What is considered high ping?
Short answer
A ping above about 80 ms is where lag becomes noticeable in fast games, and above 150 ms is poor for almost anything live. High ping usually comes from distance, weak Wi-Fi, a busy connection or a VPN.
What counts as high
| Ping | Rating |
|---|---|
| Under 50 ms | Good |
| 50 to 80 ms | Playable, some lag in fast games |
| 80 to 150 ms | High: noticeable lag, small pauses in calls |
| Over 150 ms | Very high: clear delay, hard to play fast games |
These match the ranges in what is a good ping. They are rules of thumb, not an official standard.
Why ping gets high
- Distance. The farther the server, the longer the trip. This part you cannot fix, except by choosing a closer server.
- Wi-Fi. Weak signal, walls and crowded channels add delay and make it uneven.
- A busy connection. When a download or upload fills the line, your router queues messages. That is bufferbloat.
- A VPN or relay. Your traffic takes a longer path.
- Mobile data. Usually higher and less steady than a cable or fibre line.
- An overloaded or old router. It can slow down under many devices.
Find the cause in five minutes
- Run the SpeedUp test next to the router on Wi-Fi. Note the idle ping and the ping under load.
- If you can, repeat it with a laptop on a cable. If the cable is much lower, Wi-Fi is the cause.
- If ping under load is far higher than idle, the cause is bufferbloat.
- Turn off any VPN and test again.
- Test at a quiet time and a busy time. If only busy times are bad, see why the internet is slow at night.
When it is not your connection
If speed tests look good but one game is laggy, the game server may be far away or overloaded. Try another region, or check the game's own status page.