Packet Loss Test

Packet loss is the percentage of data that never arrives. Even tiny amounts cause choppy calls and broken gaming. Press GO to measure yours.

0% — Excellent

No packets dropped. Your connection is delivering all data reliably. Ideal for everything.

0.1–0.5% — Acceptable

Marginal loss. Most applications recover without visible impact, but calls may occasionally glitch.

1–2% — Noticeable

Video calls stutter, games rubber-band. TCP downloads slow significantly as the protocol retransmits lost data.

Above 2% — Severe

Calls drop, games are unplayable, pages load slowly. Indicates a hardware fault, Wi-Fi interference, or ISP problem.

What is packet loss?

Your internet connection works by breaking data into small chunks called packets. Each packet is sent independently and reassembled at the destination. Packet loss occurs when one or more of these packets fail to arrive.

Packet loss is measured as a percentage of total packets sent. While that sounds small, the impact is disproportionate — TCP-based applications (websites, file downloads) respond by slowing down dramatically to retransmit lost data, and real-time applications (VoIP, gaming) simply skip the missing data, causing audible glitches or visual lag.

How this test works

This test sends 40 sequential HTTP probes to the nearest test server. Each probe has a 2-second timeout — if no response arrives within that window, the packet is counted as lost. The result is the percentage of probes that failed or timed out.

What causes packet loss?

Wi-Fi interference — the most common cause; radio signal competition causes corrupted packets that are discarded
Faulty cables or connectors — a partially damaged Ethernet cable causes bit errors
Router or switch overload — consumer hardware drops packets when its internal buffers fill during heavy traffic
ISP congestion — upstream links at the ISP become saturated during peak hours
VPN congestion — a saturated or distant VPN server drops packets before they reach their destination

How to fix packet loss

Switch from Wi-Fi to a wired Ethernet connection — eliminates the most common source
Replace Ethernet cables — even a single damaged cable can cause persistent loss
Restart your router and modem — clears buffer queues and resets the connection
Test with your VPN off — if loss disappears, the VPN server is the cause
Run the test at different times of day — if loss only appears in the evening, it's ISP congestion

For a systematic approach, see our slow internet troubleshooting guide or our Wi-Fi improvement guide.