Delay

The delay of a network specifies how long it takes for a bit of data to travel across the network from one computer to another. Delay is measured in seconds or fractions of seconds. Delay may differ slightly, depending on the location of the specific pair of computers that communicate.

There is a certain minimum level of delay that will be experienced due to the time it takes to transmit a packet serially through a link. Onto this is added a more variable level of delay due to network congestion. IP network delays can range from just a few milliseconds to several hundred milliseconds.