# Network delay

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{{short description|Time required for data to traverse a network}}
{{More citations needed|date=October 2009}}

thumb|right|Graphical depiction of contributions to network delay

'''Network delay''' is a design and performance characteristic of a [telecommunications network](/source/telecommunications_network). It specifies the [latency](/source/Latency_(engineering)) for a bit of data to travel across the network from one [communication endpoint](/source/communication_endpoint) to another.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What is latency? |url=https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/server/know-how/what-is-latency/ |access-date=2022-08-26 |website=IONOS Digitalguide |language=en}}</ref>{{Ref RFC|1242|notes=no|rp=5}} It is typically measured in multiples or fractions of a second. Delay may differ slightly, depending on the location of the specific pair of communicating endpoints. Engineers usually report both the maximum and average delay, and they divide the delay into several parts:
* [Processing delay](/source/Processing_delay){{snd}} time it takes a router to process the packet header
* [Queuing delay](/source/Queuing_delay){{snd}} time the packet spends in routing queues
* [Transmission delay](/source/Transmission_delay){{snd}} time it takes to push the packet's bits onto the link
* [Propagation delay](/source/Propagation_delay){{snd}} time for a signal to propagate through the media

A certain minimum level of delay is experienced by signals due to the time it takes to [transmit](/source/Data_transmission) a packet serially through a [link](/source/Data_link). This delay is extended by more variable levels of delay due to [network congestion](/source/network_congestion). [IP network](/source/IP_network) delays can range from a few milliseconds to several hundred milliseconds.

For example, the [hop](/source/hop_(networking)) count between two communication endpoints (such as server and client), may affect network delay.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ioriver.io/terms/network-hops |title=Network Hops |access-date=2025-10-18}}</ref>

==See also==
* [Age of Information](/source/Age_of_Information)
* [End-to-end delay](/source/End-to-end_delay)
* [Lag (video games)](/source/Lag_(video_games))
* [Latency (engineering)](/source/Latency_(engineering))
* [Minimum-Pairs Protocol](/source/Minimum-Pairs_Protocol)
* [Round-trip delay](/source/Round-trip_delay)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{citation |url=http://www.telchemy.com/appnotes/Telchemy_Impact_of_Delay.pdf |title=Impact of Delay in Voice over IP Services |access-date=2018-10-31}}
* {{citation |url=http://www.cs.rice.edu/~eugeneng/papers/IMC06.pdf |title=Internet Delay Space Study at Rice University |access-date=2018-10-31}}

Category:Computer networking

{{compu-network-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Network delay](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_delay) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_delay?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.