Constant 1ms reply in LAN

Hi All,

This is my first topic in this forum!! Wow i am excited!!

Can we get constant 1ms reply in LAN? i am pinging my gateway from my laptop & can see that i am getting 1ms response but that is not constant there are some spikes in between. Is there any way that confirms this is normal behavior and why?

Reply from 10.164.88.145: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=255
Reply from 10.164.88.145: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=255
Reply from 10.164.88.145: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=255
Reply from 10.164.88.145: bytes=32 time=11ms TTL=255
Reply from 10.164.88.145: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=255
Reply from 10.164.88.145: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=255
Reply from 10.164.88.145: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=255
Reply from 10.164.88.145: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=255
Reply from 10.164.88.145: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=255
Reply from 10.164.88.145: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=255
Reply from 10.164.88.145: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=255
Reply from 10.164.88.145: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=255
Reply from 10.164.88.145: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=255
Reply from 10.164.88.145: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=255
Reply from 10.164.88.145: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=255
Reply from 10.164.88.145: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=255

Ping statistics for 10.164.88.145:
Packets: Sent = 147, Received = 147, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 21ms, Average = 1ms

Hi Bhisham and welcome to Firewall.cx!

The question you raise is a good one - something most of us see in our everyday routine, but usually don't give too much attention to.

In theory, yes, you should get a constant steady 1ms reply when pinging a node in your network, however there are many factors which are not taking in consideration, which usually explains why rarely see that '1ms' every time:

1) Network utilization. Is the network we are using overloaded? Is there perhaps heavy traffic between another workstation and the one you are trying to ping? Is there someone on the network causing major broadcasts which are replicated to all ports on your network switches, consuming valuable bandwidth?

2) End device utilization. When you ping someone, your workstation (and therefore operating system), generates an ICMP packet and sends it off to its destination. When it arrives at the destination host, it must also process the ICMP Echo and create an ICMP Echo Reply. While this might not be that much of a deal these days with our superfast computers, if the remote workstation is busy processing other important things e.g the remote user is using a heavy application that is consuming a lot of CPU cycles, it can 'delay' the generation of the ICMP reply packet, therefore giving you a false indication that there are delays in your network. The same applies for a router or any other network device. If its busy - it most probably will delay to respond back.

As you can see, immediately, there are factors which we do not usually take into account when performing these simple tests.

Here on Firewall.cx, you'll find an article we wrote covering network performance, that can provide a valuable insight on how fast your network really is. The article is Measuring Network Performance: Test Network Throughput, Delay-Latency, Jitter, Transfer Speeds, Packet loss & Reliability and is very popular.

We are also considering expanding it to help answer questions like the one you've just asked.

I hope this helps answer your question.

Chris.

First of all Thanks!!! for the wonderful explanation

Yes i also searched and come on conclusion that there are lot things happens in behind the curtains which can cause those spikes in response and we can blame to network!!!

I've downloaded that tool and its very useful tool.
Thanks once again for your quick response.

Bhisham