I see this term used in video games when checking on the internet connection, but I dont understand completely. Can someone explain?
In: Technology
Ping is a tool that comes on many computers. It measures the time it takes for data to get from that computer to another across the network (like internet). It’s typically measured in milliseconds. It gets its name from Sonar where subs “ping” to determine how far away another sub is. The name of the tool has become synonymous with the measurement (ping of 1ms, for example).
It’s basically a simple measure of latency across the network. The smaller the better, especially for things like games, video, and similar.
Non-ELI5: ping uses ICMP as the underlying protocol. This is a rather small packet so the latency may not be accurate for every use, like if you’re sending larger packets. Some applications implement their own version that basically does the same thing but within their app and using more representative payload sizes.
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