Latency & congestion
What is jitter? Why video and audio stutter
Jitter is how much ping moves during a test. Packets are sent at even intervals, but on an unsteady line they arrive at uneven intervals: video freezes, voices turn robotic, characters jump in games. On HIZTESTI, typical jitter in Turkey is 3.3 ms on fixed lines and 10.3 ms on mobile networks. The usual causes are Wi-Fi, mobile networks and a line busy with other traffic.
Why is it as important as ping?
Video calls and games send data as dozens of small packets per second in a steady stream. The app relies on them arriving at roughly equal intervals. Even with a low typical ping, if some packets are late the app either waits (video freezes) or skips the missing piece (audio cuts out).
That's why ping alone isn't enough. If one person's ping holds at 50 ms and another's swings between 20 and 80 ms, their averages are the same, but the second has a far worse call.
Jitter in the measurements
- 3.3 ms
- Typical jitter, fixed line
- 10.3 ms
- Typical jitter, mobile network
On mobile networks typical jitter is several times that of fixed lines. On fixed lines it also rises a little in the evening as the line gets crowded. We show the evening hour by hour in why the internet slows in the evening.
What makes jitter rise?
- Wi-Fi: neighbouring networks on the same channel and walls make packets wait their turn and sometimes be resent. It's the most common source of jitter; the Wi-Fi guide shows how to tell.
- Mobile network: signal strength and crowding at the cell tower change moment to moment; see mobile signal.
- A full line: a big download or backup swells the router's queue, so packets sometimes pass straight through and sometimes wait. That's bufferbloat.
- Lost packets: a resent packet arrives late and leaves a gap in the stream; we cover it in what is packet loss.
Reducing jitter
- Connect the device you use for calls and games with a cable. It's the single step that cuts jitter the most.
- If a cable isn't possible, move closer to the router and use the 5 GHz band.
- Pause big downloads and backups at home during calls or games.
- Turn on QoS or SQM on your router if it has it.
How much ping and jitter together matter for gaming, with our data: How much speed for gaming
Run a test first to see where your result sits. Start a speed test
The data in detail: charts and diagrams
Jitter: packets sent evenly arrive unevenly
Spread of ping and jitter: fixed line vs mobile
| Best 10% | Typical | Worst 10% | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed · ping | 12 ms | 21 ms | 51 ms |
| Mobile · ping | 30 ms | 44 ms | 69 ms |
| Fixed · jitter | 0.5 ms | 3.3 ms | 67.5 ms |
| Mobile · jitter | 3.5 ms | 10.3 ms | 72.3 ms |
HIZTESTI measurements · 1 Jul – 28 Sep 2026 · fixed and mobile
Frequently asked questions
- What should my jitter be?
- A few milliseconds is ideal for calls and games; the higher jitter gets, the more noticeable the stutter. Typical fixed-line jitter on HIZTESTI is 3.3 ms.
- What's the difference between jitter and ping?
- Ping is the round-trip time. Jitter is how much that time changes during the test. Ping can be low while jitter is high.
- Does high jitter lower my internet speed?
- Not directly, but it ruins anything that depends on real-time communication: video calls, games, live streams.
- Why is jitter high on mobile data?
- Signal strength and the number of users on the cell tower change within seconds, which shifts when packets arrive. Typical mobile jitter on HIZTESTI is 10.3 ms.
Sources
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