Everyone should have a basic understating of Ping, Download Mbps/Kbps and Upload Mbps/Kbps in regards to network speed tests. Recently I noticed after an update that my speedtest.net app on my android now had another metric: Jitter. I took to google search and where else should you go to find reputable information on networking besides cisco! So I read up and basically network jitter is a measurement of congestion on Cellular Voice or VoIP Networks. When a speed test is performed on a desktop or laptop computer the jitter metric is not displayed as they are not affected by jitter. You will only see this metric on a mobile device speed test. So the next time you make or receive a phone call and you notice that everything sounds robotic or garbled – that is network Jitter!
Here is the Cisco Definition of Jitter:
“Jitter is defined as a variation in the delay of received packets. At the sending side, packets are sent in a continuous stream with the packets spaced evenly apart. Due to network congestion, improper queuing, or configuration errors, this steady stream can become lumpy, or the delay between each packet can vary instead of remaining constant.”
Click here for a link to Speedtest.net Apps and select your platform.
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