Network Delay Calculator
Break down total network delay into propagation, transmission, processing and queuing delay.
Inputs
Total End-to-End Delay
7.6200ms
Propagation Delay
5.0000ms
Transmission Delay
0.1200ms
Processing Delay
0.5000ms
Queuing Delay
2.0000ms
Step by step
Propagation delay
1000 km / 200000 km/s * 1000
= 5 ms
Transmission delay
12000 bits / (100 * 10^6) * 1000
= 0.12 ms
Processing delay
Given
= 0.5 ms
Queuing delay
Given
= 2 ms
Total delay
Sum of all components
= 7.62 ms
How it works
Total network delay is the sum of four components: propagation delay (time for a signal to travel the physical distance), transmission delay (time to push all bits onto the link), processing delay (time for routers to examine and forward the packet), and queuing delay (time spent waiting in router buffers).
Formula
Total delay
total = propagation + transmission + processing + queuing
- d_prop
- distance / propagation_speed
- d_trans
- packet_size / link_rate
Frequently Asked Questions
Which delay component dominates?
On long-distance links (WAN/internet), propagation delay typically dominates. On short-distance, low-bandwidth links, transmission delay may dominate. Queuing delay dominates under congestion regardless of distance.
Why is queuing delay variable?
Queuing delay depends on the current traffic load — when a router's output buffer is empty, queuing delay is zero; when many packets compete for the same output link, each waits behind those ahead of it, making queuing delay highly variable and load-dependent.