues are common reasons.
Example: A ping shows a 90 ms round trip. That delay is present even when the link is almost idle.
Common misconception
- Adding bandwidth does not automatically fix delay. A long path stays long.