Ping (latency)JitterPacket lossTick rateRubber-bandingDesyncPing booster / game boosterGPN (gamer private network)Multipath connectionRoutingHopTraceroute (tracert)BufferbloatQoS (Quality of Service)NAT typeDNSMTUBandwidthPeeringData center / server region
- Ping (latency)
- The round-trip time for data to travel from your device to the game server and back, measured in milliseconds (ms). Lower is better.
- Jitter
- How much your ping varies from moment to moment. High jitter makes the game feel inconsistent even if average ping is low.
- Packet loss
- The percentage of data packets that never arrive. Causes teleporting, missed hits and rubber-banding. Anything above 1% is a problem.
- Tick rate
- How many times per second the game server updates the game state. Valorant uses 128-tick servers; higher tick rates make latency more noticeable.
- Rubber-banding
- When your character snaps back to a previous position because the server rejected or never received your movement — usually caused by packet loss or jitter.
- Desync
- When what you see differs from what the server thinks happened, e.g. getting shot behind cover. Caused by latency and packet loss.
- Ping booster / game booster
- Software such as ExitLag that routes game traffic through optimized servers to lower latency and packet loss compared with your ISP's default route.
- GPN (gamer private network)
- A private network built for game traffic. Unlike a regular VPN, it optimizes routes to game servers instead of hiding your location.
- Multipath connection
- Sending the same game data over several routes at once and using whichever arrives first. Used by ExitLag and NoPing to reduce packet loss.
- Routing
- The path your data takes across networks to reach the server. ISPs choose routes for cost, not gaming performance — boosters change this path.
- Hop
- Each router your data passes through on its way to the server. More hops usually mean more latency and more places for packet loss.
- Traceroute (tracert)
- A command that lists every hop between you and a server, with latency at each step. Useful for finding where lag starts.
- Bufferbloat
- Lag caused by your router queuing too much data when the connection is busy (e.g. during downloads). Fixed with QoS or SQM settings.
- QoS (Quality of Service)
- A router feature that prioritizes certain traffic, like games, over downloads and streaming.
- NAT type
- How your router handles incoming connections. Strict NAT can cause matchmaking and voice chat issues, especially on consoles.
- DNS
- The system that turns domain names into IP addresses. A faster DNS speeds up launchers and matchmaking lookups but does not change in-game ping.
- MTU
- The maximum packet size your connection sends. A wrong MTU can cause fragmentation and packet loss on some networks.
- Bandwidth
- How much data your connection can carry per second. Games need little bandwidth — latency and stability matter far more.
- Peering
- Agreements between ISPs and networks to exchange traffic directly. Poor peering with a game provider is a common cause of high ping.
- Data center / server region
- The physical location of game servers. Choosing the nearest region is the simplest way to lower ping.
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