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There is no universal FTTP latency number. A useful baseline must state the round-trip endpoints, whether the circuit was idle or carrying traffic, the statistic and observation window, the geography, and whether the test used Ethernet or Wi-Fi. Published figures are observations from particular providers and routes, not guarantees for every fibre connection.
For orientation, Ofcom recorded 6.4–6.9 ms median average 24-hour latency for three specific full-fibre packages in the United Kingdom in measurements made during March 2021. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) reported 10.7 ms mean latency across all tested NBN fixed-line connections in its June 2024 summary; its release says FTTP had the lowest average latency among the compared access technologies, but it does not give an FTTP-only value. Those figures cannot be compared as if they were a global FTTP target.
What an FTTP latency baseline actually measures
Latency is delay. Ofcom defines it as the time for a packet to travel to a third-party server and back, which is a round-trip time (RTT) measurement. RTT is not automatically the delay of the fibre access loop. It can include the customer premises equipment, access network, aggregation, the provider core, transit networks and the remote server.
The first decision is therefore the endpoint pair. A test from a device to the home gateway measures the local network. A test from the customer connection to a provider test node in a nearby point of presence (PoP) includes the access and provider path to that PoP. A test to an application server measures an end-to-end route that may cross several networks and countries.
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Three useful endpoint boundaries
- LAN to gateway: isolates the in-home link. It is useful for separating Wi-Fi or cabling problems from an access-service problem, but it says nothing about the provider’s outside network.
- Customer connection to a local provider PoP: a practical access-service baseline. Record the PoP’s city and the provider’s test-node identity so another test can reproduce the route.
- Customer connection to an application or distant server: represents a real use case, but includes transit, peering, server location and return-path effects. It should not be labelled “FTTP latency” without those qualifications.
IMDA’s published fibre quality method makes this distinction explicit: local RTT runs from test clients to provider test nodes in a local PoP, while international RTT runs to provider test nodes in the provider’s first US PoP. The two measurements describe different path lengths and should remain separate in a report.
Why fibre technology does not produce one fixed number
FTTP removes the copper access segment, but end-to-end delay still depends on engineering and conditions beyond the fibre medium. Provider routing, PoP location, peering, household equipment, wireless conditions, queueing and the destination server all affect the observed RTT. Package tiers can also use different provider architectures or traffic policies.
ITU-T G.9930 describes the residential gateway as the termination point of the access network and the starting point of the in-premises network. It says the described in-premises fibre network is intended to provide better latency and jitter than non-fibre home networks. However, the recommendation’s scope puts the access-network technology and the technology connecting the end-user device outside that in-premises description. It therefore does not establish a universal FTTP access-segment latency value.
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Standards also distinguish measurement from a pass/fail promise. ITU-T Y.1567 (October 2023 edition, listed in force) specifies methods for latency-under-load measurements. ITU-T G.1051 (March 2023, with an April 2024 Appendix I revision listed in force) addresses measurement and interactivity scoring with real application traffic patterns. The available summaries do not set one numerical FTTP threshold that every network must meet.
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Published figures and their proper scope
| Figure | Organisation and date | Endpoint and geography | Statistic and condition | What it does and does not show |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6.4–6.9 ms | Ofcom, 2021 | United Kingdom; three named full-fibre packages | Median average latency over 24 hours, from March 2021 measurements; Ofcom’s metric is RTT to a third-party server | The lowest values in that package comparison. It is a historical, package-specific observation, not a universal FTTP target or an access-loop-only result. |
| 10.7 ms | ACCC, 26 June 2024 | Australia; all tested NBN fixed-line connections | Mean latency in the ACCC’s summary of a particular Measuring Broadband Australia report | The release says FTTP had the lowest average latency among the compared fixed-line technologies, but 10.7 ms is not an FTTP-only figure. |
| 0.16% | ACCC, 26 June 2024 | Australia; all tested NBN fixed-line connections | Average packet loss | A network-wide quality observation, separate from latency and not an FTTP-only estimate. The ACCC said it was unlikely to disrupt common online applications. |
These values are reference observations. They differ in country, provider, access products, endpoint design, date and aggregation method. A valid comparison keeps those dimensions aligned instead of ranking the numbers by size alone.
Build a baseline that another engineer can reproduce
Use the following procedure when the question is “What latency does this FTTP service deliver?” rather than “How fast is my speed test?”
- Write down the endpoint pair. Identify the customer’s device, gateway, provider test node or application server, and the location of the far endpoint. Record whether the result is LAN-to-gateway, local-PoP RTT or end-to-end RTT.
- Record the access context. Note the provider, package, country or region, FTTP access technology and gateway model. If the provider publishes separate local and international test nodes, keep those results in separate series.
- Use a wired test device for the access baseline. Connect the endpoint to the gateway with Ethernet. A Cat 6 cable is a practical choice for this connection, but it is only a physical link; it does not measure latency and no cited standard endorses a particular cable category. Record the cable connection and gateway port.
- Run an idle series. Stop large downloads, uploads, cloud synchronisation, backups and video streams. Take repeated RTT samples to the chosen endpoint rather than relying on one reply. Save the date, start and end times and the complete sample set.
- Run a loaded series separately. Generate representative upstream and downstream traffic, then measure RTT during that traffic. State the offered load, direction and duration. Do not describe an idle ping as latency under use. Y.1567 provides a framework for latency-under-load measurement; G.1051 is relevant when the traffic should resemble interactive applications.
- Choose a summary statistic. Report the median and a high percentile when possible, and state the sample count and observation window. If you report an average, identify it as an average and do not call it a median. A 20-second sample, a one-hour run and a 24-hour average answer different questions.
- Capture variation. Include quiet and busy periods if the operational issue is time-of-day performance. A short sample can miss congestion or route changes; a long window can hide a brief but important spike unless percentiles or time series are retained.
- Measure packet loss and jitter with RTT. Packet loss indicates missing probes or packets; jitter describes variation in delay. They are separate service characteristics. The ACCC reports latency and packet loss separately, and G.9930 discusses latency and jitter in its in-premises context.
- Repeat with Wi-Fi only as a diagnostic. A second run over the household wireless network can show the experience of a wireless device, but label it as Wi-Fi-inclusive. Do not attribute a wireless hop’s variability to FTTP.
- Archive route context. Save the endpoint hostname or address, route-trace output where available, gateway firmware and test-device details. A future route change can then be distinguished from a change in the fibre access service.
Example command syntax
Use the provider’s documented test-node hostname or address in the commands below; the endpoint must be recorded with the result.
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- Windows repeated RTT:
ping -n 20 <provider-test-host> - macOS or Linux repeated RTT:
ping -c 20 <provider-test-host> - Windows route context:
tracert <provider-test-host> - macOS or Linux route context:
traceroute <provider-test-host>
These commands provide probe RTT and route clues; they do not by themselves create a standards-compliant loaded-latency test. Keep the operating system, probe count and endpoint consistent when comparing two dates.
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Idle latency, loaded latency and application-like traffic
Idle RTT
Idle RTT is measured while the connection is not carrying competing traffic. It is the cleanest way to establish a quiet-path reference and to detect a persistent routing or access issue. It does not predict the delay a device will see while another household member uploads a large file.
Latency under load
When queues fill, delay can rise even though the fibre line remains synchronised at its advertised speed. Measure upstream and downstream load separately because a household may saturate one direction first. Record the offered load and whether traffic was continuous or bursty. A result without those details cannot be compared with an idle baseline.
Application-like measurement
Interactive traffic is not a constant-rate stream. G.1051 addresses scoring under real application traffic patterns, which is useful when the question concerns voice, video meetings, gaming or remote control rather than a synthetic ping. State the application pattern or scoring method used; do not present an application score as an access-loop RTT.
How to compare two FTTP baselines fairly
Before declaring one result better, align every comparison axis in the table. If any axis differs, report the observations separately and explain the difference.
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| Axis | What to record | Why it changes the interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| Endpoint and geography | Local gateway, provider PoP or distant server; city and country of each endpoint | Path length and transit networks can dominate RTT. |
| Provider, technology and package | Access provider, FTTP variant and package name | Aggregation, routing and service engineering are provider- and package-specific. |
| RTT or one-way definition | Round-trip probe, one-way timestamped measurement or another metric | One-way and round-trip values are not interchangeable; Ofcom’s cited metric is RTT. |
| Traffic condition | Idle, upstream-loaded, downstream-loaded or application-like | Queueing under load can add delay that an idle test cannot reveal. |
| Statistic and window | Average, median, percentile, sample count and duration | A short sample and a 24-hour average can produce different summaries of the same path. |
| Time of day | Test schedule, including peak and quiet periods | Congestion and route selection can vary during the day. |
| Packet loss and jitter | Loss percentage and delay variation measured with the same run | Two paths with similar RTT can provide different interactive quality. |
| Home connection | Ethernet or Wi-Fi, gateway model and relevant firmware | Wireless contention and local hardware can be mistaken for access-network behaviour. |
Download speed is not a substitute for latency. A high-throughput service can still have a long route or large queueing delay, while a lower-speed service can have a shorter, more stable path.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Diagnose an unexpected result
High RTT to the gateway
If a wired device sees high or unstable RTT to the gateway, investigate the household network first: the Ethernet link, gateway CPU load, local bridging equipment and the test device. A Wi-Fi-only spike points toward radio contention or signal conditions rather than the FTTP access path.
Normal gateway RTT but high local-PoP RTT
This pattern shifts attention outside the home: the optical termination, access aggregation, provider backhaul or the route to the local PoP. Repeat at different times and preserve packet-loss and jitter data before contacting the provider. A single distant-server result is not enough to isolate this segment.
Local-PoP RTT normal but distant-server RTT high
The additional delay is likely on the route beyond the local PoP, including provider peering, transit, geography or the destination network. Compare a documented international provider node with the application endpoint. IMDA’s distinction between local RTT and international RTT is a useful model for keeping these cases separate.
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Idle RTT normal but loaded RTT spikes
This indicates delay associated with competing traffic or queueing. Verify both upstream and downstream tests, note the offered load and repeat with the gateway’s traffic controls unchanged. Do not “fix” the baseline by reporting only the idle value; the loaded result is the relevant observation for a busy household.
Loss and jitter rise with latency
Record when the symptoms begin and whether they occur on the local-PoP endpoint as well as the distant endpoint. Correlated loss, jitter and RTT spikes are stronger evidence of a path or queueing problem than a single high sample. Keep the wired setup in place while escalating so the provider can reproduce the same boundary.
Results vary by time of day
Extend the observation window and report separate peak and quiet-period statistics. A 24-hour summary can be useful for trend reporting, but retain the time series so a short evening impairment is not averaged away.
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How to write the result so it is not misleading
A concise engineering record should contain all of the following:
- “RTT” or “one-way latency,” with the measurement method.
- Both endpoints, their locations and the route context.
- Provider, package, access technology and country or region.
- Idle, loaded or application-like condition, including offered load.
- Statistic, percentile or average, sample count and observation window.
- Ethernet or Wi-Fi setup and gateway details.
- Jitter and packet loss measured alongside latency.
- Test date and time, including time zone when comparisons cross regions.
For example: “Median RTT from a wired customer device to the provider’s local PoP in the same city, measured idle for 60 minutes on 18 October 2026; 95th-percentile RTT, packet loss and jitter reported separately.” That sentence identifies what the number means without implying that it is a universal FTTP property.
What the available evidence supports
The strongest defensible conclusion is conditional: FTTP commonly supports low and stable delay, but the end-to-end baseline is determined by the measured path and conditions. Ofcom’s 6.4–6.9 ms observation belongs to three UK packages and March 2021 testing. The ACCC’s 10.7 ms mean belongs to all tested NBN fixed-line connections in its June 2024 summary, while FTTP was described as the lowest-latency technology in that comparison without an FTTP-only number. Neither source supplies a globally representative distribution or a universal pass/fail threshold.
Use those figures as historical reference points, not promises. A baseline that names its endpoints, load, statistic, window, geography and companion quality metrics is more useful than a smaller number stripped of context.
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