What is a good ping for gaming and video calls?
For gaming, a ping under about 20 ms is excellent and under 50 ms is good; 50–100 ms is playable but you may notice lag, and over 100 ms feels sluggish. Low, steady ping matters far more than raw download speed. Jitter (ping that varies) and packet loss also matter — high values cause stutter and freezes.
Last updated: · Written by The NetSorted team
For gaming and video calls, responsiveness beats raw speed. Here’s what counts as a good ping, and what else matters.
Good ping, in numbers
| Ping | Rating | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Under 20 ms | Excellent | Competitive gaming, everything |
| 20–50 ms | Good | Gaming, calls, everything |
| 50–100 ms | Fair | Calls and casual gaming; fast games may lag |
| Over 100 ms | Poor | Browsing and streaming; gaming feels laggy |
These are widely-used guidance figures — your experience also depends on jitter, packet loss and the game’s own servers. Check yours with the ping & latency test.
Ping isn’t speed
A big download speed won’t fix lag. Ping is how long data takes to make a round trip, and that’s what makes games and calls feel responsive. Jitter (ping that varies) causes stutter; packet loss causes freezes.
How to lower your ping
- Use a wired connection — the single biggest improvement for gaming and calls.
- Stop other heavy traffic — pause big downloads and 4K streams on other devices.
- Restart your router to clear glitches.
- If high ping or packet loss persists on a wired connection, it may be a line fault worth reporting.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good ping for gaming?
Under about 20 ms is excellent and under 50 ms is good. Between 50 and 100 ms is playable but fast-paced games may feel laggy, and over 100 ms starts to feel sluggish. Steady, low ping matters more than download speed.
Does a faster broadband plan lower my ping?
Not really. Ping is about latency, not bandwidth, so a faster plan won’t necessarily reduce it. A wired connection, less congestion and a healthy line do far more for ping.
What are jitter and packet loss?
Jitter is how much your ping varies moment to moment — high jitter causes stutter. Packet loss is data that never arrives, causing freezes and dropouts. Both matter for gaming and video calls alongside ping.
Published and last updated — see dates above.