Gaming Latency Report: Ping by ISP and Game 2026
By SpeedTestHQ Research · Updated April 27, 2026
Latency — not download speed — determines gaming performance. This report ranks ISPs by average ping, jitter, and packet loss, and shows what latency each game type actually requires. Updated 2026-04-27.
ISP gaming latency rankings
| ISP | Avg Ping | Avg Jitter | Packet Loss | Gaming Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Fiber | 4 ms | 0.5 ms | 0.01% | Best for gaming |
| Verizon Fios | 6 ms | 0.8 ms | 0.02% | Excellent for gaming |
| AT&T Fiber | 7 ms | 1.0 ms | 0.03% | Great for gaming |
| Frontier Fiber | 8 ms | 1.2 ms | 0.03% | Great for gaming |
| CenturyLink Quantum | 9 ms | 1.5 ms | 0.05% | Good for gaming |
| Cox | 14 ms | 4.0 ms | 0.08% | Decent for casual gaming |
| Xfinity | 16 ms | 5.0 ms | 0.1% | Acceptable for gaming |
| Spectrum | 18 ms | 5.5 ms | 0.12% | Acceptable for gaming |
| Optimum | 15 ms | 4.5 ms | 0.09% | Good cable option |
| T-Mobile Home | 38 ms | 12.0 ms | 0.2% | Variable — towers vary |
| Verizon 5G Home | 42 ms | 14.0 ms | 0.22% | Variable — not ideal |
| Starlink | 42 ms | 18.0 ms | 0.5% | Playable but inconsistent |
| HughesNet | 650 ms | 80.0 ms | 2.0% | Unplayable for online gaming |
Ping requirements by game type
| Game Type | Max Playable | Competitive | Pro Level | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turn-based / strategy | 200 ms | 100 ms | 50 ms | Civilization, chess, card games |
| MOBA | 100 ms | 50 ms | 20 ms | League of Legends, DOTA 2 |
| Battle Royale | 80 ms | 40 ms | 20 ms | Fortnite, PUBG, Warzone |
| First-person shooter | 60 ms | 30 ms | 15 ms | CS2, Valorant, Overwatch 2 |
| Fighting games | 50 ms | 20 ms | 10 ms | Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8 |
| Sports simulations | 80 ms | 40 ms | 20 ms | FIFA/EA FC, NBA 2K, Madden |
| Racing games | 80 ms | 40 ms | 20 ms | Gran Turismo, Forza, F1 |
| MMORPGs | 150 ms | 80 ms | 40 ms | WoW, FFXIV, ESO |
| Real-time strategy | 100 ms | 50 ms | 25 ms | StarCraft II, Age of Empires |
| Cloud gaming | 40 ms | 20 ms | 10 ms | GeForce NOW, Xbox Cloud, Luna |
Key findings
- Fiber ISPs dominate gaming performance: Google Fiber (4 ms), Verizon Fios (6 ms), and AT&T Fiber (7 ms) deliver latency that meets pro-level requirements for virtually every game genre. Their jitter is under 1.5 ms — essentially imperceptible during gameplay.
- HughesNet is unplayable for real-time games: At 650 ms average latency, geostationary satellite adds more than half a second to every packet — rendering all real-time competitive games unplayable. Even turn-based games experience frustrating delays.
- Jitter matters as much as ping: A connection with 20 ms average ping but 15 ms jitter is worse for gaming than one with 25 ms average ping and 1 ms jitter. Jitter causes rubberbanding, hit registration failures, and stuttering — issues more disruptive than slightly elevated average latency.
- FPS games require the tightest latency: Counter-Strike 2 and Valorant professionals compete at under 15 ms. At 16 ms (Xfinity) or 18 ms (Spectrum), casual play is fine but competitive play is at a disadvantage compared to fiber users.
Speed vs latency: what actually matters for gaming
Download speed is almost irrelevant for online gaming — most games send and receive less than 1 Mbps of game-state data. What matters is: ping (round-trip time to the game server), jitter (variation in that ping), and packet loss (percentage of data packets that never arrive). A 25 Mbps DSL connection with 8 ms ping is better for gaming than a 1 Gbps cable connection with 16 ms ping and 5 ms jitter.
How to test your gaming connection
Run a speed test to measure your current ping and jitter. For gaming, focus on the latency numbers rather than download speed. Test at peak hours (7–10 PM) to see your worst-case conditions — that is what you will experience in competitive play. Ping above 50 ms or jitter above 10 ms indicates your connection may affect game performance.
Methodology
Latency and jitter values represent median measurements from SpeedTestHQ tests on wired Ethernet connections over a rolling 90-day window. Peak-hour measurements (7–10 PM local time) are used to represent real gaming conditions. Packet loss percentages represent averages from extended test sessions.
Frequently Asked Questions
What ping is good enough for competitive online gaming?
For casual play, ping under 60 ms is acceptable for most game types. For competitive play, you want under 30 ms — the threshold where most players notice a difference in responsiveness. For first-person shooters like CS2 and Valorant, pro-level play requires under 15 ms. Google Fiber (4 ms), Verizon Fios (6 ms), and AT&T Fiber (7 ms) comfortably meet even professional standards, while cable ISPs like Spectrum (18 ms) are fine for casual but not optimal for competitive play.
Is jitter more important than ping for gaming?
Jitter is often more disruptive than average ping. A connection with 20 ms average ping but 15 ms jitter will cause more rubberbanding, hit registration failures, and stuttering than one with 25 ms average ping and 1 ms jitter. Fiber ISPs achieve under 1.5 ms jitter, while cable ISPs average 4–5.5 ms — and Starlink averages 18 ms jitter, which causes the inconsistent gameplay experience satellite users report.
Can I game on Starlink or HughesNet?
Starlink (42 ms ping, 18 ms jitter) is playable for casual and turn-based games but inconsistent for competitive shooters and fighting games. HughesNet at 650 ms average latency is effectively unplayable for any real-time online game — the 600+ ms added by geostationary orbit physics cannot be engineered away. If gaming matters to you and satellite is your only option, Starlink is the only viable choice.
Does download speed matter at all for gaming?
For real-time gameplay, download speed is almost irrelevant — most games transmit under 1 Mbps of game-state data. Speed matters only for downloading game updates and patches: a 50 GB update takes about 22 minutes at 300 Mbps versus 2.5 hours at 50 Mbps. For the actual gaming session, focus on ping, jitter, and packet loss — not the headline download speed on your plan.