Forum Discussion

zenman's avatar
zenman
Freshman
5 years ago

Best way to test latency?

What is the best way to test my latency? Is the one on testmy.net a good, accurate one? It gives you locations to choose from for the test -- Miami, NY, Tokyo, google, amazon, etc. Which location should I use? I'm in central Florida. How much latency should I expect on my Hughes connection?
Performance
  • maratsade's avatar
    maratsade
    5 years ago

    Yes, 600-700 is normal for satellite internet. 

     

    Keep in mind that websites add to the delay because they have so much stuff on them that needs to load, such as images or videos.  So on top of the normal server to server delay, you will have added delay from website content. 

  • maratsade's avatar
    maratsade
    Distinguished Professor IV
    5 years ago

    You can expect an average latency of between 600 and 700 ms with satellite internet, though it varies widely due to many factors. 

     

    To test latency, use the tracert command.  EDIT: Trace routes to the servers of the sites you use  (ex.: netflix.com; amazon.com, etc)

     

    The Testmy.net latency test is completely unreliable, especially for statellite internet. 

     

    zenman wrote:
    What is the best way to test my latency? Is the one on testmy.net a good, accurate one? It gives you locations to choose from for the test -- Miami, NY, Tokyo, google, amazon, etc. Which location should I use? I'm in central Florida. How much latency should I expect on my Hughes connection?

     

    • zenman's avatar
      zenman
      Freshman
      5 years ago
      I'm using a chromebook, I googled 'how to get a command line on a chromebook (ctrl+alt +t does it). Going by the instructions on the link you provided, I typed: tracert netflix.com. Also tried: tracert google.com. In both cases the message back was: ERROR: unknown command: tracert. What am I doing wrong? I'm doing this via wifi, but I'm very close to the hughes HT2000 wifi router. Does it matter if I'm on wifi vs. ethernet cord?
      • maratsade's avatar
        maratsade
        Distinguished Professor IV
        5 years ago

        For a chromebook, try this:  https://www.howtogeek.com/170648/10-commands-included-in-chrome-oss-hidden-crosh-shell/

         

        I think what you will need is a tracepath. There are instructions there on how to run it. 

         

        EDIT:  instructions from another site:

         

        How to Traceroute from a Chromebook

         

        • Get the command prompt by pressing Press CTRL + ALT + T
        •  Type tracepath domain.com and hit enter (replace domain.com with the website or IP you want to trace route to.)

         

        Example:

        tracepath amazon.com

    • zenman's avatar
      zenman
      Freshman
      5 years ago
      Ok, I discovered that for chromebook, the command is tracepath instead of tracert. That worked, and I got results, but I don't know how to read them, and I don't see any guidance on that link you provided about how to read the results. And what is the typical amount of latency for Hughes?
      • maratsade's avatar
        maratsade
        Distinguished Professor IV
        5 years ago

        Post a screenshot of your results, please.

         

        Like I said before, the average latency for satellite internet is between 600-700 ms.  This may vary based on many factors.