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Fix a ping that is high

We'll measure latency, compare wired vs Wi‑Fi, use traceroute to find slow hops, and fix placement, QoS, or background traffic—or tell you when to call your ISP.

Troubleshooting · Wi‑Fi & networking
10–25 min
What you'll need
  • Device with terminal or Command Prompt
  • Ethernet cable (to test wired vs Wi‑Fi)
  • Router admin access (optional, for QoS)
Step 1 of 7

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Choose the option that matches what you see. You can jump straight to that section.

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Steps

Goal: Measure latency, isolate wired vs Wi‑Fi, find slow hops with traceroute, and fix placement, QoS, or background traffic—or escalate to your ISP.

  • Run ping 8.8.8.8 to measure current ping. Note the average ms.
  • Test with an Ethernet cable to compare wired vs Wi‑Fi latency.
  • Run traceroute to see which hop adds delay.
  • Good: Wired low, Wi‑Fi high—fix Wi‑Fi (placement, QoS). Proceed to Router and QoS.
  • Bad: Wired also high—modem or ISP. Proceed to When to get help.

Measure ping

Goal: Get a baseline latency measurement.

  • Open a terminal (Mac/Linux) or Command Prompt (Windows).
  • Run ping 8.8.8.8 (or ping -n 10 8.8.8.8 on Windows).
  • Note the average time in ms. Under 50 ms is good; over 100 ms often feels laggy.
  • Confirm you should see the ping output with round-trip times.

Wired vs Wi‑Fi

Goal: Isolate whether high latency is from Wi‑Fi or upstream.

  • Connect the device with an Ethernet cable to the router.
  • Run ping 8.8.8.8 again.
  • If wired ping is much lower than Wi‑Fi, the issue is Wi‑Fi.
  • If wired is also high, the problem is modem or ISP.
  • Confirm you should see the difference between wired and Wi‑Fi ping times.

Traceroute

Goal: Find which hop adds delay.

  • Run traceroute 8.8.8.8 (Mac/Linux) or tracert 8.8.8.8 (Windows).
  • Each line shows one hop and its latency. A big jump points to that segment.
  • Hops inside your network (192.168.x.x) should be under 5 ms.
  • Confirm you should see hop-by-hop times.

Router and QoS

Goal: Improve Wi‑Fi latency with placement and QoS.

  • Move the device closer to the router; avoid thick walls and metal.
  • Log into the router admin (often 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1). Enable QoS and set your game or VoIP app as high priority.
  • Close background apps (streaming, cloud sync, downloads) and retest.
  • Power-cycle modem and router if needed.
  • Confirm you should see lower ping after these steps.

When to get help

If wired ping is high and traceroute shows the delay at an ISP hop, call your ISP. Provide:

  • Wired ping results
  • Traceroute output
  • Steps you already tried

Verification

  • Ping to 8.8.8.8 is under 100 ms (ideally under 50 ms for gaming or calls).
  • Wired and Wi‑Fi both tested; you know which path has the issue.
  • Traceroute captured if escalating to ISP.

Escalation ladder

Work from the device outward. Stop when the problem is fixed.

  1. Measure ping Run ping 8.8.8.8; note average ms.
  2. Wired vs Wi‑Fi Test with Ethernet; compare latency.
  3. Traceroute Run traceroute; find slow hop.
  4. Local fixes Placement, QoS, close apps, power-cycle.
  5. Call ISP Wired ping high; traceroute shows ISP hop—call with output.

What to capture if you need help

Before calling support or posting for help, have these ready. It speeds everything up.

  • Ping results (wired and Wi‑Fi)
  • Traceroute output
  • Steps already tried

Is your ping high (over 100 ms)?

Run ping 8.8.8.8 and note the average time in ms.

Run `ping 8.8.8.8` (or `ping -n 10 8.8.8.8` on Windows). Note the average ms. Good: you have a baseline. Bad: no response—check connectivity first. See fix-wifi-drops-or-is-slow.

Yes No (already low)

You can change your answer later.

Is wired ping also high?

Connect with Ethernet and run ping again. If wired is low, the issue is Wi‑Fi.

Connect the device with an Ethernet cable to the router. Run `ping 8.8.8.8` again. Good: wired low—Wi‑Fi issue. Bad: wired also high—modem or ISP.

Yes No (wired is low)

You can change your answer later.

Does traceroute show delay at an ISP hop?

Run traceroute 8.8.8.8 (or tracert on Windows). Look for a big jump in ms at a hop.

Run `traceroute 8.8.8.8` (Mac/Linux) or `tracert 8.8.8.8` (Windows). Check which hop adds delay. Hops with 192.168.x.x are local. Good: delay at ISP hop—call ISP with output. Bad: delay at first hop—check router and modem.

Yes No (delay at first hop)

You can change your answer later.

Try placement, QoS, and power-cycle

Wi‑Fi latency can improve with placement, QoS, and restart.

Move device closer to router. Enable QoS for gaming or VoIP in router admin. Close background apps. Power-cycle modem and router. Retest ping. Good: ping improved. Bad: still high—call ISP with traceroute.

Yes No

You can change your answer later.

Power-cycle modem and router

Delay at first hop may be router or modem.

Unplug modem and router for 60 seconds. Plug modem in first, wait for sync, then router. Retest. Good: ping improved. Bad: still high—call ISP.

Yes No

You can change your answer later.

Call your ISP

Call your ISP with wired ping results and traceroute output. They can check line quality and routing.

Done

Ping improved

Ping is now acceptable. Continue monitoring. If it spikes again, retest wired vs Wi‑Fi.

Done

Reviewed by Blackbox Atlas

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