Network Latency & RTT
Physical propagation delay (fiber, copper, satellite), MTU serialization, and queueing delays.
Example: London to Paris ~340 km; New York to London ~5,570 km (geographic distances)
Propagation (round trip)
12.00 ms
Propagation speed in the selected medium
Serialization delay
1.92 ms
Time to transmit packet bits onto the link
Queueing and routing
8.00 ms
Processing across 8 routers
Estimated total RTT
21.92 ms
Estimated round trip time
How to use this tool
Estimate network delay from propagation through the medium, packet serialization and additional delays. Round trip time (RTT) measures the outward and return journey.
Worked example
At an approximate fiber propagation speed of 200,000 km/s, a 200 km path adds about 1 ms each way before equipment and queueing delays.
Interpreting the result
Geographic distance is not necessarily cable route length. Queueing, processing and asymmetric paths can dominate observed latency.