How to Test Jitter Quickly? 2 Practical Ways

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I bet that you’ve been left frustrated with lousy quality streaming media or choppy sound in VoIP calls more than once. 

This annoying problem could be blamed for the high network jitter. 

So what are the possible causes of jitter? How do test and reduce it? Let’s find out!

How to test jitter?

What is jitter in Speed test?

Jitter on speed test is a component of latency that refers to the degree of variance in delay when performing numerous ping tests. 

Typically, it is measured in milliseconds (ms). 

Network jitter occurs as a result of network congestion, interference, route changes, and other factors.

What is network jitter?

Wired connections (cable, fiber, DSL) will always have lower latency than wireless connections (satellite, LTE, and Wi-Fi).

What causes Jitter?

Network jitter boils down to a number of factors. Here are some of the main ones:

Things cause jitter

Impacts of Jitter 

Jitter introduces inconsistencies that affect connection quality and data transfer speeds. 

Hence, it negatively influences all real-time communications, such as video conferencing, VoIP call quality, video streaming, online gaming, etc.

Jitter on speed test

Specifically, higher internet jitter levels might result in connectivity issues including dropped calls, echoing, or choppy audio.

Web browsing isn't particularly influenced by response times and their variations. 

However, ping and jitter are vital indicators of your connection's quality if you need real-time data. 

Read also | Latency vs ping: What’s the difference?

What is a good jitter speed?

Jitter should be less than 30 ms for video streaming to perform properly. 

If the receiving jitter exceeds this value, it may begin to slack, causing packet loss and audio quality issues. 

Also, packet loss should not exceed 1%, and network latency should not exceed 150 ms in one direction.

You can run a ping jitter test to evaluate if your jitter is acceptable or good. 

Calculate the mean and lowest round-trip times for several data packets.

How to test jitter?

Typically, network jitter is measured in milliseconds (ms), and here are two ways to calculate it.

Use a jitter test tool

You can use the DSLReports utility to run a jitter test.

• Step 1: Go to the website dslreports.com/tools/pingtest  and click the “GO” button.

• Step 2: The test will then collect thousands of ping readings from servers worldwide. 

This should just take a few minutes, but if you have a really sluggish internet connection, it may take longer.

When the ping and jitter test is finished, it will provide a graphical depiction of the ping tests on the upper left side of the screen.

There is also a test chart on the right side of the screen, and a grade on the lower left side of the screen.

Jitter speed test

Grades of A+ are preferred, which signifies very low latency and jitter. The lowest latency measured between your computer and the server is listed in the Min column. 

The next column is the Packet Delay Variation ( +PDV) is the jitter or the difference between the mean latency and the lowest latency. 

The PDV number should ideally be as low as possible. 

This will prevent stuttering while playing online games, video teleconferencing, and delayed voice transmission in VoIP interactions.

If the +PDV shows +0ms as above, then there is no jitter.

Use command prompt on Windows

A ping jitter test can be performed by calculating the mean round-trip time and the minimum round-trip time for a sequence of packets.

To determine network jitter, use the "Command Line" or "Terminal" and ping any target. Here is the step-by-step guide to follow:

• Step 1: Hold down the Windows key + R, then type “cmd” to open the Command Line Interface “cmd” on Windows. 

• Step 2: Type “ping IP address”

In the following example, a PING was sent to the following IP address: 27.71.84.201. 

There are 4 packets sent and received with 0% loss. 

The jitter is calculated by averaging the time difference between each packet sequence.

Speed test with jitter

Take a look at the ping jitter test result above, packet loss is 0, meaning good communication.

We also notice Ping simple set (ms): 13, 14, 13, 14.

Here are the differences between each consecutive ping sample.

There are 3 differences. The jitter = (1+1+1)/3 = 1ms. It’s an ideal value.

You now understand how network jitter is measured theoretically. However, performing these calculations each time might be tedious.

Some online network jitter calculators, such as 3rdEchelon's, can assist you with this procedure. 

Simply run a ping speed test, go to their website, and put the ping data into the box. 

Based on the retrieved delay times, the application will calculate jitter for you.

How to reduce jitter?

Jitter reduction is advantageous in online gaming and VoIP conversations. Here are troubleshooting tips to fix jitter:

Test your internet connection

The most common reason for jitter is a poor internet connection. Hence, it’s crucial to check your connection quality using reliable tools such as Speedtest or MySpeed. 

If you find out that your network performance is inadequate, you can contact your internet service provider to check if they offer a better plan.

Lower network jitter

Use a jitter buffer

Using a jitter buffer is one of the most effective techniques to reduce internet jitter. 

It deliberately delays incoming voice packets and holds them for a brief period of time. 

They are set up to buffer communication for 30 to 200 milliseconds before sending it to the end user. 

This procedure ensures that data packets arrive in the correct order and with the least amount of delay.

It’s worth noting that while a jitter buffer can improve audio quality and make phone calls more reliable, it fails to address the underlying cause of the problem.

Prioritize packets

You may have a quality of service (QoS) setting on your router that allows you to prioritize packets over other types of traffic. 

Reduce network jitter

Prioritizing packets may help if your jitter is caused by traffic congestion. 

This is particularly important if you prioritize internet calls over other types of traffic.

Reduce unnecessary bandwidth usage

Limiting others' access to your network can drastically minimize jitter, enhance download speeds, and eliminate the dreaded buffering.

Besides, you can also schedule computer upgrades when you are not working. 

This way will help save bandwidth and limit crucial updates during work hours.

Update to a decent router

Upgrading to a more powerful router can get rid of internet jitter issues since it prioritizes voice traffic over network traffic. 

However, it can be difficult to predict how effective it will manage jitter. 

Check your device frequency

If your phone is working at a frequency greater than 2.4GHz, network interference may occur. 

Connected phones operating at up to 5.8GHz frequencies may be affecting your efforts to eliminate jitter.

How to fix jitter

Use an ethernet cable

Wi-fi connections are convenient when you’re out, but it is prone to interference. 

So, it’s great to use an Ethernet cable for a better connection and jitter-lag online experience.

How can network jitter be monitored?

Network jitter is undoubtedly annoying. 

Luckily, some tools can monitor as well as generate alarms and reports on jitter.

1. SolarWinds VoIP & Network Quality Manager 

This tool is capable of monitoring network jitter and latency right from the packet stream so that you can maintain good call quality. 

Jitter monitoring tool

Key features:

• Keep track of VoIP calls and Call Detail Records (CDRs)

• Measure the performance metrics (jitter, latency, packet loss, and MOS) and monitor the quality of the VoIP traffic. 

• Search and filter VoIP calls based on their jitter measurements.

• Advanced troubleshooting for VoIP calls performance.

• It creates a visual call path trace.

2. Paessler PRTG

PRTG Network Monitor can identify and continually monitor jitter. 

Sensors are used in this software to monitor different aspects of a device. 

You can use these sensors to monitor a single component or statistic, such as CPU utilization, free disk space, bandwidth, traffic, latency, jitter, and so on.

Monitor jitter with Paessler PRTG

Key features:

• It measures and displays network jitter (in ms), packet loss, latency, and MOS.

• keeps track of the quality of the connection between two PRTG probes.

• Monitors Cisco IP SLA. It also measures and displays jitter.