How is network latency typically measured?

Network latency is the time it takes for a data packet to travel from its source to its destination and back again. This measurement is crucial for assessing how quickly a network can respond to requests and is often critical in determining the performance of applications and services.

Measuring latency in milliseconds provides a clear understanding of the speed of the network connection. A lower latency value indicates a faster response time, which is especially important for real-time applications such as gaming, video conferencing, and VoIP, where delays can significantly degrade user experience.

Using units such as gigabytes, bytes, or megabytes does not pertain to measuring time but rather pertains to data size or capacity, making them unsuitable for assessing network latency. Therefore, milliseconds is the standardized unit that aligns accurately with what latency represents, highlighting the importance of timing in network communications.