> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.ipcheck.ing/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.ipcheck.ing/knowledge-base/network-tests/global-latency-test.md). # Global Latency Test ## What it does The **Global Latency Test** is one of the Advanced Tools. It asks probes in countries around the world to ping an IP address you choose, and shows how long each one waited for a reply. The probes come from the **Globalping** network, a public network of measuring probes hosted in many countries. Your browser never pings anything itself — the probes do the work and report back. Use it to answer questions like: * Is my server fast to reach from Europe but slow from Asia? * Which VPN or game-server region should I pick? * Is my home connection reachable from abroad at all? ## How to run it {% stepper %} {% step %} ### Choose the target Turn **Use a stored IP** on to pick one of the IP addresses MyIP already found for you, or turn it off and type any IP address in the box (for example `1.1.1.1`). {% endstep %} {% step %} ### Choose the regions The panel on the left is the region picker. **Suggested regions** is ticked by default and gives a good spread across every continent. Below it, every continent is listed — Asia, Europe, Africa, Americas, Oceania — with all the countries that currently have an online probe. A country greyed out means *"No probes available in this country/region"* right now. The counter at the top shows how many you have selected out of a maximum of **30**. Past that the run button locks until you deselect some. {% endstep %} {% step %} ### Run it Press the play button next to the IP box. Each selected country sends 8 ping packets. Results fill the table on the right, and a world map appears under it, shaded by average delay. {% endstep %} {% endstepper %} ## Reading your results Each row is one country. | Column | Meaning | | -------------- | --------------------------------------------- | | Region | The country the probe pinged from | | Min Delay (ms) | Fastest round trip in the run | | Max Delay (ms) | Slowest round trip in the run | | Avg Delay (ms) | Average round trip — the number to read first | | Total Packets | How many packets the probe sent | | Packet Loss | Share of packets that never came back | | Received | Packets that came back | | Dropped | Packets that did not | Delay values are colour-coded to help you scan: under 100 ms reads as good, 100–250 ms is neutral, above 250 ms is highlighted as slow. Any packet loss above zero is highlighted too. The gap between **Min** and **Max** matters as much as the average. A row with 40 ms min and 400 ms max is unstable, even though the average may look fine. ### What high latency to one region does and does not mean {% hint style="info" %} Distance alone explains a lot. Light in fibre covers roughly 200 km per millisecond, and the cable never runs in a straight line. A round trip between Europe and Australia costs well over 250 ms before anything goes wrong. {% endhint %} * **Expected:** a far-away country shows high but *steady* latency, with no packet loss. That is physics, not a fault. * **Worth a look:** a nearby country is slower than a distant one. That usually means traffic is taking a detour, or a link along the way is congested. * **Worth a look:** high **Max** and high **Packet Loss** in the same row. That points at congestion or an overloaded link, not distance. * **Not meaningful on its own:** one bad row among many good ones. A single probe can sit on a poor network. Re-run before drawing conclusions. ### If every region fails The message *"Test failed, it looks like your IP is not allowed to perform Ping test"* usually means the target ignores ping traffic. Many home routers, firewalls and cloud servers drop ICMP on purpose. That is a configuration choice, not a broken connection. ## When to use it * **Picking a VPN or proxy region.** Test your own IP from a few candidate countries and choose the one with the lowest average delay. * **Choosing where to host.** If most of your visitors are in one region, check that region reaches your server quickly. * **Checking a complaint from abroad.** If a friend in another country says your service is slow, run the test from their country and see the number. ## What to do next * Latency is high and you want to see *where* the delay appears → [MTR Test](/knowledge-base/network-tests/mtr-test.md) * Understand the numbers → [Latency, Jitter & Packet Loss](/knowledge-base/concepts/latency-jitter-packet-loss.md) * Measure your own throughput → [Speed Test](/knowledge-base/network-tests/speed-test.md) * General slowness → [Why Is My Internet Slow?](/knowledge-base/diagnose/why-is-my-internet-slow.md) --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. 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