Ping a Host
Measure reachability and latency to any host or website, so you know whether a problem is your line or the destination. HTTP-based, not ICMP.
Measures HTTP(S) round-trip time from your browser, not ICMP. Numbers are a little higher than a terminal ping because they include TLS and HTTP overhead — treat them as relative. Some hosts block cross-origin requests.
How this ping test works
A real ping sends ICMP echo packets, which browsers aren't allowed to do for security reasons. So this tool does the next best thing: it sends a series of small HTTP(S) requests to the host you enter and times each round trip with the high-resolution performance clock. After a short warm-up to establish the connection, it fires several timed probes and reports the minimum, average, maximum and jitter (the variation between probes).
The result tells you two things: whether the host is reachable at all, and how responsive it is. Because it runs over HTTP, expect numbers a touch higher than a command-line ping — what matters is the trend and the stability, not the last millisecond.
How to read your results
Low and steady is the goal. A low average with low jitter means a healthy path to that host. A low average with high jitter is the classic cause of stuttering calls and laggy games — the connection is fast on average but unpredictable moment to moment.
| Average latency | Feel | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| < 50 ms | Snappy | Gaming, calls, everything |
| 50–150 ms | Fine | Browsing, video calls |
| > 150 ms | Laggy | Noticeable delay; check routing |
Frequently asked questions
- Is this a real (ICMP) ping?
- No — and that's an important distinction. Browsers can't send raw ICMP packets, so this tool measures HTTP(S) round-trip time instead: how long a small web request to the host takes to come back. It's a reliable reachability and responsiveness signal, but the absolute numbers run a little higher than a command-line ping because they include TLS and HTTP overhead.
- What is a good latency?
- For web browsing, anything under ~100 ms feels instant. For video calls, aim for under 150 ms with low jitter. Competitive gamers want the round-trip as low as possible — typically under 50 ms to the game server. Remember these are HTTP timings, so treat them as relative comparisons.
- What is jitter and why does it matter?
- Jitter is how much the latency varies between requests. A steady 40 ms is great; bouncing between 20 ms and 200 ms is not, even if the average looks fine. High jitter is the hidden cause of choppy calls and rubber-banding in games — the average hides it, but jitter exposes it.
- Why did the host time out or fail?
- A failure here doesn't always mean the host is down. Many servers block cross-origin browser requests (CORS) or don't answer the exact path we request. We measure round-trip timing even on opaque responses, but if nothing comes back we report it honestly rather than guessing.
- How is this different from the connection ping test?
- This tool pings a specific host or website you choose, to see if a problem is your line or that destination. Our connection ping test measures latency to our own measurement servers to gauge the health of your line itself.
High ping or jitter? Find out why
Latency to one host is just one data point. The Doctor measures ping, jitter, packet loss and latency under load across your whole connection, then tells you whether it's your Wi-Fi, your router or your ISP — and what to do about it.
Run a full diagnosis