Latency rate, also known as latency, measures the delay in a packet's arrival at its intended destination. According to the provided information, latency is measured in time units, such as milliseconds.
In simpler terms, latency tells you how long it takes for a piece of data to travel from one point to another. A lower latency indicates a faster connection and a better user experience, especially in applications like online gaming, video conferencing, and streaming.
Here’s a table summarizing the key differences between Latency and Packet Loss (another network performance metric mentioned in the reference):
Feature | Latency | Packet Loss |
---|---|---|
Definition | Delay in packet arrival at the destination | Percentage of packets that never arrive |
Measurement | Time units (e.g., milliseconds) | Percentage (%) |
Example | 50 ms | 9% (if 91 out of 100 packets arrive successfully) |
Therefore, when someone asks about latency, they're essentially asking about the time delay experienced in a network.