Packet Loss Test™

Interpreting Results

To interpret results, you should probably familiarize yourself with some basic networking terms first:

The results mostly just displays those numbers. The total packet loss is just the number of packets that never made it one of the directions. The late packets is the number of packets that did arrive but took longer than the acceptable delay, so you may want to add that in with the lost packets if timing is critical. Then the latency and jitter are your latency and jitter. Also, there's a cool chart at the bottom that shows how long each individual packet took. This can be helpful for visualizing how consistent your ping is. You can see whether it is mostly consistent, if there are spikes of latency or loss, or if your results are just all over the place.

If your results here are good, then you know the problem is with the other service you're having problems with. Try contacting the server host (usually the developer nowadays) and letting them know.

Also keep in mind that this server position may not be ideal for you, which may cause the latency to be higher than with other services. I'm looking into ways to distribute servers around to closer places economically.

What's a Good Result?

What's a "good" result will largely depend on what you're trying to do online. If you're just browsing reddit or Facebook, none of this likely matters much at all. I can't say what's required for every activity and I am quite fallible, but below are some rough estimations of what you should aim for for some activities:

  • Gaming (in general): Under 100ms ping and under 2% actual packet loss
  • Gaming (turn-based): None of this matters
  • Gaming (shooter): Under 60ms ping and no packet loss
  • VoIP: Under maybe 200ms ping and 30ms jitter (Note, if you're using PC voice chat with a bad connection, Mumble's TCP mode is wonderful)

You also might want to see if your activity has a preset approximation for your activity and test with that to see if your results hold up. If you have any suggested presets or ideal results to add or questions or really anything, contact me and let me know.