Having a good, fast mobile connection to download enormous files in seconds is nice, but this is not the only aspect of good performance for interactive applications. Games on the internet need to respond to the moves of the player, video chat has to flow voice and video without interruption, and live streams only look good with continuous data flow. Even with fast downloads from a network, these activities will suffer delays.
That’s where 5G latency comes in. Latency is the time taken to transfer data from one place to another on a network. Lower latency can make online gaming, watching live online video, and even video chatting between devices more instantaneous. Of course, real-world performance differs with network congestion, signal quality, server location, and application architecture.
What Is 5G Latency, and Why Should You Care?
Latency refers to the time it takes for data to travel from a transmitter to a receiver. Network testing can indicate round-trip time (RTT), the time for a packet to travel to a destination and receive a response.
High latency can be seen as a time lag between a user’s activity and the appearance of a result. For example, in an online game, a tester may tell a character to do something, but the character doesn’t respond. During a video conference, the audio could lag, resulting in one person talking over the other.
5G introduces network technologies, reducing latency of communications above numerous prior mobile deployments. These include the design of new radio interfaces, network architecture, and edge computing. However, 5G will not provide a “one-size-fits-all” latency experience for all users or applications.
Quality of service is different for real-time services (International Telecommunication Union, ITU). So having only one global latency objective is not a suitable one for live media production, conversational video, and gaming.
5G Latency in Online Gameplay
Online multiplayer games are constantly communicating with the game servers from the players’ devices. A device issues commands (move, aim, use ability). The server then executes those commands and sends the players who are connected the updated game information.
Higher latency can result in a greater lag between an action and its effect. This can provide substantial input lag, resulting in choppy movement or leaving you at an advantage in fast-paced matches.
Reliable Response Times Are Critical in Competitive Gaming
Competitive games rely on split-second judgements that must be timed perfectly. When network lag interferes with what players are trying to do, first-person shooters, fighting, and racing can become frustrating.
You want low latency to ensure that your inputs are getting to game servers promptly, but you also want consistency. A connection with a “normal” response time of 25 milliseconds that sometimes spikes past 150 isn’t going to feel as rock-steady as a consistently slightly slower response.
The GSMA says jitter (or delay variance) is an essential issue in the quality of mobile gaming. Lost data in transit not only causes packet loss, but it also interferes with game play.
Cloud Gaming Needs a Responsive Network
Cloud gaming involves processing most of the game on remote servers. Instead of processing each frame locally, the server takes the player’s input and transmits the final video to the device.
This places more strain on the network. It needs to have very low latency across it, with commands to the server and quality video back. Latency, jitter, packet loss, and lack of bandwidth might influence the experience, according to ITU guidance on cloud gaming.
Cloud gaming can be offered over 5G with more data capacity and less communication time. Edge computing could benefit from the distance data must travel if computer resources are located closer to the users.
The Impact of 5G Latency on Video Calls
Video calls are two-way meetings for you. All send and receive audio and video. More delay leads to awkward interactions, especially in a gathering with multiple participants talking.
The reduced latency will mean conversations will have more natural rhythms in class, where the participants will experience hearing what others have to say so that their reactions can occur sooner. It can also enhance online classes, remote interviews, virtual consultations, and business meetings.
But latency is only one of the factors in video call quality. Applications also require adequate upload and download capacity, packet delivery, and audio and video processing, too.
Jitter and Packet Loss
Jitter refers to the variation in packet arrival times. Video conferencing apps employ buffers to handle these timing mismatches . But if the fluctuation is too great, you still have disruptions .
Packet loss is when data transmitted does not arrive. The program can then attempt to recover lost data, correct faults, or decrease video quality. You may experience frozen screens, garbled audio, and interrupted conversations.
The conference platform including the call and the infrastructure supporting it, plus Wi-Fi or mobile connectivity, will play a role, too, but a good 5G connection can diminish some network concerns.
Latency’s Impact on Live Streaming
Live streaming is not the same as playing a video. A video-on-demand service can pre-buffer and download content on display ahead of time. A live broadcast has to stream content while an event is in progress.
This is very critical for creator upload performance. Imagine a user who is broadcasting a concert, a sports event, or a pitch report from a mobile device; the device must constantly upload a video stream to the platform. Without the ability to upload or maintain a constant connection, image quality may suffer or broadcast may stall.
What’s Glass-to-Glass Latency?
There is more to live streaming latency than the time taken for a packet to transit the network. In general terms, the glass-to-glass latency refers to the time from anything happening in front of a camera to the moment the video is seen on a viewer’s screen.
It includes capturing by a camera, encoding, transmission over a network, work on a platform, buffering, and playback. Although a 5G connection provides the information swiftly, the streaming platform adds further lag.
The difference between network latency and total streaming latency is discussed in RFC 9317 (Internet Engineering Task Force). It also explains the effect of buffering and media processing on the wait time of your viewers to watch live content.
Comparison of Real-Time Network Needs by Activity
Responsive connections improve gaming, video calls, and live streaming, although they have different priorities:
- Online gaming: Requires round-trip latency low and consistent, jitter to be as low as possible, and little packet loss so player commands are consistently delivered to game servers.
- Video calls: Depend on consistent two-way audio/video, adequate upload/download headroom, and uniform packet spacing.
- Live streaming: Requires enough upload capacity, constant throughput, and any delay from encoding/transmission/processing and playback.
- Cloud gaming: Requires high input speed as well as download bandwidth for a constant stream of produced video.
That’s why a network test that checks high download speeds doesn’t always translate to good performance for all real-time apps.
What Affects 5G Latency?
There are several network and device variables that affect the latency experienced by users.
Congestion can lead to delays when limited radio resources are shared by several devices. Bad signal conditions may necessitate longer retransmissions, and interference can impact the ability of devices to communicate with local equipment.
The distance between the user and the application server also matters. A game server in another nation can introduce routing and transmission delays even if the user has a good local mobile network.
Network architecture also contributes. 5G Standalone (SA) features a separate 5G core and supports features like network slicing. These features can enable operators to provide specific traffic handling for diverse service needs, but there is no assurance of lower latency for all applications.
What does this mean for the user in terms of devices, software, and mobile plans? A compatible smartphone, sufficient network coverage, and a plan that allows the needed service will be essential to the whole experience.
Compare the various mobile services, such as Giga and others. Make sure to check your current plan terms and coverage (particularly in regions where you spend a lot of time playing games, calling, or streaming).
Better 5G Responsiveness
5G enables you to enjoy improved services that communicate and operate much quicker and a far better experience using video calls, games, and live streams. This is particularly advantageous for applications that demand frequent two-way data exchanges or the continuous supply of media.
However, reduced latency is not completely dependent on the generation of the mobile network. Signal quality, congestion, server distance, jitter, packet loss, upload capacity, and application processing all contribute to the end experience.
Awareness of these characteristics can enable consumers to make better device, mobile plan, and connection type choices. Similarly, selecting the right network architecture and streaming settings can ensure better real-time communication for businesses and content producers.