Latency: What is it and why does it matter?

When most people think of their network they think that bandwidth is all that matters.  In actuality, there is another measure of productivity that is equally important: latency.

What is Latency?

Latency is the literal time it takes for a packet of data to go from its origination and reach its destination. The measurement of latency is measured in milliseconds. Just 50 milliseconds of latency — a time of less than one-tenth of a second — can result in poor network and application performance.

Low latency is instant gratification: it means productivity, more surveys run, more team members on video conferences, and more revenue on the books.

Latency is dependent on a variety of factors. It can be determined by hardware, internet and network connections, physical distance, and geographic location of equipment.

Why Does Latency Matter?

Latency can have a serious impact on network performance and your business. This will become increasingly relevant as companies become more reliant on services within the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud-based applications.

Latency affects the performance of basic business functions and its implications are a detriment to any sort of future-proofing. With examples such as smart sensors and automated manufacturing, high-latency measurements create inefficiencies and do not allow for applications to run at their peak performance.  Latency can increasingly mean the death of internet-dependent services and/or users’ ability to access them.

In addition, it is important to research hardware, bandwidth, and connectivity when considering the effectiveness of an internet application and its ability to combat latency.

Latency is tied directly to productivity and collaboration. A well-planned business fiber connection mitigates many of the latency issues that users experience with alternative options, such as older networks that have been patched together over time or copper infrastructure.

Learn more about why upgrading to an enterprise-grade fiber network delivers the low-latency connections your business needs.