Understanding Network Latency

Introduction to Network Latency

Network latency is the time it takes for data packets to travel across a network from a source host, like a client device, to a destination host, such as a server, resulting in a delay in data transmission.

Unlike bandwidth, which measures how much data can be transferred at once, latency is focused on the delay in communication. This value is very important as, along with packet loss and jitter, it rules the quality of a network connection.

It’s important to understand how latency affects applications and services. Low latency is essential for real-time applications, such as video-enabled remote operations and sensor data handling. Network latency affects website and application performance by causing delays in data transfer, which can disrupt communication and lead to a poor user experience.

Network Latency Causes

Several factors increase latency to network connections, including physical distance, network congestion, hardware limitations, and the type of transmission medium used.

The transmission medium, such as fiber optic cable or wireless, can also affect latency levels. Data traveling over a wireless network typically results in higher latency compared to using a fiber optic cable due to increased interference and lower transmission speeds.

Network devices, like routers and switches, contribute to slowness, and server latency can also impact overall delays. Storage delays can impact overall performance. Additionally, high data volume can create bottlenecks and increase latency, especially if the infrastructure cannot handle large amounts of data.

Identifying the causes is essential for reducing latency and improving speed.

Distance and Latency

Distance has a direct correlation with latency. The longer is the distance between two endpoints, and the higher the time that it will take for a data packet to reach its destination.

The following table summarizes latency ranges based on the link type.

Network Latency Issues

High network latency can cause a range of issues, including slow website loading times and poor customer satisfaction. End-user device issues can also contribute to high latency.

This problem can also affect the performance of critical applications, such as those used in finance and healthcare. Server processing time is a key factor that can contribute to overall latency and impact how quickly these applications respond.

Reducing network lag is essential for improving website performance and ensuring that applications run smoothly. A stable connection and reliable internet speed are important for achieving optimal performance and minimizing slowness.

Monitoring tools can help identify issues and provide insights into how to decrease latency.

Troubleshooting Network Latency Issues

Troubleshooting network latency issues requires a systematic approach, including identifying the causes of latency and developing strategies to reduce it. To fix latency, users can switch to Ethernet for a more stable connection or update their router firmware.

Network monitoring tools can help troubleshoot network latency issues by providing real-time data on network performance. You can also check by using the ping command, which sends Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) echo request packets to measure round-trip time and diagnose connectivity. Monitoring tools can diagnose and identify root causes of high network latency.

Analyzing paths and identifying bottlenecks can help reduce latency and improve speed. Using a more consistent internet connection, such as Ethernet over WiFi, can further help minimize latency.

Implementing solutions, such as content delivery networks and optimizing network hardware, can also help lower latency. Switching to a wired connection typically improves internet speed and provides a consistent internet connection.

Improving Network Performance

Improving network performance requires a range of strategies, including optimizing network infrastructure and reducing network congestion. These strategies can also improve network slowness by minimizing delays in data transfer across the network.

Quality of Service

Implementing quality of service (QoS) policies can help prioritize critical applications and reduce latency. Prioritizing data transmission for applications that frequently communicate ensures that essential services experience lower latency and more efficient routing.

Fiber Optic

A fiber optic network can also help minimize slowness and improve transfer rate. The type and quality of the cable directly affect data transmission speed and overall latency. Fiber optic latency is generally lower to copper cabling.

Active Network Monitoring

Running continuous active network monitoring tests and analyzing resulting data will help identify areas for improvement. Organizations implement synthetic network monitoring solutions to gather metrics like latency, throughput, and packet loss to assess and enhance network efficiency.

Reducing Latency

In many industries, it’s imperative to get the lowest latency as possible. For instance, financial businesses prefer low latency to quickly adjust their investment strategy based on sudden changes in the market. However, reducing latency requires a range of strategies, including optimizing network infrastructure and reducing network traffic congestion.

First of all, it’s important to analyze network paths and identify bottlenecks that can help with latency and improve throughput. Efficiently handling more data requires robust infrastructure to prevent increased latency and maintain optimal performance.

There are different strategies help reduce network latency by minimizing the distance data must travel and improving overall network efficiency.

Network Paths

As we mentioned before, using fiber optic cables can help increase network capacity and optimize latency. Additionally, reducing the distance data packets travels and optimizing different network paths can further lower latency and enhance data transfer speeds.

Content Delivery Networks

Implementing solutions, such as content delivery networks and optimizing network hardware, can also help reduce latency. A content delivery network works by distributing data across a network of servers and positioning databases geographically closer to users, which minimizes the distance data packets must travel and improves response times. Using a Content Delivery Network (CDN) can help reduce latency by bringing data closer to users.

Measuring Network Latency

Measuring network latency is essential for identifying areas for improvement. Round trip time and round trip delay are key metrics for assessing latency, as they represent the time it takes for data to travel from a client to a server and back. Latency is measured in milliseconds (ms), and a ping rate is often used for this measurement. A good target for network latency is at least under 100 ms for a satisfactory user experience, ideally below 50 ms.

There are different tools you can use to monitor network latency.

Internet Control Message Protocol Tools (ICMP)

Tools, such as ping and traceroute, can help measure slowness and provide insights into performance.

Ping

The ping command is commonly used to check network latency by sending ICMP echo requests to a target device and measuring the round trip time. Analyzing ping data can help identify trends and patterns, and inform strategies to reduce round trip time.

The ping test can be executed from any computer’s console, as almost any operating system supports it. When you execute ping, by default it sends one packet every second to the destination host that you passed as argument. If the destination host is up and running, reachable, and allowed to respond, it will reply with an echo_reply packet to each echo_request by the sender.

Traceroute

Traceroute is a network diagnostic utility that discovers the network path between two hosts. In traceroute lingo, a hop is a router located between the source computer that executes the command, and the destination point. Network hops can increase slowness, with more hops resulting in higher latency.

Analyzing data on network hops can help identify trends and patterns, and inform strategies to reduce latency. Optimizing network routes and reducing network hops can help reduce latency.

Advanced Tools

More advanced tools include OWAMP (One-Way Active Measuring Protocol), TWAMP (Two-Way Active Measurement Protocol), and other specialized suites such as ETH-OAM. The common thread across these tools is that they actively send data packets to measure it.

NetBeez Network Monitoring

Regularly measuring network latency can help ensure that network performance is optimized and that applications run smoothly. A network monitoring solution like NetBeez provides all the tools required to accurately measure latency.

NetBeez offers many ways to enforce low latency, such as alerting and reporting. The information delivered by NetBeez enables network administrators to reduce slowness, and ensure faster network communication.

Implementing solutions, such as content delivery networks, can help reduce network hops and improve throughput.

Monitoring Network Latency with NetBeez

A network performance monitoring solution like NetBeez provides real-time visibility into network latency, jitter, and other metrics. NetBeez simplifies monitoring across Wide Area Networks, Wireless LANs, and VPN connections so that network administrators have all the data required to improve network latency. On the user dashboard, the network administrator can configure tests, review the test results, alerts, and generate reports.

Step 1 – Deploy Network Monitoring Agents

In this initial step, the administrator installs the network monitoring agents that run latency measurements against network and applications. NetBeez provides two types of agents:

• Network Agents are plug-and-play hardware, virtual, or software appliances that get installed on-premise at remote branch offices and headquarters, or at public clouds and data centers.
• Remote Worker Agents are lightweight software clients for Windows or Mac operating systems that run on end-user laptops. These agents extend network testing beyond the corporate perimeter, including the network of work from home employees.

The latency data collected by the agents will help improve network latency issues. Consult the online documentation to see how you can install NetBeez agents.

Step 2 – Create Network Tests

The user configures on the user dashboard network monitoring tests such as ping, iperf, and internet speed to test packet loss. This is accomplished by configuring:

• Targets – Defined by URL or FQDN, a target includes a certain set of ping, DNS, HTTP, and traceroute tests to execute continuous network performance monitoring. These tests run continuously and return results in real time on the user dashboard.
• Scheduled tests – These are iperf, network speed test, and VoIP tests that run at specific user defined times. Iperf is generally used to verify throughput between two NetBeez agents, or one agent and one external iperf server. Network speed helps measuring download speed, upload speed of an internet connection.

Step 3 – Configure Latency Alert Profiles

The network administrator assigns alert profiles to these tests to receive alerts for high latency. Alert profiles define the rules, or conditions, upon which an alert is triggered and associated notifications are delivered. For example, in the following screenshot reports an alert profile that triggers if the value exceeds 100 ms. in a 5 minute window.

When a high latency alert is triggered, the network administrator can receive notifications via email, third-party integration, or standard protocol (e.g. Syslog, SNMP).

Step 4 – Review Network Monitoring Data

Once the targets and scheduled tests are configured, the agents will immediately start running tests and reporting real-time data to the dashboard.

In the following screenshot you can see the real time data gathered by a remote end-user on a Windows laptop. The performance monitoring data includes latency, packet loss, and jitter.

Conclusion

In conclusion, network latency is a critical metric that significantly affects the performance and reliability of digital applications and services. It is influenced by factors such as physical distance, network congestion, transmission mediums, and hardware limitations.

Tools like ping and traceroute, as well as advanced protocols like TWAMP and OWAMP, help diagnose network latency issues. Implementing strategies such as optimizing infrastructure, using fiber optics, and deploying content delivery networks can effectively reduce latency.

Network monitoring solutions like NetBeez offer comprehensive visibility into latency across complex environments, enabling administrators to proactively identify issues, configure real-time tests, and receive alerts, ensuring seamless performance even in distributed and remote work scenarios. Reducing latency not only improves user experience but is also vital for industries requiring real-time responsiveness, such as finance, healthcare, and remote operations.